a.      human communication is the process through which individuals – in relationships, groups, organizations, societies – respond to and create messages to adapt to their environment and to one another.”

b.      Human Communication is the process through which symbols are transmitted for the purpose of eliciting a response.

 interaction between people whose cultural perceptions and symbol systems are distinct enough to alter communication patterns.

Principles of Communication

• Communication is a  Dynamic Process…ongoing, 
• Communications is changing and can not  be repeated or retracted
• Communications is Symbolic, systmatic, involves making inferences, has consequences, and has Complexity

group of social communities exhibiting characteristics, perceptions, values, beliefs and practices that distinguish them from the dominant culture (e.g. race, ethnicity, gender, age sexual preference, etc.)

Three Defintions of Culture

Definition 1: set of human-made objective elements that have increased probability of survival in the past/resulted in satisfaction for the participants in an ecological niche. These elements have become shared among those who could comm. with eachother because they share language/live in same time and place. Ex.-trying to talk with someone who does not speak the language.

Def. 2: Shared and learned behavior transmitted from generation to generation for purpose of supporting individual and social survival, growth, and development. (Driving, cooking, manners, hygiene)

Def. 3:  A collection of knowledge, experience, beliefs,

values, attitudes, meanings, social hierarchies, religion, notion of time, social roles, concepts of the universe, and material objects acquired by a group of people in the course of the generations through individual and group striving.

                             i.      Examples – notion of time: our culture is linear (born, live, die) other cultures may be circular

                           ii.      (reincarnation); the pledge of allegiance and national anthem