COMN 2111 Review for Xmas Exam
Lecture 12
Check the Course Flasher For the Time and Place of the Exam
THE EXAM CASES
 You should have downloaded and reviewed the cases by now
 Perhaps even gone over them in tutorial.
 Cases allow us to describe ineffective behavior and talk that
can occur in typical situations. Your job is to review them and
see what kinds of course concepts might be used to explain the
situations described.
 For this exam they are very short.
THE EXAM
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Written in two hours.
(12) Fill in the blanks
(38) Six short answers
(30) Two short case essays
80 Marks total
 TWO ICONS TO NOTICE
 “STAR” MEANS THIS IS A SHORT ANSWER
 “R” MEANS THAT THIS CONCEPT IS REFERRED TO IN AN
ESSAY
INTERPERSONAL COMMUNICATION MODEL
 USE IP MODEL ON FOLLOWING SLIDE AS A GUIDE TO
 IDENTIFYING KEY CONCEPTS IN THE IP COMUNICATION
MODEL, INCLUDING
 THE SELF-FEEDBACK LOOPS (6 PEOPLE IN A TWOPERSON CONVERSATION)
 WHICH WAS COVERED IN LECTURE AND TEXT
INTERPERSONAL COMMUNICATION MODEL
GRAPHIC
SEVEN AXIOMS OF INTERPERSONAL COMMUNICATION
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IP communication
Is inevitable, irreversible and unrepeatable.
Is a process of on-going adjustment over time.
Always contains relationship and content dimensions.
Is complementary or symmetrical in effect.
Is always seen by each participant as a “series of punctuated
events.”
 Is a transactional process.
 And my pragmatic axiom
 Is always about one or both parties needing to be or feel right
when faced with difference, disagreement, or disorder.
CULTURE: A SOCIETAL STORE OF MEANINGS
LEARNING THE SOCIAL ORDER
 CULTURE IS:
 A WAY OF LIFE THAT IS LEARNED AND SHARED BY
GROUPS OF HUMAN BEINGS AND TAUGHT BY ONE
GENERATION TO THE NEXT.
 CULTURE CONSISTS OF:
 KNOWLEDGE - HOW WORLD IS CONSTRUCTED AND
WORKS (INCLUDING LANGUAGE)
 VALUES - MOST IMPORTANT GOALS WORTH ACHIEVING
 SYMBOLIC EXPRESSION - MEANS OF COMMUNICATION
(INCLUDING LANGUAGE)
 WE MUST CREATE MEANINGS USING WORDS
 WORD MEANINGS ARE BOTH DENOTATIVE AND
CONNOTATIVE
 MEANINGS ARE CONTEXT-BASED
 WORDS AND NON-VERBALS INTERACT
 MEANINGS ARE RELATIONAL (NON-VERBAL CUES WITHIN
A MESSAGE GIVE MEANING)
 SUMMARIZED BY BERLO: “MEANINGS ARE IN PEOPLE
NOT WORDS”
NON-VERBALS AND MEANING
 MOST OF MEANING IN FACE-TO-FACE TALK IS IN THE
WAY WE TALK NOT IN THE WORDS THEMSELVES
 IN THE WAY WE LOOK WHILE WE’RE TALKING
 IN MEHRABIAN’S FAMOUS STUDY, WHEN PEOPLE
WEREN’T SURE OF THE WORDS THEY WERE HEARING
 FACIAL GESTURES CREATE 55% OF THE MEANING
IMPACT ON OTHERS
 AND THE WAY THE WE SOUND
 AND THE SOUND OF OUR VOICES CREATE 38% OF
THE IMPACT ON OTHERS
 NON-VERBALS COMMUNICATE EMOTIONS USING THE
SAME TWO CHANNELS
o THE WAY WE SPEAK
o
SOUND OF VOICE - PITCH, VARIABILITY
o
SPEED, ARTICULATION
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EMPHASIS
o THE WAY WE LOOK:
o BASIC HUMAN EMOTIONS ARE COMMUNICATED
THROUGH FACIAL GESTURES
We Have Two Minds
 Conscious Mind
 Its work is effortful, slow, controllable and flexible.
 Rational thought and problem-solving work.
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Cognitive Unconscious Mind
It works in completely different way than the conscious mind.
It works
Effortlessly,
Fast (it operates in milliseconds)
Automatically (uncontrolled) and is
Rigid in its judgments.
 Three Key Functions of the Cognitive Unconscious
o Supports rational decision-making (doesn’t all
happen in the conscious mind)
o Constantly evaluates the world around us (allows us to
feel or sense “what’s going on” instantly)
o Initiates action in a sophisticated and efficient
manner (because it can anticipate “what’s going to
happen next?” - in the next moment.)
 It has no words so it communicates through small surges
of emotional energy in the body.
 EMOTIONS AND MEANING
 EMOTIONS: BODY-BASED COMMUNICATION
 INSTANT BIO-CHEMICAL (+) OR (-) RESPONSES IN THE
BODY TO CHANGES IN THE SITUATION
o NON-VERBALS THEN VERBALS
o WE REACT FIRST, THINK SECOND
o DIFFUSE PHSYIOLOGICAL AROUSAL
o NON-VERBAL DISPLAYS
 EMOTIONS AND COGNITION
o OUR CONSCIOUS MIND INTERPRETS CHANGES IN
THE BODY AS FEELINGS
o IF THESE FEELINGS LAST LONGER THAN THE
SITUATION THAT AROUSED THEM THEY ARE
CALLED MOODS
o AND THEY CAN AFFECT OUR THINKING
(COGNITION)
 WHEN EMOTIONS TAKE OVER COMPLETELY – BEFORE
THE CONSCIOUS MIND CAN INTERVENE - WE CAN HAVE
WHAT IS CALLED “AN AMYGDALA HI-JACK”. IT IS
DESCRIBED AS A
 QUICK
 VERY STRONG REACTION,
 INVOLVING INAPPROPRIATE BEHAVIOR
EMOTIONS AND MEANING
 WE MAY BE UNAWARE OR UNACCEPTING OF OUR
FEEINGS AND LACK SKILLS TO EXPRESS THEM
 BEING ABLE TO NAME THEM HELPS US TO
COMMUNICATE THEM. SO
 WE CAN FOLLOW PLUTCHIK’S CIRCUMPLEX MODEL
EFFECTIVE EXPRESSION OF EMOTIONS
 ALTHOUGH NON-VERBALS ARE MOSTLY OUT OF
IMMEDIATE CONSCIOUS CONTROL,
 WE CAN CHOOSE TO BECOME CONSCIOUS OF AND
REGULATE OUR EMOTIONS (AVOID HI-JACKS) AND
 EXPRESS OUR FEELINGS (THE COGNITIVE ASPECT OF
OUR EMOTIONS) MORE EFFECTIVELY. HERE’S HOW:
 WE CAN:
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ACCURATELY DESCRIBE THEM
IDENTIFY REASONS FOR OUR FEELINGS
ANCHOR IN THE PRESENT
AVOID ALLNESS STATEMENTS
OWN OUR FEELINGS
USE “I”-MESSAGES, NOT “YOU”- MESSAGES
SAY WHAT WE WANT THE LISTENER TO DO
PERCEPTION AND MEANING
 PERCEPTION - WE ORGANIZE DATA INTO STABLE,
CONSISTENT, OVERLY SIMPLE IMAGES
 THIS HAPPENS IN THE CONSCIOUS MIND BUT THE
UNCONSCIOUS SHAPES THESE REACTIONS. WE
UNTHINKINGLY USE:
 PROXIMITY, RESEMBLANCE,
 PRIMACY (FIRST IMPRESSIONS)
 CONSISTENCY
 PRE-PACKAGED REALITY
 IMPLICIT PERSONALITY THEORY
 WE NEED TO KEEP OUR PERCEPTIONS STABLE OVER
TIME:
 SELF-SERVING BIAS (THE FUNDAMENTAL ATTRIBUTION
ERROR)
 OUR FAVORITE PERCEPTUAL SET - THE SELF
 WHEN CHALLENGED WE AUTOMATICALLY DEFEND
FIRST. WE LEARN LAST.
FOUR AXIOMS OF INTERPERSONAL PERCEPTION
 WE ARE HIGHLY SELECTIVE
 WE SEEK CONSISTENCY BETWEEN OUR SELF-CONCEPT,
OUR OWN BEHAVIOR AND INFORMATION FROM OTHERS
AROUND US (THE OUTSIDE WORLD)
 IF WE CAN’T ALTER CHALLENGING DATA, WE DISTORT
OR IGNORE IT (WE DEFEND OURSELVES)
 PEOPLE WILL CHANGE PERCEPTIONS IF ACTIVELY
INVOLVED
COGNITION AND MEANING
 COGNITION - THE WAY WE THINK; WORDS WE CHOOSE
TO THINK WITH
 MOSTLY CONSCIOUS MIND
 BUT THE COGNITIVE UNCONSCIOUS “DRIVES” OUR
THINKING UP THE LADDER OF INFERENCE AND WHEN
WE TALK
 WE TAKE THE UNCALCULATED RISK. WE SPEAK AS IF WE
ARE MAKING:
 FACTUAL STATEMENTS: ABOUT INFORMATION THAT
CAN BE VERIFIED OR DISPROVED,
 WHEN IN FACT, WE ARE EITHER MAKING
 INFERENCES: STATEMENTS ABOUT THE UNKNOWN
MADE ON THE BASIS OF WHAT IS KNOWN OR
 JUDGMENTS: STATEMENTS OF APPROVAL OF
DISAPPROVAL
 WE OFTEN CAN’T TELL THE DIFFERENCE AND WHEN WE
FEEL NEGATIVE EMOTIONS WE SPEAK AND THINK IN
WAYS THAT ARE BARRIERS TO COMMUNICATION
o ALLNESS
o STATIC EVALUATION
o INDISCRIMINATION
o POLARIZATION
 WE THINK AND SPEAK THIS WAY TO PROTECT OUR
SENSE OF SELF
MEAD’S MODEL OF SELF
 THE “I”: SPONTANEOUS, CREATIVE SELF, RESPONDS TO
INNER NEEDS NOT SOCIAL NORMS.
 THE “ME”: YOUR “SOCIAL SELVES” :THE ROLES PLAYED
- OTHERS PERSPECTIVES IMPORTED INTO SELF.
MONITOR OF YOUR IMPULSIVE SELF (“ I”)
 MEAD’S MODEL OF THE DEVELOPMENT OF SELF
o THE SELF ARISES THROUGH COMMUNICATION
WITH OTHERS
 IMITATIVE/ANTICIPATORY STAGE –
 CHILD IMITATES BITS AND PIECES OF ACTIONS
– A FEW WORDS
o PLAY STAGE –
 ROLE TAKING IS LEARNED HERE. LOOK AT
YOURSELF AND YOUR BEHAVIOR FROM
ANOTHER’S POINT OF VIEW.
o GAME STAGE –
 THE POWER OF THE GENERALIZED OTHER
(RULES) IS LEARN HERE
SELF CONCEPT AND SELF ESTEEM
 SELF-CONCEPT IS OUR PERCEPTION/COGNITION OF
SELF
 SELF-ESTEEM IS HOW WE FEEL ABOUT SELF.
 THE FEELINGS DEVELOP OUT OF HOW OTHERS
RESPOND TO THREE QUESTIONS WE ALL CARRY
AROUND WITH US
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DO I MATTER?
AM I CAPABLE?
CAN I INFLUENCE MY LIFE?
 THESE REFLECT THE BASIC UNCERTAINTY QUESTIONS
WE RAISED IN THE FIRST WEEKS OF THE COURSE – WHY
WE ALL TALK - PARTICULARLY:
 WHO AM I TO YOU IN THS SITUATION?
SELF-CONCEPT AND DEFENSE
 WE THINK AND TALK DEFENSIVELY TO AVOID ANXIETY,
GUILT FEELINGS - PSYCHIC PAIN
 BETTER TO DEFEND INCONSISTENT BEHAVIOR OR A
POOR SELF-CONCEPT THAN TO CHANGE
 WHEN WE FEEL OURSELVES TO BE “IN TROUBLE” WITH
REALITY WE DEFEND OURSELVES BY STAYING HIGH ON
THE INFERENCE LADDER BY USING WAYS OF THINKING
AND SPEAKING THAT ARE CALLED “THE DEFENSES”
 HERE ARE A FEW:
THE DEFENSE MECHANISMS
 DENIAL: REFUSE TO ADMIT THREAT IS RELEVANT TO
SELF OR ASSUME IT CAN BE POSTPONED
 AVOIDANCE - REFUSING TO FACE THREAT; NOT BEING IN
SITUATION WHERE YOU HAVE TO DEAL WITH IT
 RATIONALIZATION - MOST COMMON: MAKING EXCUSES,
EXPLAINING AWAY THREATS
 INTELLECTUALIZATION - ENGAGING IN DETACHED
ANALYSES OF THREATENING PROBLEMS
 DISPLACEMENT: - INSTINCTUAL ACTIVITY IS
REDIRECTED FROM A MORE THREATENING ACTIVITY TO
A LESS THREATENING PERSON, OBJECT. KICKING THE
CAT, PICKING ON ONE’S KIDS INSTEAD OF DEALING
REAL THREATS.
 PROJECTION: OPPOSITE OF BURYING INSIDE,
ATTRIBUTE THREATENING FEELINGS TO SOMEONE ELSE
 SEE YOU THERE!
 THESE SLIDES REVIEW THE KEY POINTS I WANT YOU TO
KNOW FROM THIS TERM
 FOLLOW THESE GUIDELINESS AND HAVE A GREAT
EXAM!!