Em Griffin A First Look at Communication Theory 8 th edition © 2012 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Mapping the Territory (Seven Traditions in the Field of Communication Theory) 4

© 2012 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Mapping the Territory  The Socio-Psychological Tradition The Socio-Psychological Tradition  The Cybernetic Tradition The Cybernetic Tradition  The Rhetorical Tradition The Rhetorical Tradition  The Semiotic Tradition The Semiotic Tradition  The Socio-Cultural Tradition The Socio-Cultural Tradition  The Critical Tradition The Critical Tradition  The Phenomenological Tradition The Phenomenological Tradition  Fencing the Field of Communication Theory Fencing the Field of Communication Theory  The Ethical Tradition The Ethical Tradition Slide 2

© 2012 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Mapping the Territory  Craig suggests communication theory is a coherent field when we understand communication as a practical discipline Traditions of communication theory offer “distinct, alternative vocabularies” Slide 3

© 2012 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. The Socio-Psychological Tradition  Communication as Interpersonal Interaction and Influence Scholars believe communication truths can be discovered by careful, systematic observation Cause-and-effect relationships Usually means designing a series of surveys or controlled experiments Longitudinal study of college friendships Slide 4

© 2012 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. The Cybernetic Tradition  Communication as a System of Information Processing Cybernetics – study of information processing, feedback, and control in communication systems Theorists ask “How can we get the bugs out of this system?” Slide 5

© 2012 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. The Cybernetic Tradition  Parks: studies personal relationships by asking both partners to describe their social networks Prior contact Range of contact Communication Liking Support Slide 6

© 2012 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. The Rhetorical Tradition  Communication as Artful Address  Rhetoric – art of using all available means of persuasion Slide 7

© 2012 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. The Rhetorical Tradition  Characterized by 6 features Speech distinguishes humans from other animals Public address more effective than decrees A single speaker attempts to influence an audience (one-way communication) Oratorical training is cornerstone of a leader’s education Rhetoric is more art than science Oral public speaking, until the 1800s, was province of males Slide 8

© 2012 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. The Semiotic Tradition  Communication as the Process of Sharing Meaning Through Signs Semiotics – study of verbal and nonverbal signs that stand for something else How their interpretation impacts society Symbols – arbitrary words and nonverbal signs that bear no natural connection with the things they describe Meaning is learned within a given culture Slide 9

© 2012 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. The Semiotic Tradition  I. A. Richards: railed against the semantic trap he labeled “the proper meaning superstition”  Most theorists try to explain and reduce misunderstanding created by use of ambiguous symbols Slide 10

© 2012 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. The Socio-Cultural Tradition  Communication as the Creation and Enactment of Social Reality Culture produced and reproduced as people talk Sapir-Whorf hypothesis of linguistic relativity – structure of a language shapes what people think and do Persons-in-conversation co- construct their own social worlds Slide 11

© 2012 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. The Critical Tradition  Communication as a Reflective Challenge of Unjust Discourse Critical theory from German scholars called “Frankfurt School” Originally set up to test the ideas of Karl Marx Slide 12

© 2012 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. The Critical Tradition  Critical tradition challenges: 1.Control of language to perpetuate power imbalances 2.Role of mass media in dulling sensitivity to repression 3.Blind reliance on scientific method and uncritical acceptance of empirical findings Slide 13

© 2012 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. The Critical Tradition  Culture industries – entertainment businesses that Reproduce the dominant ideology of a culture Distract people from recognizing unjust distribution of power within a society Slide 14

© 2012 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. The Phenomenological Tradition  Communication as the Experience of Self and Others Through Dialogue Phenomenology – intentional analysis of everyday experience from standpoint of person who is living it Explores possibility of understanding experience of self and others Emphasizes people’s perception and interpretation of subjective experience Slide 15

© 2012 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. The Phenomenological Tradition  Rogers: “Neither the Bible nor the prophets – neither Freud nor research – neither the revelations of God nor man – can take precedence over my own direct experience” Why is it so hard to establish and sustain authentic human relationships? How can this problem be overcome? Slide 16

© 2012 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Fencing the Field of Communication Theory  Traditions have deep roots in the field of communication theory Hybrids possible across traditions Charted traditions might not cover every approach to communication theory Pragmatism – applied approach to knowledge; the philosophy that true understanding of an idea or situation has practical implications for action Slide 17

© 2012 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. The Ethical Tradition  Principles of ethical communication Advocate truthfulness, accuracy, honesty, and reason as essential to integrity of communication Accept responsibility for short-term consequences of our communication and expect the same of others Slide 18

© 2012 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. The Ethical Tradition  Ethical communication (continued) Strive to understand and respect other communicators before evaluating and responding to messages Slide 19