Role Playing with Wimba
Michael Milburn
Psychology Department
UMass/Boston
The Course
• Psych 337—Communication and Society
• Narrated PowerPoints
• Interpersonal Communication
– Non-verbal Communication
– Gender and Communication
• Systems of Communication
– Paul Watzlavick—Pragmatics of Human Communication
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First to apply systems theory to communication in the family
Relational/Content aspects of communication
Meta-communication
Feedback loops
– Positive: escalation
– Negative: thermostat
• Counterfeit questions
• Punctuation
– “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?”
The Discussion
• What is the setting of the film?
• What is the tone set in the opening couple
of minutes of the film? How does it
change?
• What counterfeit questions did you
observe?
• What are the “games”?
• What is the purpose of the games?
The Discussion
• Who is to blame in the conflict?
– Is George a victim?
– What about when he refused to kiss her?
• What kind of feedback characterizes the
system?
• What role does the myth of the son play in the
family system?
• What examples of metacommunication did you
see?
• How is Relational Control Theory relevant?
The Assignment
• In your group, you are to take the role of a family
therapist to whom George and Martha have
come for help with their marital difficulties. You
have just viewed their interactions for 2 hours.
• 1) From what you have learned about Relational
Control Theory, do an analysis of George and
Martha’s relationship
• 2) Make recommendations for George and
Martha to improve their relationship
Doing it Online--Wimba
• Enter Wimba
• Create Breakout Rooms
– Drag instructor’s name into rooms to move from room to room
– Setup eBoard
• Designate a student to have control
– Use “Enable” command
– Make sure students know how to use Whiteboard
• Keep track of points in discussion on Whiteboard
– Students do a “Save” that sends screenshot to Main Room
– Slides saved into BOR folder
• End Breakout rooms, bring students back to Main Room
• Go over different rooms’ discussions
Relational Control Theory
Michael Milburn
Psych 337
Watzlavick, Beavin & Jackson (1967)
Pragmatics of Human Communication
• Fox and rabbits
• Psychopathology
• Carnap
– Syntactics
– Semantics
– Pragmatics
Feedback
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Cybernetics
Positive or negative
Positive—change
Negative—stability
Interpersonal systems
Metacommunication
Circularity of communication patterns
Axioms of Communication
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Impossible not to communicate
Content and relationship aspects
Healthy/sick relationships
Punctuation of communication
Axioms of Communication
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•
•
•
Impossible not to communicate
Content and relationship aspects
Healthy/sick relationships
Punctuation of communication
Axioms of Communication
•
•
•
•
Impossible not to communicate
Content and relationship aspects
Healthy/sick relationships
Punctuation of communication
Healthy/Sick Relationships
Content
Information
communicated
Relationship
Sick
Healthy
Axioms of Communication
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•
•
•
Impossible not to communicate
Content and relationship aspects
Healthy/sick relationships
Punctuation of communication
Punctuation
Husband
1
3
nags
withdraws
Wife
2
5
7
9
11
nags
nags
nags
nags
withdraws
withdraws
withdraws
withdraws
4
6
8
10
Punctuation--Husband
Husband
1
3
nags
withdraws
Wife
2
5
7
9
11
nags
nags
nags
nags
withdraws
withdraws
withdraws
withdraws
4
6
8
10
Punctuation--Wife
Husband
1
3
nags
withdraws
Wife
2
5
7
9
11
nags
nags
nags
nags
withdraws
withdraws
withdraws
withdraws
4
6
8
10
Relational Control Theory
• Frank Millar/Edna Rogers
• Main question: “who controls this
relationship?”
• Control may vary
• Couples negotiate
Counterfeit Questions
• Make up a list of types of questions
• Come up with an example from your own
experience of different types
Counterfeit Questions
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Questions that trap speaker
Questions that make a statement
Questions that carry hidden agendas
Questions that seek “correct” answer
Questions based on unchecked
assumptions