Explaining Conversations - Thomas, R Murray

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Résumé :
Explaining Conversations offers a different way of interpreting people's social exchanges than has been available in the past. The book is replete with examples of people's verbal interactions in the form of chats, arguments, debates, and negotiations, both within a culture and across cultures. The volume's subtitle, A Developmental Social-Exchange Theory, identifies a theme featured in Chapters 2 and 5-the typical pattern by which social-exchange skills evolve over the first two decades of life. Throughout the book, the underlying meanings of conversations are interpreted in terms of (a) the needs people seek to fulfill through their conversations, (b) the influence of a person's culture on what is said, (c) individuals' patterns of thought (metacognition) during a conversation, (d) how people's expectations about a conversation affect what they will say, and (e) strategies individuals adopt to achieve their goals. The book includes a chapter designed to guide parents and teachers in promoting young children's and adolescents' social-exchange skills. ?...

Biographie:
R. Murray Thomas, PhD is professor emeritus at University of California, Santa Barbara's Graduate School of Education. Marie Kathleen Iding, PhD is a professor of Educational Psychology at the University of Hawaii....

Sommaire:
Preface Part I: Introduction Chapter 1: The Nature of Social Exchanges Chapter 2: The Anatomy of the Theory Part II: The Theory Components Chapter 3: Needs as Motivators Chapter 4: The Significance of Culture Chapter 5: Developmental Stairways Chapter 6: The Role of Issues and Beliefs Part III: Enhancing Social-Exchange Skill-Development Chapter 7: Further Features of Exchanges Chapter 8: Coping with Cross-Cultural Encounters Chapter 9: Promoting Social-Exchange Skill-Development Part IV: Afterthoughts Chapter 10: Unfinished Business References Index About the Authors...