Defining Communication What are the issues involved in defining communication 1 Must communication be intentional Final Exam Comm250 a Watzlawick Beavin Jackson 1967 One can not NOT communicate o As long as were in the presence of somebody and some message is sent it is communication as long as there is meaning o Communication doesn t have to be intentional because all things can be considered communication b Miller Steinberg 1975 believes the view that only intentional behaviors are communicative o Restricts communication to intentional symbolic transactions o At least one of the parties transmits a message Intent of modifying the other s behavior o If there is no intent there is no message o c Motley only interactive behavior is communication 2 Must communication have correspondence a Does the message sent have to equal the message received b Some think that there needs to be some overlap between 3 Must communication be successful a Does it get the other person to do what you want them to do 4 Must communication be ethical Honest a Do we consider communications that are unethical and dishonest YES 5 Must communication include symbolic actions a Mostly study symbolic actions 6 Must communication include cognition thought perception Include in studies 7 Must communication be human to human a a Only study human to human Define communication o A social process in which individuals use symbols to establish and interpret meaning in their environment o Establishing and interpreting meaning is important because we do this socially o Social Involves people and interactions face to face or online Includes 2 people senders receivers both play integral role Come to interaction with various intentions motivations and abilities Process o Ongoing and unending Dynamic complex and continually changing Emphasizes the dynamic of making meaning no definable beginning and ending Ex parents may tell their son that he must leave the house their discussions with him and about him will continue well after he leaves Individual and cultural changes affect communication Ex conversations shifted from 1950s to today o Symbols A symbol is an arbitrary label or representation of phenomena Words are symbols for concepts and things Ex the word love represents the idea of love the word chair represents a thing we sit on May be ambiguous May be both verbal and nonverbal May occur in face to face and mediated communication Usually agreed on within a group but may not be understood outside of the group o Meaning Concrete symbols represents an object abstract symbols stands for a thought or idea What people extract from a message Messages can have more than one meaning and even multiple layers of meanings Because not all meaning is shared we must be able to explain repeat and clarify o Environment The situation or context in which communication occurs Includes a number of elements time place historical period relationship and a speaker s and listener s cultural background Can understand the influence of environments by thinking about your beliefs and values pertaining to socially significant topics Such as same sex marriage physician assisted suicide and immigration into the US Why is it important to define communication Establishing and interpreting meaning is important because we do this socially In the most fundamental way communication depends on our ability to understand one another o o One primary and essential goal in communicating is understanding o Being able to communicate effectively is highly valued in the US o Corporations businesses have recognized the value of communication National Safety Management Society ability to communicate clearly avoids jargon Health care doctor patient relationships medical advice doctors give to patients o Communication is an essential pervasive and consequential behavior in our society o As a student we need to be able to talk effectively to a number of very different types of people during an average day teachers ministers salespeople family members friends automobile mechanics and heal care providers Models of the communication process know their components and how they differ conceptually Linear Sender encodes message decodes receiver a One way view of communication that assumes a source sends a message to a receiver through a channel o o Message o Receiver o Channel Source originator transmitter of a message words sounds actions or gestures in an interaction recipient of a message makes sense out of the message pathway to communication Ex 5 senses b Communication also involves noise o Noise sending and the receiving of messages distortion in channel not intended by the source basically anything that can interfere with the taking pure ideas and thoughts labeling those thoughts and ideas with symbols and organizing it in a View of communication as the sharing of meaning with feedback that links source and receiver c Encoding some way Interactional Two way model From sender to receiver From receiver to sender b This circular process suggests that communication is ongoing and illustrates that a person can perform the role of either sender or receiver during an interaction but not both roles simultaneously c One element essential to interaction model of communication is feedback o Communication given to the source by the receiver to indicate understanding meaning o May be verbal or nonverbal o May be intentional or unintentional o Helps communicators know whether or not their message is being received and the extent to which meaning is achieved o Takes place after a message is received not during the message itself e Final feature of interaction model is a person s field of experience 1 Overlap of sender s and receiver s culture experiences and heredity in communication 2 How experiences shape perceptions 3 Successful conversations need some overlap of experience 4 Ex when 2 people start dating they bring their fields of experience into the relationship One person may have been raised in a large family while the other was an only child These experiences and others will necessarily influence how the 2 come together and will most likely affect how they maintain their relationship Transactional a View of communication as the simultaneous sending and receiving of messages cooperative process b The sender and the receiver are mutually responsible for the effect and the effectiveness of communication back and forth conversation c Still noise field of experience d Can use
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