V. Self-Reflection Items

There are a total of eight self-reflection items (SRIs) in each chapter. For the online and face-to-face versions of the class alike, choose THREE items to discuss.

1. Communication Diary: Choose one of SRI to discuss privately with your teacher. Answer all the questions in the SRI. Refer to at least THREE concepts in the chapter in THREE good paragraphs, then summarize in the fourth paragraph. (20 points).

2. Communication Board Posting: Choose one of the SRIs to discuss openly with your fellow students. Follow the same rules as for CD1 but in the end ask ONE question of your fellow class-mates, a word of advice. (20 points).

3. Communication Board Comment: Write one good paragraph in response to the question posed by your classmate in pairs as assigned by the teacher (10 points).

1. When you receive mixed messages from someone, which do you put more faith in, the verbal or the nonverbal communication? Why? Is it ethical to deliberately send mixed messages to someone during an interpersonal encounter?

2. Do the women you know read others’ nonverbal communication more accurately than men? Do they smile more? Hold their gaze longer? Are men more territorial than women in their use of space?

3. Is there anyone you know whose voice you find funny, strange, or irritating? What is it about this person’s voice that fosters your negative impression? Is it ethical to judge someone solely from his or her voice? Why or why not?

4. Which locations in your physical spaces at home and work do you consider your most valued territories? How do you communicate this territoriality to others? What do you do when people trespass? Have your reactions to such trespasses caused negative personal or professional consequences?

5. Think about people you know who have time orientations different from your own. How has the disparity in view of time affected your interpersonal communication with them? Your relationships? What might you do to resolve tensions deriving from differences in time orientation?

6. Look at your physical appearance, as shown in photos on your Facebook page or other personal Web sites. What do your face, hair, clothing, and body communicate to others about who you are and what you’re like? Now examine friends’ photos on your pages. How might their appearances affect others’ perceptions of you?

7. Look around the room you’re in right now. How does this room make you feel? How do the size of the space, furniture, lighting, and color contribute to your impression? What kind of interpersonal communication would be most appropriate for this space— personal or professional? Why?

8. Call to mind three relational partners: a friend, a coworker, and a romantic interest. What aspects of your nonverbal communication (touch, gaze, space, voice, and so forth) are different across these relationships? What does this tell you about the role that nonverbal communication plays in conveying relationship intimacy?