COMM 103: Oral Communication

Understanding Human Communication, 12th ed.

Test 2 Review
Information to Review
differences between hearing and listening: hearing Is the process in which sound waves
strike the eardrum and cause vibrations that are transmitted into the brain, Listening occurs
when the brain reconstructs these electrochemical impulses into a representation of the
original sound and then gives them meaning.
steps to the listening process
hearing: is the process in which sound waves strike the eardrum and cause vibrations
that are transmitted into the brain
attending: the act of paying attention to signal(individuals needs, wants, desires, and
interest to determine what is attended to, or selected.)
understanding: the process of making sense of a message
responding: consist of giving observable feedback to the speaker
remembering: research has revealed that people remember only about half of what
they hear IMMIDEATELTY after hearing it.
mindful/mindless listening:

Mindful Listening is active, high-level information processing(takes physical effort)

Mindless Listening is passive, low-level information processing. (not listening
carefully)

types of faulty listening

Pseudo listening: is an imitation of the real thing, giving impressions that they are

being attentive. (Look you in the eye, nod, and smile.)

Selective Listening: responding only to the parts of a speakers remarks that interest

them.
Defensive Listening: is taking innocent comments as personal attacks.
Ambushing: listen carefully, but only because they are collecting information to attack

what you have to say

Insulated Listening: are almost opposite of their selective-listening cousins Instead of
looking for something specific, these people avoid certain topics, whenever a certain
topic arises they do not want to deal with they simply fail to hear it or rather

acknowledge it
Stage Hogging: (conversational narcissists) try to turn the topic of conversations to
themselves instead of showing interest in the speaker. ( Interruptions, can damage
relationships)

reasons for poor listening

Message Overload: the amount of speech most of us encounter makes careful

listening to everything we hear impossible , face to face, phone calls, emails, tweets,

texts, and instant messages

Rapid Though: although we can interpret speech rates up to 600 words per minute, the
average person speaks 100-140 words per minute, thus we have a great mental spare
time to spend while someone else is talking and the temptation is to use this time in
ways that dont relate to the speakers ideas such as personal interest, daydreaming,
and so on. The intention is to use the spare time to understand the speakers ideas in

your own words.

Psychological Noise: we are often wrapped up in personal concerns that are of more
immediate response to us than the messeges others are sending, (such as thinking

about an upcoming test while someone else is talking.

Physical Noise: sounds of traffic, music, others speech, and the like interfere with our

ability to hear well.

Hearing Problems: people suffer from hearing problems and 2/3 said they feel

annoyed because they cannot hear

Faulty Assumptions: we often give others a mental-brush off because we assume

their remarks dont have much value.(egoism)

Talking has more apparent advantages: it appears we have to gain by speaking than
by listening. Speaking well can provide admiration, respect, or liking of others. Speak
too much and can cause stage hogging Men interrupt far more than woman and their
goal is to control the discussion, women interrupt to communicate agreement, elaborate

the speakers idea, or to participate in the topic of the conversation.

Cultural Differences: The way different cultures communicate can affect listening.
Media Influences: Mass media discourages the kind of focused attention that is
necessary for careful listening especially to complicated ideas and feelings.

types of listening:
task-oriented: listening to get the job done
relational: to emotionally connect to another person, takes time
analytic: Making a judgement based on your evaluation of the speakers arguements
critical: analyzing the evidence is what your given complete? Is the information from a
reliable source? Also could be more than one interpretation.
supportive listening and types

Advising Response: to help by offering a solution

Judging Response: evaluates the senders thoughts or behaviors in some way. Could
be good or bad

Analyzing Statement: the listener offers an interpretation of a speakers messege

Questioning: to understand others better and can also be a way to help others think

about their problems and understand them more clearly.

Comforting: can take several forms
o Agreement
o Offer to help
o Praise
o Reassurance
o Diversion
o Acknowledgement
Prompting: involves using silences and brief statements of encouragement to draw

others out, and in so doing to help them solve their own problems.
Reflecting: to emphasize that the goal here is not as much to clarify your

understanding as to help the other person hear and think about the words he or she has
just spoken.
difference between nonverbal and verbal communication

Verbal communication- Spoken or written words

Nonverbal Communication: Tone of voice: sighs, screams, vocal qualities, gestures,
movement

difference between vocal and nonvocal messages

Vocal Messages: Spoken words or gestures involving sounds.
Nonvocal Messages: Written words, gestures , non vocal sounds.
characteristics of nonverbal communication:

Communicative Value
Primarily Relational
Ambigous
Different from verbal
It is Important

influences on nonverbal communication (culture, gender)

Different non-verbal languages as well as verbal for cultural.

Stereotypical differences in masculine and feminine styles of nonverbal communication.

know the 7 functions of nonverbal communication

Repeating: people remember comments accompanied by gestures more than those

made with those alone

Substituting: People use the term emblem to describe the deliberate nonverbal

behaviors that have a precise meaning known to everyone within a cultural group
Complementing : Nonverbal behaviors that accompany and support spoken words
such as facial expressions when apologizing

Accenting: We use italics to emphasize an idea in print, we use nonverbal devices to

emphasize oral messages such as pointing a finger at an accused person.

Regulating: can control the flow of the conversation, if you want attention, you raise

your voice.
Contradicting: Mixed messages simultaneously express different or even contradictory
messages in their verbal and nonverbal behavior. Such as someone with a red face and

bulging veins yelling, Angry? No, I am not angry!

Deceiving: Some people are better at doing it than others, high self-monitors are
usually better at doing this, such as lawyers, actors, diplomats, etc.

know the types of nonverbal communication

proxemics (space distances, territory)
Posture and Gesture
Face and eyes
Clothing
kinesics (body movements)
vocalics (using the voice)
appearance
haptics (touch)
environment
time (monochromic vs. polychromic)
interpersonal communication
why we form relationships:

Appearance
Similarity
Complementarity (couples interact better when one is dominant and the other is

passive.)
Reciprocal Attraction (we like people who usually like us)
Competence (when youre around people of good skill, but if they are too good you back

away.
Disclosure (Can build liking talking about yourself)
Proximity (We tend to like more people who are usually close to us.)
Rewards(We seek people who can give us rewards that are greater than or equal to the
cost we encounter in dealing with them

characteristics of interpersonal communication

Contextual: Usually two people

Quality: Quality vs quantity

content messages versus relational messages:

Content: subject being discussed

Relational: How people feel toward one another
o Affinity ( is the degree in which people like or appreciate each other.)
o Respect (is the degree in to which we admire others and hold them in esteem)
o Immediacy ( degree of interest and attraction we feel toward and communicate
towards others
o Control (the amount of influence communicators seek)

Metacommunication: used to describe messages that refer to other

intimacy in relationships

physical
intellectual sharing
emotional
shared activities

gender and intimacy styles

Women and Women share the most

Women and men share
Men and men share the least
o (Men grow closer through doing things )
o (women grow closer by talking )

Knapps stages of relational maintenance

Coming Together:

Initiating( making of contact with another person)

Experimenting (making small talk)
Intensifying(Expressions towards each other become more

common, spending more time together)

Integrating Partners start to take each others commitments
Bonding ( public gestures to show that the relationship exist)

Differentiating (Use strategies to gain privacy from each other)

Circumscribing( communication decreases in quality and quantity )
Stagnating( Behave in old ways , such as showing no feelings and

no growth occurs,)
Avoiding When stagnating becomes too unpleasant, relationship

creates a distance between each other)

Terminating (summary dialogs about the relationship has gone and

Moving Apart:

the desire to disassociate)

dialectical tensions: Conflicts that arrive when two opposing or incompatible forces exist
simultaneously

connection versus autonomy:

You spend time together or autonomy where you

engage in activities that dont involve spouse or
want to make friends

predictability versus novelty

Stability is important but too much of it can lead to

feelings of staleness
Too many surprises can threaten the foundation upon
which the relationship is based

openness versus privacy:

Along for the need for intimacy, We have an equally

important need to maintain some space between
ourselves and others.

responses to dialectical tensions

Denial: that tensions exist

Disorientation: communication feels so overwhelmed and helpless

that they are unable to confront their problem

Selection: Communicators respond to one end of the dialectical

spectrum and ignore the other

Alternation: Alternate between one end of the dialectical spectrum

at some times and the other at the other end at times.

Segmentation: a tactic in which partners compartmentalize
different areas of their relationship. ( ex. Sharing feelings on mutual

friends but keeping quiet on past romantic histories.

Moderation: characterized by compromises in which
communicators choose to back off from expressing either end of
the dialectical spectrum.( May choose to answer some question on

a subject but not completely open)

Reframing: redefining situations so that the apparent contradiction

disappears
Reaffirmation: Acknowledging that dialectical tensions will never
disappear, accepting or even embracing the challenges they
present.

self-disclosure: a process of deliberately revealing information about oneself that is

significant and would not normally be known to others

Social Penetration Model: Involves breadth of the information volunteered the range
of subjects being discussed and the second dimension is depth of the information
being revealed the shift from relatively non revealing messages to more personal
ones
Johari Window:
o
o
o
o

known to other+known to self= public

not known to others+known to self= hidden
Known to others+not know to self: Blind
Know to neither= unknown

characteristics of self-disclosure

Influenced by culture
Usually occurs in dyads (between 2 people)
Usually symmetrical
Occurs incrementally
Is relatively scarce (doesnt happen often)

alternatives to self-disclosure: Lies(altruistic lies) or white lies, equivocation(has 2 or

more equally plausible meanings.(Awful outfit- one of a kind, unusual), Hinting( Hints
are more direct that equivocal statements, Saves receiver from embarrassment)
communication climates and how they are formed : has a feeling, pervasive mood that
colors the interactions of the participants.
confirming and disconfirming messages: Confirming messages: generally say you
matter, you exist, youre important.
Disconfirming Messages: Show a lack of regard for the other person by disputing or ignoring
some important part of that persons message.
Spirals: after a climate is formed it can take on the life of its own and grow in a selfperpetuating spiral; each messege pattern reinforces the others
Gibb categories of supportive and defensive behaviors
Defensive: Evaluation: Dont use you statements, Control : sender seems to be imposing a
solution on the receiver with little regard for the receivers needs, Strategy: basically
manipulation, Neutrality: indifference, it communicates lack of concern for the welfare of
another and implies that the other person isnt very important to you, Superiority: when
people seem to believe they are better than we are, Certainty: is a style of communication that
is considered dogmatic (strong opinions that are presented as facts)and unyielding
Supportive: Descriptive: focuses on the speakers thoughts and feelings(I statements)

definition of conflict and why conflict occurs, Problem Orientation: communicators focus on
finding a solution that satisfies both their needs and those of the others involved, Spontaneity:
honesty, straight forward messages, Empathy: confirms the other, accepting anothers
feelings and putting yourself in their place, Equality: Superior skills and talents are capable of
conveying an attitude that we are all equal even though they might have greater talents in
other areas. Provisionalism: in which people may have strong opinions but are willing to
acknowledge that they dont have a corner on the truth and will change their stand if another
position
styles of expressing conflict:
nonassertive: is the inability or unwillingness to express thoughts or feelings in a
conflict. (may come from lack of confidence)
aggressive: confronts the other person in a way that attacks his or her position
passive aggressive: is far more subtle than its directly aggressive cousin. It occurs
when a communicator expresses hostility in an obscure way.
Indirect: conveys a messege in a roundabout manner, in order to save face for the
recipient
Assertive: people handle conflicts by expressing their needs, thoughts, and feelings
clearly and direct without judging others or dictating them.
characteristics of an assertive message

Behavioral Description: is an objective picture of the

behavior in question, without any judging or

editorializing
Your Interpretation of the other persons

behavior:
A description of your feelings
A description of the consequences
A statement of your intentions

gender and conflict style:

Men: Outrank each other based on competition
Women: whos closest to whom
conflict in online environments

Delay
Disinhibition (makes it easy to respond aggressively without considering the
consequences until its too late

Permanence(Permanent transcript that doesnt exsict in f2f conflict

cultural influences on conflict:

individualistic versus collectivistic

o willingness to experience conflicts (individualistic)
o Collectivist is emphasize harmony among people with close relationships
tent to handle conflicts in less direct ways
low-context versus high-context
o places like the U.S with low context cultures, place a premium on being
direct and literal.
o By contrast, high context cultures like that of japan value self-restraint and
avoid confrontation.

managing interpersonal conflicts

win-lose: are ones in which one party achieves its goal at the expense of another
lose-lose: neither side is satisfied with the outcome
compromise: gives both parties at least some of what they wanted, although both
sacrifice part of their goals.
win-win: the goal is to find a solution that that satisfies the needs of everyone involved
steps in win-win problem solving:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.

Identify problem and unmet needs

Make a date
Describe problem and needs
Partner checks back
Solicit partners needs
Check your understanding of partners needs
Negotiate a solution
a. Identify and define the conflict
b. Generate number of possible solutions
c. Evaluate the alternate solutions
d. Decide on the best solution
8. Follow up on solution