My favorite concept would be from chapter 5 on page 130; and the concept is endomorph. This concept is under the header of 'body type' and this section of chapter 5 focuses on the physical form of the human body. A variety of cultures value different body types and body structures. An endomorph is one of the three extremes of the body types. The other two body type classifications are mesomorph which is an average height , muscular, athletic body; and an ectomorph is a tall, thin, and frail body structure. A seven point scale is used to score an individuals body type.
This is my favorite concept not because it is such a weird word but because I have never heard of an endomorph before and it interested me because body type in the United States is focused on a lot. I found it disheartening to read about how body type can be an advantage or disadvantage for a persona when it comes to love and a career. I hope not! The endomorph is a concept which stood out to me because it made me think of how our society focuses on outward appearance and puts an unrealistic amount of pressure to be perfect. This concept is worth discussing because it can put into light where our judgements come from here in the United States. All body types are unique and wonderful in their own way and Chapter 5 discusses this.
There should only be one body type...BEAUTIFUL.
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
Im amazed!
I have learned a lot from this class and I feel as if I have gotten a hang of communicated through the new technology of our ages. Even though I have not been able to meet my wonderful classmates I have been able to discuss concepts and theories with them. I have 24/7 contact with my professor and that is a wonderful advantage. I feel as if I am saving trees by sending my papers through email as well as taking tests online. It was hard to adjust at first but after a few weeks I felt comfortable with the cyber space environment. What I did not like about the class was the restrictions on the posts. I would always have to come back to do my posts and i rather just get them done at once. I was not used to the time restrictions on the quizzes i never had enough time to do them all. I felt rushed and nervous! I take a really long time with tests.
I really enjoyed writing the journals and applying concepts I have read about and talked about into my personal life. I am well aware of my mother's nonverbal communication when she just looks at me in disgust and gives out a huge sigh! I ask her if she is irritated with me and she is says, "how do you know?" I tell her my secret ways but she still sighs when I don't do as she asks.
I learned a lot of where the study of communication began within the Greek culture. It was amazing learning about how theories came to be and how persuasion as been used for centuries before. It overwhelms me that communicating is not only talking, it has numerous angles to study and it has been mind-opening to learn many new concepts as well as stay in touch with others.
I really enjoyed writing the journals and applying concepts I have read about and talked about into my personal life. I am well aware of my mother's nonverbal communication when she just looks at me in disgust and gives out a huge sigh! I ask her if she is irritated with me and she is says, "how do you know?" I tell her my secret ways but she still sighs when I don't do as she asks.
I learned a lot of where the study of communication began within the Greek culture. It was amazing learning about how theories came to be and how persuasion as been used for centuries before. It overwhelms me that communicating is not only talking, it has numerous angles to study and it has been mind-opening to learn many new concepts as well as stay in touch with others.
My concept!
I really enjoyed Chapter 6 and within this chapter the concepts which caught my attention and focus were the expressive-protective dialectic and self-disclosure. I found the expressive protective dialect involves searching for that balance between the information that is shared and the information which is consciously left out of relationships. This concept truly helped me evaluate my friendships, and distinguish them from close friends to only acquaintances. It is gratifying as the book states to have such open relationships as well as be the one another friend comes to for a exclusive open conversation.
Disclosure is a risk. Being able to self-disclose with another person can either bring a relationship closer together or tear them apart. Self-disclosure is when an individual voluntarily reveals information that would normally be kept hidden in an interpersonal relationship.
Interpersonal relationships are determinate on how much self-disclosure is present in that relationship. By taking risks and opening up to others it can be that glue between two individuals. They are not longer just common folk they are now best friends because they have taken that risk of trust.
I found these two concepts intriguing because I can pin point them out in my relationships. What friends of mine know a lot about me, who know about my family or who do I talk to only about my family problems or who do I go to when I need to cry. Self –disclosure and the expressive-protective dialectic concept of interpersonal communication are present in my life and are relevant to my every day issues, emotions, and interactions.
Disclosure is a risk. Being able to self-disclose with another person can either bring a relationship closer together or tear them apart. Self-disclosure is when an individual voluntarily reveals information that would normally be kept hidden in an interpersonal relationship.
Interpersonal relationships are determinate on how much self-disclosure is present in that relationship. By taking risks and opening up to others it can be that glue between two individuals. They are not longer just common folk they are now best friends because they have taken that risk of trust.
I found these two concepts intriguing because I can pin point them out in my relationships. What friends of mine know a lot about me, who know about my family or who do I talk to only about my family problems or who do I go to when I need to cry. Self –disclosure and the expressive-protective dialectic concept of interpersonal communication are present in my life and are relevant to my every day issues, emotions, and interactions.
Saturday, August 7, 2010
Chapter 2 concept
A concept which seems simple enough within the chapter I found interesting was perspective. This entire chapter has to do with multiple perspectives and how we or others decode or use their perspective. A perspective is a coherent set of assumptions about the way a process operates. This definition is honestly an issue for me. Coherent to me means something that makes sense, or easily understood. Webster dictionary defines coherent "as logically or aesthetically ordered or integrated." An assumption is the act of laying a claim according to Webster's Dictionary.
A perspective is a logically ordered act which one lays a claim about the way a process operates.
A perspective is ambiguous. I find it difficult that all of these researches actually decided on only 4 perspectives within Chapter 2 because they all had their own coherent set of assumptions for the way in which we communicate. I was wondering if a perspective could be a wrong perspective? Could we make a claim in which we come to wrong assumptions based on our own logically ordered claims? I imagine mistakes in communicating what we see and what we want to see happen often because interpreting many different signals can be difficult.
The concept of what a perspective is can be a tough one to fully understand, because I am having problems understanding the broad definition in the book. But looking up some of the words within the definition helped a lot by putting the parts together for me to reach my own claim.
A perspective is a logically ordered act which one lays a claim about the way a process operates.
A perspective is ambiguous. I find it difficult that all of these researches actually decided on only 4 perspectives within Chapter 2 because they all had their own coherent set of assumptions for the way in which we communicate. I was wondering if a perspective could be a wrong perspective? Could we make a claim in which we come to wrong assumptions based on our own logically ordered claims? I imagine mistakes in communicating what we see and what we want to see happen often because interpreting many different signals can be difficult.
The concept of what a perspective is can be a tough one to fully understand, because I am having problems understanding the broad definition in the book. But looking up some of the words within the definition helped a lot by putting the parts together for me to reach my own claim.
Thursday, August 5, 2010
Pragmatic perspective
The pragmatic perspective focuses on the behaviors which all come into play over a period of time. On page 33 the text reveals "to understand communication pragmatists argue, you need to understand the moves people use as they work out their relationship with one another." To think of the pragmatic perspective as a game can be beneficial because during a game one tries to create their own moves according the way their opponent moves.
I remember during my debate class at San Jose State my professor always stated we needed that push and pull and the 'clash' of each teams arguments. For example all the evidence one gave during the debate for support of their issue we had to refute everything they said as well as use additional information for our side.
The pragmatic perspective can be considered a game because a game deals with an opponent and provides an image of how communication is used or even manipulated in some cases.
As I was reading on page 33 the last line mentions a person who cries, are they crying because they are sad, angry, or frustrated or are they trying to make someone else feel sorry for them. One has to acknowledge the information or the event which took place before the tears started to fall. I found that part of the pragmative perspective very interesting because I do that sometimes, otherwise its not as effective.
I remember during my debate class at San Jose State my professor always stated we needed that push and pull and the 'clash' of each teams arguments. For example all the evidence one gave during the debate for support of their issue we had to refute everything they said as well as use additional information for our side.
The pragmatic perspective can be considered a game because a game deals with an opponent and provides an image of how communication is used or even manipulated in some cases.
As I was reading on page 33 the last line mentions a person who cries, are they crying because they are sad, angry, or frustrated or are they trying to make someone else feel sorry for them. One has to acknowledge the information or the event which took place before the tears started to fall. I found that part of the pragmative perspective very interesting because I do that sometimes, otherwise its not as effective.
Monday, August 2, 2010
Chapter 2
While reviewing chapter 2 the quotation on the Social constructionist perspective states "we NEVER experience the world directly."
Reading the paragraph before which introduces the social constructionist theory it all clicks or somewhat fits. The four cultural tools are symbolic codes, or language. Many other cultures have their own language. Such as English, Spanish, French, Hmong, Vietnamese, Mandarin and many others not including tribes located around the globe.
The second cultural tool is cognitive customs which are the ways we've been taught to process information. Further into the cognitive customs it does make sense we are not all raised by the same parents or around the same environment therefore each individual will process information in a different manner.
The third is cultural traditions which are the beliefs, attitudes, and values that make up our cultural traditions. An example of different cultural beliefs attitudes and values would be with the Muslim faith. I remember during high school my best friend would fast for Ramadan. During these 30 days my friend could only eat food when the sun would set. She would go home early from school or be excused from soccer practice because she was fasting. I could not understand how she could not eat all day! but she said with years of doing it you get accustomed to it.
The last cultural tool are the sets of roles and rules that guide our actions and they shape experiences and how we talk about the world around us. An example could be the role of the mother. The image of the stay at home mom has now evolved into the working mom. More and more women are deciding to build their own careers as well as be a mother.
The social constructionist perspective maintains that we never experience the world directly because we are our own architects for our world. Which can be good as well as bad because of the lack of exposure to other worlds.
Reading the paragraph before which introduces the social constructionist theory it all clicks or somewhat fits. The four cultural tools are symbolic codes, or language. Many other cultures have their own language. Such as English, Spanish, French, Hmong, Vietnamese, Mandarin and many others not including tribes located around the globe.
The second cultural tool is cognitive customs which are the ways we've been taught to process information. Further into the cognitive customs it does make sense we are not all raised by the same parents or around the same environment therefore each individual will process information in a different manner.
The third is cultural traditions which are the beliefs, attitudes, and values that make up our cultural traditions. An example of different cultural beliefs attitudes and values would be with the Muslim faith. I remember during high school my best friend would fast for Ramadan. During these 30 days my friend could only eat food when the sun would set. She would go home early from school or be excused from soccer practice because she was fasting. I could not understand how she could not eat all day! but she said with years of doing it you get accustomed to it.
The last cultural tool are the sets of roles and rules that guide our actions and they shape experiences and how we talk about the world around us. An example could be the role of the mother. The image of the stay at home mom has now evolved into the working mom. More and more women are deciding to build their own careers as well as be a mother.
The social constructionist perspective maintains that we never experience the world directly because we are our own architects for our world. Which can be good as well as bad because of the lack of exposure to other worlds.
Saturday, July 31, 2010
Chapter 13: Heuristics
"Our everyday models of human behavior are based on simplistic thinking," Trenholm emphasizes on page369. The concept of heuristics can be seen in a handful of our everyday experiences. Heuristics are rules of thumb that allow us to avoid careful information processing. The book uses examples of when difficult encounters of information we look for cues or rely on authority to make sense of the information at hand. One example is 'I didn't understand it, but my dad said it was true;' or the argument seemed odd, but after all, the author did go to Harvard. Heuristics can be helpful in times of complete confusion or be an aid for educated guesses but Heuristics can be easily misconstrued.
Heuristics were misconstrued during WWII with the Internment of Japanese and Japanese Americans. The United States determined any person of Japanese ancestry was a threat to the safety of the United States and interned them for the entire duration of WWII. No one questioned the discriminatory regulations and laws which placed the Japanese community in these internment camps because if the 'authority' such as the President of the United States says the Japanese are a threat, then it must be a valid argument. If the President of the United States see these new regulations as a need for our safety then they must be a threat.
Heuristics should not be the only way to gain information, and that is why researchers and other forms of scientific methodology are used.
Heuristics were misconstrued during WWII with the Internment of Japanese and Japanese Americans. The United States determined any person of Japanese ancestry was a threat to the safety of the United States and interned them for the entire duration of WWII. No one questioned the discriminatory regulations and laws which placed the Japanese community in these internment camps because if the 'authority' such as the President of the United States says the Japanese are a threat, then it must be a valid argument. If the President of the United States see these new regulations as a need for our safety then they must be a threat.
Heuristics should not be the only way to gain information, and that is why researchers and other forms of scientific methodology are used.
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