Understanding Human Communication

Understanding Human Communication, Seventh Edition, by Ronald B. Adler and George Rodman presents a comprehensive, useful introduction to the academic study of communication that strikes a balance between the needs of instructors and students. The book's enduring features include a clear and reader-friendly writing style; an inviting visual design with marginal quotations, cartoons, photographs, newspaper clippings, and supplemental readings on almost every page; and everyday applications based on solid research and theory. New features include an increased emphasis on technology, streamlined organization based on user suggestions, and revised and updated material on gender, cultural diversity, and theory. These combined features plus an extensive ancillary package make Understanding Human Communication, Seventh Edition, one of the leading texts in the field of interpersonal communication.

Features
BL Photographs, short readings, cartoons, epigrams, and news items enliven each section with high interest ideas and personalities.
BL A comprehensive glossary and the following chapter-length appendices are included at the back of the book:
Appendix A: Interviewing
Appendix B: Mediated Communication (new!)
BL Each chapter ends with the following categories of supplemental material:
Summary: recaps the content of the chapter
Resources: provides updated lists and brief descriptions of print resources that discuss the topics in the chapter and popular films with plots and characters that demonstrate concepts covered in the chapter
Activities: includes four kinds of activities--"Ethical Challenges," "Critical Thinking Probes," "Skill Builders," and "Invitations to Insight"--that invite students to analyze and change their own communication behavior
BL The following sidebars and marginal notes contain material that supports the main content of the book:
Understanding Diversity boxes show how factors such as ethnicity, different physical abilities, regional origins, and nationalities shape perceptions of and reactions to communication
Understanding Communication Technology boxes highlight the ways in which technology is changing the nature of human communication, giving readers tools for using technology in communicating (new!)
Communication Boxes present thought-provoking topics through interesting and humorous articles and vignettes
Marginal Definitions of colloquial terms help readers unfamiliar with idiomatic English understand the subtleties of phrases and words used in the text, such as "get it off my chest" or "hashed out"

Ronald Adler, Santa Barbara City College. George Rodman, CUNY, Brooklyn College.