Communication Flashcards
What is a broad definition of communication?
The transfer of meaningful information from person to person
Why is communication social? (3)
- it builds relationships
- shared understanding of meaning
- fundamental for cooperation
How do you define language?
A system of sounds and writing that convey meaning
What happens if you do not know the system of language?
You cannot communicate
What are 3 reasons for the nature argument of language development?
Language is built into the brain because:
- preferences at birth
- developmental regularity across cultures
- generality of language
What are 3 things which suggest that language is learned through nurture?
Human interaction shapes language because:
- rate of development depends on input
- variation across cultures
- word meaning is dependent on social context
What is Chomsky’s (1957) Language acquisition device?
Humans are born with innate capacity for language. This is then shaped and activated by social interaction.
What are the 5 functions of language? (Types of speech)
Assertives Directives Expressives Commissives Declarations
How does language constrain thought? (2 ways)
- if there is not simple word for a concept, it is hard to think about
- phrasing can influence thought processes (eg. Loft us & Palmer)
Can culture affect language? What are 2 ways this happens?
Yes. Cultural differences in thought create different usages of language.
If something is more important the cultural language helps communication about it.
What is a speech style?
An accent or language
Can speech styles change?
Yes, influenced by speaker and context of communication.
What does a speech style convey?
Perceptions of intellect, status, power .. based on evaluations of groups associated with those speech styles.
How do you measure attitudes towards different speech styles.
Matched-guise technique.
What is speech accomodation theory?
Speech styles are modified depending on the context of an interaction.
What are the two types of speech accommodation?
Speech convergence and speech divergence
What is speech divergence?
When the speech style shifts away from the listener/group.
What does speech divergence do? (2)
Increases psycholinguistic distinctiveness and increases separation between listener & speaker.
What is speech convergence?
Speech style shifts towards the interaction partner, becoming similar to them
What does speech convergence achieve?
More synchrony, unity, and similarity which causes liking and approval
What are the functions of non-verbals? (7)
- replace verbals when superior (eg emotions)
- secret communication (wink, nudge)
- convey feeling or intent (like/dislike)
- regulate interactions (eg turntaking)
- express intimacy (touching, eye-contact)
- establish dominance/control (threats)
- goal attainment (eg pointing)
What is paralanguage and what does it do?
Paralanguage is the non-linguistic accompaniments of speech, such as volume, stress, pitch, speed, tone, voice, pauses, throat clearing, grunts, sighs.
It can change the meaning of verbals.
What is better at communicating emotions, verbals or facial expressions?
Facial expressions, can even replace spoken words.
What are display rules?
Cultural and situational rules about the appropriate expression of emotion.
How do display rules differ in Ekman’s 1973 study of American and Japanese students?
In public, Japanese masked their negative emotional expressions. No differences in private.
What did Kraut and Johnston (1979) find about the emotional communication people bowling?
People only smiled when they were facing others (able to communicate). Poor performance decreased social smiling, but did not matter when they were facing away.
What does eye contact/gaze communicate?
Gaze can communicate status and exerciser control. More gaze when trying to be persuasive or ingratiate. Stern gaze can express disapproval.
What is visual dominance behaviour?
A tendency for high status people to gaze fixedly at lower status people even when speaking. Whereas, we usually gaze more when listening than speaking (75 vs41%).
This can lead to cross-cultural misunderstands (rudeness).
What are four types of non-verbal gestures? And what are their functions?
Emblems: replace language, culture specific
Illustrators: complement speech, aid fluency
Regulators: help coordinate conversations
Self-adaptors: manage emotions (eg fidgeting)
What factors can affect interpersonal distance? (2)
Liking: reduce distance
Status: increase distance
What does interpersonal distance help regulate?
Privacy vs intimacy
Desired closeness usually matches the level of social closeness with a person.
How do we know that violating personal space can cause anxiety?
Men take longer to urinate and finish faster (Middlemist et al. 1976)
What are the four zones of interpersonal distance? (Description and distance)
Intimate:
What are the functions of touch? (7)
Positive affect: appreciation, sexual interest, reassurance, etc
Playful: humour
Control: draw attention/compliance
Ritualistic: greetings
Task-related: eg take pulse
Negative affect: communicate dislike/discomfort
Aggressive: inflict damage
What are three gender differences regard physical touch and preferences?
Men touch women > women touch men
More likely to touch opposite sex
Women gain greater pleasure, depending on circumstance
What were the findings of Heslin’s 1978 ‘squeeze and pat’ study?
People prefer opposite sex to same sex strangers’ touches. Men more than women. Also, the same is true for close friends. Women like being touched everywhere by an opposite sex close friend.
Men = gender predicts touch response Women = social closeness predicts touch response
What are two things that non-verbal mimicry achieve? And what might this suggest about the function of mimicry?
It facilitates smoothness of interactions. It increases liking between interaction partners.
It may be a crude mechanism for promoting acceptance and belonging.
Findings of The Chameleon Effect (Chartrand & Bargh, 1999) study on foot tapping and face rubbing?
People copied more of the behaviour which was done by the confederate.
What are the differences between verbal and non-verbal communication? (4)
- quicker, more automatic
- less conscious control
- more powerful for emotions & attitude expression
- but, more ambiguous
What is under better control when lying, verbals or non-verbals?
Verbals are well controlled. But non-verbals not well concealed:
- more self-adaptors
- slightly raised vocal pitch
- but facial expression are more controlled when lying
Are people good at detecting lies?
On average, receivers are slightly better than those concealing lies. But in general people are poor at detecting.
