See bottom of page for links to chapter notes for exam 2 and 3

Chapter 1:  Human Communication:  What and Why  (pp.1-29)

What is Communication?

The textbook defines communication: "The process of creating meaning through symbolic interaction." What does this mean???

• process = communication is continuous, ongoing.  It is hard to know when communication begins and ends.  Experiences from your past affect how you communicate now.  Experiences now will influence how you communicate in the future.    
• symbolic = symbols are words, which represent people, events, places, feelings, and ideas.  The words are NOT the events or the people.  Nonverbal behavior has symbolic meaning, also.  For example, shaking a person’s hand is a nonverbal symbol for a friendly greeting. 
• Responding to the speaker = the listener asks a question, makes a comment, or gives a nonverbal action.  Sometimes people you are not talking to hear your message.  This is also communication.  Sometimes the person you want to talk to (your target person0 hears your message, but misunderstands it.

What are the four major types of communication?

• Intrapersonal communication refers to people talking to themselves.  It is talk in our minds.  The way we talk in our minds affects how we talk to other people.
• Dyadic or Interpersonal communication is talk between two people.  Dyads are the most common communication setting.  College students spend 50% of their communication time, talking with one other person.   
• Small group communication means 3 or more people are present.  Communication in groups is different than in dyads.  In groups coalitions can form.  A coalition is a smaller group within the bigger group.  The smaller group puts pressure on people in the bigger group to agree with them.  In general, people in groups find more creative solutions to problems than in dyads.  Communication is affected by the type of group leader. 
• Public communication occurs when a group becomes too large for all members to contribute.   In public communication there is an unequal amount of speaking.  Usually, public communication is one-way from speaker to audience.  Public speakers plan their words more carefully. 

What are the functions of communication?

            Communication is very important in our lives.  We spend 61% of our waking hours in a form of communication.  Communication satisfies most of our needs.  Communication satisfies:

• Physical needs – people who do not have strong social ties are 2-3 times more likely to die earlier than most people.  Cancer is 5 times higher in divorced men and women.  Divorced men also die of heart attack, cancer, and stroke at double the rate of married men.
• Ego needs – We gain an idea of who we are from the way other people define us and talk to us.
• Social needs - There are six (6) social needs communication fills.  The first is inclusion.  We need to feel like we belong to some personal relationship with friends, neighbors, marriage partner, etc..  The second is control.  We need to influence others.  We need to feel some power over our world.  Experts tell us that preschoolers who insist on staying up past bedtime are trying to influence their world.  The third social need is affection. This is the desire to care for others and to know they care for us. The fourth social need is pleasure --communication feels good and is fun; fifth, escape--we use communication to put off doing something, and sixth is relaxation -- we communicate to relax, it allows us to unwind.
• Practical needs – We get things done because of communication.  We use communication to tell the barber how much hair to cut off.  We use communication to tell the doctor where it hurts.  We use communication to convince the teacher to change a test date.  These are practical uses of communication. 

 

These four human needs fall into five groups according to Abraham Maslow.  The groups are physical, safety, social, self-esteem and self-actualization.  By physical needs we mean air, water, food, and rest.  By safety needs, we mean protection from harm or threats.  By social needs we mean belonging to a group of people who are important to us (example family, friends, church, and school).  By self-esteem needs, we mean the feeling that we are valuable and worthwhile people.  The final need is self-actualization.  This means the desire to develop and be the best person we can be.  

Why do researchers and scholars use models?  What is a model?

            A model is a simple representation of some process or event.  A communication model helps researches to understand and explain communication behavior.  There are 4 good characteristics of a model.

·         Models can represent the important parts of a process
·         Models organize the parts of a process and show how they fit together.
·         Models simplify a complex (difficult) process.
·         Models provide a chance to look at an old event (process) in a new way.

There are also 3 disadvantages to models.

• Models make things look simpler than they really are.  This misleads a person into thinking the event is a simple one.
• Models are only a picture of the event nothing more.
• Models may make us stop thinking about the event.  It may make us think we already know everything there is to know.

What are the parts of a communication model?  The parts are:

• sender = the person who thinks of something to say and says it.
• encoding = the sender chooses the words to express his/her feelings, ideas, intentions, etc.
• message = these are the planned and unplanned words and actions of the speaker
• channel = the ways the message is delivered (example: telephone, face-to-face, computer).  Channels influence the type of communication that occurs.  For instance, researchers discovered that students asked their teachers more questions through computers than in face-to-face communication.  Also in some computer communication sessions, people argued more than in face-to-face conversations.  There was more equal time given to each person in discussions with computers than in person.
• receiver = the person who gets the message from the sender
• decoding = the receiver changes the sender’s words into feelings, ideas, thoughts, intentions
• feedback = the response a listener sends to the speaker

There are two types of communication models
A linear model of communication is one-way communication.  (See text page 9) There is no response of feedback from the listener.  Television is one-way communication.  A public speech is mostly one-way communication.   

Transactional models of communication include environment.  (See text page 11)  One part of environment is personal history.  Each person has a personal history affected by experience, culture, and values.  This affects communication.  Sometimes these experiences overlap.  This makes communication easier because communicators share common history.  Other things make communication hard, such as noise.  Noise can get in the way.  There are 3 kinds of noise.  External noise are things outside the receiver.  Examples are: a plane flying overhead, a noisy fan or heater, too much cigarette smoke in a crowded room.  External noise can cause problems almost anywhere in the model – the sender, channel, message, or receiver.  Another type of noise is physical noise.  Physical noise means a problem with the people talking (such as hearing loss, illness, tiredness).  The last kind of noise is psychological noise.  This occurs when the communicators are emotionally upset.  For instance, when a person is angry, depressed, over excited.  The transactional model is different from the simple linear and interactive models in 2 important ways.  The transactional model shows that we send and receive messages at the same time.  We adjust our message as we speak based on the response we get.  The transactional model shows that it is hard to pick out one single part and study it.  We need to think about the whole communication process.

Communication Competence:  What Makes An Effective Communicator?

“Communication competence is the ability to get what you seek from others in a manner that maintains the relationship on terms acceptable to both you and the other person.” (p.13)

• There is no “ideal” way to communicate
• Competence is situational (What works in one situation may or may not work in another.)
• Competence has a relational dimension (we’re interested in both parties being satisfied.)
• Characteristics of competent communicators includes:
  1. a wide range of behaviors for any situation
  2. ability to choose the most appropriate behavior
  3. skill at performing behaviors
  4. empathy and understanding for the other person’s point of view
  5. cognitive complexity – the ability to develop a number of ways to view an issue or concern.
  6. self-monitoring – the ability to stand back and watch yourself communicate.
  7. commitment to the relationship

Intercultural Communication Competence

Communication Differences between Cultures: There are subtle differences between cultures related to communication competence.
For example, in the United States we value self-disclosure in developing interpersonal relationships, as well as speaking directly and saying exactly what we mean.  In Asian cultures, this is not appropriate.  There is limited self-disclosure to strangers and communication is often indirect.  This allows the receiver of the message to "save face."

Cultures and Co-Cultures:  This includes more than national differences.  Within a society, co-cultures have different communication practices.   Here are a few:
age (e.g., teen, Gen X, baby boomers)
race/ethnicity (e.g. Latino, African American)
sexual orientation (e.g., lesbian, gay male)
lifestyle (e.g., biker, gamer)
college educated (e.g., CC, 4-year, post-grad)
etc., etc.

Characteristics of Intercultural Competence
Specific cultures have specific rules of communication (e.g., self-deprecating humor in the US is funny and OK, but among Arabs from the Middle East it's not OK).  Aside from specific rules you need to consider:

 -Motivation:  Do you have the desire to successfully communicate?
 -Tolerance for Ambiguity:  Do you have tolerance for ambiguity?  Often language is confusing and incomprehensible.
-Open-Mindedness: Can you be open about the differences between you and the other person.
       (e.g., women have very different status in other countries compared to the US; there is not the same belief in "equality")
 -Knowledge and Skill: It's important to know about the customs and rules of other countries, so that you don't make huge blunders. (e.g., The use of time is different in different cultures.  In western cultures meetings start on time; in Latin American cultures often time meetings start much later than the planned time.  People sit and chat for awhile before they "get down to business."  We need    to be mindful.  Here's how.
                                    Passive observation -- notice the behaviors of others around you when you're in their culture. Do as they do.
                                    Active strategies---read, watch movies, ask experts of the culture how to behave.
                                    Self-disclosure---tell the other your cultural ignorance; "This is very new to me.  What's the right thing to do?"

Competence in Mediated Communication
Mediated communication: technologies that connect people who are not face-to-face (e.g., E-mail, texting, internet, social networking websites, etc.)  This type of communication requires skills not typical in other forms of face-to face com.
-- Mediated communication-- is much leaner and no nonverbal possibilities; thus, harder to interpret with confidence.  Irony and humor can easily be misunderstood, so the receiver must clarity.
 -- Disinhibition --we don't monitor what we say; we blurt out anything.  Extreme example is "flaming" angry, hostile messages.
 --Permanence-- if not deleted they are permanent records.
 --Choosing the Best Medium-- Which is best? face-to-face; phone, email, texting, etc., Depends on   the context; the desired outcome.

What are the main misunderstandings about communication?

·         It is untrue that communication is always a good thing
·         It is untrue that communication solves all problems
·         It is untrue that more communication is always better
·         It is untrue that meanings are in the words
·         It is untrue that communication is simple

Chapter 2: Perception and the Self (pp. 30-65)

How is self-concept defined? 
The self-concept is our view of ourselves.  It includes our ideas about how we look, how we feel, what we look like and dislike, how we are the same as other people or different.  Our beliefs and values are also part of our self-concept.  The self-concept is perhaps our most fundamental possession.  Knowing who we are is essential.

How does Communication Influence the Development of the Self?

We learn our self-concept through communication with others.  We learn important facts about ourselves from “reflected appraisals.”  A “reflected appraisal” is what we think other people think about us.  This is also known as the “looking glass self.”  (Refer to Charles Cooley).  We get messages about who we are from all of the people around us.  This begins when we are infants.  (Example: How long baby cries before it is picked up.  How we are touched, held; the tone of our caretakers’ voice.)  When the child learns to speak and understand language, verbal messages both positive and negative affect self-concept.  When the messages come from a “significant other” it is more powerful.  A significant other is a person whose opinions we highly value.  (Example: special friend, relative, teacher).  

Researchers reported that parents and teachers have higher expectations for socioeconomically advantaged students.  When these students did poorly in school their self-esteem dropped.  When less advantaged background children did poorly there was no loss of self-esteem.  Why the difference?  Because parents and teachers sent messages of disappointment to higher status children.  No message was sent to less advantaged children.

 Later in life the influence of significant other is less powerful.  There is some influence on beliefs about physical attractiveness and popularity.  We shape the information from others to match our existing beliefs.  We make self observations (example: I’m taller than most people, I’m fatter, I’m funnier), but the importance we attach to these observations depends on the opinions of others.  Whether it is good or bad to be fat/skinny, married/single; solitary/ social, depends on society’s values. 

The Self-Concept, Personality and Communication

Personality is the view others hold of us.  Personality is a consistent set of behaviors that people have (example: friendly, lazy, smart, stupid).  There are over 18,000 trait (behavior) words in English to describe personality.  Some traits are innate (inborn).  Psychologist J. Kagan reported 10% of all children are born with some shyness.  Another 10% are born with more sociability.  Behavior changes with the situation (example: some people talk more when they are with close friends and family.  Other people talk more around strangers.) 

Culture and Self-Concept

Our whole idea of who we are (our self concept) is shaped by the culture in which we are reared. (grew up in).  Language is the primary feature in a culture.  If you speak the dominate language; you will have a self-concept which is different from a nonnative speaker of your language. If you do not speak the majority language, you might have a sense of being in the “out-group”.  The nonnative speaker may assimilate the dominate language (make it his/her own) or refuse.  The nonnative speaker may feel they are not as good as the native speaker; or they may feel they are unique and have something special to offer.

Culture influences the self-concept in subtle ways, too.  Individualistic vs. collective cultural values give us different view of ourselves.  Individualistic cultures prize people doing things on their own—no help.  Collective cultures value the group and see that everyone works together. (Example: address--- in individualistic culture your name would come first; in collective culture the country, province, etc. then your name would come last.)

Culture influences our level of comfort in different speaking situations.  In individualistic cultures, speakers feel more comfortable speaking out; confronting others, asking questions.  In collective cultures this would cause anxiety and discomfort.  In Chinese culture the word for “I” looks very similar to the word (characters) for “selfish”.

Stella Ting-Toomy cultural differences theory states: in Western cultures where there is a strong “I” orientation, the norm of speaking directly is honored. In collectivistic cultures share the main desire is to build connections between the self and others, indirect approaches that maintain harmony are considered more desirable.  “I gotta be me”, would be the Western motto; while the saying “If I hurt you, I hurt myself” is closer to the Asian way of thinking.

Self-Concept and Communication with Others? 

We try to be consistent in our self-concept.  We work to maintain a consistent view of ourselves.  We see the world in a way that agrees with our self-concept.  We use perceptual filters to maintain a consistent self-concept.  The filters work in two ways:  (1) filters allow some information to come through to us and not other information.  Information which fits what we already believe gets through the filter; and (2) we sometimes distort (misrepresent) events with excuses and explanations.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Self-fulfilling Prophecy

There are two types of self-fulfilling prophecy (prediction).  One type is when what we think will happen in the future actually happens.  Example: You expect to be nervous and do poorly on a speech and you do.  Or, you expect to do well on a math test and you do.  A second type of self-fulfilling prophecy is when the expectations of another person affects what happens to you.  Example:  A significant other (teacher/parent) says you’re doing very well in spelling and suddenly you start doing much better with spelling. 

There are three steps in the perceptual process: selecting, organizing, interpreting

There is a gap between “what could be known” and “what is known.”  We can never see, hear, touch, taste, smell everything.  Our five senses are limited.  We cannot know everything that is going on.  Our five senses choose only a small amount of stimuli.  (Stimuli are the things that cause us to notice them.  Stimuli can be anything that gets out attention.  Example: a red car, a juicy hamburger, a loud sound, a pain in our side, the smell of a rose.)  Therefore, we notice some things and not other things.  Why do we select some things to pay attention to?  There are four main reasons:

• Intense stimuli – things which are louder, bigger, brighter get noticed.
• Repetitious stimuli – things which are repeated, are repeated, are repeated get noticed.
• Contrast stimuli – things which are contrasted (big/small; fat/thin; hard/soft) get noticed.
• Motive stimuli – we see what we want or need to see.  If you are hungry and driving down the street; you will see restaurant, grocery stores, etc.

After we select what to pay attention to, we organize it.  We organize the information in a meaningful way.  Some messages can be organized in more than one way.  This creates confusion. 

●    ●    ●           How are these figures organized?

■    ■    ■           In rows = squares, dots, triangles

▲  ▲   ▲         In columns = a square, a dot, a triangle.

When we organize the cause and effect relationship in a situation, it is called “punctuation.”  We are punctuating the situation when we are organizing it to make meanings.  The same situation can give different appearances.  (Example:  “I ask you so many personal questions because you’re so quiet.”  And you say, “I get quiet when you ask me so many questions.”)

After selecting and organizing information we interpret it.  Interpretation means giving meaning to the information selected and organized.  There are many ways to interpret a single event.  (example: Is the person who smiles at you just being polite or interested in dating you?)  Five main factors affect how we interpret events. 

1.       Past experience

2.       Assumptions about human behavior

3.       Expectations

4.       Knowledge

5.       Personal Mood

6.       Language

 

Common Perceptual Tendencies

Often we misunderstand events.  We are inaccurate.  There are several common errors in perception.

1. We make snap judgments:  Often based on stereotyping – exaggerated beliefs based on primitive categories such as race, sex, age.  These may have a kernel of truth, but they go beyond the facts and make unfounded claims. Three characteristic distinguish stereotypes from reasonable generalizations:
   • Categorizing others on the basis of easily recognized but not necessarily significant characteristics. (e.g., skin color gets notices first; but what is more important is how intelligent or artistically talented the person is.)
   • Ascribing a set of characteristics to most or all members of a group.
   • Applying the generalization to a particular person.

2.   We often judge ourselves more positively than we judge others. Self-serving bias.

Human beings have an egocentric tendency.  This means to see ourselves more favorably than others see us.  Results of an experiment showed:

One hundred percent (100%) of men surveyed reported they had ability to get along with others.  Sixty percent (60%) rated themselves in the top 10% of the population; 25% rated themselves in top1% of the population.  Seventy percent (70%) of the same group rated leadership skills in the top 25% and only 6% rated below average. 

Self concept influences how we see ourselves and others.  High self-esteem people are more likely to think well of others.  Low self-esteem people are likely to have a poor opinion of others. 

3.   We pay attention (and remember) negative impressions over positive ones.  When John is described as fun, attractive, intelligent, and a show-off, we tend to remember the negative trait show-off.

4    We are influenced by what is most obvious; by what we notice first.  This may not be they only cause or explanation for an event.

5.   We cling to our first impressions, even if impressions are wrong.

6.   We often believe other people are like us.

Perception and Culture

The same event may have different meanings in different cultures (Example: blinking while another person talks is no problem for North Americans, but the same behavior is considered impolite in Taiwan.)  The belief about the value of talk differs from one culture to another.  Western culture favors straight forward, honest talk.  Being indirect or vague (unclear) is not good.  It is viewed as negative.  Pause time between speakers is different for people and cultures, too.  “A woman from Texas went to Washington D.C. for a job in a dormitory administration.  When the dorm staff got together for meetings, she kept searching for the right time to break in – and never found it.  Although back home she was considered outgoing and confident, in Washington she was perceived as shy and retiring.  When she was evaluated at the end of a year, she was told to take an assertiveness training course because of her ability to speak up. 

Some people seem to never pause.  Others pause too long.  Eye-contact differs between cultures, also.  Whereas whites tend to look away from a conversational partner while speaking and at the other person while listening, blacks do just the opposite.

Empathy and Perception

There are three dimensions of empathy; (1) perspective taking ---understanding another person’s viewpoint; and (2) emotional dimension ---experiencing what others experience; feeling what they feel; (3) concern---for the welfare of the other. 

Sympathy is different from empathy.  Sympathy means compassion for another person’s situation.  Empathy means you feel what that person feels in the situation.  Practicing empathy makes people more tolerant.

Requirements for Empathy – empathy is difficult to achieve.  To behave empathetically you need to:

1. Be open-minded.  Set aside your personal beliefs for a moment.
2. Use imagination.  Try to picture the other person’s situation.
3. Maintain your commitment to listen, to be open-minded and to see the other person’s situation.

 Perception Checking (This is a way of reducing misunderstandings.) There are three steps.

1. Give a description of the behavior you have noticed.
2. Give at least two possible interpretations (explanations) of the behavior
3. Ask for feedback about how to interpret the behavior correctly.

Communication and Identity Management

Public and Private Selves

Your perceived self (or private self) is the one you believe yourself to be in moments of honest self-examination.  You may or may not share this view of yourself with others. 

Your presenting self is a public image – the way we want to appear to others.  Eriving Goffman used the word face to describe our “approved” social identity.  We work to present the “right” face to people.  We maintain face with others by acting the way we think they expect us to act.  We put on a front.  We try to manage other people’s impressions of us. 

High self-monitoring people have the ability to adjust their communication to create the desired impression.  Low self-monitoring people express their feelings and thoughts without much regard for the impression they are giving.  Advantages of high self-monitors are: they are good “people readers,” can handle social situations smoothly.  Disadvantages include: They are so good at changing roles that they don’t really know themselves and what they want or feel.

Characteristics of Identity Management

• We strive to construct multiple identities (e.g., student, friend, joker, helper, brother, etc.)
• Identify management is collaborative (i.e., both parties have to agree in some way on the mutually developed identities)
• People differ in their degree of identify management (i.e., high self monitors have the ability to pay attention to their own behavior and adjust it in the moment based on others’ reactions to them; low-self-monitors do not.  They say what they think and feel w/o much attention to the others’ reactions.)

Why Manage Impressions? 

It is important to meet certain social expectations if we want to get along in any culture, group, family, workplace, etc.  Being able to control (or manage) the impressions others are getting of us is useful.

How do we Manage Impressions?  There are three types of communication that help create a “front.”

Face-to-face Identity Management

1. Manner = a communicators words and nonverbal actions.  What we say and how we act gives an impression of us.  Are we friendly?  Cold?  Rigid?  Open?  Noisy?  Aggressive?  Do we smile?  Make eye-contact? 

2. Setting = size of home, type of car, way you decorate your home; equipment in setting (such as TV, Disk Player, VCR, Pool Table, etc.)

3. Appearance = clothing, jewelry, hairstyle.  All give an impression of us. 

Identity Management in Computer Mediated Communication

Advantage—communicators can edit their messages until they are satisfied; they can say difficult things w/o being interrupted and they aren’t forcing a response from the receiver.  The receiver, on the other hand, may choose not to respond if they have to give negative information/feedback or they can craft a response after much contemplation, etc. 

Disadvantage—sender may misrepresent who they are – age, gender, appearance, etc.

Impression Management and Honesty

It may seem that presenting a front is being dishonest and in some cases unethical.  And yes, that can be true.  But the reason for monitoring our self-presentation is to help us better fit with the situation and the context in which we find ourselves.  We wouldn’t expect to act the same way to a total stranger as we do to a close friend.  Impression management helps us choose the most appropriate “face” for the situation.  (Exercise: Ethical Challenge, p. 62)   

Changing the self-concept

1. Have realistic expectations
2. Have a realistic perception of yourself
3. Have a desire to change.  Be willing to work hard.
4. Have the skill needed to change.