Your Reference
Now that you have finished reading this chapter, you can:
Define the communication process:
- Communication is the process by which individuals use symbols, signs, and behaviors to exchange information (p. 4).
- Communication requires more than “common sense” (p. 5).
Describe the functions of communication:
- The functional perspective examines how communication behaviors work (or don’t work) to accomplish goals (p. 4).
- Relationships are the interconnections, or interdependence, between two or more people that function to achieve some goal (pp. 4–5).
- Relationship interdependence means that what we do affects others and vice versa (p. 5).
- There are three primary functions in communication:
- expressing affiliation, or feelings for others (p. 5).
- relying on communication to accomplish particular objectives, or goal achievement (p. 6); and
- negotiating control, the influence one individual, group, or organization has over others (p. 7).
Assess the quality (communicative value) of communication by examining its six characteristics:
- Communication relies on symbols, arbitrary constructions related to the people, things, or concepts to which they refer (p. 10).
- Communication requires a shared code, or a set of symbols that create a meaningful message; encoding is the process of producing and sending a message, and decoding is the process of receiving it and making sense of it (p. 10).
- Communication is linked to culture, the shared beliefs, values, and practices of a group of people, and co-cultures, smaller groups within a culture (p. 10).
- Communication may be intentional or spontaneous (pp. 10–11).
- Communication requires a channel, the method through which it occurs (p. 11).
- Communication is a transactional process: you influence others while they influence you (p. 11).
Define what communication scholars consider to be competent communication:
- Competent communication is more process than outcome focused (p. 13).
- Competent communication is ethical (p. 14).
- Communication is appropriate when it meets the demands of the situation (p. 15).
- Behavioral flexibility involves knowing and using a number of different behaviors to achieve that appropriateness (p. 16).
- Communication is effective when it achieves desired goals (pp. 16–17).
- Communication skills are behaviors that help communicators achieve their goals (p. 17).
Describe the visual representations, or models, of communication:
- In the linear model, a sender originates the message, which is carried through a channel—where it is perhaps interfered with by noise —to the receiver (p. 18).
- The interaction model expands on the linear model by including feedback between the receiver and the sender (pp. 18–19).
- The competent communication model is a transactional model incorporating three contextual spheres in which individuals communicate (pp. 19–23).
- Communicators: Cognitions, thoughts that communicators have about themselves, influence behavior, observable communication, and how the message is interpreted before preparing feedback (pp. 20–21).
- Relational context: Communication occurs within the context of a relationship and is influenced by the relational history (p. 21).
- Situational context: The circumstances surrounding communication, including social environment and physical place, influence communication (p. 22).
- Cultural context: Cultural identity, how individuals view themselves as a member of a specific culture, influences communication choices (pp. 22–23).
Describe why communication is vital to everyone:
- The discipline of communication grew out of the need to have informed citizens aware of the power of speaking out (p. 23).
- The discipline focuses on improving interactions and relationships between dyads, groups, organizations, and speakers and audiences (p. 25).