Page 332 - Essentials of Human Communication

Glossary 311

congruence. A condition in which verbal and nonverbal be- conversational turns. The process of exchanging the speaker
haviors reinforce each other. and listener roles during conversation. Maintain relatively
connotation. The feeling or emotional aspect of meaning, short conversational turns and then pass the speaker’s turn
generally viewed as consisting of evaluative (e.g., good/ to another person nonverbally or verbally.
bad), potency (i.e., strong/weak), and activity (i.e., fast/ cooperation. An interpersonal process by which individuals
slow) dimensions; the associations of a term. As a work together for a common end; the pooling of efforts to
speaker, clarify your connotative meanings if you have any produce a mutually desired outcome.
doubts that your listeners might misunderstand you; as a cooperation (principle of). A cultural principle stating that
listener, ask questions if you have doubts about the speak- speaker and listener will cooperate in trying to communi-
er’s connotations. Contrast denotation. cate effectively and to understand each other.
consciousness-raising group. A type of group that aims to help credibility. The believability of a speaker; competence, char-
people cope with the problems society confronts them with. acter, and charisma (dynamism) are its major dimen-
consensus. A process of reaching agreement (not necessarily sions. Seek to establish credibility by displaying compe-
unanimous) among group members. tence, high moral character, and dynamism, or charisma.
consistency. A perceptual process that influences us to maintain critical thinking. The process of logically evaluating reasons
balance among our perceptions; a process that makes us and evidence and reaching a judgment on the basis of this
tend to see what we expect to see and to be uncomfortable analysis.
when our perceptions run contrary to our expectations. critical-thinking-hats technique. A technique developed by
contact. The first stage of an interpersonal relationship, in Edward deBono (1976) in which a problem or issue is
which perceptual and interactional contact occurs. viewed from six distinct perspectives.
contamination. A form of territorial encroachment that ren- criticism. The reasoned judgment of some work; although of-
ders another’s territory impure. ten equated with fault finding, criticism can involve both
content and relationship dimensions. Two simultaneous as- positive or negative evaluations.
pects of any given communication: the aspect that per- cultural display. Signs that communicate cultural identification—
tains to the world external to both speaker and listener for example, group-specific clothing or religious jewelry.
(i.e., content) and the aspect having to do with the rela- cultural rules. Rules that are specific to a given cultural group.
tionship between the individuals (i.e., relationship). Listen Increase your sensitivity to these rules by learning about
to both the content and the relationship aspects of messages, different cultures, recognizing and facing your own fears of
distinguish between them, and respond to both. intercultural interaction, recognizing differences between
content conflict. A type of conflict that centers on objects, yourself and others, and becoming conscious of the cultural
events, and persons that are usually, though not always, rules and customs of other cultures.
external to the parties involved in the conflict. Contrast cultural time. The meanings given to time communication by
relationship conflict. a particular culture.
context of communication. The physical, psychological, so- culture. The relatively specialized lifestyle of a group of
cial, and temporal environment in which communication people—consisting of values, beliefs, artifacts, ways of
takes place. behaving, and ways of communicating—that is passed on
contrast (principle of). Often-followed rule of perception: from one generation to the next.
messages or people who are very different from each culture shock. The psychological reaction we experience
other probably don’t belong together, and do not consti- when we find ourselves in a culture very different from
tute a set or group. our own or from what we are used to.
controllability. One of the factors we consider in judging
whether a person is responsible for his or her behavior. If
the person was in control, then we judge that he or she date. An extensional device used to emphasize the notion
was responsible. See also attribution theory. of constant change and symbolized by a subscript; for
conversation. Two-person communication that usually in- example, John Smith 2008 is not John Smith 2011 . Use the
cludes an opening, feedforward, a business stage, feed- date (verbally or mentally) to guard against static
back, and a closing. evaluation.
conversational management. The ways in which a conversa- deception cues. Verbal or nonverbal cues that reveal that a
tion is conducted. person is lying.
conversational turns. The process of exchanging speaking decoder. Something that takes a message in one form (e.g.,
and listening turns during a conversation. sound waves) and translates it into another form (e.g., nerve
conversational maxims. The principles that people follow in impulses) from which meaning can be formulated (e.g., in
conversation to ensure that the goal of the conversation is vocal–auditory communication). In human communica-
achieved. Follow (generally) the basic maxims of conversa- tion the decoder is the auditory mechanism; in electronic
tion, such as the maxims of quantity, quality, relations, communication the decoder is, for example, the telephone
manner, and politeness. earpiece. See also encoder.