Lecture No. 1. Psychology of communication
Man is unthinkable without people.
Goethe
Target:
Study the topic “Communication”. Expand the meaning of the concept of “communication”; consider types and levels of communication. Introduce students to various means of communication, reveal the techniques of non-verbal communication. Pay special attention to the mechanisms of interpersonal perception and understanding of people in the process of communication. Give an idea of the main phenomena of interpersonal communication; analyze the reasons leading to distortion of information in the process of people’s perception of each other. Develop skills in interpreting nonverbal means in communication. Develop the ability to better perceive and understand other people in the process of communication.
Plan:
1. The concept of communication.
2. Types and levels of communication.
3. Means of communication.
4. Mechanisms and effects of interpersonal perception.
Communication concept.
From the moment of his birth until the end of his life, a person is in the process of constant communication and interaction with other people. Statisticians in some countries have calculated that up to 70% of the time in the lives of most people is occupied by communication processes. In communication, we convey a variety of information to each other; exchange knowledge, opinions, beliefs; declare our goals and interests; We learn practical skills and abilities, as well as moral principles, rules of etiquette and traditions.
However, communication does not always proceed smoothly and successfully. Often we are faced with critical situations: someone did not understand us; we did not understand someone; We spoke to someone too harshly, rudely, although we did not want this. There is no person who has never experienced difficulties in the process of communication in his life. In private life, we have the right to choose those with whom we enjoy communicating, those who appeal to us. However, in the service we are obliged to communicate with those who are there, including people who are unsympathetic to us. In this situation, it is very important to be able to learn how to establish contact, since the success of professional activity depends on this skill. Numerous studies by psychologists have proven that there is a direct connection between the quality of communication and the effectiveness of any activity, i.e. almost everything depends on the ability to contact people
12 pages, 5773 words
What role does communication play in life? The importance of communication in my life
... to prepare a person in advance for communication with people, his behavior in the communication process, preferred means of communication, including verbal and non-verbal. Before entering into communication with another person, it is necessary ... development, with different life and professional experiences, communication skills differ from each other. Educated and cultured people have more pronounced communicative skills...
— Do you think your future professional activity as a nurse (paramedic) somehow depends on your ability to communicate and achieve mutual understanding?
Even Avicenna, the great physician and thinker of the Middle Ages, spoke about three means of helping a sick person - “the knife, the grass and the word,” thereby emphasizing the importance of the human word, and in fact, the psychology of communication in healing from illness. Any activity is possible only if psychological contact and mutual understanding are established between people. However, we must remember that successful communication is achieved not only by knowledge, techniques and technology. The basis of communication is a sincere, friendly attitude towards a person.
Each of us has an idea of what communication is. Our life is built from it, it lies at the basis of human existence, therefore communication has become the object of socio-psychological analysis. There are many definitions of communication in the literature. We will use the most general concept.
Communication is a complex, multifaceted process of establishing and developing contacts between people, including the exchange of information, the development of a unified interaction strategy, as well as perception, empathy and mutual understanding of each other.
Communication is of great importance in the formation of the human psyche, in the development and establishment of reasonable cultural behavior. Through communication, a person acquires higher cognitive abilities and qualities; through communication, a person turns into a personality (examples - Mowgli children)
Communication is always a two-way process in which all its participants are involved, leading to the mutual connection of people with each other.
The study of the communication process has shown how complex and diverse this phenomenon is. Communication is carried out in the unity of its three functions:
1) Communication function -
manifests itself in the mutual exchange of information between partners in communication, transmission and reception of knowledge, opinions, feelings;
2) Interactive feature -
is to organize interpersonal communication. When participants in communication exchange not only knowledge, ideas, but also actions, experiences, deeds;
3) Perceptual function -
manifests itself through people’s perception, understanding and evaluation of each other.
To better understand what communication is, we need to consider in detail its types, levels, features and obstacles.
Types and levels of communication.
The following types of communication are distinguished:
A) Intrapersonal communication
. This is a person’s internal dialogue with himself, thinking about problems, various issues, analyzing situations, making plans, etc.
B) Interpersonal communication
. This is communication between two or more people. Includes all the variety of forms and styles of communication.
B) Social communication
. This is communication between a person and a group of people, a team, or a large audience.
— You have observed more than once that in different life situations you face different goals and your different personal qualities are revealed. Depending on the situation, you choose one or another style (level) of communication.
12 pages, 5838 words
Psychological manifestations of lies in human communication
... and sincere behavior among sixth grade students. Subject of research: Signs of lies in human communication. Object of study: Verbal and non-verbal behavior of a teenager. Research hypothesis: Younger teenagers... high school students (and not only at school, but also in everyday life, in future professional life). Theoretical development: Psychology of understanding and recognizing lies, deceit and hidden...
The following levels (styles) of communication are distinguished:
A) Primitive level
At this level of communication, the other person is assessed from the point of view of need or unnecessaryness, usefulness or uselessness. When it is “necessary” or “useful,” they come into contact with the person; when it is “unnecessary,” they do not enter into contact or rudely push him away if he interferes with the achievement of any goal. In this case, the person is actually used as a thing, since after obtaining the desired result, interest in him, as a rule, quickly disappears (when communicating with a patient, this type of communication is unacceptable).
B) Manipulative level.
This level of communication is close to primitive, since it is also aimed at obtaining some benefit from the interlocutor. At the same time, the true goal is hidden from the person in every possible way. In such communication, a wide variety of methods of psychological influence on and control of a person are actively used. For example: flattery, intimidation, showing affection, deception, “showing off”, etc.
This type of communication is also unacceptable during interaction with the patient.
C) Formal role level.
At this level of communication, each participant acts strictly in accordance with his social role and position. It actually does not take into account individual personal qualities, the inner world of a person, his problems, etc. n. This style of communication is permissible only in rare extreme conditions, when the patient needs to provide urgent assistance and there is no opportunity to study his personality.
D) Business (professional) level.
Business communication occurs among people, as a rule, in connection with their participation in a certain joint activity and has the goal of achieving a common result. Therefore, at this level of communication, the individual characteristics of the interlocutor’s personality are taken into account, but the interests of the matter prevail, and even possible differences in views or opinions, as a rule, fade into the background. This style of communication occurs quite often between people.
D) Friendly level.
This level of communication is characterized by maximum openness of people to each other, sincerity, and trust; emotional experience for another person, sympathy for his problems, as well as readiness for mutual support and mutual assistance. This level of communication is acceptable when communicating with colleagues and close friends.
E) Communication at the level of “mask contact”.
This is the level of formal communication in which the interlocutors do not have the need or desire for a deep understanding of the other person, when a set of standard socio-psychological “masks” is used: politeness, compassion, respect, severity, etc. In this case, “mask” means a certain set of gestures, facial expressions, words, and intonations. All this allows a person, firstly, to hide his true attitude towards his interlocutor; secondly, to protect yourself from the unwanted intrusion of others into your inner world, and thirdly, if necessary, to “smooth out rough edges” in relationships between people.
G) Secular level
This level is characterized by superficiality and pointlessness. People exchange phrases, words, signs of attention in strict accordance with generally accepted rules in a given society
8 pages, 3941 words
NLP representational systems and human communication
... the scope of NLP activity is to increase the efficiency of communications between people. Doors of perception If there is a closed loop of communication and... filtering through our beliefs, interests and preferences. Some people can use their senses better than others. ... favoring some over others. For example, many people have an inner voice that originates in the auditory system...
Errors
There are many common perceptual errors that have a major impact on impression formation.
most common ones include:
- we fall under the influence of evidence;
- we are influenced by first impressions;
- we perceive the interlocutor through comparison with ourselves and look for similarities;
- we place more emphasis on negative character traits than on positive ones;
- when our interests suffer, we tend to blame people rather than circumstances.
Under the influence of certain effects, false ideas about the interlocutor are formed.
Errors of perception can be an incorrect interpretation of the reasons, motives and incentives of the interlocutor. It may also be a misunderstanding of the meaning of the words he said and the actions he performed.
If the interlocutor put a certain essence into his statement, and the one to whom this statement was intended could not understand this essence, we can talk about a perception error.
In some cases, perceptual errors are not directly tied to the interaction.
For example, based on appearance or stereotypes existing in society, a person may attribute qualities to a person that he does not possess. A person can also ignore some of the interlocutor’s qualities (both good and bad).
Communication means
In communication there are verbal and non-verbal means
communication.
Verbal means are speech (verbal) means of communication. Non-verbal – postures, gestures, facial expressions.
— What role do you think these and other means of communication play?
According to A. Meirabian, in the process of communication, only 7% of information is transmitted through verbal means of communication (words), 38% of information is transmitted through intonation, voice timbre, and 55% of information is transmitted through non-verbal means (gestures, facial expressions, pantomimes).
Learning to understand the language of nonverbal communication is very important.
- Why do you think?
Any of the nonverbal components of communication can help verify the truth of what is said in words and understand what people really think.
However, for the correct interpretation of nonverbal communication, experts recommend following the following rules:
— one should “read” not individual gestures (they, like some words, can have several meanings), but their totality;
- gestures should be interpreted in the context of their manifestations (“arms crossed on the chest”; when communicating, this gesture expresses distrust, closedness; in cold weather a person is simply frozen);
- it is necessary to take into account national characteristics (for example, according to an English psychologist, during an hour-long conversation, a Finn resorts to gestures once, an Italian - 80 times, a Frenchman - 120 times, a Mexican - 180 times)
- when “reading” gestures, you should not attribute your experience and your condition to another person
- So, let's look at some types of nonverbal communication.
The most important means of nonverbal communication is facial expressions
.
Facial expressions are closely related to emotions and allow a person to guess about the feelings of joy, sadness, tension or peace experienced by the interlocutor. Facial expressions help a person convey his mood and attitude towards what he is talking about. Forehead, eyebrows, mouth, eyes, nose, chin - these parts of the face express basic human emotions. This could be: suffering, anger, joy, fear, etc.
Moreover, it is easier to recognize positive emotions. The main cognitive load when recognizing true feelings is borne by the eyebrows and lips (according to other researchers, these are the lips and chin).
Thus, eyebrows shifted towards the bridge of the nose express anger. Raised eyebrows can convey surprise, bewilderment or admiration. Drooping corners of the lips indicate sadness, grief or sadness. Tightly compressed lips indicate resentment.
— What do these drawings have in common?
A universal means of non-verbal communication is a smile.
– Do you think a nurse needs a smile? Why?
The nurse's face should be friendly and open, expressing sincere sympathy. It is a smile that allows you to establish trusting contact with the patient and helps to cope with the negative emotions that the patient experiences. We will talk more about this in the medical psychology course. A smile relieves the wariness of the first minutes, promotes calm, confident communication and creates a positive attitude. A smile means goodwill, the need for approval. Smiling helps you feel more confident and happier. Psychologists recommend that words of greeting and gratitude be accompanied by a smile. (Americans like to repeat: “smile.” However, it must be remembered that the smile should be appropriate to the situation and should not irritate the interlocutor.)
25 pages, 12060 words
016_Man. Its structure. Subtle World
... the contact became conscious. It is with consciousness that a person must touch and touch the Higher Worlds, because unconscious communication with them will not give the necessary consequences... Sleep is a small death How to refine... profitably and extract very interesting and instructive impressions. The main existence (of man) is at night. An ordinary person can live no more than a few days without sleep under normal conditions. ...
The first step towards your interlocutor is a glance
. The look is very eloquent and expresses a wide variety of feelings and states. He can be tough, prickly, kind, joyful, open, hostile, wandering, frozen, etc. The gaze expresses the attitude towards the interlocutor. It has been noticed that if a person is trying to hide some information (or is lying), his eyes meet the eyes of his partner less than one third of the time of the conversation. Making eye contact helps regulate conversation. When a person speaks, he usually looks at the interlocutor less often than when he listens to him. Looking to the side or sideways is perceived as an expression of suspicion and doubt. (Statistics have calculated that in the works of L. N. Tolstoy, 85 shades of eye expression and 97 shades of a smile are described.)
Facial expressions can be consciously controlled in order to “hide” information about the psychological state. Therefore, in communication, it is important to know what information can be obtained by observing a person’s body and his movements. The next means of non-verbal communication is gestures
. In a conversation, we often accompany words with actions in which the hands play the main role, and even a simple handshake carries information about the interlocutor. Thus, a handshake hand presented palm down usually means the partner’s superiority, a hand presented palm up signifies agreement to submit, and a hand presented vertically signifies a partner’s handshake. (Every human gesture is like a word in a language; it is inextricably linked with the train of thought and the movement of feelings.)
The most common types of gestures in communication are:
A) gestures of appreciation
, in which a person evaluates information: scratching the chin, extending the index finger along the cheek, standing up and walking
B) gestures of self-control
: hands are brought behind the back, with one squeezing the other, or when a person sitting on a chair grabs the armrests with their hands
B) gestures of dominance
: Thumb-exposing gestures and sharp downward strokes
D) location gestures
: placing a hand on the chest, indicating honesty, and intermittently touching the interlocutor
Body position is of great importance in the process of communication. Our appearance largely depends on the ability to hold and move. Our manner of standing, walking and sitting is an additional source of information.
For example, when the interlocutor sits slightly leaning forward, he expresses attention and concentration; if he leaned back and crossed his legs, then his appearance “speaks” of disinterest, “switching off” from the conversation.
During communication, you can observe the most “readable” postures:
A) open
, characterizing sincerity and truthfulness: open palms of hands turned towards the interlocutor; legs are not crossed; unbuttoned jacket
B) closed
, or defensive, meaning a reaction to possible threats or conflict situations: crossed arms; sitting astride a chair, with the back of the chair acting as a shield or protection; and also when a person sits on a chair with his legs crossed or crossed
28 pages, 13511 words
Place of communication in the system of human relations
... (expressive) and internal (impressive) sides. The impressive (internal) side of communication reflects the subjective perception of the interaction situation, reaction to real or expected contact. The main thing here... is that the structure of a communication situation is made up of time, place, environment and context of communication, as well as the norms governing communication. The subject of communication is the person who initiates the communication, as well as the one...
B) readiness pose
, characterizing the desire for active actions: hands lie on the hips; the torso is tilted forward, the hands rest on the knees, and the legs rest on the floor so that one leg protrudes slightly forward, leaving the other behind
Another important factor in communication is interpersonal space
– how close or far the interlocutors are in relation to each other:
There are four spatial zones or distances in communication:
1) intimate area
(from 0 to 45 cm).
This distance corresponds to intimate relationships and is typical for relatives, lovers and friends. This zone is the most important and protected by man;
2) personal zone
(from 45 cm to 120 cm).
This distance is used in everyday communication among familiar people (corresponds to informal social and business relationships);
3) social zone
(from 120 cm to 400 cm) This is the distance of official meetings with strangers whom we do not know very well (corresponds to formal and official relationships);
4) public or public area
(from 400 cm to 750 cm) This is communication with a large number of people, with a group, with an audience (for example, it is more convenient for a lecturer to convey information, and for listeners to perceive).
People generally feel comfortable and make a favorable impression when standing or sitting at a distance appropriate for these types of interactions. An excessively close, as well as an excessively distant position has a negative impact on communication.
The term "novelty effect" in psychology
The novelty effect is a socio-psychological phenomenon that occurs in human perception of a person. In the case of a familiar person, the last information received about him is the most memorable, and in the case of a stranger, the first impression about him is the most significant.
The area of social perception, related to the description of phenomena, effects and manifestations, is the most studied and has rich factual material. Phenomena and effects are both peculiar “errors” and important patterns associated with the characteristics of the psyche.
The effect of novelty makes life happier and richer. The effect of novelty is closely related to the effect of halo and primordiality and is expressed in the importance of information of a certain order about a person for the formation of his image. As for a familiar person, the latest new information about him will be significant - this is the novelty effect. As for a stranger, the first information about him will be significant - this is the effect of novelty.
Both effects are considered special cases of the manifestation of a process, the perception of a person by a person - this process is called stereotypes.
This “false” psychology explains it simply and clearly, but the difficulty lies in putting these principles into practice.
Psychologists suggest that previous knowledge is transferred to long-term memory, while new knowledge remains in short-term memory and is not perceived by consciousness as a reliable fact. The second reason for this effect, in their opinion, is the unconscious prioritization of information intermediaries. It is generally assumed that if the first source satisfies a person's needs, it will be more attractive and reliable.
The law of seniority, discovered by the American psychologist M. Lundt in 1925, coincides with the novelty effect - this concept existed before the formal formulation of the novelty effect. This feature of perception is associated in modern psychology with the work of the Polish-American psychologist Solomon Ash.
S. In his article in 1946, Asch first noted the primordial effect. He analyzed his experiment and theorized that the first message about something makes a stronger impression on a person.
The novelty effect was criticized by the founder of the Yale school, K. Hovland, who believed that the theory does not take into account the level of education of the audience, its worldview, and attitude.
The novelty effect is contrasted with the primary effect. It is defined as the tendency of an individual to reject previous information about a person and attach greater importance to new data.
To test these effects, N. Miller and D. Campbell conducted an experiment in 1959. The point of the experiment was to see what would happen to their view of the process. They were given a transcript of the trial, which outlined the arguments of the prosecution and defense in separate blocks. Depending on which block they read first, their opinion about the guilt or innocence of the defendant changes.
Based on this, the researchers concluded that the novelty effect cancels the primary effect only when:
- A large amount of time passes between two news stories with conflicting information;
- The audience must form an opinion immediately after receiving new information.
Mechanisms and effects of interpersonal perception
– Where does communication begin? Of course, “at first sight”, i.e. communication begins with observing the interlocutor, his appearance, voice, and demeanor. Psychologists say in this regard that one person perceives another. Effective communication is impossible without correct perception, assessment and mutual understanding of partners. Now we will talk about what influences our perception of other people, what are the mechanisms of interpersonal perception. Let us analyze how perception effects that arise during communication can cause errors in assessing the person with whom we are communicating.
So, people’s cognition and understanding of others and themselves occurs in accordance with the psychological mechanisms of perception. Let's consider these mechanisms:
1) Identification
is a way of understanding another person through conscious or unconscious likening oneself to another. Identification is the process of almost complete identification of a person with an interlocutor during communication.
(This helps, figuratively speaking, to “get into the shoes” of another person, to feel, understand and experience everything that he feels, understands and experiences).
Examples.
A perception mechanism close to identification is empathy.
This is not a rational understanding of the problems of another person, but the ability to have deep emotional contact and empathy for another person, helping to better understand him and respond to his needs and problems. This perception mechanism is most desirable both in communication with colleagues and in communication with patients.
5 pages, 2041 words
Mechanisms of human perception by humans
... The impressions that arise in this case play an important regulatory role in the process of communication between people. The process of perception by one person (observer) of another (observed) unfolds as follows. In what is observed by the observer... there is one cause. The essence of the covariation principle is that the effect is attributed to the cause that coincides with it in time (naturally, that...
2) Reflection
is a process of logical analysis of the problems, actions and states of the interlocutor, leading to certain generalizations and conclusions about the person. Reflection also means a person’s ability to understand how he is perceived by his communication partner. Examples.
3) Stereotyping
is a way of understanding another person by classifying forms of behavior and interpreting their causes by referring them to already known social patterns. A stereotype is a formed image of a person that we use as a stamp. A stereotype is formed on the basis of a generalization of personal experience and information from books and films. At the same time, knowledge can be not only questionable, but also completely erroneous. Examples.
Meanwhile, the stereotypes formed on the basis of this knowledge are very persistent and popular. So, without hesitation, we talk about the precision of a mathematician, the discipline of a military man. That all businessmen are speculators, and all officials are bureaucrats.
Stereotypical perception is enhanced by good or bad health and mood. So, when you feel unwell, people and events are perceived in a more negative light.
By studying the processes of perception, psychologists have identified typical distortions of ideas about another person. They are called effects.
"Halo effect"
" This effect is manifested in the fact that at the beginning of acquaintance, the general impression of a person leads to an overestimation of unknown qualities: the general favorable impression left by a person leads the subject to positive assessments of those qualities that are not given in perception and therefore not observable. At the same time, a general unfavorable impression gives rise to correspondingly negative evaluations. Thus, the halo prevents one from seeing the actual features and manifestations of the object of perception.
"Projection Effect".
The essence of this effect is that we tend to attribute our advantages to a pleasant interlocutor, and disadvantages to an unpleasant one.
The effect of “primacy and novelty”
(First and Second Order Effect) This effect appears when we are faced with conflicting information about a person. If we are dealing with a stranger, then we tend to trust more the information that came first. When communicating with a person we know well, we tend to give preference to the information that was received most recently.
— Of course, no one can completely avoid mistakes, but we can understand the peculiarities of perception and, knowing about possible distortions, learn to correct our mistakes.
Examples of similar educational works
Perception and understanding of information in the learning process 2
... the problem of the alphabet of signs that a person uses when identifying iconic objects and objects in general. Decoding - the final phase of the recognition (and perception) process - mainly consists of...
The structure of interpersonal relationships. The importance of human needs in the process of formation...
... The structure of interpersonal relationships. The importance of human needs in the process of forming interpersonal relationships. Interpersonal... is not sympathetic, then communication will collide with... a person occurs as a result of reflection by him on a conscious level...
Biological and social in man, levels of manifestation
...in man, levels of manifestation. In the chain of man... the process of assimilating the elements of social life, a candidate for man turns into a real man. The process of a newborn acquiring elements of social life is called human socialization. ...
Lecture 1. Communication in the structure of activities of participants in the educational process
... it is indicated that at any level of complexity of a person’s behavior there is an interdependence between information about people in interpersonal relationships, communication and self-regulation of a person’s actions in the process of communication. Theoretical positions expressed in...
Seminar No. 1. Communication in the structure of activities of participants in the educational process
... Babaytseva V.Yu. Personality-oriented training in the process of preparing future teachers for educational work with difficult children. M., 1997. Mudrik A.V. Communication as a factor in education. M.: Pedagogy, ...
How we perceive another person
Photo by Karen Khafagy on Unsplash
Our perception of other people depends primarily on our internal picture of the world and our attitudes. The picture of the world lies in the internal attitude of a person to everything around him. Attitudes and beliefs about how to build interpersonal relationships are “gifts” from parents.
In other words, a person is already taught in the family from the cradle how to build relationships and communicate with other people. And of course, experience in life, it has the greatest influence and allows a person to adjust his perception and attitude towards others with age.
It turns out that the picture of the world and personal attitudes set the vector and choose the algorithm by which a person will act in relationships with others. Psychologists have studied this area of human life and were able to identify the main algorithms of interpersonal perception.
Perception itself can be regarded as constructing an image of another person in our imagination. This process, in a matter of seconds, assigns certain qualities to the opponent that evoke certain feelings in us.
Depending on how we feel about this person, communication with him will develop. We don’t just create an image of our opponent in our thinking, we evaluate it depending on the effect that became dominant during the meeting.
The choice of perception effect is influenced by the external and personal characteristics of another person. The situation in which the first meeting took place also carries an emotional message and colors the subject’s assessment. Our perception is influenced by many factors, and this should always be taken into account, because they can lead us in the completely opposite direction from the true face of our opponent.
