Psychology of Communication Summary

Psychology of communication – summary

1. Introduction
Def. Communication: sharing meaning through speaking, listening, writing, informing, persuading
Effective vs. ineffective, positive vs. negative
Source vs. receiver

- Requirements to effective comm.:
 Connecting with audience
 Considering audiences point of view
 Changing, modifying the message
 Relevance
 Consideration, discussion of wider context

- Communication in development of life skills
 Greater self-awareness
 Enhancing others perception on self
 Understanding of human relationships, interactions
 Appropriate vs. inappropriate communication
 Critical, questioning, evaluative attitudes
 Oral, written presentation techniques, body language
 Multiculturism, diversity

- Components of communication
- Codes: “systematic arrangement of symbols
used to create meanings in the mind of another
person or persons”, e.g. language
- People: sender, receiver
- Channel: “message conveyer”
- Feedback: from receiver to source
- Encoding: producing messages
- Decoding: receiving messages, risk of
misunderstanding
- Noise: interferences, physical, visual, spatial
(emotions, feelings)
- Situation: physical space, influenced by
relationships, channel, context

- Communication principles
 Comm. Begins with self
 Comm. Involves others  creates social worlds, reality
 Communication has both a content and a relational dimension
 Communication is complicated
 Communication quantity does not increase quality
 Communication is inevitable
 Communication cannot be reversed or repeated  process
 Communication is pervasive: always happening, judgements, …
 Communication is functional, adaptive

- Factors that influence relationships in communication
 Nature of relationship
 Context
 Goals of the individuals

, - Communication contexts
 Intrapersonal
 Interpersonal
 Public communication
 Mass communication
 Computer-mediated communication (CMC)/ Digitally mediated

- Communication is symbolic
 Arbitrary, representational
 Object
 Idea
 Person/ place
 Relationship
 Symbol can be a word, movement, sound, picture, …
 ≠ sign: consequences/ indicators of something else, not able to be changed through
action
 Symbols have no direct connection to what they represent
 Same vs. different across cultures

- Communication requires meaning
 Meanings can be modified with time
 Social construction
 Meaning is attached to symbols which people understand
 Context
 Physical space
 Relational (relationships “I love you” partner vs. mother)
 Situational
 Verbal, nonverbal influence

- Ethical issue: “Is communicating in a manner consistent with someone’s cultural expectations
but inconsistent with your normal communication style unethical?”
 Communication is cultural: assumptions
 Culture and communication reinforce each other’s

- Communication is relational
 Communication affects relationships, relationships affect communication

- Framing
 What is expected from us
 Positioning, boundaries
 “frame of reference”, perspectives

- Presentational and. representational
 representational: conveying facts and information
 interpersonal
 presentational: person’s view, take on facts
 intrapersonal

- communication is a transaction
 communication as interaction: exchange
 Sending a message, message received, message sent back to sender
 Constitutive approach
 Creating shared meaning