Psychological Basis of
Communication
Communication skills
► The
skills needed to use language (spoken,
written, signed, or otherwise
communicated) to interact with others, and
problems related to the development of
these skills.
► Language employs symbols—words,
gestures, or spoken sounds—to represent
objects and ideas. Communication of
language begins with spoken sounds
combined with gestures, relying on two
different types of skills. Unanimity of
opinion is extremely powerful in influencing
people to go along with the group.
Language disorders
► Spoken
language problems are referred to by a
number of labels, including language delay,
language disability, or a specific type of
language disability.
► Language disorders include stuttering; articulation
disorders, such as substituting one sound for
another (tandy for candy), omitting a sound
(canny for candy), or distorting a sound (shlip for
sip); and voice disorders, such as inappropriate
pitch, volume, or quality.
Social competence
► Mastering
the social, emotional, and cognitive
skills and behaviors needed to succeed as a
member of society.
► Social competence refers to the social, emotional,
and cognitive skills and behaviors that children
need for successful social adaptation.
► Despite this simple definition, social competence is
an elusive concept, because the skills and
behaviors required for healthy social development
vary with the age of the child and with the
demands of particular situations.
Importance of social
competence
Whereas parents are the primary source of social and
emotional support for children during the first years of life, in
later years peers begin to play a significant complementary
and unique role in promoting child social-emotional
development. Increasingly with age, peers rather than
parents become preferred companions, providing important
sources of entertainment and support.
► In the context of peer interactions, young children engage in
fantasy play that allows them to assume different roles,
learn to take another person’s perspective, and develop an
understanding of the social rules and conventions of their
culture.
► In addition, relationships with peers typically involve more
give-and-take than relationships with adults, and thus provide
an opportunity for the development of social competencies
such as cooperation and negotiation.
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Learning of social skills
► When
children experience serious difficulties in the
domain of peer relations, the development of
social competencies may be threatened.
► Rejection or victimization by peers may become a
source of significant stress to children,
contributing to feelings of loneliness and low selfesteem. In addition, peer rejection can escalate
in a negative developmental spiral.
► That is, when children with poor social skills
become rejected, they are often excluded from
positive interactions with peers—interactions that
are critical for the learning of social skills.
The long-term consequences of
sustained peer rejection
The long-term consequences of sustained peer rejection
can be quite serious. Often, deficits in social competence
and peer rejection coincide with other emotional and
behavioral problems, including attention deficits,
aggression, and depression.
► The importance of social competence and satisfying social
relations is life-long. Studies of adults have revealed that
friendship is a critical source of social support that protects
against the negative effects of life stress. People with few
friends are at elevated risk for depression and anxiety.
► Childhood peer rejection predicts a variety of difficulties in
later life, including school problems, mental health
disorders, and antisocial behavior.
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Predictor of later mental health problems
Peer rejection proved to be a more sensitive predictor of
later mental health problems than school records,
achievement, and IQ scores or teacher ratings. It appears,
then, that positive peer relations play an important role in
supporting the process of healthy social and emotional
development.
► Problematic peer relations are associated with both
concurrent and future maladjustment of children, and
hence warrant serious attention from parents and
professionals working with children. When assessing the
possible factors contributing to a child’s social difficulties
and when planning remedial interventions, it is important
to understand developmental processes associated with
social competence and peer relations.
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Family contributions to social
competence
► Because
the family is the primary context for
social development, there are a number of ways
in which family interaction patterns may help or
hinder the development of children’s social
competence.
► Some researchers have speculated that the
origins of social competence can be found in
infancy, in the quality of the parent-child
attachment relationship.
► Studies have shown that babies whose parents
are consistent and sensitive in their responses to
distress are less irritable, less anxious, and
better emotionally regulated.
Child characteristics and social
competence
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In addition to family interaction patterns and various
aspects of the parent-child relationship, children’s own
thoughts, feelings, and attitudes may influence their social
behavior. Research has revealed that many rejected
children make impulsive, inaccurate, and incomplete
judgments about how to behave in social situations and
are lacking in social problem-solving skills.
They may make numerous errors in processing social
information, including misinterpretation of other people’s
motives and behavior, setting social goals for themselves
that are unrealistic or inappropriate, and making poor
decisions about their own conduct in social situations.
Child characteristics and social competence
For example, aggressive children are more likely to interpret
an accidental push or bump from a peer as intentionally
hostile, and respond accordingly.
► Similarly, socially incompetent children are often more
interested in “getting even” with peers for injustices than they
are in finding positive solutions to social problems, and expect
that aggressive, coercive strategies will lead to desired
outcomes.
► Many children who are rejected by peers have lower selfesteem, feel lonelier, and are more dissatisfied with their social
situations than are average or popular children.
► These feelings can cause them to give up and avoid social
situations, which can in turn exacerbate their peer problems.
Interestingly, not all rejected children feel badly about their
social difficulties. Studies have shown that aggressive-rejected
children, who tend to blame outside factors for their peer
problems, are less likely to express distress than withdrawnrejected children, who often attribute their problems to
themselves.
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Socialization
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The process by which a person learns to conform
individual behavior and responses to the norms and
values of society.
Socialization is a lifelong process that begins during
infancy in the complex interaction between parent and
child. As parents respond to a baby’s physical
requirements for food and shelter, they are also
beginning to teach the baby what to expect from their
environment and how to communicate their needs.
Consistent, responsive care helps lead to healthy
relationships with others and normal personal
development. Caretakers who neglect an infant’s needs
or otherwise stifle early attempts at communication can
cause serious damage to the child’s future social
interactions.
Conformity
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Adaptation of one’s behavior or beliefs to match those of
the other members of a group.
Conformity describes the adaptation of behavior that
occurs in response to unspoken group pressure. It differs
from compliance, which is adaptation of behavior resulting
from overt pressure. Individuals conform to or comply with
group behavior in an attempt to “fit in” or to follow the
norms of the social group.
As the individuals listened to the descriptions of others,
their answers became increasingly similar as they
unconsciously sought to establish a group norm.
The ambiguity and unanimity
Although the ambiguity and unanimity of the situation are
powerful contributors to the incidence of conformity, they
are not the sole determinants.
► Personal characteristics and the individual’s position within
the group play a role as well. Individuals who have a low
status within a group or are unfamiliar with a particular
situation are the ones most likely to conform. Thus, new
residents to a community are more likely to be affected by
the pressure to conform.
► Personality traits, such as concern with being liked or
the desire to be right, also play a role.
► Cultural factors are also influential. Certain cultures are
more likely than others to value group harmony over
individual expression.
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Empathy
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The capacity to vicariously experience and understand the
thoughts and feelings of another person by putting oneself
in that person’s place.
While most forms of psychotherapy require some degree
of empathy on the part of the counselor or therapist, the
client-centered therapy pioneered by Carl Rogers
places particular emphasis on this quality as part of the
therapeutic experience.
Throughout each therapy session, the therapist
demonstrates what Rogers termed “accurate empathetic
understanding,” showing sensitivity to the client’s feelings
through active listening that shows careful and perceptive
attention to what the client is saying.
Video
Client-centered therapists’ method
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The therapist employs standard behaviors common to all
good listeners, making frequent eye contact with the
client, nodding in agreement or understanding, and
generally showing that he or she is listening attentively.
One unique way client-centered therapists demonstrate
empathy with the client is through a special method
called reflection, which consists of paraphrasing and/or
summarizing what a client has just said.
This technique lets therapists check the accuracy of their
perceptions while showing clients that they are paying
careful attention to and are interested in what is being
said.
Conscience
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The moral dimension of human consciousness, the means
by which humans modify instinctual drives to conform to
laws and moral codes.
The superego
► Sigmund
Freud viewed the conscience as one of
two components of the superego, the other
being the ego-ideal. In this scheme, the
conscience prevents people from doing things that
are morally wrong, and the egoideal motivates
people to do things that are considered morally
right.
► This theory suggests that the conscience is
developed by parents, who convey their beliefs to
their children.
Family size
► The
size of a family has a significant effect on the
interrelationships among its members and can play
a major role in the formation of a child’s
personality.
► Family size is a significant factor in child
development, but must be considered as only
one part of a larger picture, however.
► Other factors, such as the parents’ personality
traits, and the gender and spacing of the
children, contribute significantly to the formation
of a child’s personality.
Children of large families
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Children of large families have a greater opportunity to
learn cooperation at an early age than children of
smaller families as they must learn to get along with
siblings.
They also take on more responsibility, both for
themselves and often for younger brothers and sisters.
In addition, children in large families must cope with the
emotional crises of sibling rivalry, from which they may
learn important lessons that will aid them later in life.
This factor, however, may also be a disadvantage; either
the older child who was “dethroned” from a privileged
position or the younger child who is in the eldest child’s
shadow may suffer feelings of inferiority.
Children in large families tend to adopt specific roles in
order to attain a measure of uniqueness and thus gain
parental attention.
Children in small families
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Children in small families receive a greater amount of
individual attention and tend to be comfortable around
adults at an early age.
They may also be overprotected, however, which can result
in dependence, lack of initiative, and fear of risk, and the
increased parental attention may also take the form of
excessive scrutiny and pressure to live up to other people’s
expectations. Researchers have found that only children
are often loners and have the lowest need for affiliation.
They tend to have high IQs and are successful
academically. However, only children have also been found
to have more psychological problems than children from
larger families.
Learning disability
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A disorder that causes problems in speaking, listening,
reading, writing, or mathematical ability.
Often, learning disabilities appear together with other
disorders, such as attention deficit/hyperactivity
disorder (ADHD). They are thought to be caused by
irregularities in the functioning of certain parts of the
brain. Evidence suggests that these irregularities are often
inherited (a person is more likely to develop a learning
disability if other family members have them).
However, learning disabilities are also associated with
certain conditions occurring during fetal development or
birth, including maternal use of alcohol, drugs, and
tobacco, exposure to infection, injury during birth, low
birth weight, and sensory deprivation.
General behavioral and emotional features of
learning disabilities
► In
addition to the preceding signs, which relate
directly to school and schoolwork, certain
general behavioral and emotional features often
accompany learning disabilities.
► These include impulsiveness, restlessness,
distractibility, poor physical coordination, low
tolerance for frustration, low self-esteem,
daydreaming, inattentiveness, and anger or
sadness.
► Learning disabilities involving reading have
traditionally been known as dyslexia; currently
the preferred term is developmental reading
disorder.
Conflict
► The
process of defusing antagonism and reaching
agreement between conflicting parties, especially
through some form of negotiation. Also, the study
and practice of solving interpersonal and
intergroup conflict.
► “Conflict” from the Latin root “to strike together”
can be defined as any situation where
incompatible activities, feelings, or intentions
occur together.
PEER MEDIATION PROCESS
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I. Introduction—The mediator introduces him or herself and explains
the rules. The mediator tries to make the disputants feel comfortable.
II. Identifying the Problem—The mediator listens to each party
describe the problem and writes down an agreed-upon “agenda” that
includes all the elements of a dispute.
III. Identifying Facts and Feelings—The disputants tell their sides of
the story to each other. The goal is to “surface” all of the underlying
facts and feelings pertaining to the problem. The mediator asks many
questions with the goal of helping to refocus the problem by viewing
it differently.
IV. Generating Options—The mediator asks both parties to brainstorm
how they might solve the problem. The mediator writes down all the
solutions, marking the ones that are mutually agreed upon. If none
are forthcoming, participants return to previous steps. Sometimes,
individual sessions with each disputant and the mediator are
necessary.
V. Agreement—The mediator writes a contract using the solutions to
which both parties agree, and everyone signs it.
VI. Follow-Up—After a period of time the former disputants will report
back to the mediator on whether the contract is being upheld by both
parties.
The conflict outcomes
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The conflict may be expressed through verbal denigration,
accusations, threats, or through physical violence to
persons or property. Or the conflict may remain
unexpressed, as in avoidance and denial.
A given conflict may be defined in terms of the issues that
caused it, the strategies used to address it, or the
outcomes or consequences that follow from it. The issues
of the conflict may be varied, ranging from the simple to
the complex.
Strategies for resolving or preventing the development of
conflict can be classified as avoidance, diffusion, or
confrontation.
The conflict resolution
► The
phrase conflict resolution refers specifically to
strategies of diffusion developed during the
second half of the twentieth century as
alternatives to traditional litigation models of
settling disputes.
► Based on the idea that it is better to expose and
resolve conflict before it damages people’s
relationships or escalates into violence, methods
of conflict resolution were developed in business
management and gradually adopted in the fields
of international relations, legal settings, and,
during the 1980s, educational settings.
The conflict resolution programs
► Most
conflict resolution programs employ some
form of negotiation as the primary method of
communication between parties.
► In the negotiation process, parties with opposing
interests hold conversations to settle a dispute.
► Negotiation can be distributive, where each party
attempts to win as many concessions to his or her
own self-interest as possible (win-lose), or
integrative, where parties attempt to discover
solutions that embody mutual self-interest (winwin).
Responses to a conflict
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Withdrawing from a conflict;
Demanding or requesting the opposing party to concede;
Providing reasons the opposing party should concede
(appealing to norms);
Proposing alternatives to the opposing party; and
proposing “if” statements, suggesting willingness to
negotiate.
Perspective taking, or articulating and validating the
feelings and thoughts of the other party (“I see that you
want….”), reflects the higher orders of conflict resolution
skills. Integration of interests
(“We both want…”) reflects the highest level, leading to
a consensual settlement of negotiations.
According to the principles of conflict resolution, the only
true solution to a conflict is one that attempts to satisfy
the inherent needs of all the parties involved.
The level of peer influence
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The level of peer influence increases with age, and
resistance to peer influence often declines as the child
gains independence from the family or caretakers, yet
has not fully formed an autonomous identity.
Ideally the child, adolescent, or teen should make
decisions based on a combination of values internalized
from the family, values derived from thinking
independently, and values derived from friends and other
role models.
In order to achieve this balance, rather than attempting
to minimize peer influence, families and schools must
provide strong alternative beliefs, patterns of behavior,
and encourage formation of peer groups that engage in
positive academic, athletic, artistic, and social activities.