Sources of Miscommunication

"The The most powerful stimulus for changing minds is not a chemical. .. It is a word."

George Miller, APA President

Semantic problems cause the most misunderstanding.

We misunderstand what was being said for the following reasons:

Equivocal Language

To equivocate means to avoid making an explicit statement.

example:

A nurse tells a hosptial patient he would not be needing their help. He thought he had a terminal diagnosis and was going to die. She had the good news of telling him it wasn't serious. He was going home.

Focus groups [with college students reveal that women make ambigous statements trying to ward of the sexual advances of men]. You think you are letting them off gently. In reality, many statements are confusing.

example:

"I'm not sure I'm ready for this yet" - implication: I may be sometime.

Relative Words

The words get their meaning only by comparison with something else.

fast, slow, smart, stupid, short, long

What is fast to you may be slow to another. It is only by comparison that it is understood.

So, what is fast? What is slow? What is stupid?

Without explanation, any such words are sources of miscommunicaton.

Slang

These semantic errors are specific to co-cultures and may be age-related. They specifically define "insiders" and "outsiders" The implication is that if you don't understand them, you're an outsider.

examples:

bling-bling, bounce, sick, trip, wack, dawg

To qualify as street slang, you have to annoy someone.

Regionalisms are geographical slang terms.

milk shake	Massachusetts	frappes
	Rhode Island	cabinets - go figure
carbonated drinks	Boston	tonic
	NY	soda
exagerrated	US	souped-up
	England	sexed-up

These are amuzing bits of cultural ambiance.

Jargon

Particular to a group or profession

example

legalese. NASDAQ, AWOL

Overly Abstract Language

computer-mediated acronyms, i.e.

lol, brb, imho, iow, etc...

abstraction ladder

Level Four: Abstractions
Examples: life, beauty, love, time, success, power, happiness, faith, hope, charity, evil, good.

Level Three: Noun classes: broad group names with little specification.
Examples: People, men, women, young people, everybody, nobody, industry, we, goals, things, television.

Level Two: Noun categories: more definite groups.
Examples: teen-agers, middle-class, clothing industry, parents, college campus, newborn child, TV comedies, house plants.

Level One: Specific, identifiable nouns.
Examples: Levi 501 jeans, my blue, three bedroom house on Hollis Street, In Living Color, Bud commercials, African violets, Tina's newborn sister, Mina.

rung of this latter, level one, is specificity. It gradually gets more and more ambiguous, from level two to four.

It is useful to add to your repetoire of communicatoin skills so that you don't offend, but it can be confusing.

ex)

All white are biggots.

Avoid the confusion with behavioral descriptions, closer to the fondation of the ladder in specificity.

Food for thought:

Well-adjusted couples have as many conflicts as poorly-adjusted couples.
The difference?
How they handle them. Using emotive language versus specificity.

Confusing Facts & Opinions

Facts are verifiable. Opinoins are not.

Confusing Facts and Inferences

Emotive Language

Descriptve words that reveal attitude

A man is commanding	A woman is demanding
A man is forceful	A woman is pushy
A man strategizes	A woman manipulates
A man is assertive	A woman is aggressive
A man shows leadership	A woman is controlling

Intentional Ambiguous Speechevel abstractions)

Euphemisms & Equivocation

purpseful use of vague terms

plump instead of fat

The Power of Language

Nature | Perception | Languages |Listening | Modalities

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