Chapter 7-Verbal Messages

This chapter covered some of the barriers to effective interpersonal communication. Language Symbolizes Reality What is intensional orientation and how can you combat it? What is allness and how can you correct it?

• Intensional orientation is the tendency to view the world in the way it's talked about or labeled. To combat intensional orientation, respond to things first; look for the labels second.
• Allness is the tendency to describe the world in extreme terms that imply one knows all or is saying all there is to say. To combat allness, remind yourself that you can never know all or say all about anything; use a mental and sometimes verbal "etc."

Language Expresses Both Facts and Inferences

How do facts and inferences differ? How can you distinguish them more clearly?

• Fact-inference confusion is the tendency to confuse factual and inferential statements and to respond to inferences as if they were facts.
• To combat such confusions, distinguish facts from inferences and respond to inferences as inferences, not as facts.

Language Expresses Both Denotation and Connotation

What is the difference between denotation and connotation?

• Denotative meaning is the dictionary-like, objective meaning of a word or sentence.
• Connotation is the subjective and personal meaning of a word or sentence.

Language Can Criticize and Praise

How can you more effectively communicate both criticism and praise?

• Excessive criticism or praise is talk that is basically dishonest and in many instances manipulative.
• The principle of honest appraisal calls for saying what you feel, but gently and kindly.

Language Can Obscure Distinctions

What are indiscrimination and ethnocentrism, and how can you reduce them? What is polarization and what can you do to eliminate it? What is static evaluation and how can you eliminate it?

• Indiscrimination is the tendency to group unique individuals or items because they're covered by the same term or label. To combat indiscrimination, recognize uniqueness, and index each individual in a group (teacher1, teacher2).
• Polarization is the tendency to describe the world in terms of extremes or polar opposites. To combat polarization use middle terms and qualifiers.
• Static evaluation is the tendency to describe the world in static terms, denying constant change. To combat static evaluation, recognize the inevitability of change; date statements and evaluations, realizing, for example, that Gerry Smith1991 is not Gerry Smith2001.

Language Can Confirm and Disconfirm What is disconfirmation and confirmation (and the related sexist, racist, and heterosexist communications)?

• Disconfirmation is communication that ignores another, that denies the other person's definition of self.
• Confirmation expresses acknowledgment and acceptance of others and avoids racist, sexist, and heterosexist expressions that are disconfirming.

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