mini essay qs

Common ground is the shared knowledge, beliefs and assumptions between communicators

Perspective taking is the ability to adopt the viewpoint of another person allowing speakers to adjust their communication style

Kingsbury Boston study, where conducted study in boston where they asked for directions

1/3 times using boston accent

1/3 times using the phrase im not from boston

1/3 times using missouri dialect

results: ppl gave more detailed directions to the non locals accent because they assesed the listener’s common ground and adjusted their responses based on that

both common ground and perspective taking work together - if speaker fails to take in the listeners pov -> miscommunication

Social-cognitive skills are the mental abilities that allow people to understand and interact effectively with others

Shared intentionality is uniquely human -> it develops as the same time language acquisition happens

1. Gaze following vs Joint attention

   Humans establish common ground, which apes don’t so if i were to point at a window both the human and an ape will look at the window, but only the human will recognize that both of us are looking at the window at the same time

2. Social manipulation vs cooperative communication

   Chimps can be taught how to communicate to establish wants and needs but not necessarily for interaction. humans have the ability to consider more context. if i were to point at a bucket in the context of a hiding game the human will recognize that i mean the bucket is a good hiding spot and not that im pointing at the color for example

3. group activity vs collaboration

   while apes are able to do group activities together like for example hunting they don’t necessarily do it as a form of collaboration. as the human likes to engage and encourage the other person to participate

4. social learning vs instructed learning

   apes learn by seeing things that happen every day its more informal rather something that happens/ while with humans we devote time and effort to teach them

1. One cannont not communicate = even silence is considered communication that can be interpreted

2. All communication has a content and relationship aspect = the content refers to the actual message/ the relationship would be the interpretation/ how it should be interpreted = saying “good job” in sarcastic tone changes the meaning of the content => being able to understand both is essential

3. Communication is punctuated by interpretation = punctuation is the start or cause of a communication which can be interpreted by both sender/ receiver = interpret their behavior as a reaction (bsp. wife and husband = wife says her husband doesnt listen therefore she complains/ he says she nags therefore he withdraws)

4. Communication is Digital and Analag = digital refers to words with explicit meaning and analog refers to the tone/ gesture with implicit meaning

5. Communication is symmetrical/ complementary = symmetrical is equal power dynamics (eg two friends arguing) complementary is when one person is dominant (teacher-student/ parent-child) can be one-up/ one-down/ one across

Performative sentences are utterances that do something rather than describe reality

1. assertives = states a fact or belief -> commits the speaker to a claim (Ex. the earth revolves around the sun)

2. directives = to get someone to do something -> request or command an action (Ex. pleas open the window)

3. commissives = commits the speaker to a future action -> expresses obligation or promise (Ex. I promise to help you tomorrow)

4. expressives = conveys emotion or attitude -> expresses psychological state (Ex. I’m sorry for being late)

5. declarations = with utterance can change the status of reality -> creates new social state (Ex. i now pronounce you husband and wife)/ note felicity conditions (just bc trump tweets im president does not make him president)

Self handicapping are obstacles created to justify poor performance if they fail

Two types :

1. Behavioral : creating real obstacles (Ex. drinking before writing an exam) -> ive created real obstacle where if i fail i can just say i blame the alcohol and not my ability

2. Self-reported: giving excuses beforehand (Ex. saying i have exam anxiety beforehand) -> so that if i fail i can blame it on the anxiety

Short-term benifits: protects self esteem

long term consequences: reduced effort/ lower achievement/ no accountability