Script messages

Prepared By Manu Melwin JoyResearch Scholar

School of Management StudiesCUSAT, Kerala, India.Phone – 9744551114

Mail – manu_melwinjoy@yahoo.com

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Script messages• Life script consists of set of decisions.• These are made by the child in response to script

messages about self, others and the world.• The script messages come mainly from the child’s

parents.

Infant perception• Infant makes her script

decision in response to her own perception of what is going on around her.

• This perception is founded on an infant’s way of feeling and reality testing.

• Therefore, the messages that the infant perceives as coming from the parents and the world around her may be quite different from any that a grown up would perceive.

Kinds of script messages• Script messages may be

conveyed verbally , non verbally or in these two ways combined.

• Both verbal and non verbal messages may contain an element of modeling.

• Verbal script messages can be transmitted in the form of commands or attributions.

Non Verbal Messages• Before the infant has

words, he interprets other people’s messages in terms of their non verbal signals.

• The young baby has acute perception of expressions, body tensions, movements, tones and smells.

Non Verbal Messages• If mother holds him close

and warm, letting him mould to the shape of her body, he is likely to perceive her message to him as “I accept and love you!”.

• But if she tenses up and holds him stiffly a little away from her, he may read her as conveying : “ I reject you and don’t want you close!”

Non Verbal Messages• Sometimes, the infant may

construe script messages from events around her that are not of the parent’s making.

• Loud noises, sudden movements, separation from the parents such as stay in the hospital, may all appear to the bay as life threatening.

• Because she assumes that her parents are in charge of the reality, she may conclude that the threats also come from them.

Non Verbal Messages• Later in childhood , when

the child understands language, non verbal communication is still important as a component of script messages.

• Physical abuse or the treat of it, may mean to the child that his parents reject him or possibly want him dead.

Non Verbal Messages• When parents speak to

the child, he will interpret the script meaning of what they say according to the non verbal that go with it.

• Recall Berne’s Third rule of communication : When the transaction are ulterior, the significant message is on the psychological level.

Non Verbal Messages• Picture a school child coming

home with the new reading book she is just been given by the teacher.

• She starts reading it to her parents and stumbles over a word she hasn’t met before.

• Father says : “ You got that word wrong”.

• With those words could go many different sets of non verbal messages.

• Each of these would carry its own meaning to the child in terms of possible script decision.

Non Verbal Messages• Father might speak in a harsh, loud voice, while curling

his lip and screwing his face up. • At the same time, he might knock the book out of her

hand or even deal her a blow.• To the child, his message reads: “I don’t want you around

and would prefer you dead.”

Non Verbal Messages• He might say the word

in flat voice, without looking up from the newspaper he himself is reading.

• Reading the non verbal, his daughter interprets his message as: “ You are not important to me.”

Non Verbal Messages• He might accompany his

words with a wink and a giggle.

• Using little professor strategy, the little girl tests out giggling back.

• Sure enough, father smiles even more.

• She reads his message: “ To please me, you have to act stupid.”

Non Verbal Messages

• Father might say the word in

even voice, while sitting

beside her pointing the

words out in her book.

• He then gives her time to

look at the word again.

• His Martian conveys to the

child: “It is OK for you to

think.”

Thank You

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