Write an essay (300 - 350 words) of a time when you or someone you know had experienced communication breakdown, and the impact it had on you. The composition must have a suitable title.
A suitable couplet on breakdown of communication can be added in the beginning or at the end.
Answers
Explanation:
Western society has taught academics and students of communication that we should (and do) accept ideas based on their merit alone. While this is true, it is a rather simplistic over-generalization of how the human psyche actually processes ideas, biases, and presuppositions in conversation.
Albert Mehrabian, Professor of Psychology Emeritus at UCLA, conducted a crucial series of studies in the 1970s on verbal and nonverbal messages. His findings were eventually published in a book titled Silent Messages.
Mehrabian’s studies found that test subjects were more convinced by a speaker’s attitude and tone than by their words. He explains, “The non-verbal elements are particularly important for communicating feelings and attitude, especially when they are in-congruent: if words and body language disagree, one tends to believe the body language.”
Within personal communication, he concludes, humans prioritize vocal cues and body language 38 and 55 percent of the time respectively. The human brain uses cues from the face and tone of voice to give words their complete meaning.
Furthermore, at a 93 to 7 split, the human brain tends to receive information and formulate opinions based on how the person said what they said, not what they said.