Chp 1: The Basics of Communication

BOOK: pgs. 1-13

PDF: p. 11-23

What You Need to Know

• Define communication

• Know it is a transactional process

• Types of Communication

• Reasons why we communicate

• Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs

• Elements in the model of Communication (sender-encoder, message, channel, receiver-decoder, feedback, noise, context/environment)

• Linear, interactive, and transactional model of communication

• Ogden’s triangle of meaning (know the thought, referent, and symbol)

• Types of Communication (Intrapersonal, Interpersonal, Group, Public (Public Speaking & Mass Media)

• Myths of communication

Define Communication

• Communication - it is the transfer of meaning or the process of creating shared meaning

• It can be intended (deliberate) or unintended (accidental)

• Language (verbal) and behavior (nonverbal) are symbols

• People construct messages (encode) and interpret messages (decode).

• It is unrepeatable and irreversible

Types of Communication

• Intrapersonal: any emotional or cognitive activities that an individual has of self (communicating with oneself)

• Interpersonal: the process by which people exchange information, feelings, and meaning through verbal and nonverbal messages (face-to-face communication)

• Group: the act of sending and receiving messages to multiple members of a group

• Public: strategic communication is used when a person or group of people muster and share information with a group of people to deliver a message on a specific topic

  • Public speaking: a presentation given live before an audience

  • Mass communication (through mass media): the study of communicating with the masses but is also storytelling with strategy and purpose.

Why We Communicate

• To fulfill:

  • Physical and mental health needs

  • Instrumental and practical needs

  • Relational needs (to form meaningful relationships)

  • Identity needs

  • Spiritual needs (beliefs and feelings about values and meaning of human existence)

  • To gain self-understanding and insight into others

  • To influence others

  • For career development

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs (PDF: p. 12)

• First, people need to fill basic/physiological needs (food and sleep)

• Then seeking safety for themselves and their family

• Filling their needs to love and belonging to a group

• Seek out a way to fill their needs for self-esteem and confidence

• Moral needs called self-actualization

• Demonstrates that it needs to be driven by a purpose for communication to be successful and fulfilling

How do we Communicate

• Through the use and interpretation of symbols

• Process of interpretation includes:

  • Referent (what you want to communicate)

  • Symbol (words or images that represent the idea)

  • Thought (the connection between referent and symbol)

Elements of Communication

• People - sender and receiver

  • The sender is a person, a group, or an organization who has some kind of information that they to present to others.

    • For that message to be received, the sender must first encode or create the message in a form that can be understood.

    • Then, the sender sends the message through a channel.

  • On the other end of the channel is the receiver, the person to whom a message is directed.

    • The receiver must be able to decode the symbols within the message or interpret them to understand the meaning.

• Messages (encoded and decoded)

  • The message is what the sender wants to relay to the receiver. Additional subtext can be conveyed through body language and tone of voice.

• Channels

  • The channel is the pathway through which the symbols travel to a receiver or receivers. Text messages, for example, are transmitted through the channel of cell phones.

• Noise/interference

  • The noise/interference is anything that interferes with the receiver’s ability to properly receive the message.

    • Physical Noise: people talking, air conditioner, shuffling papers, etc., visual barriers, poor volume and projection, distractions in the room, hunger, tiredness, and other bodily limitations

    • Psychological Noise: preoccupation with other thoughts, emotional reaction to the topic, prejudice or ill will toward the speaker, unwillingness to listen, resistance to the message

• Context

  • The context is the environment in which communication takes place. It may have a physical, social, or cultural aspect to it. When we communicate, we take the context into consideration when it comes to everything we do.

• Feedback

  • Feedback is the response given to the sender after the receiver decodes the message. It may be direct or indirect.

• Effect

  • Effect is how we react to the message that was sent. The receiver may ignore the message, act on it or dispose of it or even send feedback to the source depending on the effect the message has on the receiver.

3 Models of Communication

• All 3 models have these basic elements:

  • Encoding, Decoding, Channel, and Noise

• Linear Model (Shannon/Weaver 1949) Action Model - a one-way process, in which the sender sends a message to a receiver, who decodes it

• Interaction Model (add feedback and context) - a two-way process, in which feedback takes place after the receiver decodes the sender’s message

• Transactional Model - simultaneous sender/receiver; Both parties interchange as a sender or a receiver; communication flows both ways at the same time, which is a much more realistic characterization of the communication process

Competent Communicators

• They’re self-aware

  • Self-monitoring

• They’re responsive and adaptable

• They use person-centered messages (using ‘the generalized’ other before we enact our thoughts or behaviors)

• They are cognitively complex - the ways a message could be interpreted

• They are ethical and civil good manners, polite and assertive

“Communication is a symbolic process whereby reality is produced, maintained, repaired and transformed.” - James W. Carey

Vocab

• Units of analysis - the item that the researcher is trying to understand or study

• Encoding - the process of creating a message using symbols

• Channel - the pathway through which the symbols travel

• Noise - anything that interferes with the receiver’s ability to properly receive the message

• Decoding - the process of interpreting the symbols within a message

• Feedback - the various verbal and nonverbal responses to the message by the receiver

• Context - the physical, emotional, and psychological environment in which the communication event takes place

• Communication competence - the ability to effectively and appropriately interact in any given situation

• Self-monitoring - the process of being attuned to how our actions and messages impact others

• Generalized other - a composite mental image we use to practice our potential statements or behaviors before we actually enact them

• Empathy - the ability to understand and feel the emotions that another person is experiencing

• Cognitive complexity - the ability to recognize multiple ways in which a situation or message could be understood or interpreted