Chapter 1: COMMUNICATION

Chapter 1: COMMUNICATION

1. DEFINITION: It is an ongoing symbolic process through which human create reality through social interaction.

2. TYPES OF COMMUNICATION

   • Intrapersonal
     • DEFINITION: Communication that occurs within a single person.
       • "Communicating with oneself" with our inner voice.
     • Mentally process information influences our interaction with others
   • Dyadic/Interpersonal
     • DEFINITION: Two-person communication
     • Communicating in person or via medias
   • Small Group
     • DEFINITION: Communication within a group of a size such that every member can participate actively with the other members.
       • Example: Family, athletic team
     • Majority of members can put pressure on those in the minority to conform; consciously or unconsciously.
     • Affected strongly with group leader
   • Public
     • DEFINITION: Communication that occurs when a group becomes too large for all members to contribute. It is characterized by an unequal amount of speaking and by limited verbal feedback.
     • Limited Verbal communication
       • Have a chance to ask questions and offer brief comments
   • Mass
     • DEFINITION: The transmission of messages to large, usually widespread audiences via broadcast means.
     • Aimed at a large audience without any personal contact between receivers and sender.
     • Messages sent via mass communication channels.
     • Often controlled by many gatekeepers who determined when/what/how the messages.

3. FUNCTIONS OF COMMUNICATION

   • Physical Needs
     • Text's example: People who lack strong relationships have two to three times the risk of early death, regardless of whether they smoke, drink alcoholic beverages, or exercise regularly.
     • Important and necessary for physical health
   • Identity Needs
     • The only way we learn who we are. Our sense of identity comes from the way we interact with others.
       • Early childhood
   • Social Needs
     • Communication provides important link with others.
       • E.g: I always catch up with my friends from junior high school during summer because we don't get to see each other much, and I miss them.
   • Practical
     • Communication is an important key to effectiveness in everyday life between one another.
     • E.g. "College roommates who are both willing and able to communicate effectively report higher satisfaction with one another than those who lack these characteristics."

4. MODELING

   • Linear
     • DEFINITION: A characterization of communication as one-way event in which a message flows from sender to receiver
     • Sender: The originator of a message
     • Encoding: The process of putting thoughts into symbols, most commonly words.
     • Receiver: One who notices and attends to a message.
     • Decoding: The process in which a receiver attaches meaning to a message.
     • Channel: Medium through which a message passes from sender to receiver.
     • Mediated communication: Communication sent via a medium other than face-to-face interaction, e.g., telephone, email, instant messaging. Can be both mass and personal.
     • Noise: External, physical, and psychological distractions that interfere with the accurate transmission and reception of a message.
       • E.g.: My mom got upset with me because potatoes instead of tomatoes. Because the noise in the grocery store was so loud that I thought she said potatoes over the phone.
     • Simultaneous Sending and Receiving
       • Two-way affair
         • Feedback: The discerning response of a receiver to sender's message.
           • Verbal and nonverbal
       • Weaknesses
         • Not all mediate communication like email and text messaging are appear to be unsimultaneous.
         • Doesn't show nonverbal cues: facial expressions, gestures, postures, vocal tones, etc.
   • When two or more people interact.
   • Transactional
     • A characterization of communication as the simultaneous sending and receiving of messages in an ongoing, irreversible process.
     • We send and receive messages simultaneously.
   • Communication Is Fluid, Not Static
     • E.g. "The way a friend or family member reacts to a sarcastic remark you make will probably depend on the way you have related to one another in the past."
     • A discrete act of communication from the events that precede and follow it.
   • Communication Is Relational, Not Individual
     • It is something we do with them, not something we do to others.
   • I want to know more of all of the Models work, because once I understand it, it'd make more sense of how the whole Communication Modeling works.

5. COMMUNICATION COMPETENCE: WHAT MAKES AN EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATOR?

   • Communication Competence
     • DEFINITION: Ability to maintain a relationship on terms acceptable to all parties.
   • Requires flexibility in understanding what approach is likely to work best in given situation.
     • E.g.: Words we use with friends might offend family members.
   • Competent behavior varies much from one situation and person to another
   • Competence Is Reational
     • Relational satisfaction illustrates that what consitutes satisfying communication varies from one relationship to another.
       • Maintaining friendship
   • Competence Can Be learned
     • Without training, communication competence can be learned trail-and-error and observation.
   • Characteristics
     • A Wide Range of Behaviors
       • Best chance of success
     • Ability to choose the most appropriate behavior
       • E.g.: As the Third-Culture kid, I am able to pick up things and able to adapt myself with the most appropriate behavior for that culture.
     • Have to practice your performing behaviors until skillful.
     • Empathy
       • "Put yourself in someone else's shoes."
     • Cognitive Complexity
       • It allows us to take sense of people using variety of perspective.
     • Self-Monitoring
       • Portray that we have been paying close attention to one's behavior and using these observationd to shape the way one behaves.
         • E.g.: I should ge off Twitter and do my home work.

6. CLARIFYING MISCONCEPTIONS ABOUT COMMUNICATION

   • Communication Does Not Always Require Complete Understanding
     • E.g. The repetition of "The Interview" movie promotion on TV subconsciously makes me want to watch the movie, but at the same time hesitance to watch it because of its stupidity.
   • Coordination: Interaction in which participants interact smoothly, with a high degree of satisfaction but without necessarily understanding one another well.
   • Communication will not solve all problems
   • Communication isn't always a good thing
     • Neither good nor bad
   • Communication is not simple
     • Could develop good communication skill from whom they surrounded by.
     • Can suffer from frustration of being unable to get message across effectively,and frequently misunderstand others.
   • More communication isn't always better
     • Over loaded information and communication can lead into negative ways and worse than it should be.
   • I always thought that people should be always communicate in order to fix things, but now that I've learned that communication isn't always a good thing.