Chapter 1: Interpersonal Process Terms

Channel

The medium through which a message passes from a sender to receiver.

Cognitive Complexity

The ability to construct a variety of frameworks for viewing an issue.

Communication

The use of messages to generate meanings.

Communication Comptence

The ability to achieve one’s goals in a manner that is effective and appropriate.

Content Dimension

The dimension of a message that communicates information about the sibject being discussed.

Enviroment

Both the physical setting in which communication occurs and the personal perspectives of the people involved.

Feedback

A discernable response of a reciever to a sender’s message.

Interpersonal Communication

Distinguished by the qualities of uniqueness, interdependence, self-disclosure, and instrinsic rewards.

Noise

External, physiological, and psychological distraction that interfere with accurate transmission and reception of a message.

Relational Dimension

The dimension of a message that expresses the social relationship between two or more indivudals.

Self-monitoring

The process of attending to one’s behavior and using these to shape the way one behaves.

Transactional communication

The dynamic process in which communicators create meaning together through interaction.