INTRAPERSONAL COMMUNICATION



 L. Shedletsky                                
(780-5437)
lenny@maine.edu
                        



          WHAT THE COURSE IS ABOUT:
       

                  This  course  examines  intrapersonal  processes  of

          communication.   It looks at our ability to use what we know
                                      
          and feel in order to send,  receive,  and store information.
         
          Whether stimuli come from an  external source or from within

          the self, the focus of intrapersonal communication is on the

          ways in which we process those stimuli,  our ability to make

          sense out  of our  experiences,  to  remember,  to  retrieve

          information from memory, and to create messages--at whatever

          level of consciousness,   and no matter how  many people are

          involved,   face-to-face or  mediated communication.    This

          course is about how our "minds" work in communication.





        
 Some Objectives
     


To describe and understand intrapersonal communication--to   study    decoding, 
storing and retrieving information; language use;  self-perception;
brain  function;  modes  of  representation and   their
implications for interpersonal communication;

                                                                  
To self-consciously  experience   intrapersonal  processes;


To improve intrapersonal communication skills;


To consider the relationship between intrapersonal
communication and other levels of communication;


To  read and report  on research  on intrapersonal communication.
     
                              




             
  What We'll Do:
             


The course is based on readings,  discussion of the readings, essay 
writing (Position Statements), experiential exercises or demonstrations, a journal,
and a Final Essay.   Please come  prepared  to  describe the 
main  points  in  the reading and to raise questions.  You're asked to 
keep a  journal in which you'll do assigned exercises,  as well  as  
free   and   spontaneous    writing   about   your intrapersonal 
communication --e.g.,   listening,   day dreaming, forgetting, using 
selective attention, having  a strong  emotion,  stress  or  physiological
reaction,  and so on.  We will work off of a course home page.  It is my hope
that as you become familiar with the Internet and with the course content, that 
you will "surf  the net" and find interesting and valuable sites for this course.  And when 
you do find these sites, you will write about them to our discussion group.  I would 
like to add your findings of valuable Internet sites to our home page, so please do write about
them and e-mail me your findings and addresses.


                                                                 


               
GRADING:
            


                         Journal                                 (20%)

                         Participation                           (10%) 

                         Position Statements                     (30%)
                      
                         Final Essay                             (40%)






         
 Text 



Aitken, J., and Shedletsky, L.   (1995).  (Eds.) Intrapersonal Communication 
Processes.Plymouth, MI: The Speech Communication Association and 
Midnight Oil Multimedia.               






POSITION STATEMENTS

You are asked to write (at least) a one page
position statement for five of our meetings.  Position statements are
to be read by you (or
paraphrased by you) in the group meetings.  Position
statements are collected at each meeting they are due
and make up part of the grade.  The lowest grade of the five position 
statements will be dropped. You will be expected to read
the assigned
reading for each meeting (before that meeting), to review carefully
the main
points in the reading, and to arrive at the meeting prepared to comment on
the reading.  When position statements are due, you will be asked
to present your position statement, and to respond to others'
views.



 
Position Statements (at least one page, typed when possible):


What I have in mind for position statements is simply taking a position on
a topic relevant to the course.  Ideally, each day, as we read the
text, as we discuss our views in class, and as you read outside
of the required reading, as you have experiences, or reflect on your intrapersonal
experiences, you will have ideas that you can elaborate on for the
group discussions.  The position statement is an opportunity to
think out loud about issues that interest you and that are connected to the course.
Use the position statement to get on paper ideas that benefit you.  You
may wish to use the position statement to ponder what confuses you in the
reading (or discussion); to be creative about your views on intrapersonal
communication, etc.; to show where the reading is not consistent or
accurate; to defend an idea represented in our book; to offer an
alternative view; to elaborate on something said in the group discussion.
Also, there may be times when I will pose a question for you to
respond to in your position statement.

Position statements are intended to keep us all engaged with the material
and to generate discussion in the group meetings.  Position statements will be
collected at the end of each meeting at which they are due.  Position statements may build
ideas for you that culminate in your final essay.

Please date each position statement and be prepared to hand it in at the end
of each meeting at which it is due.








 



         
 THE JOURNAL:
        

             In a  separate notebook,  write about  your intrapersonal

          communication.   Try to become  aware of your interpretation

          of utterances and events (especially when you recognize more

          than one interpretation),  your perceptions,  your struggles

          with memory,  finding a  word,  emotional reactions,  dreams

          (write them as soon as  possible),  your feelings about your
                                                                
          self, your goofs in speaking and understanding,  day dreams,

          fantasies,   in short,   your experience  of stimuli,   self

          generated  or externally produced.


             In  addition to  using  your  journal to  think about  and

          record any intrapersonal experiences,   you'll be using your
                 ___

          journal  specifically  to  trace  your  listening  behavior.

          Exercises  from  Effective  Listening   will  help  get  you
                           _____________________

          started,  but  it'll be up to  you to select some  aspect of

          your listening  behavior (e.g.,  classroom,   work,  family,

          social environment;  sensing, interpreting, etc.;  emotional

          triggers, and so on) to carefully monitor.  The term project

          may  depend  upon your  notes  on  listening or  some  other

          intrapersonal process.   YOUR JOURNAL  WILL BE COLLECTED AND
                                  
          GRADED (Due        ).

         





THE FINAL ESSAY:


             The final essay comprises a major part of  your work in

          this course  (40% of  your grade).  One way to approach 
          
          the final essay is to start with your journal--to find a topic there.

          Based on  your journal

          notes on your intrapersonal communication,   develop a 10 to

          15 page (typed,  double spaced)  paper which integrates your

          experience  with  materials  from  your  texts  and  library

          research.  For instance, you might want to elaborate

          on your  listening behavior notes, research, and observations. 
    
          Here a  description of  your experience and what you focused on would be
                                                   
          appropriate.   But, to give your paper real meaning,  you'll

          need to  find research support  for your  personal insights.

          Here you may want to write  about research on related areas,

          e.g.,  on  emotions,  short  term memory,   reasoning,  etc.

          Others of you  may prefer to focus on  an intrapersonal area

          other than listening, for example, dreams, sleep, attention,

          sex  differences   in  information  processing,    or  other

          cognitive areas.   Another way to approach the final essay project,

          for those who do not find the journal to stimulate a project, is to go straight

          to a research area that interests you--perhaps, you will  work your way back

          to personal experience from there, but while nice to connect to personal 

          experience, that is not a requirement of the paper.          
 
          We may use the  last few meetings of the

          semester  for   presentations  of   term  projects--let's discuss this.     If we do, take

          approximately  ten minutes  to  tell  the class  about  your

          research area.    Try to  keep the  presentation simple  and

          informative  and  interesting.    In some  cases,   a  brief

          demonstration may be useful, or visual aids,  e.g.,  tables,

          graphs,   slides.    (Presentations  will  not be graded.   The
                                
          typewritten paper that you hand in is graded.)