WGU C464 - Introduction to Communication

Linear model of communication

Simple exchange between 2 people:

1. Decide

2. Encode

3. Transmit

4. Perceive

5. Decode

Decien tranperdeco

Transactional Model

Feedback, along with considering factors that make accurate decoding of messages difficult. Transforms the linear model.

Stages of Perception

How we assign meaning is uniquely our own. Three stages:

1) Select

2) Organize

3) Interpret

Selective exposure

This principle of selection (stage of perception) - attend to info that reinforces existing beliefs and disregard information that is at odds with our current position

Selective attention

This principle of selection (one of the stages of perception) states that once we are engaged in a particular interaction, we focus on certain information and ignore other information

Selective recall

This principle of selection (one of the stages of perception) states that we remember things that we agree with rather than things that are contrary to our beliefs

Organization

A communicator's efforts to group information into meaningful units to make further sense out of the information.

Interpretation

Assign meaning to stimuli

Identity

Ways you express your cultural and group affiliations. Affects perception.

Current internal state

How people perceive stimuli involves how they are feeling. A factor affecting perception.

Locus of causation

Behavior is motivated by internal (intelligence, compassion, or honesty) or an external (resources, luck, favoritism, the situation) factor.

Self-presentation

The strategic development and use of verbal and nonverbal messages that result in others making conclusions about the kind of individual you are

Impression management

Deliberate use of verbal/nonverbal messages to create a particular impression among others

Plan for Effective Self-presentation

Plan to make positive first impressions:

1) Goal

2) Strategy

3) Execute strategy, evaluate results

4) Modify negative perceptions

Co-Culture

Reflects unique beliefs/thinking, communication patterns/styles, and customs of members of particular groups that exist within the umbrella culture. Ex. Marines, college students, crossfit, pet owners

Individualism

Values people who are assertive, independent, and not reliant. Somewhat emotionally distant.

Collectivism

Value their membership in their group so much they place a greater importance on their role within the group.

High context communication

Rely more on nonverbal communication than straightforward verbal messages.

Low context communication

Require explicit or clean verbal messages. Spoon feed what is expected

Feminine

Nurturing, friendly, affectionate, compassionate, warm, supportive

Masculine

Assertive, ambitious, success-oriented, competitive, cold

Monochronic

Type A personality. They like doing one thing at a time, punctual, concentrate fully to meet commitments. Rarely cancel plans, very structured in their use of time, and can be highly irritated by interruptions/delays. They would consider a polychronic individual to be chaotic and unfocused.

Polychronic

Balanced & easygoing. Flexible with starting times for appointments and deadlines. Change plans/priorities easily, and the border between work or professional time and family or personal time is fluid for them. Their style may seem chaotic and unfocused to a monochronic individual.

Ethnocentrism

The belief that one's own culture and lifestyle are superior to all others

High power distance

Place a great deal of value on social rank/status associated with certain occupations/political offices. King vs peasants.

Low power distance

Communicate in ways that promote equality and diminish barriers between people that status/rank create.

Ex: Israel, Denmark, Sweden, great Britain, Germany, Canada and US

Synchronous communication

Instant replies

Asynchronous communication

Must wait for reply (Email)

Ethos

Credibility and characteristics of the speaker. Common components include competence, trustworthiness, and dynamism.

Think: ethical

Pathos

Emotional appeal of a speaker. Ability to arouse emotion within the audience.

Think: Empath

Logos

The logical argument presented by a speaker. The discourse that is supported by logical reasoning. Includes two categories: inductive and deductive reasoning

Hasty generalization

A fallacy of inductive reasoning that comes to a general conclusion based on too few or unrepresentative examples

Straw person fallacy

Taking another person's argument/point, distorts/exaggerate it, and then attacks the distortion. As if it’s the claim the first person is making.

Ex: One saying they like dogs, so the other insists they don’t like cats.

Forced dichotomy

Fallacy occuring when a speaker presents only 2 solutions to a problem, ignoring other solutions either purposefully or out of ignorance.

Ex: Jim criticizes capitalizm; therefore, Jim must be a communist

Ad Hominem

Fallacy occuring when someone refutes an argument by attacking the person’s character who presented the argument rather than the argument itself

Informative speech

A type of speech designed to create, further, or alter the audience's factual beliefs about a topic

Recency effect

Ending the body of a speech with your most strongest/interesting/controversial claim because it arouses your audience to keep thinking, talking about, or working with the ideas of your speech

Primary effect

Lead the body of the speech with the most compelling piece of evidence first

Dyadic relationships

Relationships that involve 2 people

Interdependence

2 people being mutually dependent on one another

Inclusion needs

Our need to feel accepted by and involved with others. One of the 3 fundamental human needs

Direct strategies

Unambiguous (clear/no doubt) in letting other person know just what type of relationship they want. People introduce themselves, invite others to participate in activities, or make explicit statements of attraction. Opposite of ambiguous.

Social Attraction

Form of attraction that friends feel toward one another based on shared enjoyment of activities and interests

Dialectal tension

Tension that exists between 2 competing and contradictory but related forces

Flaming

Online verbal abuse on social media sites or through instant messaging and email

Keylogging

Using devices and software to detect the keystrokes that an individual types on his or her personal computer

Message complexity

Message that is detailed or characterized by a number of arguments and related evidence might be difficult to follow and comprehend

Information Overload

State of being exposed to more messages than we can cognitively process at any given time

Preoccupation or psychological noise

Distractions due to one over-focusing on a single task, thought, or message that inhibits effective listening

Passive listening/ pseudolistening

Receiving message mindlessly

Euphemism

A polite and pleasant expression designed to substitute for a term that the sender believes lacks social acceptability

Kinesics

Study of body movements, including posture, gestures, and facial expressions

Emblems

Nonverbal movements that substitute for words and verbalization. Putting your hand up to stop someone or giving a thumbs up.

One of the 5 ways in which we use our body to communicate

Illustrators

Movements that either accompany or reinforce the meaning of a verbal code. Put your finger to your lips and say shhhh or saying no while shaking your head side to side.

One of the 5 ways in which we use our body to communicate

Affect displays

Nonverbal movements that reveal emotion. Slumped shoulders, minimal eye contact, and a flat facial expression may indicate sadness or depressed state.

One of the 5 ways in which we use our body to communicate

Regulators

Movements that help communicators manage conversation.

Ex: checking the time when you want a speaker to wrap up or opening your mouth to say something before actually speaking.

One of the 5 ways in which we use our body to communicate

Adaptors

Movements that communicators engage in to relieve stress wand anxiety.

Ex. tapping fingers or clicking a pen. One of the 5 ways in which we use our body to communicate

Proxemics

Study of ways humans use and manage the space around them as a way of shaping meaning

Intimate distance

Up to 18 inches away from you.

In Western cultures, people reserve this space for those they are very close relationally.

One of the four distances of personal space

Personal Distance

18 inches to 4 feet. Amount of space used for conversation with friends and acquaintances.

One of four distances of personal space.

Social Distance

4 to 12 feet away. Most professional and workplace communication takes place here.

One of the four distances of personal space

Public Distance

12+ feet away. Used for public speaking and lecturing.

One of the four distances of personal space

Haptics

Use of touch in communication. A nonverbal behavior of communicators

Artifacts

Ornaments and adornments they display on or around their physical person. A nonverbal behavior of communicators

Groupthink

A team's overwhelming motivation to agree and reach consensus and failure to critically evaluate the task or alternative plans or solutions

Social Loafing

Situations in which one or more members exert little or no effort to team's work

Bad Apple Effect

Poisonous impact of having just one ineffective team member

Forming

Team explores & identifies its primary objectives. Communication is polite, safe, and not controversial.

1st stage of team development.

Storming

Less socially safe, openly disagree, not attached to one single idea yet while looking for ways to combine various elements of different ideas.

2nd stage of team development.

Norming

Individual members resolve their conflicts and assume their roles in functional, appropriate ways.

3rd stage of team development

Performing

Members do the work necessary to accomplish the team's objectives.

4th stage of team development

Communication

The exchange of verbal and nonverbal messages with the intent of stimulating particular meanings in the minds of others

Communication overload

When the constant connections and perpetual linkages one has with others and information via multiple communication modes becomes overwhelming

Culture

Complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, morals, law, custom, and any other capabilities and habits acquired by people as a member of society. Can also be influenced by a person's level of education and geographic location

Globalization

Process of the world becoming more connected in economic, political, organizational, and personal terms. Transportation and tele communication systems improve.

The basic competencies of communication

Listening, thinking critically, and adapting

Understanding

Stimulate the meanings we intend in the minds of others

Intercultural communication

Communication between and among people and groups across national, ethnic, and other cultural boundaries

The four primary challenges of communication

1) Requires significant intellectual and psychological resources.

2) Not everyone appreciates the value of communication.

3) May over-rely on digitally mediated communication.

4) Intercultural understanding can be difficult.

Noise

Any auditory, visual, or psychological distraction that interferes with the sending and receiving of messages

Communication competence

Refers to one's ability to choose among available communicative behaviors to accomplish one's goals during an encounter.

1) Can sense what is appropriate in a given situation

2) Build and develop their communication skills

3) Requires motivation

Closure

Mental tool for organizing stimuli is our ability to fill in missing information to complete a perception

Figure and ground

Allows a person to direct their attention to a figure rather than its background.

For example, black font grabs our attention when placed on a white page, and we pay little attention to the texture of the white paper.

Similarity

A final tool for organizing stimuli is to organize it by the degree to which something shares attributes with other stimuli

Proximity

Another way to organize information is based on its physical closeness, in relation to other information

Biological factors

How well you see or hear, your height, and even how well you smell can affect how you perceive the stimuli around you. A factor affecting perception.

Past experiences

Your previous experiences, relationships, and the roles that you were assigned and played within those experiences have a tremendous impact on your perceptions of others. A factor affecting perception.

Self-esteem

Making evaluations about yourself. The degree to which you approve of, value, and like the concept that you have of yourself.

Self-concept

Refers to the way you define yourself.

Stereotype

Involves assuming a standard, generalized profile of an individual, because he or she belongs to a group.

Attribution error

In interpreting our own or others' behavior, we rely on faulty explanations, reasons, or information.

Fundamental attribution error

Attribute other people's positive characteristics and successes to external, situational factors, and their negative characteristics and failures to aspects of who they are.

One of the two primary types of attribution errors.

Self-serving bias

When we are successful, we attribute our successes to some internal positive qualities—intelligence, charm, or competent communication. However, when we fail, we blame the situation.

The five primary characteristics of culture

1. Individualism and collectivism

2. High context and low context

3. High power distance and low power distance

4. Masculinity and femininity

5. Polychronism and monochronism

Technophobic

Anxious or avoidant of using new media. Avoids technology and new media for unclear or irrational reasons.

Medium

A device that moves messages over distance or through time so that people who are not face-to-face can communicate. The plural form is media.

TV, radio, newspaper, internet.

New media

Digital or networked information and communication technologies that have emerged since the latter part of the twentieth century. Interactive, two way.

Digital media

Digital codes including digitized photographs, video, or written words in which a tremendous amount is stored in a very small amount of space

Networking

The connections among devices and the people who use them

Role-taking

The skill that allows communicators to figuratively stand in one another's shoes and assume one another's social roles and perspective