Comm1500Final Study Notes Complete 2021 PDF

Preview

Summary

study guide for final exam in comm super helpful...

Description

Comm 1500 Notes: Chapters 1-5, 7-14 1. Connecting Process and Principles

Bold words=bold terms in text Communication competence is the ability to take part in effective communication that is characterized by skills and understandings that enable communicators to exchange messages successfully Communication is a process that allows us to share and create meaning; simultaneous sharing and creating of meaning through human symbolic interaction -all types linked by a common thread: human symbolic interaction Social Media is highly accessible technologies that facilitate communication, interaction, and connection with others Social Network is a group of individuals who are connected by friendship, family, common interest, beliefs, or knowledge Social media allows us to stay connected but also make our messages less personal Good communication skills are essential for individuals to present themselves as a valuable employee Ethics refers to an individual’s system of moral principles Plagiarism is the use of another person’s information, language, or ideas without citing the originator and making it appear that the user is the originator Four Fundamental Principles of Communication 1) 2) 3) 4)

Communication is a process Communication is a system Communication is transactional Communication can be intentional or unintentional

Communication is a process -it involves a series of actions that has no beginning or end and is constantly changing -always changing and capable of effecting change Communication is a system -a combination of parts interdependently acting to form a whole -Ex. If a boss has a fight at home he could be irritable at work -effects home system as well as work system Communication is transactional -simultaneous sending and receiving of messages -explains how people can be both speaker and listener Communication can be intentional or unintentional -intentional communication is a message that is purposely sent to a specific receiver -unintentional communication is a message that is not intended to be sent or is not intended for the person who receives it Eight Essential Components of Communication 1) Source/Sender a. Creator of the message; more than one source can exist at one time

2)

3)

4)

5)

b. Performs four roles: determination of what is to be communicated, encoding the meaning into a message, sending the message, and perceiving and reacting to a listener’s response to the message i. Determining meaning-word choice, tone of voice, and other nonverbal behaviors help communicate ii. Encoding-a source translates the thoughts or feelings into words, sounds, and physical expressions iii. Sending-the source’s ability to communicate overtly using voice and body to express the intended meaning accurately iv. Reacting-a source must interpret the receiver’s response to the message Message a. Communication produced by the source i. Any stimulus that affects a receiver is a message from the source regardless of whether the source intended to send it Interference/Noise a. Anything that changes the meaning of an intended message i. Can be external and physical ii. Can be internal and psychological Channel a. The means by which messages flow between sources and receivers i. Usually light and sound waves Receiver a. Analyzes and interprets messages and translates into meaning i. Decoding

*Simultaneously a receiver and a source 6) Feedback a. Response to a message that a receiver sends back to a source i. Enables a sender to determine if the communication has been received and understood as intended b. As feedback increases so does the accuracy of information and the confidence in his or her performance 7) Environment a. The psychological and physical surrounding in which communication occurs 8) Context a. Broad circumstances or situation in which communication occurs b. Affects what we say and how we say it

Types of Communication 1) Intrapersonal Communication a. Understanding information within oneself i. Thinking, problem solving, conflict resolution, planning, stress, etc. 2) Interpersonal Communication i. Creating and sharing meaning between persons who are in a relationship ii. Dyadic communication is an exchange of information between two people 1. Interview iii. Small-group communication 1. Exchange of information among a relatively small number of people who share a common purpose 3) Public Communication

a. a message is transmitted from one person who speaks to a number of individuals who listen 4) Mass Communication a. Professionals who are communicating with or to a very large number of people 5) Communication via Social Media a. Any communication transmitted through digital devices or platforms Distinguishing Social Media from Face-to-Face Communication

Interactivity: refers to the ability of a communication tool to facilitate social interaction between groups or individuals Temporal Structure: refers to the time it takes to send and receive messages -synchronous forms from which each person is simultaneously a sender and receiver -asynchronous to communicators must alternate being the sender and receiver of a message -longer wait for response Social cues are the verbal and nonverbal features of a message that offer more information about the context and meaning -social cues are more obvious in person but can create problems in social media because of misinterpretations -replicability -Communication can occur in an environment that makes it easy to record and redistribute past messages -storage -face-to-face conversations are gone after the interaction but social media can store messages -reach -social media allows individuals (local or far) to communicate -“go viral” -reach enormous audiences by other viewers and users seeing the message -mobility -social media varies in mobility but face-to-face is as mobile as you can walk Myths of about Communication 1) Communication is a cure all a. Not necessarily; can actually cause more problems 2) Quantity means quality a. Content of communication makes the difference 3) Meaning is in the words we use a. The words themselves could refer to many degrees or types of conditions 4) We have a natural ability to communicate a. It is actually learned 5) Communication is reversible

2 Connecting Process and Principles

Bold words=bold terms in text Perception- selecting, organizing, and interpreting information to give meaning to our communication and lives -based on our experiences, give meaning to our communication, and influences how we communicate with others -requires that we use at least 1 of our 5 senses: hearing, touching, smelling, seeing, and tasting -could lead to communication misunderstandings The Perception Process: selecting, organizing, and interpreting Selection- sorting of one stimulus from another based on our previous experiences; the relevant information and narrow our focus 3 types: 1)

Selective exposure- deliberate choices we make to experience or to avoid particular stimuli a. Choosing to attend to one thing over another 2) Selective attention- focusing on a specific message while ignoring or downplaying other stimuli a. Concentrating on something or someone of interest and you eliminate or reduce the effects of all extraneous messages b. Ex. Talking to someone when loud music is playing, you focus on the other’s words more attentively and ignore the other sounds 3) Selective retention-when we choose to process and store specific information we want to eventually retrieve and use again a. More likely to remember for longer information that agrees with our views and to selectively forget information that does not b. Ex. Listened to an instructor about how to complete something, then find out later you only partially completed the assignment

Organization- the way our minds sort information; has a profound effect on how we perceive others, how we talk to them, and how they respond to us Cognitive complexity- used by psychologists to measure and explain our ability to process, interpret, and store simple to intricate information -more cognitively complex, the more sophisticated our perceptions 3 ways of organizing: 1) Closure- filling in of details so that a partially perceived entity appears to be complete a. Seeing a figure that appears to be random but able to transform the random shapes into an image i. Always trying to make meaningless material meaningful; may be based on biases or ignorance 2) Proximity-the grouping of 2 or more stimuli that are close to one another, based on the assumption that because objects or people appear together, they are similar a. Ex. Thinking that people who live near us behave and think in the same way 3) Similarity- involves the grouping of stimuli that resemble one another in size, shape, color, or other traits a. Typically when we see people from different cultures we assume that because people are similar in appearance, they must behave and think similarly as well

i. Ex. Someone who likes baseball and opera thinks that someone else who likes baseball will also like opera

Interpretation- integral part of who we are and how our perceptions influence our communication; the assigning of meaning to stimuli; use our experiences and the opinions of other to help interpret the meaning of stimuli 4 ways: 1) Interpretation based on past experiences a. Ex. Being familiar with campus and falsely assuming that someone we are giving directions to will understand exactly what we are telling them 2) Interpretation based on new situations a. Ex. Cannot let a bad experience with one doctor automatically mean it will be the same with another doctor 3) Interpretation based on others’ opinions- perceptions formed from others around us, i.e. social media a. Ex. Hearing on the news hurricane Sandy would be bad but not affect your area, then you may not prepare as much 4) Interpretation based on verbal communication- people use their voices to produce images; form perceptions based on the sound, speed, accent, an fluency of people’s voices about age, competency, intelligence, cultural or ethnic background, and gender

Perceptual Differences Perceptual Set-ignoring new information and instead rely solely on our past experiences –fixed , previously determined views of events, objects, and people- to interpret information; allows our past experiences to control or focus our perceptions so that we ignore information that is different or has changed about an event, object, or person Stereotyping-the categorizing of events, objects, and people without regard to unique individual characteristics and qualities Attribution- the complex process through which we attempt to understand the reasons behind others’ behaviors 2 factors influence our assumptions about our own and others’ behavior 1) Situation or environment 2) Disposition or traits of the person

We are more likely to overestimate dispositional causes and underestimate situational causes of others’ actions -called the fundamental attribution error -often made because we have no other reference point except the observable behavior Physical characteristics can lead to assumptions that can influence our communication -weight, height, body shape, health, strength, ability to use our sense, and clothing Our psychological state also alters our perceptions -ex. When we are in a positive frame of mind we view things more positively than if we were in a negative frame of mind -could reverse meaning or alter a message Culture- a set of interpretations about beliefs, values, norms, and social practices, which affect behaviors of a relatively large group of people -most people believe that people who are similar in race or nationality think and behave in the same way but that is not true

-labels such as “Hispanic” do not suggest that differences may also be found within that group and not just differences between “Native Americans” and “Hispanics” -ethnocentrism-being unable to appreciate ideas, customs, or beliefs that differ from those of one’s own cultural background and automatically assuming that one’s own view is superior to that of any other culture; a learned belief that our own culture is superior to all others -cultural myopia- not only refers to perceiving one’s own culture as superior to other cultures but also means a very narrow or short sighted view of other cultures -cultural relativism- taking on a broader worldview and open mind to different cultures as merely being different rather than as inferior because they are different Gender-not biological; socially constructed and is related to masculine and feminine behaviors that are learned Feminine themes: appearances still count, be sensitive and caring, accept negative treatment; be superwoman Masculine themes: do not be female, be successful, be aggressive, be sexual, be selfreliant Media can alter our perceptions deliberately -information is selected and edited for our consumption -Ex. During elections, what the media reports influences our perceptions of candidates -our biases and prior perceptions can lead us to media that support and reinforce the views that we hold Improving Perception Competencies and Perception Checking 1) Be an active perceiver- being willing to seek out as much information as possible; taking time to gather more information and recheck the accuracy of our perceptions 2) Recognize that each person’s frame of reference is unique- our view is only one of many 3) Distinguish facts from inferences- facts can be verified and inferences are an interpretation that goes beyond what we know to be factual 4) Become aware of the role of perceptions in communication- take others’ perceptions into account and avoid the tendency to assume too much about what we perceive 5) Keep an open mind- continue to make observations, seek additional information, and be willing to describe what we observe 6) Check perceptions- to avoid jumping to false conclusions a. Describe the observed behavior b. Think of at least two interpretations of the behavior c. Verify your interpretation

Chapter 3 Connecting Self and Communication Bold words=bold terms Self-concept: a person’s perceived self, which consists of an organized collection of beliefs and attitudes about self; self-identity; determined by our experiences and communication with others, roles and values we have selected for ourselves, and how we believe others see us  

Self-image: how we see ourselves or our mental picture of self Self-esteem: our feelings and attitudes toward ourselves or how we evaluate ourselves

Development of Self-Concept As children our parents heavily influence our self-concept and as we age new relationships and our environment with either reinforce or alter our perceptions of self Values- general, relatively long-lasting ideals that guide our behavior; a person’s perceived self, which consists of an organized collection of beliefs and attitudes about self; can have both positive and negative influences on how we behave and communicate Attitude- an evaluative feeling, viewpoint, or way of thinking about oneself, others events, ideas, or objects; more narrowly define than values; includes an evaluation of whether someone or something is good or bad Beliefs- a conviction or confidence in the truth of something that is not based on absolute proof; hierarchy of importance; reflect the perception of whether something is true or false Communication and Self-Concept Communication affects our self-concept and our self-concept influences how and what we communicate Kinch’s Model of the connection between Self-Concept and Communication- circular -Our perceptions of how others respond to us affect our self-concept -Our self-concept affects how we behave -Our behavior is directly related to how others react to our behavior -The actual responses of others relate to our perceptions of others’ responses Generally agreed that people with high social self-concepts function better in most interpersonal situations than do those with low social self-concepts The social identity perspective is a fundamental principle of the self and states that individuals perceive themselves differently depending on where they are at a particular moment in time -illustrated by the personal-social identity continuum- the 2 ways that the self can be categorized: at a personal level, in which the uniqueness of the individual is emphasized; and at the social identity level, in which the self is thought of as a member of a group -the personal identity end of the continuum refers to when we think of ourselves primarily as individuals and the social identity end refers to when we think of ourselves as members of specific social groups -all of the descriptions are potentially the true self but they depend on the context and comparison dimension- could result in opposite self-descriptions Culture and Self-Concept Varies between cultures and is determined by a specific combination of cultural norms and behaviors Individualistic orientation- stresses self or personal goals and achievements over groups goals; tendency to focus on individual accomplishments; unique to the Western world -Ex. America

Collectivistic orientation- tends to put aside individual goals for the well-being of the group -Ex. Japan Gender and Self-Concept Gender is a crucial element in our personal and social identity Gender- socially constructed masculine and feminine behaviors that are learned Sex- biological terms as the anatomical and physiological differences between males and females that are genetically determined Seem to be some biological differences in brain structure and development of certain hemispheres Initial influences lead to gender stereotyping and expectations that strongly influence a person’s self-concept -Ex. Wrapping in either a blue or pink blanket; how dressed; toys given to play with Gender identity occurs when gender becomes part of one’s self-concept Gender stereotypes affect communication behavior -female stereotypes tend to be more negative than males There are differences with respect to some aspects of behavior in males and females but smaller than prevailing gender stereotypes suggest Sex differences in communication result from gender expectations Both men and women live in a hierarchical social order but women’s is related more to friendship whereas men’s are related more to power and accomplishment Androgynous- having both male and female traits; more likely to be successful in their interactions and careers Self-Fulfilling Prophecy and Impression Management Expectations determine how we behave, who we eventually become, and what we communicate to others and ourselves Self-fulfilling prophecy-expectations we have of ourselves or that others have of us that help to create the conditions that lead us to act in predictable ways Self-esteem can affect the predictions people make about themselves -people with positive, high self-esteem confidently attribute their success to past successes and expect to succeed in the future -people with low self-esteem attribute any success to luck and predict that they will not necessarily succeed again unless they are lucky Our expectations are a potent force for shaping our self-concept Above-average effect- thinking we are better than the average person on almost every dimension -evidence we desire to see the self in a relatively positive light Easily accept communication that suggests we are responsible for our successes but there are culture-based limits on our willingness to take credit The way that others first perceive us strongly influences their behavior toward us and whether they want to interact with us Impression management- creating a positive image of oneself to influence the perceptions of others; self-presentation 1) Self-enhancement: efforts to boost your own image 2) Other-enhancement: efforts to make a target person feel good in your presence

Perceived self- reflection of our self-concept; the person we believe ourselves to be at any given moment of self-examination; we keep much of this private Presenting self- the public image or the way we want to appear to others; most seek to creat...