People may easily misunderstand each other, and often have variations in the meanings they have for particular words or expressions.
.Jerome Bruner used the term 'constant transactional calibration' to describe how when people enter into genuine dialogue and have a conversation (when they 'transact') each participant can test their understandings of what the other means by responding (based on their their own understanding of the intended meaning, to see how their response is evaluated, i.e., a kind of hypothesis testing). During an extended exchange (so the process is 'constant'), where both partners are committed to understanding each other, they can test how the other is using terms and phrases against their own ways of using them) (the 'calibration' part).
This although a seemingly convoluted term, 'constant transactional calibration' nicely summarises how we can check and share meanings through talk (or less immediately through textual exchanges such as email).
This idea is important given the constructivist model of learning which suggests that we do not automatically share concepts and appreciate how others use concepts and langauge.
[Please be aware that a word may have different nuances, or even a different meaning, according to context.]« Back to Index
