A
ACC (Anterior Cingulate Cortex)
A region of the executive network involved in conflict detection, error monitoring, and integration of emotion and cognition.

Active Listening
A cognitive process involving attentional regulation, emotional decoding, and contextual interpretation of incoming information.

Amygdala
A limbic structure involved in emotional salience, threat detection, and modulation of expressive and receptive responses.

Archetype (Communication Archetype)
A contextual identity pattern reflecting a person’s default cognitive-emotional behaviour under specific communication conditions.
Archetypes are states, not personality types.

B
Bias (Cognitive Bias)
Systematic deviations in thinking caused by assumptions, emotional interference, stress, or narrowed attention.

Broca’s Area
A region in the frontal lobe responsible for speech production, linguistic articulation, and syntactic processing.

C
Cognitive Collapse
A temporary narrowing of cognitive capacity triggered by stress, emotional load, or attentional overload. Results in reduced interpretive bandwidth.

Cognitive Flexibility
The ability to shift perspectives, update beliefs, and adapt reasoning processes in response to new information.

Communication Intelligence (CI)
The integrated cognitive ability to communicate effectively using Receptive, Expressive, and Interpretive Intelligence.

Communication Loop™
CQ’s circular model mapping the continuous flow of expression, reception, interpretation, and feedback.

D
DLPFC (Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex)
Responsible for reasoning, working memory, attention regulation, and higher-order decision processes.

E
Emotional Salience
The degree to which emotional relevance amplifies or distorts perception, attention, or interpretation.

Expressive Intelligence™ (EI)
The cognitive-emotional capacity to articulate thoughts, emotions, and intentions with clarity and timing.

F
‍Feedback Loop
The process by which a listener’s response informs the next communicative action of the speaker.

I
Interpretive Intelligence (II)
The cognitive system responsible for inference making, meaning extraction, contextual evaluation, and collapse prevention.

Interpretive Layer
The level of cognition where raw input becomes structured meaning.

Internal Narrative
The individual’s private interpretive dialogue shaping how meaning is formed.

L
Listening Collapse
A breakdown in reception caused by cognitive overload, emotional interference, or narrowed attention.

M
Mirror Neuron System
Neural network supporting social attunement, perspective-taking, and empathic resonance.

N
Negotiation Archetype
Contextual pattern describing how a person navigates relational complexity and stress during negotiation.

R
Receptive Intelligence™ (RI)
The cognitive capacity to accurately receive, decode, and interpret information.

S
Salience Network
Neural system that determines what information the brain prioritizes.

Stress Response
Physiological and cognitive reaction to perceived threat or load that may impair RI, EI, and II.

V
vmPFC (Ventromedial Prefrontal Cortex)
Supports emotional regulation, valuation, and adaptive decision making.

W
Wernicke’s Area
Temporal-lobe region responsible for comprehension of spoken and written language.