Unit 2. Basics of Communication Flashcards
Communication
The exchange of verbal and nonverbal messages with the intent of stimulating particular meanings in the minds of others
Understanding
When we communicate successfully … that is to stimulate the meanings we intend in the minds of others
Misunderstanding
When we communicate unsucessfully … that is others do not interpret our meanings as we intend.
The Four Primary Challenges of Communication
- Effective communication requires significant intellectual and psychological resources.
- Not everyone we encounter will appreciate the value of communication.
- We may over-rely on digitally mediated communication
- We live in a diverse world where intercultural understanding can be difficult.
In order to communicate effectively:
- We must determine how to best package and deliver a message by developing the ability to understand and predict the needs and potential responses of others.
- During communication, we must be aware of and responsive to the feedback we receive from others to assess whether our approach is creating the meanings we intend in the minds of other communicators.
- After an interaction, it is also important to pause, reflect, and evaluate both the process and outcome of communication in order to determine the next steps.
Examples of baggage that communicators bring to an interaction
emotions
past experiences
relation history
fear
How many text messages a day do millennials send
25+ per day
How many text messages a day does Gen-Xers send or receive per day?
12 per day
How many text messages per day do baby boomers send/receive per day
5
technostress
A state of communication overload, where we are simply unable to process and competently respond to all of the messages we are exposed to
Intercultural communication
communication between and among people and groups across national, ethnic, and other cultural boundaries.
The Linear Model of Communicaion
- Phase 1: Deciding on the message. A sender (or source of message) selects a message to send to a receiver(s) in order to achive a desired outcome.
- Phase 2: Encoding the message. The sender of a message assigns symbols, such as words, sounds, or gestures, to his or her thoughts and feelings.
- Phase 3: Transmitting the message. A message is “sent” from sender to receiver, using a particular channel that is selected by the sender.
- Phase 4: Perceiving the message. When a receiver detects that a message has been sent, he or she attends to it and perceives it in some fashion.
- Phase 5: Decoding the message. The receiver translates the symbols (words, sounds, and gestures) perceived into thoughts and feelings.
Channel
The channel is the medium that carries the message, such as email, telephone, face-to-face communication, or a written document.
Encoding
Refers to a psychological process in which the sender of a message assigns symbols, such as words, sounds, or gestures, to his or her thoughts and feelings.
Decoding
When a receiver assigns meaning to the message that has been communicated, he or she is engaging in a psychological process known as decoding. Decoding the opposite of encoding (the activity that the sender engaged in at the beginning of the exchange).
Feedback
The verbal or nonverbal message that a receiver provides to the sender as he or she perceives and assigns meaning to the sender’s message
Transaction Model
Feedback, along with cosideration of the factors that make accurate decoding of messages diffcult, turn thelinear model into the transactional model
Context
Refers to the environment and situation in which communication occurs
Examples of Communication Context
Family
Classroom
workplace
Roles
Clearly defined and specialized functions that each member of the team possesses
Rules
Formal expectations that guide team members’ interactions with one another as well as their task performance
Communication competence
Refers to one’s ability to choose among available communicative behaviors to accomplish one’s goals during an encounter
Communication Competence is comprised of what three skills sets or dimensions
- Appropriateness
- Communication Skills
- Motivation
The three stages of perception
selection
organization
interpretation
The four principals of selection
- Selective Exposure
- Selective Attention
- Selective Perception
- Selective Recall
Selective Exposure
states that we will attend to information that reinforces existing beliefs and disregard information that is at odds with our current position.
Selective Attention
Illustrates how, once we are engaged in a particular interaction, we focus on certain information and ignore other information.
Selective Perception
An ongoing way of selecting and filtering messages further, we begin to apply our own unique experiences to the message —our inclination to see, hear, and believe what we want to see, hear, and believe.