Chapter 5 Terms

Action-Oriented Listeners

Those who focus on what action must take place regarding a received message and try to formulate an organized way to initiate that action

Active-Empathetic Listening

One who becomes actively and emotionally involved in an interaction so that it is conscious on the part of the listener and perceived by the speaker

Aggressive Listening

A bad listening practice in which people pay attention in order to attack something the speaker says

Back-Channel Cues

Verbal and nonverbal signals we send while someone is talking

Constructive Criticism

Comments that are specific and descriptive enough for the receiver to apply them for the purpose of self-improvement

Content-Oriented Listeners

Those who like to listen to complex information and evaluate the content of a message, often from multiple perspectives, before drawi

Critical Listening

Listening with the goal of analyzing or evaluating a message based on information presented verbally and able to be inferred from the context

Discriminative Listening

A focused and usually instrumental type of primarily physiological listening that occurs mostly at the receiving stage of the listening process

Eavesdropping

A bad listening practice that involves a calculated and planned attempt to secretly listen to a conversation

Empathetic Listening

The most challenging form of listening, when we try to understand or experience what a speaker is thinking or feeling

High-Context Communication

A style in which much of the meaning generated within an interaction comes from the nonverbal communication

Informational Listening

Listening with the goal of comprehending and retaining information

Listenable Messages

Orally delivered messages tailored for a listener to comprehend

Listening Environment

Characteristics and norms of an organization and its members that contribute to expectations for and perceptions about listening

Listening

The learned process of receiving, interpreting, recalling, evaluating, and responding to verbal and nonverbal messages

Long-Term Memory

Mental storage capability, to which stimuli in short-term memory can be transferred if they are connected to an existing schema, in which information can be stored indefinitely

Low-Context Communication

A style in which much of the meaning generated within an interaction comes from verbal communication

Mental Bracketing

The process of intentionally separating out intrusive or irrelevant thoughts that may distract you from listening

Mirroring

A listener’s replication of the nonverbal signals of a speaker

Mnemonic Devices

Techniques to aid in information recall

Narcissistic Listening

Form of self-centered and self-absorbed listening in which listeners try to make their interaction about them

Paraphrase

Rephrasing a message in one’s own words

People-Oriented Listeners

Those concerned about others’ emotional states, who listen with the purpose of offering support in interpersonal relationships

Physiological Noise

Noise stemming from a physical illness, injury, or bodily stress

Pseudo-Listening

Behaving as if one is paying attention to a speaker but actually is not

Psychological Noise

Noise stemming from our psychological states, including mood and level of arousal

Response Preparation

The tendency to rehearse what we are going to say next while a speaker is still talking

Selective Attention

The tendency to pay attention to messages that benefit us in some way and filter out others

Short-Term Memory

Mental storage capability that can retain stimuli for twenty seconds to one minute

Time-Oriented Listeners

Those more concerned about time limits and timelines than with the content or senders of a message