Katherine L. Adams,
California State University Fresno
Gloria J. Galanes,
Southwest Missouri State University
Abstract Conceptualization Learning Style | Preference for reading and solitary study
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Accommodation | Conflict style describing a person's willingness to engage in conflict; however, she or he backs away from the conflict by giving in to appease the other party
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Action-Oriented Listener | A listener who is concerned about how her or his listening behaviors contribute to the task at hand
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Active Experimentation Learning Style | Preference for trying out different things to see what works
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Active Listening | Listening first to understand another's message before critically judging the message
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Ambiguous | A term that has more than one possible meaning
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Analogies | Comparisons that help clarify ideas and issues
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Antecedent Phase | Phase in group socialization during which members bring previous group experiences, attitudes, beliefs, motives, and communication traits to the process
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Anticipatory Phase | Phase in group socialization describing individual and group initial expectations of each other
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Area of Freedom | The amount of authority and limitations given to a group
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Arguments | Claims supported by evidence and reasoning
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Arrangement | One of the canons of rhetoric specifying how a speech is ordered or put together
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Assimilation Phase | Phase in group socialization in which group members show full integration
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Assuming Meaning | A poor listening habit of interpreting another's messages based uncritically on a listener's frame of reference
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Audience Analysis | Studying the unique character of who will receive a presentation in order to adapt how a speech will be delivered and what will be presented
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Avoidance | Conflict style describing a person's unwillingness to confront or engage in conflict
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Body | The second of three components of a speech where the main ideas are introduced and developed
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Boomers | Individuals born from 1946 to 1964; influenced by TV and social upheaval of 1960s
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Brainstorming | A procedure designed to tap members' creativity by asking them to generate as many ideas as possible without evaluation
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Builders | Individuals born from 1901 to 1945; influenced by Great Depression and World War II
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Bypassing | Occurs when group members think they have the same meaning for a word or phrase but in actuality they do not
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Charge | The group's assignment
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Closed System | Such systems have limited flow of information between themselves and their environment
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Coercion | Using threats or force to make a member comply
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Cohesiveness | The bonds of attachment members have for each other
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Collaboration | Conflict style showing a preference for working with the other to find a solution that pleases both parties
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Collectivist Culture | A culture that values group needs and goals more than individual needs and goals
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Committee | A type of secondary group that performs a specific service for an organization
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Communication | The perception, interpretation, and response of people to signals produced by others
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Communication | Process of creating, sending, receiving, and interpreting signals between people
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Competition | Conflict style showing a preference for coming out ahead in the conflict at the expense of the other party
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Compromise | Conflict style showing a preference for giving a little and gaining a little to manage the issue
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Conclusion | The third of three components of a speech that summarizes the ideas a speaker wishes the audience to remember
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Concrete Experience Learning Style | Preference for learning by participating and doing
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Conflict | Conflict occurs when discordant ideas or feelings are expressed or experienced
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Consensus | A decision all members agree is the best they can all support but isn't necessarily everyone's first choice
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Consultant-Observer | An outsider who observes and evaluates a group
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Content Analysis Procedures | Techniques to help analyze the types of remarks being made
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Content Dimension | The ideas or "what" of a message
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Content-Oriented Listener | A listener who prefers information from perceived credible sources and is drawn to analyzing the information she or he hears
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Contingency Concept | Features of the situation determine appropriate leadership behavior
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Creative Thinking | Encouraging use of hunch, intuition, insight, and fantasy to promote creativity
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Criteria | Standards and guidelines used to evaluate ideas and solutions
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Critical Thinking | Systematic thinking using evidence, reasoning, and logic to promote soundness
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Culture | The system of beliefs, values, and symbols shared by an identifiable group of people
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Decision Making | Choosing from available options
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Defensive Responding | A poor listening habit of responding to another's message defensively because a threat has been perceived
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Delivery | One of the canons of rhetoric pertaining to how the presentation is given
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Designated Leader | An appointed or elected leader whose title (chair, president) identifies him or her as leader
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Deviants | Members who consistently violate group norms
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Devil's Advocate | A group member who formally is expected to challenge ideas to foster critical thinking
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Discussion Question | The main question or issue that a group must answer
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Distributed Leadership | Each group member can and should provide leadership services to a group
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Diversity | Differences among group members, from personality and learning style differences to differences of opinion
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Egalitarianism | The belief that all group members are created equal
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Either-Or Thinking | Asking members to choose between only two options as if no other choices existed
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Emergent Leader | A person who starts out with the same status as other members but gradually emerges as informal leader in the eyes of the other members
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Emotive Words | Words that trigger strong emotional responses
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Encounter Phase | Phase in group socialization in which members' expectations meet with reality as members adjust and fit with each other
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Entertainment Speech | A speech with the main purpose of amusing the audience
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Environment | Systems do not exist in a vacuum but are embedded in multiple surroundings or contexts
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Ethics | Standards and rules for appropriate member and leader behavior
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Evidence | Facts, data, opinions, and other information that back a claim or conclusion
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Exit Phase | Phase in group socialization in which individuals leave a group or entire group disbands
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Expert Power | Interpersonal influence that stems from someone's perceived knowledge or skill
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Extemporaneous Speech | A speech that is prepared and delivered from notes and not read from a manuscript
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Extraversion/Introversion Dimension | The Myers-Briggs® dimension that describes whether someone's energy is directed outward toward observable events or toward an inner, mental landscape
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Facts | Something that can be verified by observation and is not arguable
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Fallacies | Mistakes in reasoning and faulty reasoning
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Fantasy | Group discussion not focused on the present task of the group
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Feedback | The return of system outputs as system inputs, which allows the system to monitor its movement toward goals and make necessary changes
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Focused Listening | Listening that involves concentrating on relevant main ideas for later recall
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Focus Group | An unstructured technique in which members freely explore thoughts and feelings about a topic
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Focusing on Irrelevancies | A poor listening habit of focusing on irrelevancies and not on what the other is saying
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Formation Phase | Initial phase of group development where members work out their relationships, roles, rules, and leadership structures
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Forum Discussion | Structured audience participation after a speech, symposium, panel, or debate
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Functional Concept | Groups need to have certain functions performed, and all group members can and should perform needed functions
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Gender | Learned characteristics of masculinity and femininity
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Gen-Xers | Individuals born from 1965 to 1976; influenced by Watergate and general mistrust
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Group | Three or more individuals who have a common purpose, interact with each other, influence each other, and are interdependent
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Group Climate | The psychological atmosphere or environment within a group
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Group Ecology | A group's space as created by seating choices and furniture arrangements
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Grouphate | Hating or dreading participation in groups
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Group Socialization | Process by which new and/or established members learn to fit together through communication
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Group Support Systems (GSS) | Computer-based system designed to improve various aspects of group work
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Groupthink | A negative relational outcome of group decision making characterized by a group's failure to think critically about its decisions
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Hidden Agenda | An unstated private goal a member wants to achieve through a group
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High-Context Culture | A culture where features of the situation or context convey more meaning than the words people use
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Impromptu Speech | A speech delivered without preparation or notes
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Individualistic Culture | A culture that values individual needs and goals more than group needs and goals
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Influence | The use of interpersonal power to modify the actions and attitudes of members
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Informative Speech | A speech given with the primary purpose of teaching something to an audience
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Inputs | All the elements of a system that are present at the outset, or the initial raw materials of the system
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Interaction | The heart of group processes revolving around communication among the group members
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Interdependence | The elements of a system are related interdependently such that all elements mutually influence each other
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Introduction | The first of three components of a speech designed to catch the attention of the audience and show a need to listen, clarifies the main point of the speech
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Invention | A canon of rhetoric identifying the raw materials of the speech and how they are adapted to a particular audience
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Leader | Any person in the group who uses interpersonal influence to help the group achieve its goals
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Leadership | The use of communication to modify attitudes and behaviors of members to meet group goals and needs
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Learning Groups | Secondary groups of members meeting to understand and learn about a particular topic
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Legitimate Power | Influence based on a member's title or position in the group
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Life Cycle | Systems are dynamic processes with inherent moments of stability and change
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Listening | A complex process involving perceiving, interpreting, and responding to messages
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Low-Context Culture | A culture where the words used convey more meaning than the situation or context
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Message | Signals interpreted as a whole by group members
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Mind Raping | A poor listening habit of uncritically interpreting another's message based on listener's frame of reference and insisting on that meaning in spite of other's protests to the contrary
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Minutes | Formal notes recording what occurs at each meeting
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Moderator | A participant in a public group presentation whose main responsibility is to regulate the discussion and guide any audience participation
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Multiple Causes | No single system input determines system outputs; instead system outcomes are the result of numerous, interdependent factors
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Multiple Paths | System objectives can be reached in a variety of ways
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Myers-Briggs Type Indicator | A personality measure, based on Jung's work, that classifies people into 16 basic personality types according to their scores on four dimensions
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Net Generation | Individuals born from 1977 to 1997; influenced by computers and information/digital revolution
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Nominal Group Technique | This technique alternates between individual work and group work to help a group hear from every member when discussing a controversial issue
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Nonsummativity | A system's ability to take on an identity separate from its individual elements
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Nonverbal Signals | Any signal in a message that is not the word itself
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Norms | Informal, implicit standards of behavior and procedures by which members operate
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Open-Minded | Being willing to consider new information and ideas, even if they contradict previous beliefs
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Open System | Such systems have a free exchange of information with their environments; that is, inputs and outputs flow back and forth between the system and its environment
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Opinions | Inferences that go beyond facts and contain some degree of probability
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Organizational Groups | Groups created by organizations, usually to solve organizational problems
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Outputs | Those tangible and intangible products or achievements of the group system emerging from throughput processes
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Overgeneralization | A conclusion not supported by enough data
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Panel Discussion | One of three kinds of group public discussions in which panel members often bring different points of view to the discussion
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Participant-Observer (Perspective) | A group member who participates but also observes the group and adapts as necessary
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People-Oriented Listener | A listener who is concerned about how her or his listening behaviors affect relationships
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Perceiving/Judging Dimension | The Myers-Briggs® dimension that describes whether someone is spontaneous and flexible or planned and orderly
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Persuasive Speech | A type of speech containing a call to action
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PERT | Program Evaluation and Review Technique that helps group members manage and keep track of a complex task
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Postmeeting Reaction (PMR) Forms | Questionnaires members complete after a meeting to evaluate that particular meeting
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Power-Distance | Whether a culture maximizes or minimizes status and power differences
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Primary Groups | Groups formed to meet primary needs for inclusion and affection
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Primary Tension | Anxiety arising early in a group's formation, as members work out their relationships and roles
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Principled Negotiation | One way of dealing with conflict that promotes finding ways to meet the needs of conflicting parties and respecting their relationship
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Probing Questions | Questions designed to help critical thinking by examining information and reasoning in more depth
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Problem | The difference between what exists presently and what you expect or want
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Problem Census | A posting technique to help a group identify important issues or problems
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Problem Solving | Everything you need to do to move from your present undesirable situation to what you want, including creating solutions and choosing among them
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Procedural Model of Problem Solving | A flexible framework to guide each phase of the problem-solving process
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Production Phase | Second stage of a group's development, during which a group can concentrate more fully on its task
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Pseudolistening | A poor listening habit involving pretending to listen to others
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Punishment Power | Influence derived from someone's ability to take away what members want and value
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Quality Control Circles | Organizational groups that address issues of job performance and work improvement
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Rating Scales | Questions (scales) to help evaluate specific aspects of a group
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Referent Power | Influence due to a person's ability to be liked and admired
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Reflective Observation Learning Style | Preference for gaining perspective about one's experience by thinking reflectively about it
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Relational Dimension | The "how" of a message expressing the perceived relationship between communicators
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Reward Power | Influence derived from someone's ability to give members what they want and need
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RISK Technique | A technique to help a group assess potential problems or risks with a potential solution
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Role | The part a member plays in a group
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Rules | Formal, explicit standards of behavior and procedures by which a group operates
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Secondary Groups | Groups formed to meet secondary needs for control and problem-solving
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Secondary Tension | Task-related tension that stems from differing opinions about the substantive work of the group
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Self-Managed Work Teams | Also called autonomous work groups, groups of peers who manage their own work schedules and procedures
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Sensing/Intuiting Dimension | The Myers-Briggs® dimension that describes whether someone focuses on present facts or future possibilities
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Sex | The inherent biological characteristics of male and female with which people are born
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Sidetracking | A poor listening habit of responding to another's message in an irrelevant manner
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Sign | Any signal that indicates something else and closely matches that which it represents
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Silent Arguing | A poor listening habit of prematurely judging another's comments and then mentally preparing a refutation
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Small Group | A group of at least three people that is small enough for individual members to perceive one another as individuals during interaction
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Small Group Communication | The verbal and nonverbal interaction among members of a small group
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Social Presence | The degree to which a person feels that another is actually present during an interaction
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Structuration | Group communication creates and maintains a group's norms and character of operation
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Style | One of the canons of rhetoric referring to the individual manner in which a speech is delivered
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Support Groups | Groups formed for members to help each other understand, address, and cope with personal issues or problems
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Symbol | Any signal that arbitrarily stands for something else
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Symbolic Convergence | Humans create shared meaning through their talk; the basis of group fantasy
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SYMLOG | The System for the Multiple-Level Observation of Groups, a theory and methodology that produces a diagram of relationships among group members
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Symposium | One of three kinds of group public discussions in which participants deliver uninterrupted speeches on a selected topic
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Synectics | A procedure designed to stimulate creative thinking through use of metaphor and looking for similarities in different things
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System | A set of elements that functions as a whole because of interdependent relationships
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Teleconference | Electronically mediated group meeting
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Tertiary Tension | Tension that stems from power and status struggles in a group
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Thinking/Feeling Dimension | The Myers-Briggs® dimension that describes how people make decisions, by analysis of objective evidence or empathy and subjective feelings
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Throughput Processes | Influences on the system that result from actual activities within the group as it goes about its business
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Time-Oriented Listener | A listener who values time and is focused on efficient discussion
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Transactional | While communicating, all interactants mutually and simultaneously define both themselves and others
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Trust | General belief that members can rely on each other
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Verbal Interaction Analysis | A technique to discover who talks to whom
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