Ch 1 Field of Human Communication Human Communication The process of managing messages for the purpose of creating shared meaning Communication is a transaction between at least 2 people simultaneously sending and receiving messages to and from one another Messages Channels o Verbal and nonverbal intentional and unintentional o The medium through which a message is sent Interference noise o Prevents messages from being received or prevents intended meaning from being understood Technical interference and semantic interference Other factors listening feedback time Model of Human Communication Communication Contexts At what level do you study Communication Intrapersonal communication within a person Interpersonal communication with another person dyadic Interviewing focused on question answer pattern Small group communication 3 or more members of a group influencing one another usually have a goal group dynamics play a role Public communication 1 person doing a lot of sending and many people doing the majority of receiving Organizational communication Health communication Mass communication Elements of Effective Communication Studying Comm as a Science Humanistic Approaches Rhetoric study of language and using it efficiently Understanding pleasure attitude influence improved relationships action Interpretivists look at a specific unique event and seek understanding by looking at it through different lenses Critical scholars power presence in different groups vulnerability weakness in different groups want to point out what is wrong in the world inequality oppression Social Scientific Approaches Qualitative Quantitative o Employs rigorous observational rules work in the field collect data rich in detail and description in depth interviews ethnography participant observation o Seeks to uncover a pattern in communication behaviors via numbers employ advanced statistical techniques and rigid testing to support reject hypothesis can work in the lab or in the field Scientific Method is Empirical objective logical and public 3 Key Quantitative Methodologies Content analysis systematic analysis of the content of communication messages o Purposes describes frequency of a behavior compares behavior types across different contexts o Issues requires a representative sample need specific definitions of behaviors limited to studying what is already occurring Survey research between variables o Examines what people do relies on self reports examines relationships o Issues need representative sample questions must be high quality no control over variables self report cannot make causal conclusions Experimental research o Goal drawing causal conclusions requires random assignment to conditions o Issues hard to generalize results from lab environment artificial setting limited subject population requires strong procedure to prevent issues Reliability are the results consistent Validity are we studying what we intended to study Perception Ch 2 Perception Interpreting the sensory experience of the world Filters o Perceptual filters physical physiological limits things about who we are o Psychological sets expectations that shape experiences make us sensitive to certain types of info Perception is active o 1 Select what do we choose o 2 Organize how we make sense of it o 3 Interpret assign meaning to it o We attempt to simplify complex info biases limitations often lead to errors Attribution Bias Process of assigning meaning to others behavior the act of asking why Self attribution tends to differ from other attribution o We act a certain way because of the situation but others act a certain way because of who they are Attributions differ as people focus on different info o Sometimes we focus on the individual sometimes on context circumstances o Dispositional other overuse of personality reasons dispositions with o Self serving bias overuse of situations attributions with self Kinds of Bias others Impression Formation Impressions of self Self concept based on physical psychological attributes o Looking glass self we tend to see ourselves the way that others see us o Self Expansion Model the interactions we have with people around us help us grow as a person Self esteem based on feedback from others Self fulfilling prophecy we have a tendency to reinforce our beliefs Impressions of others First impressions the primacy effect Physical attractiveness research shows that attractive ppl are given advantages o Nature vs nurture Expressiveness is the person animated are they dynamic do they seem angry etc Charisma A generalization about a class of people objects or events that is widely held by a Stereotyping given culture Social roles Context Work student gender linked marital Accuracy of perceptions Perceiver self confidence Awareness of limitations Intelligence dispositional intelligence Flexible expectations Verbal Communication Interpersonal sensitivity how much do we pick up on their intentions non verbal signals etc A system of symbols and codes used to construct and convey messages Referent the thing that a symbol refers to Symbol arbitrary has no inherent meaning refers to something Different forms of meaning Denotative meaning dictionary definition of what a word means Connotative meaning interpretive what we personally assign as the meaning of a term Private meaning vs shared meaning Code switching Sapir Whorf Hypothesis The words we use shape how we see the world we think in language Language aids our memory helps articulate the memory so our memories are verbal and if we have certain words in common with memories it shapes our thoughts about those things 2 schools of though emerged from this o Strong determinism the language we use literally determines our thoughts o Weak determinism how we view the world and our actual thoughts are both influenced by thoughts but it is not actually controlled by thoughts Language Issues middle ground Power and Language Abstract vague language not specifying our terms Dichotomies doesn t give a full range of understanding it s either this or that no Inferences take info evidence and start to come to a conclusion Equivocal language use words that have multiple meanings Euphemisms replacing words with other nicer words or more pleasant words Powerless language I m not sure or I think even when you do know just because there is someone with more power in the room Powerful language when we do this we are often perceived more confident and attractive only time it