Lecture 4: Perception, Listening, + Responding Flashcards
Intergenerational Trauma:
Self-destructive behaviour patterns transmitted to family (depression, anxiety, avoidance, violence, suicide, addictions)
*Residential schools affected whole communities
Impact of systemic racism on Indigenous population and patient health
- Inadequate living conditions
- Substandard health care
- Colonial policies
Perception
experiencing the world and making sense out of what is experienced
(2 types)
Passive perception
perception that occurs without conscious effort - not looking for anything in particular - Just happens
- AWARE that something is out of the NORM = DEFENSE against hidden things/dangers
Active perception
Does not just happen - purposely seeking out SPECIFIC info by intentional observations and questioning
ACTIVE INVOLVES THE PERCEPTION PROCESS:
1. selecting behaviour to increase info about a situation/person
2. Organizing that info
3. interpreting the info/perceptions
Does passive perception “turn off” if i am actively seeking out (active perception) info? Can you stop passively perceiving things?
No
Wilson is charting at the nurse’s desk and suddenly becomes aware that there is a smokey smell. this is an example of ________ perception?
Passive Perception
Wilson is charting at the nurse’s desk when the “CODE RED” alarm starts to go off. Wilson and the other nurses start to look around for a possible fire. This is an example of _________ perception?
Active Perception
The Perception Process (3 Stages)
1) SELECTING or “tuning in” info from senses
2) ORGANIZING - put info into a category
3) INTERPRETING - make sense of your organized perceptions
Selective Attention
We pay attention to things that:
a) fil our needs and wants (hungry = will be more attentive to looking for food)
b) Get our attention - blinking, noisy, flashing, movement
c) Say our name or a Taboo word - “Cocktail party effect”
Selective Exposure
we are selective in what we EXPOSE ourselves to and tend to put ourselves in situations that reinforce our attitudes, beliefs, values, or behaviours
Selective Recall
Occurs when we remember things we WANT to remember AND forget those things we that are unpleasant, uncomfortable, or unimportant to us
Organization
Process through which we mentally arrange the info we selected into meaningful categories
- we all have stereotypes (categories) that we organize info… can lead to misleading perceptions.
How we organize Info
a) Create Categories by looking for pattern in these ways
b) We create categories by Linking items
c) We create categories by Seeking Closure to organize info
How we organize info: (a) Create categories by looking for patterns in these ways…
1) Superimpose - placing a familiar structure on info you select
2) Proximity - assume people are a couple because they standing close together
3) Similarities - assume 2 girls are sisters because they look alike
4) Differences - assume if something looks different it doesn’t belong
How we organize info: (b) We create categories by linking them…
Allows us to make sense out of stimuli by grouping, dividing, separating and categorizing info
1) Timelines: determine the cause and effect of our communication interactions
2) Punctuation or Separation: to see patterns (phone #s use separation = 306 867 5309)
How we organize info: (c) Create categories by Seeking Closure to organize info
- We perceive objects as whole even when they are not complete
- When we have an incomplete picture of a person we Fill in the missing info
Closure
the process of filling in missing information based on past experiences (e.g. we perceive objects as whole even when they are not complete)
Cognitive Schemas
databases of collected info we use to interpret new experiences or help us interpret other’s behaviours
- cognitive schemas are subjective = different people can come to different conclusions based on their schemas
The Perception Process
1) Selecting = 1st stage, where we select certain sensations to focus our awareness
2) Organizing = 2nd stage, where we assemble stimuli into convenient and efficient patterns
3) Interpreting = Final stage, in which we assign meaning to what we have observed
Impression Formation Theory
A basic theory to explain how we form impressions of others based on what we select to pay attention to (what they look like, act, and what they tell us about themselves)
- greater emphasis on the things that we see 1st and what we see last
The Primacy Effect
Emphasize the 1st pieces of info that we observe about another person
1st impressions we form a/b someone often affect out interpretation of subsequent perceptions of that person
The Recency Effect
Emphasize the most recent or the last bit of info we have observed a/b another to form or modify an impression (we put a lot of stock on the last things we observe)
Implicit (specific to you) Personality Theory
your individual idea a/b which personality characteristics tend to co-occur in people to form an impression a/b others behaviour (can be biased)
- when we make assumptions we develop constructs to help determine if we trust someone, like/dislike them, etc.
Constructs
the idea that observed traits are linked to being good or bad or trustworthy or not… etc (highly personal and can be very biased)
The Halo Effect
** is a construct in the implicit personality theory
- What is beautiful is also good!!
- if we like someone we put a halo on them and attribute/believe they have a variety of other positive qualities
The Horn Effect
** is a construct in the implicit personality theory
- What is ugly/less attractive is not good or evil
- if we don’t like someone or see them as less attractive, we put horns on them and believe they have other negative qualities
Thin Slicing
observing a small sample of someone’s behaviour and make a generalization a/b what the whole person is like based on the thin slice or sample
Uncertainty Reduction Theory (URT)
initially developed to explain our information seeking behaviours when we first meet others
URT is the overall process of how we reduce our uncertainty a/b our whole social world
Types of uncertainty:
1) Partner Uncertainty - uncertain a/b your communication partner and cant predict the behaviour, thoughts, or feelings of another
2) Relational Uncertainty - lack of confidence a person feels in their ability to explain or predict the nature of a relationship
3) Self Uncertainty - insecurity a person feels in being able to describe, explain, or predict their own behaviour
3 strategies to reduce our uncertainty
Passive - Through observation
Active - Gain info from other sources
Interactive - Gain info by interacting with them/questions/listen and participate in process of reciprocal self disclosure (dyadic effect) most common
Regine had been friends with Colleen for a long time. They were both RNs who worked and joked via text a lot. Over the last few weeks Colleen has not been texting in the same way or frequency. Regine felt something was off. So, she, decided to ask her other friends if they knew of anything that would have caused this change in Colleen… was there something going on? What type of uncertainty reduction theory is Regine using?
Active
Casual Attribution Theory
tries to identify the cause of a person’s behaviour based on:
1) Circumstance (e.g. fleeing classmate left due to an upset stomach)
2) Stimulus (e.g. fleeing classmate left due to something the instructor said)
3) Person (e.g. fleeing classmate left due to being “too sensitive” because the instructor didn’t say anything upsetting)
Fundamental Attribution Error
attributing another person’s behaviour to the person (internal, controllable causes) rather than to circumstances or stimulus (external, uncontrollable causes)
Saving Face
believing other people, not ourselves, are the cause of the problems
Self-Serving Bias
occurs when we believe when things go right, it is because of our own skills and abilities rather than any help we may receive from others
Barriers to Accurate Perceptions or Assumptions
- stereotyping
- ignoring info
- imposing consistency
- focusing on the negative
- blaming others by assuming they have control
- avoiding responsibility
When we say Olivia suffered a seizure due to a cocaine drug overdose, we are assuming that she knew and had the knowledge about the correct dose for cocaine. Clearly, she made a mistake. What cause are we attributing Olivia’s seizure and drug overdose to?
The Person (Olivia)
Gabriel believes that because Sara won’t even try to learn the new software at work she will continue to behave this way when anything new is introduced and therefore isn’t a valuable employee. This demonstrates which barrier to accurate communication?
Imposing consistency
Intercultural Communication Theory
Culture is a learned system of knowledge, behaviours, attitudes, beliefs, values, and norms SHARED by a group of people
- we all interpret behaviour through our own cultural lens
Ways to improve your Interpersonal Perception Skills
1) Be aware of your personal perception barriers
2) Be mindful of the characteristics that create meaning for you
3) Become aware of other’s perceptions of you
4) Check your perceptions of others
Indirect Perception Checking
passive perception to confirm or refute your interpretations
Direct Perception Checking
asking the other person directly if your interpretation was right “are you mad at me?”
How to be Other Oriented:
1) Social decentering - Cognitive process: consider the other’s thoughts, values, background and perspectives
2) Empathizing - responding emotionally to another’s feelings and thoughts
3 ways to socially decenter
1) Develop an understanding of another person based on how you responded and felt when something similar happened to you
2) Base your understanding on the knowledge you have about the other person
3) Develop an understanding on how you think most people would behave and feel if they were in a similar situation
Mehk has been listening attentively during this lecture and did all the readings. Mehk knows that one of the 3 ways to socially decenter is?
a) Listen for the meaning of words and the meaning behind words
b) Develop an understanding of another person based on how you
responded and felt when something similar happened to you
c) Look for nonverbal cues that express emotion
d) Think about how the other person would react regardless of what you know about his or her previous experiences and behavior.
b) Develop an understanding of another person based on how you
responded and felt when something similar happened to you
The perception process is different than checking my perceptions
True or False
a) True
You have a hunch or a feeling that your relationship partner is angry with you and you wonder what is going on. An example of indirect perception checking would be?
a) Watching their body language
b) Mentioning that you are angry with someone else
c) Hinting that they seem preoccupied or distracted
d) Asking if anything is wrong
a) Watching their body language
Hearing
Hearing is Passive!!!!
the physiological process of decoding sounds: vibrations reach the eardrum, and they are translated into electrical impulses that reach the brain
Listening
Listening is Active!!
a complex process of selecting, attending to, constructing meaning from, remembering, and responding to verbal and non-verbal messages (is a skill that can be learned)
**LISTENING IS THE MOST IMPORTANT SKILL and is used with ALL other skills
The Listening Process
1) Selecting - choosing 1 sound from many that may be competing for our attention (verbal and nonverbal)
2) Attending - choosing to focus on 1 sound to set up the process of understanding
3) Understanding - assigning meaning to sounds you select and attend to (we understand best if we can relate to something we already know)
4) Remembering - process of recalling the info that was communicated. this can be short term (all the info you hear) or long term (events significant to us)
5) Responding - you respond to let people know you understood their message (either verbally or nonverbally)
** the listening process is not successful till the response step is completed
Imagine that you are in your N206 clinical and meeting your client
for the first time….what is an effective way for you to understand
them and for them to understand you?
USE analogies and comparisons to something they already know to help explain complex material
Regine stops playing the music at break, and you stop scrolling on Facebook and look up because you know lecture is about to start. What part of the listening process did you display when you looked up and stop scrolling on your phone?
Understanding (looking up meant you understood the cue)
Listening Style
Preferred way of making sense out of the messages you hear (‘an effective listener is a flexible listener’)
The 4 Different Learning Styles
- Relational Listener
- Analytical Listener
- Critical Listener
- Task Oriented Listener
Relational Listener Learning Style:
- Focus on the emotions and feelings communicated by others
- More sympathetic & empathetic and voice concern for other’s welfare
- ex) “you must feel so lonely”
Analytical Listener Learning Style:
- withholds judgement, listens to all sides of an issue and waits until they hear facts before making a conclusion (like a judge)
- like info to be organized, brief and error free (I-SBAR-R)
- valuable when looking at issues from a number of perspectives (Time Consuming)
Critical Listener Learning Style
- Listens for inconsistencies, skeptical, and likely to catch errors in the overall logic and reasoning (like a lawyer… or a parent)
- comfortable listening to detailed, complex info and focusing on the facts
- accuracy is important
Task Oriented Learning Style:
- focuses on specific outcomes or tasks. focuses on verbs/what needs to be done (ex., solving a problem, taking action or making a purchase)
- do not like rambling descriptive messages (Get to the point!)
Why do we need Critical Listening Skills?
1) To Assess Information Quality - separate good info from the bad
2) Separate Facts from Inference
- Fact: something that has been directly observed to be true and thus has been proven to be true
- Inference: a conclusion based on speculation
What type of listening style would someone have when they “second guess” a message they heard or question the accuracy of the message due to some type of inconsistency?
Critical Listening style
When Lianne is listening to a sales associate explaining the differences between two computers, one of which she intends to purchase, which listening style would be the most desirable to use?
a) Relational
b) Task-oriented
c) Critical
d) Analytical
d) Analytical listening style
Listening Barriers
- Self-Absorption
- Unchecked Emotions
- Criticism of the Speaker
- Differing Speech and Thought Rate
- Information Overload
- External Noise
- Listener Apprehension
Listening Barriers: Self-Absorption (Conversational Narcissism)
- Focused on your needs rather than the other person’s needs
- Thinking about your own agenda
- More likely to interrupt others mid sentence - to bring the focus back to them
Listening Barriers: Unchecked Emotions
- occurs when our own emotions interfere with communication effectiveness. examples include…
- certain words may be distracting (ex. swear words)
- concepts or ideas can cause an emotional eruption (ex. teachers strike/COVID/immunizations)
- emotional state of the speaker
Listening Barriers: Criticizing the Speaker (Ambush Listener)
Overly critical and judgemental of the speaker which distracts you from the message (ex. dirty, unkept clothes and no shoes)
Listening Barriers: Differing Speech and Thought Rate
Ability to think faster than people are speaking (ex. daydreaming and not listening)
Listening Barriers: Information Overload
Sheer volume of information is competing for attention (ex. cell phones, tablets)
Listening Barriers: External Noise
Literal noise from TV, construction, dryer beeping, furnace kicking in
Listening Barriers: Listener Apprehension
- Anxious a/b being able to listen effectively (worried a/b missing the message)
- this fear and apprehension keeps the listener from absorbing info
- different from the SELF-ABSORBED listener
How to Overcome the Listening Barrier: Self-Absorption
- Consciously note when you start drifting off, thinking about your own agenda or looking at your phone
- Work on concentration
How to Overcome the Listening Barrier: Unchecked Emotions
Use self-talk to manage your own emotions to focus on the message
How to Overcome the Listening Barrier: Criticism of the Speaker
Focus on the message, not the messenger
How to Overcome the Listening Barrier: Differing Speech and Thought Rate
Use the time difference between speech rate and thought rate to mentally summarize the message
How to Overcome the Listening Barrier: Information Overload
Realize when you or your partner is tired or distracted and not ready to listen
How to Overcome the Listening Barrier: External Noise
Take charge of the listening environment by eliminating distractions
How to Overcome the Listening Barrier: Listener Apprehension
Take notes when listening …concentrate on the message to help take your mind off the anxiety and focus
How to Improve your Listening Skills
- STOP - put your own thoughts and biases aside and make a conscious, mindful effort to listen
- LOOK - pay attention to nonverbal messages without letting yourself get distracted
- LISTEN - just listen… do not interrupt
- DETERMINE your listening goal - clarifying your listening objective can help you use the appropriate listening skill (to comprehend; to empathize)
How to give Feedback or Respond:
1) Consider the timing of the response - effective feedback is given at earliest opportunity (if they are upset = delay the feedback)
2) Determine the usefulness of the info - selective feedback is best, don’t need extra details, and be certain it is useful and relevant
3) Be descriptive rather than evaluative - direct the feedback toward the behaviour, NOT the person or motive
BOOST Feedback Model
B- Balanced (positive + developmental aspects
O- Objective (actions + behaviours.. not personality)
O- 1st hand Observations
S- Specific, not vague statements
T- Timely (given at 1st opportunity = well timed to situation)
Paraphrasing Emotions
- Paraphrasing requires you to use MORE of your own words and includes both the content of what they say but also the emotion behind the words (to understand how they are feeling)
Confirming Response
Other oriented statement that causes another person to value themselves more (e.g. send the idea that: “I care a/b you” “you are important” “you exist”)
Disconfirming Response
A statement that causes others to value themselves less (e.g. sends the idea that: “I don’t care a/b you” “I don’t like you” “you don’t matter”)
Different Kinds of Confirming Feedback Responses:
- Direct acknowledgment: respond directly to something another person says and acknowledges the person is worth responding to
- Agreement about judgments: confirms someone’s evaluation of something and affirms that person’s sense of taste and judgment
- Supportive response: offers reassurance and understanding and confirms a person’s right to his or her feelings
- Clarifying response: seeks greater understanding of another’s message and confirms that he or she is worth your time and trouble
- Expressions of positive feeling: make us feel valued and confirmed when someone agrees with our expression of joy or excitement
- Compliment: confirms our sense of worth when told by someone that they like what they have done or said
Fogofoluwa says “ I’m disappointed that I only got a 60 on my test”.
Elysha says “I’m sorry to see you so frustrated. I know that test was important to you.” Elysha’s message is an example of which type of feedback response?
a) Supportive response
b) Agreement a/b judgements response
c) Clarifying response
d) Confirming response
a) Supportive Response (expresses reassurance)
Different Kinds of Feedback Responses:
- Impervious responses: failure to acknowledge a statement or attempt to communicate resulting in a sense of awkwardness
- Interrupting responses: implying that what you have to say is more important than what the other person has to say
- Irrelevant responses: that have nothing to do with what you were saying and may mean the other person wasn’t listening
- Impersonal responses: intellectualize and use the third person to create distance from the other person
- Incoherent responses: unintelligible efforts to respond and are of little value to the listener
- Incongruous responses: inconsistent with the accompanying nonverbal behavior
Stanley asks their nursing manger “ I wanted to talk to you about taking my holidays” The manager responds, “One tends to become interested in taking vacations around summer, doesn’t one”
What kind of Feedback response is this?
Impersonal Response (Trivializes what you asking for)
Kianna was frustrated when talking with the attendant at the bus station and asked when the next one was arriving. Instead of answering Kianna’s question regarding when the next bus would arrive, the attendant told Kianna where to find the bathroom. Which type of disconfirming response does this represent?
a) Irrelevant
b) Impervious
c) Impersonal
d) Incongruous
a) Irrelevant (completely off topic)
