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Chapter 8 Listening and Responding

Listening is the process of receiving and constructing meaning from spoken and nonverbal messages, and it culminates in communicating a response to the communication partner. Listening is complicated by the variety of forms it can take and also the numerous barriers to listening. Active listening, which includes asking questions and paying attention to relational messages, can contribute to effective communication, but listeners may also bring important biases to the listening experience. Responding to messages, which includes assembling relevant messages and expressing empathy, can improve listening outcomes. When partners are fully enmeshed in a listening experience, transcendence might occur. This chapter offers suggestions for improving listening and responding by using appropriate listening strategies, putting effort into listening, and attending to details when responding to a communication partner.

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Communication in Action Forms

Connect with Theory

Action assembly theory explains how an individual’s thought gets transformed into action. The theory aims to understand why and how people produce the verbal and nonverbal behaviors they exhibit when interacting with others, and it focuses specifically on how the thought process or mental system governs human action. In other words, the theory is concerned with what happens in our head when we formulate, produce, and rehearse verbal and nonverbal messages. According to the theory, we store an enormous number of thoughts and actions in our memory that we have acquired over the course of our lives. Things like how to ask someone for a date, how to apologize to a friend after an argument, and how to politely turn down someone’s request are all kept in our memory system. When a situation presents itself, such as meeting someone for the first time, thoughts and actions that are relevant to this particular event will be activated, prompting us to assemble all the pieces together regarding how to properly interact with a stranger. Once you’ve organized your thoughts and planned actions into a coherent manner, you know what to do and what to say in this scenario. For example, you may offer a handshake, put on a smile, engage in good eye contact, and/or state your name. The theory can be used to investigate any behavioral phenomenon, such as the experience of social anxiety, behavioral differences between lying and truth-telling, and behavioral (in)consistency from one situation to another (Greene, 1995). Because the theory focuses on the underlying cognitive process of message production, it offers insight into how to enhance the quality of communicative exchanges.

References and other suggested readings:

Greene, J. O. (1984). A cognitive approach to human communication: An action assembly theory. Communication Monographs, 51(4), 289-306. https://doi.org/10.1080/03637758409390203
Greene, J. O. (1995). An action-assembly perspective on verbal and nonverbal message production: A dancer’s message unveiled. In D. E. Hewes (Ed.), The cognitive bases of interpersonal communication (pp. 51-85). Erlbaum.
Greene, J. O. (1997). A second generation action assembly theory. In J. O. Greene (Ed.), Message production: Advances in communication theory (pp. 151-170). Erlbaum.
Greene, J. O. (2003). Models of adult communication skill acquisition: Practice and the course of performance improvement. In J. O. Greene & B. R. Burleson (Eds.), Handbook of communication and social interaction skills (pp. 51-91). Erlbaum.
Greene, J. O. (2015). Action assembly theory: Forces of creation. In D. O. Braithwaite & P. Schrodt (Eds.), Engaging theories in interpersonal communication: Multiple perspectives (2nd ed., pp. 25-36). Sage.

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Selected Writings by Communication Studies majors at California State Prison

Los Angeles County, City of Lancaster

In the fall of 2016, the Department of Communication Studies at California State University, Los Angeles, began offering classes inside a maximum security prison facility to offer incarcerated persons the opportunity to achieve a bachelor’s degree in Communication. In spring of 2017, selected assignments and essays produced by those students in response to prompts from this textbook were published in Colloquy: A Journal of the Department of Communication Studies, California State University, Los Angeles. In the time since, the program created The Prison BA Journal to share the students’ work with others. In addition, collaboration between the Lancaster State Prison’s Communication Studies students and students in Cal State LA’s Animation Option brought to life student essays through animation and narration.

Dr. Kamran Afary, faculty advisor to the program and Assistant Professor of Social Justice Communication, describes the impact of learning about interpersonal communication on his students: “I have seen its life transforming effect on my students in their interpersonal relationships with each other and in repairing relationships with their families.” Through the generosity of the program, we can share their work with all students learning from this textbook.

This website shares reflections and animations created in response to Pause and Reflect prompts, organized by chapter, as well as selected essays, poems, and presentations that address other topics or course assignments. Here is just a sample of what you will find: https://vimeo.com/showcase/7155653

We hope you will take the time to learn about interpersonal communication through the words of these students: https://www.prisonbajournal.org/ipccompanion