Communication Readings Flashcards
Foundations of Communication.Chapter 1
The Nature of Communication, 5 steps of communication.
Communication, Messages, Encoding, Decoding, and Feedback
Definition of Messages
The verbal utterances, visual images, and nonverbal
behaviors used to convey thoughts and feelings
Definition of Encoding
The process of putting our thoughts and feelings into
words and nonverbal behaviors
Definition of Decoding
The process of interpreting another’s messages
Definition of Feedback
Responses to messages that indicates how the initial message was interpreted
What is Communication
Communication is a complex process through which we
express, interpret, and coordinate messages with others.
Core of Communication - is about messages.
We do so to create shared meaning, to meet social goals, to manage personal identity, and to carry out relationships,
How do we actually go about encoding (or forming) and decoding (or interpreting) messages?
Canned plans and scripts
Definition of Canned plans
is a “mental library” of scripts each of us draws from to create messages based on what worked for us or others in the past (Berger, 1977)
Definition of Script
is an actual text of what to say and do in a specific situation.
Definition of Communication Context
is made up of the physical, social, historical, psychological, and cultural situations that surround a communication event.
Definition of Physical Situation
Includes the location, the environmental conditions (temperature, lighting, noise level), and the physical proximity of participants to each other.
Definition of Social presence
The term we use for creating a sense of “being there” with another person virtually.
Definition of Social situation
is the nature of the relationship that already exists between the participants.
Definition of Historical situation
is the background provided by previous communication between the participants.
Definition of Psychological situation
includes the moods and feelings each person brings to the encounter.
Definition of Cultural situation
the beliefs, values, orientations, underlying assumptions, and rituals that belong to a specific culture.
The communication settings effects
how we form and interpret messages.
Communication settings
differ based on the number of participants and the level of formality in the interactions.
5 settings of communication settings
Intrapersonal, interpersonal, small group, public, mass
Intrapersonal communication
refers to the interactions that occur in our minds when we are talking to ourselves.
Interpersonal communication
is characterized by informal interaction between two people who have an identifiable relationship with each other.
Small-group communication
typically involves 3-20 people who come together to communicate with one another.
Public communication
is delivered to audiences of more than 20 people.
Mass communication
is delivered by individuals and entities through mass media to large segments of the population at the same time. e.g., Newspaper, Magazine articles, Radio and TV programs and advertisements.
Communication Process
is a complex set of 3 different and interrelated activities intended to result in shared meaning.
Activities of Communication process
Message production Message Interpretation Interaction Coordination Channels Emoticons Acronyms Media richness Synchronicity Interference/Noise, Physical noise, Psychological noise
Message Production
is what we do when we encode a message.
Message Interpretation
is what we do when we decode a message.
Interaction coordination
consists of the behavioral adjustments each participant makes in an attempt to create shared meaning
Channels
are both the route traveled by the massage and the means of transportation.
Face-to-face communication has 3 basic channels
Verbal symbols, Nonverbal cues, and visual images.
Technologically mediated communication uses these same channels through nonverbal cues such as
movements, touch and gestures are represented by visual symbols like emoticons.
Emoticons
Textural images that symbolize the sender’s mood, emotion, or facial expressions
Acronyms
Abbreviations that stand in for common phrases. e.g.s, “POed”
Media Richness
refers to how much and what kinds of information can be transmitted via a particular channel.
What is the richest of Media Richness
Face to Face is the richest channel because we can hear the verbal message content and observe the nonverbal cues to interpret its meaning.
What is leaner the channel
The less information offered via a given channel, the leaner it is. e.g.s, text and tweets because they use as few characters as possible.
Other media richness channels
Face time, Skype - both observe nonverbal cues almost as face to face setting.
Synchronicity
is the extent to which a channel allows for immediate feedback.
Synchronous channels
allow communication to occur in real time
Asynchronous channels
allow for “lag time”
Examples of asynchronous channels
Bulk letters Posted Letters Facebook Interactive Telephone
Posters Email My Space Chat
Email Spam Text messages Other social media
_______________________________________
Lean - Low Social Presence
Examples of Synchronous channels
Skype . Face to face Ichat Other video conferencing \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ Rich - High Social Presence
What are the 5 basic purposes of communication
- We communicate to develop and maintain our sense of self.
- We communicate to meet our social needs.
- We communicate to develop and maintain relationships.
- We communicate to exchange information.
- . We communicate to influence others.
Communication is Continous
Even silence communicates if another person infers meaning from it. Nonverbal behavior represents reaction to our environment. e.g.s, If we are cold, we might shiver, Hot we might perspire,
Communication of Irreversible
Once an exchange takes place, we can never go back in time and erase it the communication.
Communication is Situated
Occurs within a specific setting that affects how the messages are produced, interpreted, and coordinated.
e.g.s., Candlelight dinner interpreted as a statement of romantic feelings.
Communication is idexical through:
Trust Control Complementary Feedback Symmetrical Feedbadk Intimacy
Definition of Index
measure of the emotional temperature of our relationship at the time.
Definition of Trust
the extent to which partners have faith that their partners will not intentionally do anything to harm them.
Definition of Control
the degree to which one participant is perceived to be more dominant or powerful
Definition of Complementary Feedback
a message that signals agreement about who is in
control
Definition of Symmetrical feedback
a message that signals disagreement about who is in
control
Definition of Intimacy
the degree of emotional closeness, in a relationship
Communication messages vary in conscious thought
Our messages may
(1) occur spontaneously,
(2) be based on a “script”, or
(3) be carefully constructed
Spontaneous expression
spoken without much conscious thought
Constructed messages
formed carefully and thoughtfully when our known scripts are inadequate for the situation
5 cultural components that are relevant to effective communication
1) perception
2) patterns of cognition
3) verbal behaviors
4) nonverbal behaviors
5) the influence of context
Definition of culture
a system of shared beliefs, values, symbols, and behaviors.
The 5 principles of Ethical Communication
Ethical communication are:
1) Honest - we should not intentionally try to deceive
others.
2) Integrity - “practice what they preach”
3) Behave fairly - to be fair to someone is the gather all
the relevant facts
4) Demonstrate Respect - behaving respectfully means
showing regard for other, including their point of view,
their rights, and their feelings, even if it differ from
ours.
5) Responsible - Recognize the power of words. Refrain
from gossiping, spreading rumors, bullying, etc.
Ethics
a set of moral principles held by a society group, or individual.
Metaphors to characterize the differences between ethical/appropriate and unethical/inappropriate communication.
Bright side messages and dark side messages
Bright side messages
are ethical/appropriate
Dark side messages
are unethical/inappropriate
Hard side messages
are somewhat ethical and unethical because they are honest, but also potentially damaging to the relationship.
Easy dark side messages
are somewhat ethical and unethical because they are dishonest in order to maintain a good relationship.
Evil dark side messages
are both disrespectful and damaging to the relationship
Definition of Communication Competence
the impression that communicative behavior is both appropriate and effective in a given situation
Communication is effective when
it achieves it goals and appropriate when it conforms to what is expected in a situation. Our goal is to communicate in ways that increase the likelihood that others will judge us as competent.
Communication competence is achieved through personal motivation, knowledge acquisition, and skills practice.
1) . We have to be motivated-that is we must want to
improve.
2) . We must know what to do.
3) . To improve, we must practice communication skills
we learn.
What is Credibility?
is a perception of a speaker’s knowledge, trustworthiness, and warmth. Listener’s are more likely to be attentive to and influenced by speakers they perceive as credible.
Social ease means?
managing communication apprehension so we do not appear nervous or anxious.
Communication that appear apprehensive are not likely to regarded as competent, despite their motivation or knowledge.
Communication apprehension is?
“the fear or anxiety associated with real or anticipated communication with others”.
4 different types of communication apprehension (CA)
1) . Traitlike CA feel anxious in most speaking situations.
20% of all people experience traitlike.
2) . Audience-baised CA-feel anxious about speaking only with a certain person or group of people.
3) . Situational CA - is a short-lived feeling of anxiety that occurs during a specific encounter. e.g.’s, job interview
4) . Context-based CA - is anxiety only in a particular situation. e.g.’s, when speaking to a large group of people.
4 steps to improve - Communication Improvement Plans
1) Identify the problem
2) State the specific goal
3) Outline a specific procedure for reaching your goal
4) Devise a method for measuring progress
What is the nature of communication and the role of canned plans and scripts in it?
Communication is a complex process through which we
express, interpret, and coordinate messages with others.
We do so to create shared meaning, to meet social goals, to manage personal identity, and to carry out relationships.
It’s core is about messages via Encoding, Decoding, and Feedback.
Canned plans is how we actually go about encoding (or forming) and decoding (or interpreting) messages.
We have a wide variety of canned plans or scripts of interactions like greeting people, making small talk. Each canned plan my contain many scripts tailored to different people and occasions.
e.g.’s emailing friends greet them by first name. Professor greet them as dear professor, doing so convey respect for their authority.
Canned plans is a “mental library” of scripts each of us draws from to create messages based on what worked for us or others in the past.
Script plans is an actual text of what to say and do in a specific situation.
Describe the process of communication and how interference may impact it?
Communication process is a complex set of 3 different and interrelated activities intended to result in shared meaning.
Activities are:
Message production - is what we do when we encode a message.
Message Interpretation - is what we do when we decode a message.
Interaction Coordination - consists of the behavioral adjustments each participant makes in an attempt to create a shared meaning.
They are affected by the channels we used and by interference/noise.
Channels - are both the route traveled by the message and the means of transportation.
Media richness - refers to how much and what kinds of information can be transmitted via a particular channel.
Face to face is the richest. Text & tweets are lean.
Interference - also referred to as noise.
Physical noise - an external sight or sound that distracts us from a message. Example: distraction from a notification or someone’s cell phone.
Psychological noise - refers to the thoughts and feelings we experience that compete with the sender’s message for our attention. Example: When we daydream about what we have to do at work or feel offended when a speaker uses foul language.
What are the key characteristics of communication?
Has Purpose
Is Continuous
Is Irreversbile
Is Situated
Is Indexical via trust, control, complementary feedback, symmetrical feedback, intimacy
May vary in conscious thought via spontaneous expressions, constructed messages,
Is Guided by Cultural Norms via perception, patterns of cognition, verbal behaviors, nonverbal behaviors, the influence of context.
What does it mean to be an ethical communicator as related to bright side and dark side messages?
Ethical communicators are: Honest Act with Integrity Behave Fairly Demonstrate Respect Are Responsible
Bright side messages are both ethical and appropriate- relationships my benefit from bright, hard and easy side responses.
Dark side messages are unethical and unappropriate, they damage people and relationships.
What is a competent communicator and what steps can you take to improve your communication competence?
The combination of motivation, knowledge, skills, perceived credibility, and social ease make up competent communicator.
