Chapter 1: Review

Below is an abbreviated summary of the key takeaways for each section of this chapter:

• Communication is a broad field that draws from many academic disciplines.
• Communication is the process of generating meaning by sending and receiving symbolic cues that are influenced by multiple contexts.
• There are five forms of communication: intrapersonal, interpersonal, group, public, and mass communication.
• Communication models are not complex enough to truly capture all that takes place in a communication encounter.
• The transmission model of communication describes communication as a one-way, linear process in which a sender encodes a message and transmits it through a channel to a receiver who decodes it.
• The interaction model of communication describes communication as a two-way process in which participants alternate positions as sender and receiver and generate meaning by sending and receiving feedback within physical and psychological contexts.
• The transaction model of communication describes communication as a process in which communicators generate social realities within social, relational, and cultural contexts.
• Increasing your knowledge of communication and improving your communication skills can positively affect your academic, professional, personal, and civic lives.
• Professionally, employers desire employees with good communication skills, and employees who have good listening skills are more likely to get promoted.
• Personally, communication skills help us maintain satisfying relationships.
• Communication is a process that includes messages that vary in terms of conscious thought and intention. Communication is also irreversible and unrepeatable.
• Communication is guided by culture and context.
• Rules and norms influence the routines and rituals within our communication.
• Communication ethics varies by culture and context and involves the negotiation of and reflection on our actions regarding what we think is right and wrong.
• Communication competence refers to the knowledge of effective and appropriate communication patterns and the ability to use and adapt that knowledge in various contexts.
• Levels of communication competence include unconscious incompetence, conscious incompetence, conscious competence, and unconscious competence.
• Communication apprehension (CA) refers to fear or anxiety experienced by a person due to real or imagined communication with another person or persons.
• Verbal communication is based on several basic principles. Language is a system of symbols, words, and/or gestures used to communicate meaning. Language is abstract , so we try iour best to organize and classifies reality