Foundations of Human Communication - Vocabulary Flashcards

Vocabulary flashcards derived from Chapter 1: Foundations of Human Communication notes by Dr. Maram Miralam.

Intrapersonal communication

Communication with oneself, including reflection, planning, and internal dialogue.

Interpersonal communication

Direct interaction between two people or a small number of people.

Small group communication

Communication among people who share a task, purpose, or identity.

Public and mass communication

Messages for larger audiences, from lectures and briefings to media platforms.

Mediated and digital communication

Communication shaped by email, messaging, video calls, social media, and collaborative tools.

Source-receivers

People in interaction who usually send and receive messages at the same time.

Encoding

The process of translating ideas, feelings, or intentions into verbal and nonverbal messages.

Decoding

The process of interpreting the messages received.

Metacommunication

Communication about communication that helps explain how a message should be understood.

Feedback

A response that shows something about how a message was received, which may be verbal or nonverbal, immediate or delayed, intentional or unintentional, positive, negative, or neutral.

Channel

The medium through which a message travels.

Physical noise

External interference such as sounds, crowded spaces, or poor connectivity.

Physiological noise

Bodily interference such as fatigue, pain, illness, hunger, or hearing difficulty.

Psychological noise

Mental or emotional interference such as anxiety, anger, defensiveness, prejudice, or preoccupation.

Semantic noise

Interference caused by jargon, ambiguous wording, unfamiliar terms, or different meanings for the same word.

Linear model

A model presenting communication as a one-way transmission: sender → message → channel → receiver.

Interactional model

A model that adds feedback and treats communication as a two-way process where roles alternate.

Transactional model

A model viewing communication as simultaneous, continuous, contextual, and mutually influential, where meaning is co-created.

Culture

A learned and shared system of values, beliefs, practices, symbols, norms, and communication patterns.

Ethnocentrism

The habit of judging other cultures only by one's own standards.

Synchronous channels

Digital communication channels that provide rapid feedback.

Asynchronous channels

Digital communication channels that provide time to plan and edit messages.

Audience collapse

Occurs in digital communication when friends, family, colleagues, employers, and strangers see the same post.

Communication competence

Communicating effectively (achieving a goal) and appropriately (fitting the situation, relationship, norms, and expectations).