Review for Exam 2 Comm 250 Introduction to Communication Theory General Comments and Guidelines The exam will cover Chapters 12 in your text West Turner Symbolic Interaction Theory SIT George Herbert Mead 1934 What is the goal purpose of SIT A frame of reference for understanding how humans create symbols between one another and therefore shape behavior Reality is dynamic Make meanings that are congruent with social forces To understand how humans through interaction with one another create symbolic worlds and how these words affect behavior People act based on symbolic meanings created between them o Meaning is created between interaction between people people have common meanings o Meaning is modified through an interpretive process people change there interpretations of things because of the people they are surrounded by o These meanings affect behavior meanings of how people interpret things will change in conversations behavior What are SIT s concepts and explanations How are the concepts defined How do the explanations for each concept relate to one another Mind Definition Ability to use symbols that have common social meanings Explanation We can not interact with others until we learn language o Shared system of verbal and nonverbal symbols organized in patterns to express thoughts and feelings Language uses significant symbols symbols with shared meanings o Through language we share meanings and anticipate the response of others o Reflects and creates society through language to learn norms of society and through changing norms o Allows thought inner conversation o Without social language we can t think because language develops through interaction and we use language to think o Thoughts allow role taking Role Taking taking perspective of others which leads to empathy and development of self Self Society Definition ability to reflect on ourselves from the perspective of others Explanation Self develops from role taking o Imagining how we come across to others looking glass self and Pygmalion effect Pygmalion Effect refers to the expectations of others that governs someone s actions Looking glass self our ability to see ourselves in the reflection of another s view Definition the web of social relationships humans create Explanation exists prior to individuals created by individuals interacting o Individuals create Self through particular others and generalized others significant in others and society as a whole What research has been generated from SIT Mind Self and Society 1934 Chicago School University of Chicago by Mead and Blumer Iowa School University of Iowa by Manford Kuhn New Iowa School by Carl Couch How do symbolic interactionist theorists define communication Relate to issues involved in defining communication Defines communication through Intentional o o Correspondence Successful o o Ethical and honest Symbolic actions o Symbolic interactions o o Cognition thought and perception o Human to human What are SIT s Metatheoretical assumptions Ontological Epistemological Axiological Is SIT a good theory i e evaluate SIT using the evaluation criteria presented in class Metatheoretical Assumptions Ontological o Do humans make real choices o o Is human experience basically individual or social Is human experience contextualized Epistemological Axiological Evaluation of SIT Scope the boundaries are too broad for the limit of the theory this theory covers too much ground to fully explain specific meanings Testability the theory critics thing is too broad that it makes its concepts vague the concepts are not directly observable so it is difficult to test the theory Utility not as useful as it could be because it focuses too much on the individual and it ignores some important concept that are needed to make the explanation complete The Coordinated Management of Meaning CMM Pearce 1976 Pearce Cronen 1980 Goal Purpose of CMM To explain how people co create meaning in conversation How we establish rules for creating and interpreting meaning Meaning is constantly changing and being coordinated Explanation in CMM What happens in a conversation as a result of following rules What happens when different rules meet Meaning is constantly coordinated People use rules to create and interpret meaning Use different rules get different meaning Assumptions guiding CMM Human beings live in communication Social situations are created by interactions People create systems of meaning Organize meaning hierarchically Temporarily Human beings co create a social reality o o o o People in conversations coo construct a social reality called social construction Social reality refers to a person s beliefs about how meaning and action fit within his or her encounters Information transactions depend on personal and interpersonal meaning o Behavior un interpretable except in context of larger system Personal and interpersonal meaning o Create personal meaning the meaning achieved when a person interacts with another and brings into the interaction his or her unique experiences Meanings are achieved in conversations o Hierarchy of Meaning Content Speech Acts Contract Episodes Punctuation Life Scripts Cultural Patterns Content the level specifies the first step of converting raw data into meaning group information in certain categories Speech Acts class of very familiar things promises threats insults speculations guesses and compliments actions we perform by speaking that communicate the intention of the speaker Contract or Relationship when two people recognize their potential and limitations as relational partners relationship can include less personal and more general relationships enmeshment describes the extent to which people identify themselves as a part of the relational system Episodes communication routines that have definable beginnings middles and ends describe contexts in which people act Life Script clusters of past and present episodes we are who we are because of the life scripts in which we have engaged in so far how you view yourself over time will dictate the type of person you are and how you communicate with others Cultural patterns broad images of world order and a person s relationship to that order person can either be an individualistic or collectivism type person depending on the notion of interests in that persons cultural patterns According to the theory how is meaning coordinated between people Exists when people attempt to make sense of messages in conversations
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