Communication Midterm

Communication

A systemic process in which people interact with and through symbols to create and interpret meanings

Content Level of Meaning

Contains the literal message

Feedback

Verbal or nonverbal response to a message

Homeostasis

A state of equilibrium that systems strive for but cannot sustain

Meaning

The significance we attribute to a phenomenon; what it signifies

Noise

Anything that interferes with the intended meaning of communication, may distort understanding

Openess

The extent to which a system affects and is affected by outside factors and processes

Process

It is always in motion, moving forward and changing continually, it is ongoing and dynamic

Relationship Level of Meaning

Expresses the relationship between communicators

Symbols

Arbitrary, ambiguous, and abstract representations of phenomena. Symbols are the basis of language, much nonverbal behavior, and human thought

System

A group of interrelated elements that affect one another

Pathos

Proof based on appealing to listeners emotions

Ethos

Proof based on speaker’s credibility

Logos

Proof based on logic and reasoning

Quantitative Research

Technique such as descriptive statistics, surveys, and experiments, used to gather quantifiable data

Qualitative Research

Interpretive techniques including textual analysis and ethnography, used to understand the character of experience, particularly how people perceive and make sense of communication

Critical Research

An approach to research that aims to identify, critique or change communication practices that oppress marginalize, or otherwise harm people

Triangulation

Studying phenomena in multiple ways by relying on multiple sources of data, theories, researchers, and methodological approaches

Intrapersonal Communication

Communication with ourselves or self-talk

Interpersonal Communication

Communication between people

Organizational Culture

Understandings about identity and codes of thought and action that are shared by the members of an organization

Ethics

The branch of philosophy that deals with the goodness or rightness of particular actions

Perception

An active process of selecting, organizing, and interpreting people, objects, events , situations, and activities

Constructivism

A theory that holds that we organize and interpret experience by applying cognitive structures called schemata

Cognitive Schemata

Mental structures people use to organize and interpret experience. Four types being prototypes, personal constructs, stereotypes, and scripts

Schemata

Cognitive structures we use to organize and interpret experiences

Prototype

A knowledge structure that defines the clearest or most representative example of some category

Personal Construct

A bipolar mental yardstick that allows us to measure people and situations along bipolar dimensions of judgement

Stereotype

A predictive generalization about a person or situation

Script

Define expected or appropriate sequences of action in particular settings

Interpretation

The subjective process of creating explanations for what we observe and experience.

Attribution

An explanation of why things happen or why people act as they do

Self-serving bias

The tendency to attribute our positive actions and successes to stable, global, internal influences that we control and to attribute negative actions and failures to external influences beyond our control

Positive Visualization

A technique to enhance success in a variety of situations by teaching people to visualize themselves being effective and successful

Expectancy Violation Theory

Claims that when our expectations are violated, we become more cognitively alert as we struggle to understand and cope with unexpected behaviors

Cognitive Complexity

The number of mental constructs an individual uses, how abstract they are, and how elaborately the interact to create perceptions

Person-Centeredness

The ability to perceive another as a unique and distinct individual apart from social roles and generalizations

Empathy

The ability to feel with another person, to feel what they feel in a situation

Culture

The beliefs, value, understanding, practices and ways of interpreting experience that are shared by a group of people

Social Community

A group of people who live within a dominant culture yet also belong to another social group or groups that share values understandings, and practices distinct from those of the dominant culture

Mind Reading

The assumption that we understand what another person thinks or how another person perceives something

Inference

An interpretation that goes beyond the facts known but is believed to logically follow from them

Judgement

A belief or opinion based on observations, feelings, assumptions, or other nonfactual phenomena

Monitoring

The observation and regulation of ones own communication

Individualism

A predominant Western value that regards each person as unique, important, and to be recognized for their individual qualities and behavior

Symbols

Arbitrary, ambiguous, and abstract representation of phenomena. They are the basis of language, much nonverbal behavior, and human thought

Nonverbal Communication

All forms of communication other than words themselves

Verbal Communication

Words and only words

Arbitrary

Random or not necessary, symbols are this

Ambiguous

Subject to multiple meanings

Abstract

Removed from concrete reality

Brute Facts

Objective, concrete phenomena

Institutional Facts

Meanings people assign to brute facts that are based on human interpretation

Communication Rules

Shared understandings of what communication means and what behaviors are appropriate in various situations

Regulative Rules

Communication rules that regulate interaction by specifying when, how, where, and with whom to talk about certain things

Constitutive Rules

Communication rules that specify how certain communicative acts are to be counted

Punctuation

Defining the beginning and ending of interaction or interaction episodes

Totalizing

Responding to a person as if one aspect of that person were the total of who the person is

Loaded Language

An extreme form of evaluative language that relies on words that strongly slant perceptions and thus meanings

Reappropriation

A groups reclamation of a term used by others to degrade the groups members; the treatment of those terms as positive self-descriptions

Hypothetical Thought

Thinking about experiences and ideas that do not exist or are not immediately present to the senses

I

The creative, spontaneous, impulsive aspect of the self

Me

The reflective, analytical, socially conscious aspect of self

Static Evaluation

An assessment that suggest that something is unchanging or static

Indexing

A technique of noting that every statement reflects a specific time and circumstance and may not apply to other circumstances

I-Language

Language that identifies the speakers or perceivers thoughts and feelings

You-Language

Language that attributes intentions and motives to another person, usually the person to whom one is speaking

Kinesics

Body position and body motions, including those of the face that may be used to communicate or may be interpreted as or may be interpreted as communicating

Haptics

Nonverbal communication involving physical touch

Physical appearance

A form of nonverbal communication; how we look, including the cultural meanings, values, and expectations associated with looks

Olfactics

The perception of scents and odors

Artifact

Any personal object with which one announces ones identities or personalizes ones environment

Proxemics

Nonverbal communication that involves space and how we use it

Environmental Factor

Any nonverbal element of a setting that affects how we think, feel, act, and communicate

Chronemics

Nonverbal communication involving the perception and use of time to define identities and interaction

Paralanguage

Communication that is vocal but not verbal including accent, inflection, volume, pitch, and gasps

Silence

Lack of sound

Self

A multidimensional process that involves forming and action from social perspectives that arise and evolve in communication with others

Generalized Other

The perspective that represents ones perception of the rules roles, and attitudes endorsed by ones group or community

Particular Others

Specific people who are significant to the self and who influence the self’s values, perspectives and esteem

Attachment Styles

The patterns of interaction between child and primary caregiver that teach the child who they are

Secure Attachment Styles

A style fostered by a caregiver who communicates with an infant in consistently loving and attentive way and which inclines people to view themselves and others as worth and to be comfortable both alone and in intimate relationships

Fearful Attachment Style

Characterized by the perception of self as unworthy of love; fostered by dismissive, rejecting, or abusive treatment by a caregiver

Dismissive Attachment Style

Characterized by a view of others as unworthy of love and the self as adequate yet removed from intimate relationships; fostered by disinterested, rejecting, or abusive treatment by a caregiver

Anxious Attachment Style

Characterized by preoccupation with relationships, in which intimacy is both wanted and feared

Life Scripts

Guides to action based on rules for living and identity

Reflected Appraisal

The image of and estimate of ourselves that we perceive others communicate to us

Direct Definition

Communication that tells us who we are by explicitly labeling us and reacting to our behaviors

Self-Fulfilling Prophecies

Acting in ways that bring about others on our own expectations or judgements of ourselves

Social Comparison

Comparing ourselves with others to form judgements of our talents, abilities, qualities, and so forth

Self Disclosure

The revelation of personal information about ourselves that others are unlikely to discover in other ways

Uncertain Reduction Theory

The theory that people find uncertainty uncomfortable and so are motivated to use communication to reduce uncertainty

Cyberbullying

Text messages, comments etc. that are meant to hurt another person

Self Sabotage

Self talk that communicates that we are no good; undermines belief in ourselves and motivation to change and grow

Upper

A person who communicates positive messages about us and our worth

Downer

A person who communicates negatively about us and our worth

Vulture

A person who attacks a persons self esteem

Speech to Entertain

A speech intended to amuse, interest and engage listeners

Speech to Inform

Speech intended to increase listeners understanding of some topic

Speech to Persuade

A speech intended to change listeners attitudes and beliefs etc.