This Class

2). What have you learned throughout this class?  What was your favorite thing about this class?  What was your least favorite thing about the class?  How can this class be improved? 

I have learned a lot of things throughout this class. I really liked this class because it was a well rounded Communication studies class and it covered most of the major topics that i have learned in Comm so far. The text book we used for this class was probably my favorite in all of my comm classes because it was easy to understand and straight forward not too wordy. I was able to review subjects that I have previously studied, but things seemed less complicated. I don't know if it was because i was familiar with the subjects or if the textbook was just really clear. I really liked the discussion blogs, and i appreciated that we only had to log on to two different websites to do our class work. Ive taken some online classes before where we had to go to four different sites, to do our work, and that got really confusing. I wish we could have had it all on one site, but two is way better than four! Other than that I wouldn't change anything about the course and even that isnt really that big of a deal! 

My Favorite Concept!

1). What concept/s in the class have you found most interesting?  What was it about that concept/s that you found interesting?

I really like the chapter that we studies on Interpersonal communication. I found that there were many concepts from this chapter that I found interesting, and also enlightening. Relational maintenance is one concept that I liked because it discussed a subject that affects us everyday. The behaviors listed can help people evaluate how much relational maintenance they are doing and I think it would be valuable for everyone if they knew this information. I looked at the table for the first time and realized that my boyfriend and I are doing a good job as far as maintenance in our relationship. I have friends that have moved away and i realize that we did not do a good job of maintaining our relationship because we share the task of keeping in contact. I just really liked this section because it totally helped me to understand interpersonal relationships, and how to communicate in them effectively. I have even been able to give my friends advice from the information about interpersonal relationships and thats really cool!

Social Constructionist perspective

" Consider the social constructionist perspective. How do we "build worlds" through communication? Think of some ideas we talk about in our culture that may not exist in other cultures. How do these concepts contribute to our happiness or success (or the lack of these) in our culture?"


We build worlds through communication, by constructing them with ideas about norms, cultures, what we have been taught, beliefs, values and traditions. These ideas are shared among people in groups, and they believe that the world that they have constructed is reality. Its difficult to see outside of the world, you know unless you experience it. If you are taught about the world in a certain way, that is they way you will believe the world to be. 

Some ideas that we talk about in our culture that might not exist in other cultures, are things like freedom of religion and equality between men and women. In some other cultures there might be tribes of people that may have a certain belief system among their community, and the only religion that exists in their mind is their own. Here we are aware that other religions exist, and we  have the freedom to explore, and choose to fallow whatever religion we believe in. Here we talk about women and men and how they should be treated equally, but in other parts of the world, people may believe that women and men each have a “place” and they stick to that norm.

My first Model

Pick one concept from Chapter 2, not already discussed, that you found useful or interesting and discuss it.


I liked the psychological model of communication perspective. When I took my first few communication studies classes the psychological model was something that was discussed  frequently. Im pretty sure it was the first model of communication that I ever learned about. I like it because it visually shows the precess of communication and how there is a sender and receiver and they transmit messages. The sender encodes the message, sends it though the channel (which is the medium that the message is sent through like talking, emailing, or text messaging and so on.) then the receiver has to decode the message and then replies with feedback. The diagram shows how messages can me sent back and fourth, and how noise can affect the message. I like the concept of noise, because it represents anything that can affect a message in transit. This means that other things outside of the conversation can affect or change a message. If someone calls you to tell you happy news, the message can be changes if he phone is static and you cant hear them. The happy news that you cant hear turns frustrating for you because of the interference.

One of the methods that I find the most interesting in chapter 13 is experimental research. Cause and effect situations present themselves all the time. Even with my own life I run experiments to see if I can improve something that I feel needs improving. For example I find that I feel the need to take a nap everyday and I never feel refreshed when I wake up. So I looked at the things that could be the cause of this effect and I came up with, diet, exercize, medication, and sleep patterns all as possible causes. I experimented by changing my diet, and exercise  habbits, and was able to rule those out. Exercise does give me a boost of energy once I do it, which helps me take less naps. Next I need to try to set a daily bed time and wake up time to see if it is my sleep pattern that is  my lack of energy. Anyway I manipulated the independent variables so that I could compare them just like in experimental research! so cool!

What are some of the moral dilemmas that face ethnographers?  How would you resolve them?


One of the moral dilemmas discussed was that the ethnographer had knowledge about things that were secret, but he wanted to share with the world, that gangs were not just drug crazed hooligans they were their own organized nations, with networking all over. I think that being let in on secrets and then going and exposing them to the world is a reasonable dilemma, because you do not want to throw the people that informed you of the information under the bus. If i were to resolve this issue I am not exactly sure how i would handle it. Conquergood said that he negotiates, because of "the delicate boundary between respect and sensitivity to my field consultants, and the need to write the fullest, most complex ethnographic account of their communication practices that my data support". I think that i might evaluate what is really important for the world to know and what might cause trouble for the people involved, and go from there.

Chapter 8

In chapter 8 a concept that I really liked was structural diversity. In structural diversity there are “teams with members from different units within the organization and with different training and knowledge”(211). I liked this concept because I have experienced this at my current job, and I will probably experience this in most of the other jobs I have. One time i had to do a group project for a class. Our teacher had us do a personality test to divide us into different categories. Then he chose a person from each category to form the group. It was like each person a a specialty to contribute to the group project. It was a great project because it applied real world scenarios of working in a group in a work environment. With everyones special skills, and knowledge combined they can accomplish the tasks at hand and get the job done, just like in structured diversity in the workplace.

2). Do you agree with Marshall McLuhand that the medium is the message, i.e. that the format or logic of a medium is as important as its content, and, in fact, determines what content will be broadcast through that channel?  Evaluate his idea that television is a cool medium.


I think that the idea that the medium is the message is an interesting idea, but I am not sure I totally agree with the concept. I do think that the medium does make a difference on weather or not the message will be received among different groups of people. I think that people like my parents who read the newspaper daily will receive the message in that medium, better than my sister and I who do not read the newspaper. Therefore we ignore the message, because we dont read it. But I think we would receive the message through a different medium, like the internet and television and we would essentially get the same message.


When the text book was discussing television as a cool medium, it mentioned that people have who have grown up on watching television, were used to the fast paces barrage of information, and that they can get bored from other mediums that do not have pictorial and dramatic stimuli. I find this to be true for my self and I have found myself feeling that I am not getting the information I want fast enough from other mediums.

Cyber Friends!

1). Have you made friendships that exist exclusively in cyberspace?  If so, how are they different from f2f relationships?  If you have no formed cyber relationships, why not?


I have never made a friendship that existed exclusively in cyberspace. A few times I have met people and continued to develop the friendship online, but I have never made and exclusively cyberspace friend. I had herd so many horror stories when I was younger about people on the internet being predators or whatnot that I was afraid to talk to people that I did not actually know. The idea of making friends with a fourteen year girl, who was actually a 40 year old man on the other end freaked me out. I do have friends that have made friends through cyberspace, and nothing creepy or weird happened to them, it was usually people that they played games like world of warcraft with, and their friendship revolved around the game. Another friend of mine made friends with people online that shared her love of comic books, which was nice for her because she didnt have any friends that lived near her to discuss her passion with. I don't that cyberspace friendships are always bad or anything, just not for me. I 

Which pattern (rigid complementarity, competitive symmetry, or submissive symmetry) do you think would be the most difficult to change? Why? Which would be the most damaging to a relationship? Which would be the most potentially damaging to the self-esteem of the individuals involved? 


It seems that all of these patterns would be equally difficult to change. I have a friend who was in a four year relationship, that recently ended basically because of rigid complementarity. She was tired of being the one down person and so she broke things off with her boyfriend. They are still friends, and talk but she moved out of the house. Now when i see them together, the roles have reversed she seems to be the one up person. I feel like this is a tactic to win her back, in her ex boyfriends mind. I think that he is just a dominant person and so I think that it would be difficult to change that in him forever. Obviously this example of rigid complementarity is an example of how the relationship was damaged, and I think that this form of dysfunctional pattern is also damaging to the people involved probably more so than the other two patterns mentioned. I know for my friend it was damaging to her self esteem because she felt belittled and frustrated that she always had to be the submissive person.

Although i have never experienced serious culture shock,after reading about it i kind of remember experiencing something that was pretty close to it. I grew up and attendend school in the Los Gatos, Campbell, Saratoga area which was predominantly white. My schools, had childeren from all different cultures, and ehtinicities, but we never had gang issues or things like that. My Mother was ateacher in the East Side Union Highschool district. One summer right before i stated highschool, she signed me up for a math class that was supposed to prepare me for highschool math. The class was at her school Yerba Buena. The school mostly consisted of kids that were hispanic and asian. When I went there I soon found out that I was the only white kid on campus. I felt a little out of place, because we werent allowed to wear anything red or blue, and i was nervous that I might say something that was wrong or gang affiliated. I wondered to myself if the other kids at the school, thought it was weird tht i was there, or if they didnt even notice. I was open to being friends with people and I made friends with the kids in my class but i hung out in my moms office at lunch beacuse i didnt really know where else to go. It was and interesting experience and to me its the closest i have been to culture shock.

2). Do you believe in the rationality, perfectability, and mutability premises? What social institutions and practices are based on these beliefs?


I think that to some extent this idea is true. The Perfectibility section is the one that i agree with least. I think that humans might strive for perfection in some areas but not it all areas, because either its impossible, or its not that important. I also do not think that humans are born in sin. These beliefs are probably what a lot of religions are based upon. 


I do think the rationality part is right in that most people have the ability to think rationally, and make good decisions, however there are people that have the ability but they still make poor decisions. And there theres the few who do not have the ability to think rationally, like people with developmental disorders, or psychological disorders.


Lastly i do believe in the mutability premise, your environment helps to shape who you are, and every one experiences that. Work, home and social groups, all contribute to the environmental factors in peoples life, and shape a persons, psychological, and physiological self.

1). Do you agree with anthropologist Ruth Benedict that we are "creatures of our culture" and that our habits, beliefs, and impossibilities are shaped by our culture? If so, how can we break through the limits of our cultures? Yes i agree that we are creatures of our culture. Our culture is a very important and defining part of who we are. When we are born we arrive into a culture, and that culture will always influence us in a certain way, weather we fallow it all our lives, or decide to fallow a different cultural path, it will have influenced us in some way and will always be a part of us. As we grow and change in our lives we will become parts of other cultures and sub cultures, and all will have influenced us in some way. our habits and beliefs may change over times, but that will have been persuaded by cultures that were were a part of before. For example i used to be a part of a religious group, and i fallowed the cultural practices and norms of that group, however as i got older i realized that the religion taught some things that i don't necessarily believe. So the time came when i detached myself from that culture however i am still influenced by it in negative and positive ways. We can break through limits of our cultures kind of like the way i broke away from my religion. I still believe in some of the aspects of it but not all so i feel that i have broken through those limits, but still have some influences from that culture. Its kind of like i created my own new culture that is derived from different aspect of other cultures that have influenced my life.

Chapter Five

I really liked chapter five because it was all about non verbal communication. I love non verbal communication because it adds so much more expression to verbal messages. One of the issues with the ever growing technological form of communication is that non verbal communication is limited. Nonverbal communication helps to make messages that people are trying to convey more expressive, and interesting to pay attention to. 

Last semester I did a workshop with a group for our class project. The subject of our presentation was effective presentation skills, and I got to focus on presenting the importance of non verbal presentation skills, which included eye contact, hand gestures, movement, and posture. These skills are important in more than just presentations, they are effective in all forms of communication.

It is fascinating to me how many different ways one can communicate non-verbally. Even in images there is communication that is expressed without words. Then as the book mentions there is body movement and gestures, eye movement, proxemics, paralinguistics, and appearance among other things.

 Do you agree that men and women use language differently? In what areas?  Give specific examples.


Yes I agree that women and men use language differently. Often times when women have conversations they are interested in the details that go along with the story. Men on the other hand do not care about the details, and often times they do not really remember them. I often run into this with my boyfriend, where he tells me something that happened and I ask him questions. Most of the questions I ask he doesn't have an answer for, and i find my self repeating questions just to see if i can squeeze any more information out of him. 


The book mentions the fact that girls are brought up to share feeling and emotions, and boys are brought up to be more reserved and succeed in life on their own. So women have conversations with other women that have more disclosure and connection behind it when the get together. I have observed often that Men talk about things that don't usually have anything to do with their personal life, like music, sports, projects.

Judgements

 Is it possible to perceive others without in some way judging or categorizing them? If so, how? If not, how can we make the judgments we do make more fair?


I dont think that it is possible to perceive others without judgement. There are non verbal behaviors that can make one judge just by looking at someone else. People tend to dress in a certain way to express themselves, and this can give a notion of who they are by the people who view them. When you meet someone for the first time, you get a first impression, by what they look like before then even say anything to you. Their body language can express confidence with good posture, which can be interpreted as arrogance, or self confidence. If somone is slouching, they can seem relaxed, lazy, or weak. 


We can make the judgements we do more fair, by setting them aside until we actually get to know the person that we are making judgements about. I think its human nature to make judgements, but you can also tell yourself that old saying, dont judge a book by its cover.

Memorable Speakers

"Have you ever been influenced by a speaker? Think of the best speaker you've ever heard. What was in about that speaker that made his or her communication memorable? Think of the worst speaker you've ever heard. What do you remember about his or her message?"


One of the most influential speakers that i have heard was actually one of my Comm professors. One reason I chose Communication studies as my major was because I was so impacted by the lectures he gave. With his lectures there was never a dull moment. You could tell he was really passionate about the subjects he was teaching, and the way he spoke made the lectures exciting. He had movement, but not too much, and he was confidant, clear, and captivating.


One of the worst speakers I ever heard was so hard to understand that I never really quite figured out the topic. She seemed really nervous and spoke very quietly. The girl was giving a presentation in class, and the professor asked her to speak up, because she was not understandable, but she stayed at the level of projection that she started with and the presentation dragged on. It was painful to watch, five minutes of presentation that no one could hear or understand.

Building worlds through communication

" Consider the social constructionist perspective. How do we "build worlds" through communication? Think of some ideas we talk about in our culture that may not exist in other cultures. How do these concepts contribute to our happiness or success (or the lack of these) in our culture?"


We build worlds through communication, by constructing them with ideas about norms, cultures, what we have been taught, beliefs, values and traditions. These ideas are shared among people in groups, and they believe that the world that they have constructed is reality. Its difficult to see outside of the world, you know unless you experience it. If you are taught about the world in a certain way, that is they way you will believe the world to be. 

Some ideas that we talk about in our culture that might not exist in other cultures, are things like freedom of religion and equality between men and women. In some other cultures there might be tribes of people that may have a certain belief system among their community, and the only religion that exists in their mind is their own. Here we are aware that other religions exist, and we  have the freedom to explore, and choose to fallow whatever religion we believe in. Here we talk about women and men and how they should be treated equally, but in other parts of the world, people may believe that women and men each have a “place” and they stick to that norm.

Introductory Post

Hello!
My name is Larisa Reinegger. I am a Communication Studies major. I am looking forward to graduating in the fall, its been a long journey and I can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel! I have taken a number of communication classes, and I really enjoyed interpersonal communication. I work at Starbucks, and I have been there for six years. I really enjoy being around people, doing outdoor activities like hiking and camping and going for runs with my friends. I look forward to this class and using this blog! I have never had a blog before.