Contemporary Human Communication Exam 4 Study Guide The basics Review information from exam one Definition s of Communication o E Griffin The relational process of creating and interpreting messages that elicit a response o West and Turner A social process in which individuals employ symbols to establish and interpret meaning in their environment Models of Communication Linear o Shannon and Weaver telephone o Source Message Channel Receiver o Assumes only one message in the communication process o Overly simple feedback is missing Interactional o Schramm model o Two way communication process o Communication is ongoing process but no simultaneous roles source receiver one can be a sender OR receiver not both o Feedback is a key element o Field of Experience there is an overlap of the sender s and receiver s culture experience and heredity in communication Transactional o Barnlund o Simultaneous sender and receiver roles due to feedback o Mutual responsibility to meaning S and R o Communication influenced by past experiences o Interdependency of messages each builds on and effects the next message o Dance Helix model o Most accepted contemporary model Components of communication o Source transmits encodes the message o Encoding the process of taking an already conceived idea and getting it ready for transmission o Message the stimulus that the source transmits to the receiver o Channel means by which the message is conveyed o Receiver decodes the message o Decoding the process of taking the stimuli that have been received and giving them meaning through individual interpretation and perception o Noise anything not intended by the information source It inhibits the receiver s accurate reception of the message Types of Noise semantic physical external psychological physiological Definition of theory theories describe predict and explain human thought and behavior o E Griffin A set of systematic informed hunches about the way things operate o West and Turner abstract system of concepts and their relationships that help us to understand a phenomenon 1 Evaluating theory Scope Heurism Test of time Utility Testability Parsimony o breadth of communication behaviors covered by the theory o Theories can be broad or narrow some have expanded over time o Amount of research and new thinking that the theory generates o Launches new and interesting ways of viewing the world o still relevant over time still applied in research o Offer practical advice o Useful able to be applied to some context o Test why it is or is not valid o Investigate theory s accuracy and ability to prove false o Relative simplicity o Should not be overly cumbersome to understand or to use o Use fewest number of terms necessary to explain the communication phenomenon Objective Approach Interpretive Approach o Social scientists o The assumption that truth is singular and is accessible through unbiased sensory observation o Committed to uncovering cause and effect relationships o Interpretive scholars concerned with meaning and reflect a range of ideological and methodological positions o The linguistic work of assigning meaning or value to communicative texts o Assumes that multiple meanings or truths are possible Distinguishing between the two Epistemology study of origin nature method and limits of knowledge aka how we know what we know Objective Truth singular not dependent on local conditions Good theories are reflective of nature Good theories represent reality Truth is objective Interpretive Truth is socially constructed through communication Social reality is always in flux Knowledge is viewed through a particular standpoint Truth is subjective Determinism assumption that behavior is caused by hereditary and environment Objective Interpretive Determinism Human choice 2 Human behavior in casual terms and in terms of prior stimulus Human behavior in terms of conscious intent Emancipation liberation from any form of political economic racial religious or sexual oppression empowerment Objective effectiveness Interpretive participation Use of objective tests in order to find the truth personal values set aside in finding the truth Brings own values into interpretation of text Seeks empirical evidence for claims Seek to liberate people from oppression Suggest ways to validate ideas and claims Oppose detached stance of social scientists Believe the evidence should speak for itself Insist that knowledge is never neutral Seven Traditions 1 Socio Psychological interpersonal interaction and influence Most objective scientific perspective Main focus relationships and persuasion Absolute truths Truth can be discovered by systematic observation Look for cause effect relationships Effects founding father Carl Hovland Yale Studies studied communication stimuli audience predisposition and opinion change 3 causes of persuasive variation o Who the source of the message o What the content of the message o Whom the audience characteristics source credibility is vital to opinion shift Two Types expertness and character o Expertness was more important for boosting opinion change but its effect didn t last 2 Cybernetic tradition info processing Cybernetics field of artificial intelligence Way feedback makes info processing possible in our heads and on our computers Communication is the link separating the separate parts of any system Shannon established the idea of communication as information processing Goal establish maximal line capacity with minimum distortion Defined information as the reduction of uncertainty The less predictable a message the more information it carries Noise reduces the information carrying capacity of the channel Regarded communication as the science of balancing predictability and uncertainty 3 3 Rhetorical tradition artful public address Speech distinguishes humans from animals Public address is a better problem solver than rule by decree or force Public speaking is essentially one way communication intention to persuade Oratorical training cornerstone of a leaders education Language should have the ability to move emotionally and stir then to action Oratory as persuasion is a male territory 4 Semiotic tradition sharing meaning through signs Semiotics study of signs Words are a special kind of sign known as a symbol Richards proper meaning superstition identifies mistaken belief that words have a precise meaning Meanings don t reside in words or other symbols but in people Ogden and Richards semantic triangle
View Full Document
Unlocking...