Communication Research

Here's an interesting piece on keeping your used textbooks. In some cases I think this is a good idea, for example, keeping the texts in your major or perhaps texts for courses you really enjoyed and want to refer to at a later time. In some cases, however, it probably would just add to clutter. http://www.onlinedegreeprograms.com/blog/2012/7-good-reasons-to-keep-your-old-textbooks/

Here is a good list of things to know about bullying--something we've just started to include in our textbooks probably because of cyberbullying, tho' bullying has been around a lot longer than computers. http://oedb.org/library/beginning-online-learning/10-telling-psychology-studies-on-the-nature-of-bullying

http://www.babysitting.net/blog/10-ways-to-get-your-teens-to-talk-to-you/ Here's an interesting little piece on getting your teenager to talk to you but actually the suggestions can be used in a variety of situations.

http://www.bestdatingsites.org/blog/2012/10-signs-of-a-fake-gentleman/ Here�s an article from Best Dating Sites that I was asked to consider mentioning. This one is a great classroom discussion generator and concerns the signs of a �fake gentleman�. Here are the signs�see the original article for more on these signs: He always knows exactly what to say He�s never ruffled or agitated He always has an excuse He�s evasive about his past You�ve caught him in a few lies He�s surgically attached to his cellphone He steers the subject away from commitment You�ve never met his friends He�s a little bit too smooth He assumes that you�ll be available on very short notice Some of these are no doubt accurate as the guests on Maury and the Jerry Springer Show regularly demonstrate.   One problem with lists like this, as I see it, is that it�s often male bashing. I don�t notice a comparable post on the �fake woman�. And, again, if Maury�s and Jerry�s guests are any indication there are fake...

I was asked to participate in a �blog tour� of the book, Changing Behavior: Immediately Transform Your Relationships with Easy to Learn, Proven Communication Skills , by Georgianna Donadio and published by SoulWork Press of Boston. I was asked to do whatever I wished�which is always nice. So, I thought I would simply mention the book and its connection with communication. The book ranges widely in its coverage of various suggestions �to enhance and enrich your own personal relationships��the book�s overarching aim. Not surprisingly, there�s a great deal that focuses on communication skills (as its subtitle notes). And, again not surprisingly, the skills are similar to those we teach in interpersonal communication�listening, emotional expression, mindfulness, equality, self-awareness and self-assessment (with lots of personal reflection questions), and relationship improvement (as its subtitle also notes). This book is a not a textbook (it�s 8 � x 11, 142 pages, and larger type than w...

http://www.babysitting.net/blog/10-ideas-to-help-your-child-become-more-confident/ Here's a neat little list of suggesstions for building confidence in children. As you'll see there is much here on communication, probably the single most important ingredient in any confidence building program.

http://www.becomeananny.com/blog/10-tips-for-children-of-gay-couples-that-get-teased/ Here's a brief list of suggestions for the child who gets teased by other children for having gay parents, probably because they have homophobic parents or teachers. The suggestions are, however, useful for any type of teasing. Interestingly enough, we don't talk about teasing in our communication texts and yet it's an extremely important and often hurtful form of communication.

Most nonverbal communication textbooks talk about time under three main headings: psychological time , referring to one�s orientation to past, present, or future biological time , referring to one�s body rhythms as well as preferences for early or late in the day activities cultural time , referring largely to the differences in the ways different cultures treat time, whether, for example, members do one thing at a time (monochronic cultures) or a variety of things (polychronic cultures) and the social clock, the time one�s culture considers appropriate for certain rites and rituals, for example, completing college, getting married, or moving out of your parents� house      To these three, I�d like to propose a fourth type of time. Since all of these dimensions refer to interpersonal interactions, interpersonal time seems an appropriate name. As with all aspects of interpersonal communication, interpersonal time will be influenced by our psychology, our biology, a...

http://www.aupair.org/blog/10-easy-things-you-can-do-to-improve-your-memory/ Here's an interesting list of suggestions for improving memory--write it down, repeat, visualize, and create rhymes, for example.

Here's a brief article from the NYTimes which reports on Lynne Kelly's research into narcissism and Facebook use.  According to Kelly's findings, Facebook use is not associated with narcissism. However, those who collect huge numbers of virtual friends do seem to be high on narcissism. http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/05/17/does-facebook-turn-people-into-narcissists/

Here's an interesting list of things to do if you want to flirt using Twitter. In today's world, for good or ill, you need to be technologically savvy to flirt, to relate. http://www.topdatingsites.com/blog/2012/10-ways-people-use-twitter-to-flirt/

Here's a brief list of some misconceptions about lie detector tests. If you watch Maury, then this is must reading. It should also prove useful in a nonverbal course in connection with deception and deception detection. http://www.nannybackgroundcheck.com/blog/10-misconceptions-people-have-about-lie-detector-tests/

http://www.onlinecolleges.net/2012/04/25/the-10-commencement-speeches-were-most-excited-for-this-spring/ Those who cover special occasion speaking in a public speaking course should find this little piece interesting. It covers a wide variety of commencement addresses that are up and coming.

In a recent NYTimes article ( http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/15/opinion/sunday/the-downside-of-cohabiting-before-marriage.html?pagewanted=all ) Meg Jay, a clinical psychologist at the University of Virginia and the author of The Defining Decade: Why Your Twenties Matter � and How to Make the Most of Them Now, notes that c ohabitation has increased from 1960 with 450,000 cohabitating couples, to the present with 7.5 million cohabitation couples. More than 50% of marriages will be preceded by cohabitation and approximately 2/3rds of the respondents in a survey conducted in 2001 said that cohabitating was a good way to avoid divorce. But, says Jay: �Couples who cohabit before marriage (and especially before an engagement or an otherwise clear commitment) tend to be less satisfied with their marriages � and more likely to divorce � than couples who do not. These negative outcomes are called the cohabitation effect. � Perhaps the most interesting conclusion Jay draws and the one that wou...

Many factors influence whether or not you disclose, what you disclose, and to whom you disclose. Among the most important factors are who you are, your culture, your gender, who your listeners are, and your topic and channel. Who You Are Highly sociable and extroverted people self-disclose more than those who are less sociable and more introverted. People who are comfortable communicating also self-disclose more than those who are apprehensive about talking in general. Competent people engage in self-disclosure more than less competent people. Perhaps competent people have greater self-confidence and more positive things to reveal. Similarly, their self-confidence may make them more willing to risk possible negative reactions. Your Culture Different cultures view self-disclosure differently. Some cultures view disclosing inner feelings as a weakness. Among some groups, for example, it would be considered �out of place� for a man to cry at a happy occasion such as a wedding, where...