PLUMMER'S (Human Comm.) PRINCIPLES TO REMEMBER...( the P-P-T-R's)

In addition to the 5 basic Principles of Interpersonal Communication mentioned in your text   (Beebe, 4/5/6e | Chap1) , your instructor is giving you these additional 5 concepts to keep in mind throughout ALL of the topics to be studied  THROUGHOUT the course. More background for each of these will be discussed in class.

>1<  Some of the most distinguishing characteristics of Interpersonal Communication are:

     -  the flow of the communication process is truly "dynamic" (i.e. multidirectional & highly reciprocal.   [see Beebe's model of "interaction" & the "transaction" model]

     - participants interact in close proximity to each other

     - the  nonverbal  part of the message has a great weight on the overall meaning

     - participants' emotions are more likely to be communicated (not just informative content).

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>2<  There are some cultural variations, but for the most part, Humans are biologically programmed to be  Egocentric as well as Ethnocentric.

This is particularly visible in "western" cultures such as the U.S.

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>3<  There are some cultural variations, but for the most part, Humans are biologically programmed to seek Similarity and Balance.

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>4<   Communication & Human Interaction  proceeds according to Rules & Norms. Some of them are explicit & some of them are implicit, but they are THERE!

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>5<  Communication is Culture & Culture is Communication; therefore, all communicative interaction is "culture-sensitive". In other words, every observation that you make about human interaction must take into consideration the cultural CONTEXT.

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