Communication & Perception Assignment for E-Portfolio Assignment

1. Week 1 (01/24/2021)
Chapter 1 – Communication, Perception, and Your Life
Read pp. 2-18 (20 Points)
*All questions due Sunday, January 24th by 11:59pm
Kayla Falk
Review, Reflect, & Apply:
1. Why do we call communication a process? What parts of the process influence meaning, and how
do people arrive at a shared meaning of a message?
Communication is considered a process because it consists of a series of actions, activities, or behaviors
we engage in to achieve a particular result. Common words, phrases, movements, and gestures influence
meaning; people arrive at a shared meaning of a message when the receiver understands the message being
transmitted by the sender and facilitates a response indicating so. Additionally, context influences the
transmission and understanding of a message.
2. Give three specific examples of feedback that college students receive. How does this feedback
shape their thinking and behavior?
1. Grades - Being a reflection of the knowledge acquired and work performed throughout the semester, a
college student may often feel rewarded, ashamed or determined depending on the feedback. This would
generally illicit a response by influencing their confidence and/or work ethic in future coursework.
2. Verbal instructor feedback - By offering their constructive verbal feedback, an instructor can influence
the direction of a student’s coursework such as research for a project or study tactics for an exam.
3. Nonverbal peer feedback - Particularly in non-virtual coursework, students are influenced by the
nonverbal cues from their classmates. A welcoming, collaborative learning environment typically
encourages progress and success; a cold or judgmental environment could encourage isolationism and
lack of progress without encouraging discussion, collaboration, etc.
3. Of the four factors that produce differences in perception, which do you think is most powerful?
Why? Do you think one can be ranked as more important than the others? Why or why not?
I think that past experiences are the most powerful influences of perception and could likely be ranked
above the others factors as well. Not only do past experiences influence the way you perceive the world (and
perceptual constancy often making it difficult to change those perceptions) , they also influence the way you
decide to communicate based on how past communications were received.
Past experiences could also likely be ranked higher than the rest of the factors because they almost
always influence them. For example, a past experience influences how you perceive others in a role as well as
how others perceive you in a role. Similarly, past experiences often influence how some physiological features
are perceived as in the examples of racism or any other types of physical discrimination. Past experiences
obviously culminate in the present experience, which includes present feelings. Ultimately, we are all humans
that are programmed to draw on past experiences in order to decipher the present message being transmitted to
us.
Skill Builder:
With a friend or family member, identify a physical feature that you believe affects your
communication with others, such as your height, weight, skin color, age, hairstyle, clothing, jewelry,
scars, or tattoos.
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2. ● First, verbally share the physical feature with your friend or family member and say how you
think this feature affects your communication with others.
● Next, let the other person say how he or she perceives this feature.
1. What is the physical feature you identified about yourself? What was the physical feature your
friend or family member identified about you?
I identified my hair as my physical feature that affects my communication with others. I have long, very
curly/wavy hair that is not always super polished or smooth. I sometimes feel that this creates a perception of
nonprofessional or unkempt in certain environments. My friend also indicated my hair: “​I do feel like your hair
gives off a free-spirited vibe, but I think it also shows that you are natural and genuine and unfussy.”
2. How do you think your life experiences have contributed to the perceptions you hold about your
own physical features?
My own life experiences contribute to the way I feel about my hair because I once had an employer ask,
suggest and tell me multiple times that I should adjust my hair to create a certain appearance in the workplace.
Additionally, many “professional” images of women show individuals with smooth, straight hair and so I’ve
likely been culturally conditioned to believe straight hair is the most professional “look”.
Challenge Yourself:
The purpose of the Myer-Briggs Personality Test/Jung Typology Test is to make the theory of
psychological types escribed by C.G. Jung understandable and useful in people’ lives. The essence
of the theory is that much seemingly random variation in the behavior is actually quite orderly and
consistent, being due to basic differences in the ways individuals prefer to use their perception and
judgement. Over the 65+ years since its inception in 1943, the Myers-Briggs Test/Jung Typology
Test has evolved and been perfected through continual test research and development of ever more
accurate questions. Many, many millions of people have taken the test- actually the Indicator is an
inventory or psychological instrument rather than a test as a test suggests right and wrong answers.
1. Watch the YouTube video titled, “Myer-Briggs Personality Test” found at the following website,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SYsNVZiL-Eo
Then take the Jung Typology Test (aka Myer-Briggs Personality Test) found at the following
website,
http://www.humanmetrics.com/cgi-win/jtypes2.asp
1. Lastly, answer the questions below:
● What is your Myers-Briggs Personality Test/Jung Typology Test type?
o ENFP
● Do you agree or disagree with the findings passed on the perception you have of yourself?
o Mostly agree. I tend to oscillate between introvert and extrovert as well as thinking and feeling
and the percentages listed generally reflect that. I definitely consider myself very intuitive and
perceptive (or at least generally live my life that way).
● Regardless of whether you agree or disagree with your results, through self-reflection, how will
you use this information to improve your personal and interpersonal communication skills?
o This information is always great to be aware of strengths and weaknesses as well as social needs
and communication. I remind myself that I need to balance alone time with social time when I
often find myself binging on one or the other (pre-pandemic). I also try and remind myself to not
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3. rely completely on feelings and intuition, especially in the workplace, and to make more
organized plans instead of figuring it out as I go.
Organizations and employers administer the MBTI and similar personality tests, such as The Birkman
Method, to both potential job candidates and current employees. The results can be used in a variety
of ways to influence certain aspects of the workplace and, ultimately, the success of an organization.
● Why do you think businesses administer the Myer Briggs Personality test to potential job
candidates? How do you think it helps or hurts the candidate selection?
o I think it can give a great indication of leadership possibilities - for example, if someone needs to
follow a very rigid plan, they obviously wouldn’t be a great leader. I also think it explains needs
when working on a team - if a person would need more alone time to process information or
need to discuss amongst colleagues. It could also serve as a hindrance to candidates. As in the
leadership example used above, perhaps a candidate would score low in characteristics that
would indicate a strong leader but prior work experience shows that that candidate is a strong
leader in an unconventional way.
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