Communication And Behavior

A Comprehensive Guide to Studying and Interpreting Communication Interaction This practical book provides students and experienced researchers with tools for studying communication behaviors through direct observation. The sourcebook provides sound coverage of both cutting-edge and well-established systems, measurements, and procedures, as well as detailed information on measurement selection, coding, reliability assessment, and analysis. In addition to offering theoretical discussions from leading researchers in the field, each chapter also focuses on how to apply systems and principles in conducting actual original research and uses examples and exemplars to help readers understand and apply the methods.

This volume is designed to serve both as a textbook in courses dedicated to Research Methods in Communication and the Social Sciences and as a professional reference source for students and scholars engaged in empirical research.

Children and adolescents with moderate and severe disabilities often have communication challenges that lead them to use problem behavior to convey their desires. This is the most comprehensive contemporary volume on functional communication training (FCT)--the individualized instructional approach that teaches a child socially acceptable communicative alternatives to aggression, tantrums, self-injury, and other unconventional behaviors. The expert authors provide accessible, empirically based guidelines for implementing FCT, and tips for overcoming obstacles. Grounded in the principles of applied behavior analysis, the book includes detailed strategies for developing a support plan, together with illustrative case examples. ÿ

W. John Smith enlarges ethology's perspective on communication and takes it in new directions. Traditionally, ethnological analysis has focused on the motivational states of displaying animals. The Behavior of Communicating emphasizes messages. After developing the concept of messages and discussing their forms, Smith turns to the evolution of display behavior. He then revises the traditional ethnological concept of displays and in a final chapter develops the further concept of formalized interactions.

A comprehensive look at human communication as a fundamental life process from the level of individual to organizations and society. Fourteen chapters cover: definitions and theories, the development of communication study, basic function, message reception and interpretation, verbal and nonverbal c

"This edited volume addresses the pressing need to establish a unified theoretical framework for adolescent online social communication research, specifically, identify the role and function of the Internet in adolescent social communication behavior, dynamic relationships among such things as adolescent social-psychological needs, personality, and social norms in online communication, and theories with practices in adolescent online social communication"--T.p. verso.

We are what we eat. That old expression seems particularly poignant every time we have our blood drawn for a routine physical to check our cholesterol levels. And, it's not just what we eat that affects our health. Whole ranges of behaviors ultimately make a difference in how we feel and how we maintain our health. Lifestyle choices have enormous impact on our health and well being. But, how do we communicate the language of good health so that it is uniformly received-and accepted-by people from different cultures and backgrounds? Take, for example, the case of a 66 year old Latina. She has been told by her doctor that she should have a mammogram. But her sense of fatalism tells her that it is better not to know if anything is wrong. To know that something is wrong will cause her distress and this may well lead to even more health problems. Before she leaves her doctor's office she has decided not to have a mammogram-that is until her doctor points out that having a mammogram is a way to take care of herself so that she can continue to take care of her family. In this way, the decision to have a mammogram feels like a positive step. Public health communicators and health professionals face dilemmas like this every day. Speaking of Health looks at the challenges of delivering important messages to different audiences. Using case studies in the areas of diabetes, mammography, and mass communication campaigns, it examines the ways in which messages must be adapted to the unique informational needs of their audiences if they are to have any real impact. Speaking of Health looks at basic theories of communication and behavior change and focuses on where they apply and where they don't. By suggesting creative strategies and guidelines for speaking to diverse audiences now and in the future, the Institute of Medicine seeks to take health communication into the 21st century. In an age where we are inundated by multiple messages every day, this book will be a critical tool for all who are interested in communicating with diverse communities about health issues.