Diagram - Unit 1

Perceiving others: Interpersonal communication

Perception is a process

Perception can trick us

We assume people perceive as we do

Perceptions are fixed/hard to change

Perception process

Selection

Organization

Interpretation

The mental process of choosing which data in a field of perceptual data we will attend to.

We use organizational structures to make sense of categorize what we selected to notice.

Obtain a particular understanding based on how you organized the data you selected.

We organize our perceptions of other people using 4 types of schema:

Physical constructs: Classify people according to their appearance.

Role constructs: Use social position

Interaction constructs: Focus on social behavior.

Psychological constructs: Refers to internal states of mind and dispositions.

There are some factors that cause us to interpret a person’s behavior in one or other way:

Degree of involvement: We tend to view people whom we have or seek a relationship more favorably than others.

Relational satisfaction: The behavior that seems positive when you are happy with a partner might seem completely different when the relationship isn’t satisfying.

Personal experience: The meaning that similar events have held.

Assumptions about human behavior: We assume people are lazy, dislike work, avoid responsibility or you believe people practice self direction and self-central, passess, creativity, and seek responsability.

Expectations: When we anticipate people will behave in certain ways, our expectations color the way we interpret their behavior.

Knowledge of others: Affects the way we interpret their actions.

UNIT 1

Influences

Stimuli: Factors are intense and often attract our attention. (Extremely tall or short people).

Contrast or change: We take wonderful people for granted. (Only when they go away we appreciate them).

Internal factors: Shape how we make sense of others. (Our motives often determine how we perceive people).

Emotional state: Our attitude/ expectation we bring to a situation shapes our level of happiness/unhappiness. (Mood Jealous people).

The nature of language

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Whats is language?

It is a collection of symbols governed by rules and used to convey messages between individuals

Language roles

Phonological

Syntactic

Semantic

Pragmatic

Govern how words sound when pronounced.

Individual sounds units in a language are combined and recombined to create larger language units.

Phonemes alyer meaning of words when combined (e.g. sat yo bat)

Govern the structure of language - the way symbols can be arranged.

Meaning of specific words

Make possible for us to agree that:

Bikes are for riding

Books are for reading

How people use language in everyday interaction.

Non verbal communication

Characteristics of nonverbal communication

Has communicative value: You may not be able to tell exactly what is going on but the nonverbal cues certainly have communicative value.

Is primarily relational: It is important to create an image of ourselves as we want the others to view us. Defines the relationship we want to have with others.

Is ambiguous: Each person has different interpretation.

Consider:

Context

The history of your relationship with the sender

The other person’s mood.

Your feelings.

Functions of nonverbal communication

Repeating: People remember comments accompanied by gestures more than those made with words alone.

Substituting: Use embleme to describe deliberate nonverbal behaviors that have precise meanings known to everyone within a cultural group.

Complementing: They are used to reinforce verbal communication.

Accenting: Stressing certain words with the voice is another way to add nonverbal accents.

Contradicting: Express contradictory messages in their verbal and nonverbal behavior.

Deceiving: It is easier to catch a liar when they haven’t had the chance to rehearse.

Types of nonverbal communication

Body movements (kinesics):

Posture and gestures

Face and eyes

Voice (paralanguage):

The tone of voice can change the meaning.

Appearance:

Physical attractiveness

Clothing

Touch (haptics):

Physical touch can “speak” volumes.

Space:

Distance - personal space (Proxemics)

Territory - the way people use their space