Midterm Study Guide Flashcards
The process by which cultural traditions are passed from one generation to the next is known as?
Enculturation
A characteristic that discredits a person making him or her be seen as abnormal undesirable
Stigma
Practical, Everyday Needs
Instrumental Needs
Five Needs Served by Communication
Physical, Relational, Identity, Spiritual, Instrumental
A formal description of a process
Model
The originator of a thought or an idea
Source
To put an idea into language or gesture
Encode
Verbal and nonverbal elements of communication to which people give meaning
Message
A pathway through which messages are conveyed
Channel
The party who interprets a message
Receiver
To interpret or give meaning to a message
Decode
Anything that interferes with encoding or decoding of a message
Noise
Types of noise
Physical (kids/tv), Psychological (stress/anxiety), Physiological (hunger/fatigue)
Verbal and Nonverbal responses to a message
Feedback
The physical or psychological environment in which communication occurs
Context
A communication context involving many channels at once
channel-rich context
A communication context involving few channels at once
channel-lean context
A representation of an idea
Symbol
Literal information that is communicated by a message
Content dimension
Signals about the relationship in which a message is being communicated
Relational Dimension
Communication about communication
Metacommunication
A rule about behavior that has been clearly articulated
Explicit Rule
A rule about behavior that has not been clearly articulated but is nonetheless understood
Implicit Rule
Communication that occurs between two people within the context of their relationship and that, as it evolves, helps them to negotiate and define their relationship
Interpersonal Communication
Communication with oneself
Intrapersonal Communication
Communication from one source to a large audience
Mass Communication
Communication occurring within small groups of three or more people
Small group communication
A pair of people
Dyad
Communicating in ways that are effective and appropriate for a given situation
Communication Competence
Awareness of one’s behavior and how it affects others
Self-monitoring
The ability to think and feel as others do
Empathy
A code of morality or a set of ideas about what is right
Ethics
The system of learned and shared symbols, language, values, and norms that distinguish one group of people from another
Culture
A group of people who share symbols, language, values, and norms
Society
A group of people with whom one identifies
In-group
A group of people with whom one does not identify
Out-group
Systematic preference for characteristics of one’s own culture
Ethnocentrism
An individual’s perception of his or her ancestry or heritage
Ethnicity
An individual’s status as a citizen of a particular country
Nationality
Standards for judging how good, desirable, or beautiful something is. Cultural ideas about what ought to be.
Values
Rules or expectations that guide people’s behavior in a culture
Norms
Groups of people who share values, customs, and norms related to mutual interests or characteristics beyond their national citizenship
Co-Cultures
One’s tendency to presume that others think the same way he or she does
Similarity Assumption
A culture that emphasizes individuality and responsibility to oneself
Individualistic Culture
A culture that places greater emphasis on loyalty to the family, workplace, or community than on the needs of the individual
Collectivistic Culture
A culture in which verbal communication is expected to be explicit and is often interpreted literally
Low-context Culture
A culture in which verbal communication is often ambiguous and meaning is drawn from contextual cues, such as facial expressions and tone of voice
High-context Culture
A culture in which power is not highly concentrated in specific groups of people
Low-power distance culture
A culture in which much or most of the power is concentrated in a few people, such as royalty or a ruling political party
High-power distance culture
A concept that treats time as a finite commodity that can be earned, saved, spent, and wasted.
Monochronic
A concept that treats time as an infinite resource rather than a finite commodity
Polychronic
The degree to which people try to avoid situations that are unstructured, unclear, or unpredictable.
Uncertainty Avoidance
Verbal and nonverbal behaviors, such as idioms and gestures, that characterize a culture and distinguish it from other cultures.
Communication Codes
A phrase whose meaning is purely figurative, can’t be understood by interpreting the words literally
Idiom
Example:break a leg. Kick the bucket.
Language whose technical meaning is understood within a co-culture but not necessarily by those outside of it
Jargon
Example: Medical terminology
Movements, usually of the hand or the arm, that express ideas.
Gestures
A set of expectations for appropriate behavior that a culture typically assigns to an individual based on his or her biological sex
Gender Roles
A gender role, typically assigned to men, that emphasizes strength, dominance, competition, and logical thinking
Masculinity
A gender role, typically assigned to women, that emphasizes expressive nurturing behavior
Femininity
A gender role distinguished by a combination of masculine and feminine characteristics
Adrogyny
A characteristic determining the sex or sexes to which someone is sexually attracted
Sexual Orientation
A sexual orientation characterized by sexual interest in members of the opposite sex
Heterosexuality
A sexual orientation characterized by sexual interest in members of the same sex
Homosexuality
A sexual orientation characterized by sexual interest in both men and women
Bisexuality
A sexual orientation characterized by a general lack of interest in sex
Asexuality
Verbal communication whose purpose is to express emotions and build relationships
Expressive Talk
Verbal communication whose purpose is to solve problems and accomplish tasks
Instrumental Talk
The set of stable ideas a person has about who he or she is
Self-concept or Identity
A visual representation of components of the self that are known or unknown to the self and to others
Johari Window
Four components of the Johari Window
Open, Blind, Hidden, Unknown
What you know and choose to reveal about yourself to others
Open Area of the Johari Window
What others know about you, but you don’t recognize in yourself
Blind Area of the Johari Window
What you know about yourself but choose not to reveal
Hidden Area of the Johari Window
The dimensions of yourself that no one knows
Unknown Area of the Johari Window
Objective
Factually True
Subjective
Based on our Impressions
The pattern of behaviors and ways of thinking that characterize a person
Personality
The process whereby a person’s self-concept is influenced by his or her beliefs concerning what other people think of them
Reflected Appraisal
The process of comparing oneself with others
Social Comparison
The groups of people with whom one compares oneself in the process of social comparison
Reference Groups
An expectation that gives rise to behaviors that cause the expectation to come true
Self-fulfilling prophecy
One’s subjective evaluation of one’s value and worth as a person
Self-esteem
Schultz’s Interpersonal Needs
Need for control, need for inclusion, need for affection
One’s need to maintain a degree of influence in one’s relationships
Need for control
One’s need to belong to a social group and to be included in the activities of others
Need for inclusion
One’s need to give and receive expressions of love and appreciation
Need for affection
The way one wishes to be seen or perceived by others
Image
The process of projecting one’s desired public image
Image Management
A person’s desired public image
Face
The behaviors one uses to project one’s desired public image to others
Facework
Components of one’s desired public needs
Face Needs
Three types of face needs
Fellowship Face, Autonomy Face, Competence Face
The need to have others accept and like us
Fellowship Face
The need not to be imposed upon by others
Autonomy Face
The need to be respected for our intelligence and abilities
Competence Face
Any behavior that threatens one or more face needs
Face threatening act
The act of giving others information about oneself that one believes they do not already have
Self-disclosure
A theory that predicts that as relationships develop, communication increases in breadth and depth.
Social Penetration Theory
The range of topics about which one person self-discloses to another
Breadth
The intimacy of the topics about which one’s person self discloses to another
Depth
A social expectation that resources and favors provided to one person in a relationship should be reciprocated by that person
Norm of Reciprocity
Some benefits of self disclosure
Enhancement of relationships and trust, Reciprocity, Emotional Release, Helping Others.
Risks of self-disclosure
Rejection, Chance of obligating others, Hurt to others, Violation of other people’s privacy
The sharing of an individual’s personal information with a third party without the individual’s consent
Gossip
The process of making meaning from the things we experience in the environment
Perception
The process of making meaning from the people in our environment and our relationships with them
Interpersonal Perception
The process of attending to a stimulus, selecting certain sensory information for attention.
Selection
The process of categorizing information that has been selected for attention
Organization
The process of assigning meaning to information that has been selected for attention and organized
Interpretation
The study of the mechanical and biochemical ways in which our bodies work
Physiology
Generalizations about groups of people that are applied to individual members of those groups
Stereotypes
The tendency to emphasize the first impression over later impressions when forming a perception
Primacy Effect
The tendency to emphasize the most recent impression over earlier impressions when forming a perception
Recency Effect
A predisposition to perceive only what we want or expect to perceive
Perceptual Set
Unable to take another person’s perspective
Egocentric
The tendency to focus heavily on a person’s positive attributes when forming a perception
Positivity Bias
The tendency to focus heavily on a person’s negative attributes when forming a perception
Negativity Bias
An explanation for an observed behavior
Attribution
The tendency to attribute one’s successes to internal causes and one’s failures to external causes
Self-Serving Bias
The tendency to attribute other’s behaviors to internal rather than external causes
Fundamental Attribution
The tendency to attribute a range of behaviors to a single characteristic of a person
Overattribution
A structured system of symbols used for communicating meaning
Language
Onomatopoeia
A word formed by imitating the sound associated with its meaning.
(Example: Buzz, Meow, Splash, Moo, Baa)
Phonological Rules
Deal with correct pronunciation
Syntactic Rules
Govern or dictate the way we put together words and phrases to create well formed sentences, give proper order for the intended meaning
Semantic Rules
Govern the meanings of individual words
Pragmatic Rules
Apply social and cultural information to the interpretations of statements
A word’s literal meaning or dictionary definition
Denotative Meaning
A word’s implied or secondary meaning, in addition to its literal meaning
Connotative Meaning
Elements of the Semantic Triangle
Symbol-the word being communicated
Referent-the word’s denotative meaning
Reference-the word’s connotative meaning
Terms that carry strongly positive or strongly negative connotations
Loaded Language
Language having more than one possible meaning
Ambiguous Language
Concrete Word
Refers to a specific object in the physical world
Abstract Word
Refers to the concept of objects
The idea that language influences the ways that members of a culture see and think about the world
Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis
A speaker’s respectability, trustworthiness, and moral character, credibility
Ethos
Listeners’ emotions
Pathos
Listeners’ ability to reason, appeal to logic
Logos
To make judgements about the world based on evidence rather than emotion or intuition
Reason
The extent to which others find someone’s words and actions to be trustworthy
Credibility
A vague mild expression that symbolizes something more blunt or harsh
Euphemism
Example: instead of “he died” use “he passed away”
Informal, unconventional words that are often understood only by others in a particular group
Slang
Language that harms a person’s reputation or image
Defamation
A defamatory statement made in print or in some other fixed medium
Libel
A defamatory statement made aloud
Slander
A form of language considered vulgar, rude, or obscene in the context in which it is used. Very context specific.
Profanity
A form of profanity meant to degrade, intimidate, or dehumanize groups of people
Hate Speech
The emotional tone of a relationship, how you feel about the relationships you’re in.
Communication Climate
Behaviors that indicate how much we value another person
Confirming Messages
Behaviors that imply a lack of regard for another person
Disconfirming Messages
Excessive Concern with guarding oneself against the threat of criticism
Defensiveness
A person’s feeling of assurance that others care about and will protect him or her
Supportiveness
A reply that withholds assessment of what the speaker has said or done
Non-evaluative feedback
Asking questions to gain more information
Probing
Repeating what someone has said in your own words
Paraphrasing
Sharing your perceptions of the situation and confirming the validity of the problem
Offering Support
A reply that offers an assessment of what the speaker has said or done
Evaluative Feedback
A statement that claims ownership of one’s thoughts or feelings
I-Statement
A statement that shifts responsibility for one’s own thoughts or feelings to the listener
You-Statement
Textual representations of facial expressions
Emoticons
Cartoon Depictions of faces and other objects
Emoji
Behaviors and characteristics that convey meaning without the use of words
Nonverbal Communication
The various behavioral forms that nonverbal communication takes
Nonverbal Channels
Nonverbal behavior that indicates when a person’s speaking turn begins and ends
Turn-taking signal
Nonverbal behavior that conveys attraction or affiliation
Immediacy Behavior
Objects or visual features in an environment with communicative value
Artifacts
An increase in energy
Arousal
Potential to affect another person’s behavior
Power
The use of facial expression for communication
Facial Display
The similarity between the left and right sides of the face or body
Symmetry
The size of facial features relative to one another
Proportionality
The study of eye behavior
Oculesics
The study of movement
Kinesics
The use of arm and hand movements to communicate
Gesticulation
A gesture with a direct verbal translation
Emblem
A gesture that enhances or clarifies a verbal message
Illustrator
A gesture that communicates emotion
Affect display
A gesture that controls the flow of conversation
Regulator
A gesture used to satisfy a personal need
Adaptor
The study of how people use touch to communicate
Haptics
Characteristics of the voice that convey meaning in communication; also referred to as paralanguage
Vocalics
An index of how high or deep a voice sounds
Pitch
The variation of pitch
Inflection
An index of how loud or how quiet a voice is
Volume
How fast or slow a person speaks
Rate
nonword sounds that a person uses to fil silence during pauses while they’re speaking like um or err
Filler words
How correctly a person says a word
Pronunciation
How clearly one speaks
Articulation or enunciation
absence of sound
Silence
The study of the sense of smell
Olfactics
The study of spatial use
Proxemics
The distance most people maintain with intimate partners ranges from 0-1.5 ft
Intimate Distance
The distance most people maintain with friends and relatives ranges from 1.5-4 ft
Personal Distance
The distance most people maintain with casual acquaintances ranges from 4-12 ft
Social Distance
The distance most people maintain with public figures during a performance ranges from 12-25 ft
Public distance
The tendency to attribute positive qualities to physically attractive people
Halo Effect
The use of time
Chronemics
A culture in which people touch frequently and maintain little personal distance with one another
High-contact culture
A culture in which people touch infrequently and maintain relatively high levels of personal distance with one another
Low-Contact Culture
