Interpersonal Communication Key Concepts

Vocabulary flashcards reviewing key concepts and models of interpersonal and mediated communication based on Interplay (16th Edition).

SMCR Model

An early linear communication model developed in the 1950s to explain telephone communication, consisting of four main elements: sender, message, channel, and receiver.

Transactional Communication Model

A dynamic model that views communication as a two-way process where individuals simultaneously send, receive, and assign meaning to messages within overlapping environments and amidst noise.

Four Human Needs Satisfied by Communication

The essential requirements fulfilled through interaction: physical needs, identity needs, social needs, and practical needs.

Types of Noise

Interferences that disrupt message transmission and reception, categorised into external (environmental), physiological (biological), and psychological (cognitive/emotional) noise.

Content Dimension

The explicit, literal information being discussed or communicated in a message.

Relational Dimension

The aspect of a message that expresses how the communicators feel about one another and their relationship.

Dyad

A two-person unit engaged in communication.

Qualitative Interpersonal Communication

Interaction characterized by uniqueness, interdependence, self-disclosure, and intrinsic rewards, distinguished from simple quantitative dyadic interaction.

Communication Competence

The ability to choose communication behavior that is both effective and appropriate in a given context.

Self-Monitoring

The process of paying close attention to one's own communication behavior and using those observations to shape and adapt behavior.

Cognitive Complexity

The ability to construct a variety of different frameworks or perspectives for viewing an issue or situation.

Mediated Interpersonal Communication

Communication conducted through technology that involves personal content, a small number of identifiable receivers, mutual obligation, and an expectation of privacy.

Masspersonal Communication

Interaction that combines personal content with a larger public audience reach, featuring less mutual obligation and a lower expectation of privacy.

Masspersonal Communication Matrix

A conceptual framework plotting communication across public/private and impersonal/personal axes to categorize mass, masspersonal, and interpersonal channels.

Media Multiplexity

The practice of using multiple media channels to maintain and strengthen existing real-world relationships.

Richness

 The abundance of nonverbal and verbal cues available in a communication channel to convey meaning.

Leanness

The starkness or lack of nonverbal cues in a communication channel, typical of text-based media.

Leanness-Richness Spectrum

A continuum measuring communication channels from leanest (texting, email) to richest (in-person, face-to-face interaction) based on cue availability.

Hyperpersonal Communication

Accelerated discussion of personal topics and relational intimacy in mediated channels beyond levels typically achieved in face-to-face interaction.

Synchronous Communication

Real-time, simultaneous communication occurring without a time delay between sender and receiver.

Asynchronous Communication

Communication in which a time gap exists between when a message is transmitted and when it is received and responded to.

Disinhibition

The tendency to transmit messages online without considering consequences, often leading to blunter or harsher communication.