Mid-Term Flashcards
Study for Midterm
How do you define communication?
There is no one definition, but the definition you choose sets up the way you study it.
What is a social scientific theory?
A organized collection of ideas and principles that provide insight on some facet of human experience.
What are the dimensions of theory?
1) Philosophical assumptions
2) Concepts
3) Explanations
4) Principles
What is epistemology?
The study of how we know what we know, and how we can best learn what we need to know.
What is ontology?
The study of the nature of human beings and what it means to be human.
What is axiology?
The study of value. Axiology helps us to define what is good and bad, right and wrong. These values inform the structure, principles and interpretation of theory.
What are concepts?
Concepts are key terms within a theory that help us identify and explain what we are studying using a common vocabulary.
What are explanations?
Explanations tie concepts together by explaining the logical force (connections) between pieces of theory.
What are principles?
Principles are the propositions/precepts/guidelines that we can draw from theory. Principles identify a situation, its norms/values, and the range of possible actions.
What is the Hypothesis view of theory?
This is a traditional, often quantitative, view of theory that searches for true explanations.
What is the Lens view of theory?
The idea that theory is a lens through which we see things. It assumes theories are a way of perceiving and organizing data, rather than a definition of a True concept.
What is the Stance view of theory?
Believes that theory is a positional argument about the way the world is and how the world should be.
What are criticisms of Hypothesis theory?
1) Hypothesis theory does not pay enough attention to falsifying hypotheses.
2) Gives a false sense of security by presenting “truth” in an authoritative way.
3) It can suppress alternative explanations.
What are criticisms of Lens theory?
1) Theories are inconsistent in quailty
2) Undermines attention to pressing problems by focusing on “what works for me”
What are criticisms of Stance view?
1) Encourages researchers to see their perspective as reality.
2) Prescribes a priori solutions regardless of the available alternatives.
3) Does not draw attention to blind spots and personal bias.
What are Implicit theories?
Implicit theories are the theories we make up inside our heads in order to explain the world that we live in. They are anecdotal, not systematic.
What are Explicit theories?
Explicit theories are the product of research and scholarly pursuit. They are written down, evaluated, and critically examined. They are systematic, not anecdotal.
What are Burrell and Morgan’s
“Two Axes”?
1) Left/Right–Subjective (reality primarily in our heads) to Objective (reality an external something to be discovered)
2) Up/Down–Regulation (world is stable thing you can study) to radical change (world is a thing that should change in order to better promote equality).
What is the Functionalist paradigm of research?
Functionalists see reality as both Regulated and Objective. This is the primary paradigm for most social scientific research. Sees human activity as an orderly and cohesive thing to be studied.
A problem oriented approach.
What is the Interpretive paradigm of research?
Sees reality as regulated and subjective. The world is what it is, humans are what they are, but their perceptions are highly individual and subjective. These theorists are trying to get inside our heads.
What is the Radical Structuralist paradigm of research?
Sees the world as Radical change (should be changed) yet also embraces an objective reality. Radical structuralists like to focus on policies and social structures, focusing on the inequality of existing structures.
What is the Radical Humanist paradigm of research?
Sees the world as Radical Change and reality as subjective. These theorist are aiming to free individual consciousness from the limiting constraints of social arrangements/ideologies on human development. It’s about changing the individual, versus changing society.
What is the Cybernetic research tradition?
This tradition looks at things as complex systems, where individual elements influence each other to create something more than the sum of its parts. These systems are self-contained and all parts of the system are limited by their dependence on any other part of the system.
What is the Sociopsychological research tradition?
A tradition that studies the individual as a social being, like in psychology. It focuses on psychological variables, individual characteristics, personalities, traits, perceptions, etc.
What is the Sociocultural research tradition?
This tradition looks at culture in our society and the ways that communication creates culture. It tends to focus on dyads and groups, and looks at social constructed macro realities through daily micro interactions.
What is the Critical research tradition?
This tradition examines how power, oppression, and privilege are the product of specific communication processes in society.
What is the Rhetorical research tradition?
This tradition looks at the art of speech making, constructing arguments, and persuasive speech, through the five canons of rhetoric (Invention, Arrangement, Style, Delivery, Memory).
How does naturalization distort communication?
Naturalization shuts down conversation by making it seem as if a situation/position is from nature, and you can’t argue against it.
This is part of the critical tradition.
How does neutralization distort communication?
Neutralization happens when a powerful person/institution shuts down conversation by behaving as if their data/information/facts are pure and untainted by humans. (Numbers don’t lie.)
This comes from the critical perspective.
How does disqualification distort communication?
Disqualification happens when powerful people/institutions disqualify dissenting people from voicing their opinions for any number of reasons. This is done to retain power and to keep the hegemonic group homogenous.
This is studied in critical theories.
How does subjectification distort communication?
Subjectiviation/objectification happens when a person/institution in power acts as if they have an objective reality while the challenger just has an objective opinion.
This is studied in the critical tradition.
What is Trait Theory?
Trait theory assumes that there are specific aspects of human behavior and interaction that are consistent across communication situations, due to psychology (mind) or biology (body).
What is the Five Factor Model?
This is the most popular trait-factor model, focusing on the individual’s combination of five specific traits:
1) Neuroticism (tendency to feel vulnerable/unstable)
2) Extraversion (tendency to be sociable/optimistic)
3) Openness (tendency to be curious, independent, reflective)
4) Agreeableness (tendency to be cooperative/sympathetic)
5) Conscientiousness (tendency to be self-disiplined/efficient)
Can be used to examine clusters of traits/super-traits.
What is argumentativeness?
A super-trait that is studied in trait theory that refers to people’s tendency to discuss controversial topics. It is not the same thing as aggression.
What is Communicative Apprehension?
A supertrait that includes high levels of social and interaction anxiety and social avoidance. People with CA manifest it across social situations in both physical (blushing and beating heart) and cognitive (self-focus and negative thoughts) manifestations. It’s strongly tied to cognitive correlates.
What is attribution theory?
This theory deals with the way people make inferences about the causes of their own or others’ behavior.
1) People observe the action/behavior
2) People assess the intent
3) They attribute the source of the motivation to either internal or external sources.
These are evaluated according to consistency (is this normal), distinctiveness (does it stand out, or vary), and consensus (is this what most people do)?
What is the difference between Internal and External motivations (attribution theory)?
Internal motivations come from inside a person (i.e. their personal characteristics) while external motivations come from outside (circumstances).
What is Fundamental Attribution Error?
When people over emphasize external motivators for others’ good behaviors and internal motivators to their bad behaviors.
The opposite is true when people make FAE about themselves.
What is social judgement theory?
An explanation of how we evaluate the messages we hear via our social perception. It describes how we use internal anchors to determine our perception of incoming messages.
What is a Latitude of Acceptance (social judgment theory)?
The realm and breadth of something we believe. The position within the L of A that we most agree with is our anchor point.
What is the Latitude of Rejection (social judgment theory)?
The realm and breadth of what we reject. The position we most reject with the L of R is our anchor point.
What is the Latitude of Noncommittal (social judgment theory)?
This is the range of things we do not care about.
What is ego involvement (social judgment theory)?
One’s sense of personal relevance/connection to an issue. High levels of ego involvement indicate strong L of A and L of R, with small L of N. Low levels of ego involvement indicate large L of N and small LofA and LofR.
What is the boomerang effect (social judgment theory)?
Occurs when a message that falls into one’s LofR can strengthen one’s position on an issue.
The most persuasive messages are just outside of LofR in NC because one is more likely to listen when not engaging in extremes of acceptance and rejection.
What is the theory of cognitive dissonance?
A theory based on the idea that people prefer consistency to inconsistency. Cognitive elements that are inconsistent with one another cause a sense of internal dissonance. This dissonance prompts a person to either change their cognitive element to reduce the sense of dissonance or make decisions about the challenging element to reduce its effect.
What are the contributing factors to dissonance (cognitive dissonance theory)?
1) The importance of the decision (the more important, the more dissonant)
2) The attractiveness of the chosen option (the more attractive the lower the dissonance)
3) The attractiveness of the not-chosen option (the more attractive the greater the dissonance)
4) The similarity between the options (the more similar, the less dissonance)
What is Uncertainty Reduction Theory?
A theory that posits that people have a strong desire to reduce uncertainty about other people because we like predictability. The less we know the more we pay attention to reduce uncertainty.
What are the three main strategies for reducing uncertainty?
1) Passive Uncertainty Reduction
2) Active Uncertainty Reduction
3) Interactive Uncertainty Reduction
What is Passive Uncertainty Reduction Strategy?
When people observe people they do not know or barely know. This can be through reactivity searching, where a person is observed reacting in a situation, or disinhibition searching when people are being observed in informal situations where they are less likely to self-censor.
What is the difference between predictive uncertainty and explanatory uncertainty (uncertainty reduction theory)?
Reducing predictive uncertainty lets people know what to expect from others’ behavior, while reducing explanatory uncertainty helps people better understand the behavior of others.
What is expectancy violations theory?
A theory about what happens when a person’s expectations are not met during a communication situation. Violations can be both positive and negative–they are simply an act/moment that does not correspond to a person’s expectations.
What is a violation valence (expectancy violations theory)?
The degree to which the violation occurs.
What is a reward valence (expectancy violations theory)?
The degree to which you have positive or negative feelings coming out of an interaction.
Ambiguous behavior in a valued communicator is seen as rewarding, while ambiguous behavior in a non-valued communicator is seen as negative.
What is symbolic interactionism?
Symbolic interactionism discusses how people come to share meanings for certain temrs and actions/social objects (a thing that has meaning in a group) through their interactions with one another over time.
What is an orientational other (symbolic interactionism)?
An orientational other is someone who shapes a person’s perceptions of themselves and others in the past, present or future. Parents are often orientational others, as are mentors and role models.
What is the self (symbolic interactionism)?
The self is a social object which is defined and understood over time through interaction with orientational others. One’s self-concept is the source of one’s anchoring attitudes, and most plans of action come from one’s self-concept.
What is the presentational self?
The presentational self provides us with a way to understand how we view ourselves and the way we come across to others.
The idea is that we curate ourselves to present a certain impression, much like being an actor on the stage.
What is identity negotiation theory?
Identity negotiation theory addresses how we figure our identities out through interaction with other people. This leads us to build cultural/ethnic identities based on value (cultural beliefs) and salience (the strength of connection we feel to the group), and personal identities.
Ideally, people reach a state of functional biculturalism where they can keep their sense of self and appreciate others’ viewpoints.
What are the three factors of intercultural competence (identity negotation theory)?
1) identity knowledge (understanding of importance of cultural identity in oneself and others)
2) Mindfulness (being aware of other perspectives)
3) Negotiation (ability to negotiate identities through the process of listening, observing, empathy, reframing, etc.)
What is standpoint theory?
A critical theory addressing power dynamics. It focuses on how unequal power relations are responsible for oppression of certain groups and how the perspectives of that group are formed by that inequality. A person of lower status must understand and conform to the expectations of the higher status person to survive, but higher status people do not need to reciprocate. This is why higher status people can seem out of touch.
What is nonverbal communication?
Nonverbal communication are clusters of non spoken behavior, such as tone of voice, use of space, and body language, that are used to convey meaning.
What are the different forms of nonverbal communication?
1) Emblems (gestures with precise meaning)
2) Illustrators (gestures that illustrate a verbal utterance)
3) Adaptors (gestures that release bodily tension)
4) Regulators (gestures that control/coordinate interaction)
5) Affect displays (gestures that express feelings and emotions)
How can one analyze non verbal communication?
You can analyze non verbal activity by its origin/source, its coding/relationship between act and meaning, or its usage/the degree to which it conveys information.
Non verbals can be inborn, they can be species-constant (which are universal behaviors needed for survival) or they can be variant, which means they can be different across groups.
What are the relationships between verbal and non verbal communication?
1) Repetition – when verbals and non verbals are consistent with each other
2) Substitution – when non verbals substitute for verbals
3) Complementation – when verbals and non verbals add together to make a more complete meaning
4) Contradiction – when verbals and non verbals contradict each other
5) Emphasis – when non verbals underscore verbals.
What is the social construction of reality perspective?
This perspective believes that social knowledge is created through social interaction, and that social reality is the product of a collective communication process. Meaning is not fixed to objects, nor is it within individuals, it is created through dialogue with others. As a result, reality is not objective and the world only feels graspable because of habit and tradition.
What is speech act theory?
The main idea of speech act theory is that our words have an impact, an illocutionary force that acts upon the people we communicate with. This force is interpreted as part of a socially defined language game comprising of constitutive rules which give us a reference from for what the messages are supposed to mean.
What are the types of speech act?
1) Utterance act – pronouncing the words
2) Propositional act – asserting something as true because you believe it or because you want others to believe it
3) Illocutionary act – getting hearer to understand your intention/desire
4) Perlocutionary acts – intended by speaker to influence other person’s behavior
What are the three illocutionary acts (speech act theory)?
1) Assertives - statements that assert a truth
2) Directives – statements that direct the listener to action
3) Commissives – statements made to commit to a future act
What is coordinated management of meaning?
The idea behind CMofM is that we coordinate complex meaning/action among group members to reach a shared meaning. We do this by:
1) figuring out what messages mean
2) figuring out what we have to do about it
3) coordinating our actions with others
This process is determined by constitutive rules
What are constitutive rules?
They are a set of informal social proscribed rules that tell us how to interpret a communication situation by telling us what something “counts as” to us.
What are regulative rules?
These are rules of action, which tell us how to respond or behave in a communication situation.
What are the five contexts for framing meaning (coordinated management of meaning)?
1) speech act
2) episode (the situation/frame you’re assuming. If the frame is not the same, meaning is not coordinated)
3) Self/identity (how you see yourself affects how you interpret other’s communication)
4) Relationship history
5) Culture (broader context of meaning)
What is a charmed loop?
A positive feedback loop of communication which is based on a desirable coordination of meaning. Like when friends encourage each other.
What is a strange loop?
An unwanted repetitive pattern of meaning, when people coordinate their meaning in negative ways, like in codependence or in abusive relationships. Getting out of the loop requires telling a brand new story.
What is Burke’s theory of identification?
Symbols are used to bring people together and create identification (a sense of shared-ness) or division (a sense of separateness). When people experience identification, they become consubstantial.
What is material identification?
When two or more people have the same things.
What is idealistic identification?
When two or more people have the same ideals.
What is formal identification?
When two or more people are familiar with/use a common form, like a handshake or a dance.
What is guilt according to Burke?
Any feeling/sense of tension created by symbol use. This is often expressed by the language property of the negative (thou shalt not).
What is the Principle of Hierarchy?
When you feel like you’re on a social ladder, and you are experiencing guilt because of a disparity between your current position and the position of others/your desired position.
What is the Principle of Perfection?
The idea that all of us have an idea of what perfect looks like, and so we experience guilt because we are not perfect.
How can one get rid of Burke’s guilt?
Through victimage (transferring guilt to someone else) or mortification (punishing oneself to manage guilt).
What is the guilt cycle?
Pollution (a great darkness/evil) –> Purification (getting rid of the evil) –> Redemption (setting everything right).
This underlies our most familiar stories.
What is compliance gaining?
Getting people to comply with your wishes for their actions. In essence, person one does something for person two in order to get something in return (them to comply).
What are the tactics for compliance gaining?
1) Rewarding
2) Punishing
3) (Demonstrating) Expertise
4) (Invoking) Impersonal commitments, like moral appeals
5) (Invoking) Personal Commitments, like debts.
What is politeness theory?
Politeness is a universal value, but its definition is culturally defined. Politeness theory examines the ways in which the following interact:
1) Positive face (the need to be appreciated/approved)
2) Positive politeness (messages that communicate approval)
3) Negative face (the need to be free from imposition)
4) Negative politeness (messages that communicate that the other person is not obligated)
How does a Face Threatening Act fit into politeness theory?
Face Threatening acts are acts that may not meet a person’s face needs in one of five ways:
1) FTA via Direct rudeness
2) FTA via positive politeness
3) FTA via negative politeness
4) Indirectly communicated FTA
5) Non-communicated FTA
Politeness is especially important when engaging in potential FTAs because it can offset the negative consequences and manage the situation in positive ways.
What are the three metaphors that identify how we can think about media?
1) Medium as environment – an environment we experience through our senses
2) Medium as vessel – container for content
3) Medium as language – each medium has its own internal ‘syntactical’ rules, norms, conventions like a language
What is medium theory?
Medium theory asserts that the way we think about and manage information is determined by the medium used to deliver it. As a result, a new medium doesn’t add to the world, it changes it into something new. This theory primarily discusses mass media.
What is new medium theory?
An expansion of medium theory that explores the ways in which the second media age has changed the way media affects us. It represents a theoretical shift from looking at mass communication to personal forms of media and how those media perform a number of actions from information/knowledge acquisition to social interaction.
What are Holmes’ stated differences between the first and second media age?
The first media age was characterized by centralized production, one-way communication, state control, consistent reproduction of social stratification and inequality, fragmented mass audiences, and deliberate shaping of social consciousness. It is focused on broadcast.
The second media age is decentralized and user generated, two-way, beyond state control, democratizing, promoting of individual consciousness, and individually oriented. It is focused on social interaction.
What is media ecology?
The way the structure and content of media impact the way humans think and feel.
What is mediatization?
The bias each medium has and the way the dominant media imposes those biases on other social institutions by changing people’s expectations of those institutions, the way TV taught us all to expect life to be entertaining.
What does media effects tradition study?
The way media affects us as society and as individuals.
What is the hypodermic needle theory (media effects tradition)?
The notion that you digest a media message and it immediately impacts your views, choices, and actions, like getting a shot of novocaine.
What is the two-step flow hypothesis?
A hypothesis that asserts that media exposure happens, but that other people’s opinions are probably more influential on our behaviors.
What do reinforcement and selective exposure theories examine?
These theories discuss how media reinforce choices we’ve made about what we expose ourselves to. We choose media based on our personal preferences, and those messages reinforce those preferences, in a spiral cycle.
What is cultivation theory?
The idea that TV is so pervasive in our society that it actually has a mainstreaming/homogenizing effect on viewers by cultivating a common viewpoint across society. This can lead to mean (average) world syndrome where we see things on TV and we assume that they are representative of the actual world.
What is agenda setting theory?
The theory that media produce and deliver oversimplified pictures of reality, creating a pseudo-environment. They then use repetition, or priming, to make certain issues more prominent in our minds and make us think those issues are important, thus setting an agenda. The media also engage in gatekeeping by promoting favored stories and ignoring others. As a result, teh media agenda influences public agenda, which then influences policy agenda
What is media framing theory?
Media package information and frame it in ways that constrain how audiences interpret these events. It simplifies the message and gives cues that influence how the public perceives that story.
What is transportation?
The idea that we are transported by factual and/or fictional stories. We get lost in them.
What is spiral of silence theory?
The idea that some people mute their opinions rather than talk about them because they’ve gotten a sense for their surroundings and they believe their opinions are unpopular. They then censor themselves, leading popular opinions to get repeated and unpopular ones to be silenced.
What is uses and gratifications theory?
This is a consumer focused theory that claims that audience members are perceptive and insightful participants in media, who actively select what they want to consume according to their personal goals. As a result, media have to compete for audience attention. It claims that social and contextual elements shape the way audiences participate in media, and that the effects of media an audience are interrelated and unclear, and cannot be oversimplified.
