COMM 4535 Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: The Emotions, Alexithymia, Snob

• School: Northeastern University
• Department: Communication Studies
• Course: COMM 4535
• Professor: Sara Stifano

Document Summary

When the behavior of one individual (sender) influences the behavior of another individual (receiver) Behavior is communicative to the extent that it reduces uncertainty in the behavior of another. Communication, then, does not have to occur through a socially-shared symbol system. Some sending and receiving mechanisms are adaptive, or biologically- based. Not arbitrary (would not be present unless you are truly feeling the feeling) Emblems: signals that are equivalents to words (peace) Illustrators: show the other person what is being said verbally. Regulators: help to manage the flow of the conversation (eye contact) Adapters: things that seem involuntary but are voluntary. Verbal and nonverbal messages can be sent an understood as both: Nonverbal displays have adaptive value because they reveal something about the internal state of the individual. The inner state of the individual must be encoded into an expressive display. The receiver must be able to receive the expressive display.