Communication 101 Text Study Guide Exam 3 NOTE Everything covered in lecture after the second exam may be on the third exam The following material from the text may also be on the third exam What is Communication and Technology p A 23 A 24 1 Know the three primary areas being studied in the context of health and communication technology To search for health information communicate with one s doctor and acquire social support as one copes with illness 2 Know in what time frame research in this general topic area began Late 1970s early 1980s but tremendous growth in scholarship during the past decade What are Media Effects pp A 24 A 27 1 Know the definition of mass communication Mass communication is a process in which professional communicators use media to disseminate messages widely rapidly and continuously to arouse intended meanings in large and diverse audiences in attempts to influence them in a variety of ways DeFleur Dennis Media Effects the idea that the audience is influences or changed in some manner 2 Know the difference between the two types of media effects studied by researchers Intended Unintended Intended deliberate attempts to influence the recipient in some way Commercial advertising and political campaigns are the types of intended effects that have received the most attention Public service announcements and media campaigns to change behavior health especially in AIDS awareness smoking drug use etc Unintended media events not planned by broadcasters like the events surrounding 9 11 or natural disasters which result in mass viewer reactions These unexpected view reactions represent unintended media effects Media scholars have debated whether exposure to violence in the media leads viewers to later aggressive behavior Also if sexually explicit material leads to sexually permissive attitudes and engage in sexual risk taking There has always been an assumption that the mass media s influence was so powerful that the media automatically altered the ideas attitudes and behaviors of anyone who came into contact with them Today we recognize what we should ve known all along that human attitudes and actions are difficult to change in most situations Mass media is one type of social influence on a person s attitude and behavior What is Small Group Communication pp A 29 A 31 1 Know the definition of small group communication The study of messages produced during decision making interactions Multilevel problem because it involves forming a group solution to a problem based on dissimilar individual preferences and opinions Group decision making often requires at least one individual to change what he she thinks about a problem and how it might be solved 2 Know the two types of influence relevant to small group communication Normative Communicative Influences Normative Influence occurs when a member changes his her mind to be consistent with what the other members prefer Imagine a group with 5 members 4 of whom prefer a particular solution and you are the fifth member who prefers another solution At some point you d want to conform to feel included or because you just can t win Communicative Influence the arguments evidence that supports them persuades members to adopt a course of action over other possibilities Often group outcomes result from both types of influence 3 Know the two types of communication relevant to small group communication Communication can be both either promotive for and disruptive to optimal group decision making Promotive Communication consists of messages that assist a group in identifying relevant characteristics of a problem and for developing solutions It includes messages that include useful information make strong arguments seek give opinions resolve conflict and develop positive working relationships among members Disruptive Communication hinders effective group problem solving and decision making by focusing groups on irrelevant issues that hinder information sharing creates conflict advances hidden agendas and allows mistaken arguments to go unchallenged What is Intergroup Communication pp A 31 A 33 1 Know the definition of intergroup communication The study of how communication between people from different social groups is different from what occurs when people communicate within their social groups or more generally how communication changes based on social group memberships Groups such as age groups groups based on race ethnicity religious groups gender groups groups based on sexuality national groups etc 2 Know the types of groups that are relevant to intergroup communication and the three things these groups have in common 1 Typically not small groups not concerned with small groups like family or class 2 Many people feel pride and strong feelings of connection associated with some of these groups even willing to fight die for them This intense feeling is called group identity 3 Within each of those categories you can identify groups that contrast one another i e if you re a man then you re not a woman if you re Christian then you re not Jewish This sets up the possibility for competition conflict between groups We refer to the groups that an individual identifies as belonging to as that person s ingroup and contrasting groups outgroups What is Environmental Communication pp A 33 A 35 1 Know the definition of environmental communication The study of how cultures societies institutions and individuals create distribute receive and understand environmental messages As a result of this broad set of goals environmental communication is interdisciplinary like communication environmental studies psychology risk analysis political science sociology etc 2 Know the different disciplines interested in environmental communication Listed above in parenthesis Under communication however are a wide range of subfields like cultural studies public relations marketing journalism media effects and interpersonal communication Human Communication Chapter 10 Intercultural Communication pp 283 317 1 Know the three approaches to studying culture Social Science Interpretive Critical Social Science Most traditional built on methods of psychology sociology behavior can be predicted assumed that behavior can be observed measured predicted we can discover universals in human behavior communication is seen as influenced by culture research might be studying how conflict is expressed by people in US Germany China primary interest is comparing cultures