Exam 1 - Comm. Theory (YANG)

Synergy & Cohesiveness (in Small Group Communication)

Cohesiveness: The degree of togetherness and common bond - May influence whether the group functions effectively and efficiently Synergy: The exchange of multiple perspectives - Explains why small groups may be more effective than an individual at achieving goals

Cognitive Process

Communication has early roots in psychology Whether as a source or receiver, messages have no meaning without an individual's interpretation - Meaning resides in our interpretations of messages, not in the words or behaviors themselves Cognition: the process of reducing, elaborating, transforming, and storing stimuli [What happens in the mind that causes us to behave in particular ways] Cognitive scholars are concerned with the mental processes that are used to process stimuli and generate particular effects Contrasts behavioral view that focuses solely on external causes (or stimuli) and behavioral effects

Coordinated Management of Meaning

Communicators tend to take their conversation patterns and social norms for granted - Focuses on the relationship b/w the individual & society - People co-create meaning via messages sent & received - People communicate on the basis of rules 1. Function of Rules: help us in a) our communication with others and b) our interpretation of what others communicate to us 2. 3 Assumptions of SIT: 1. Humans beings live in communication - Social situations are created by interactions [Communication must be reconfigured and contextualized in order to understand human behavior] [Becuase individuals create their conversational reality, each interaction has the potential to be unique] 2. Humans co-create a social reality - Social obstructionism: people co-construct their social reality through communication [Social reality: a person's beliefs about how meaning and action fit within their interpersonal encounters] 3. Information transactions depend on personal and interpersonal meaning - Personal meaning occurs when a person brings his or her own unique experiences to an interaction [derived from the experiences that they have with one another; helps people discover information about themselves & others] - Interpersonal meaning occurs when two people agree on each other's interpretation [Co-constructed by the participants] [Can be understood within a variety of contexts; may take some time to achieve] 3. Hierarchy of Organized Meaning: - Higher levels of meaning help interpret lower levels - Not a true ordering system; people differ in interpreting meaning - Communication occurs at more than one level at a time Lowest Level: Content - Conversion of raw data (symbols) into meaning Highest Level: Cultural Patterns - The common understandings of speech acts, episodes, relationships, and life scripts that are shared by particular social groups or society )i.e., power distance, individualism/collectivism) 4. Coordination (C), No Coordination (NC), & Partial Coordination (PC): - C: - NC: - PC: (most likely outcome as social reality is not perfect) 5. Constitutive & Regulative Rules: Individuals manage & coordinate meaning through the use of rules Constitutive Rules: - Rules that organize behavior and help us to understand how meaning should be interpreted (rules of meaning) Regulative Rules: - Guidelines for people's behavior (rules of action) 6. Unwanted Repetitive Patterns: Recurring undesirable conflicts in a relationship. Happens because: 1) see no other option 2) comfortable with the recurring conflict 3) unwittingly fall into this pattern (by default) 4) too exhausted to work toward conflict resolution

Linear Communication Model

*communication as action* Proposed by: Claude Shannon (1949), Bell Laboratories scientist and professor at MIT, etc. Major Elements: 1. Source: The sender of the message 2. Channel: A medium for transferring a signal from one party to another 3. Receiver: The recipient of the message 4. Noise: Anything that interferes with the passing of the message through the channel (e.g., cultural & language differences - Three Types of Noise: (1) External (Physical) Noise: can be the sights, sounds, and other stimuli that draw your attention away from the message (2) Internal Noise: Thoughts and feelings that can interfere with the message * Physiological Noise: Biological influences * Psychological Noise: Prejudices, biases, and predispositions toward communicator or the message (3) Semantic Noise: How alternative meanings of the source's message symbols can be distracting. Limitations: - Presumes that there's only one message in the communication process - Preseumes a mechanistic orientation by setting a beginning (sender) and ending (receiver) - The linear model oversimplifies the complex communication process * Receivers are not passive * One can be both sender and receiver

Interactional Communication Model

*communication as interaction* Proposed by: Wilbur Schramm (1954) - Emphasize the two-way communication process between communicators Major Elements: - Feedback (verbal/nonverbal; intentional/unintentional): takes place after a message is received, not during the message itself - A person can be a sender or receiver during an interaction, but NOT perform both simultaneously - Field of experience influence communication Limitations: - Major criticism: feedback - The model assumes people speak and listen, but NOT at the same time - However, people can communicate as both senders and receivers simultaneously (e.g., non-verbal message)

Transactional Communication Model

*communication as transaction* Major Elements: - Communication process is an ongoing and cooperative process *The sender and receiver are mutually responsible for the effect and effectiveness of communication - Interdependency between and among the components of communication - Simultaneous sending & receiving of messages *When sending and receiving messages, people attend to both verbal and nonverbal elements of a message - Overlap of the fields of experience exists * Individuals build shared meaning to communicate *Shared field of experience is critical to achieving shred meaning - NO simple model can summarize all the communication processes

Definition of Communication

- Is... dynamic, inclusive, and complex - Communication is a social process in which individuals employ symbols to establish and interpret meaning in their environment

Hawthorne Experiments

- Many of the present-day organizational communication theories had their origins in a series of studies conducted in the mid-1920s to the early 1930s - Researchers at the Electric Hawthorne plant in suburban Chicago were interested in determining the effect of lighting levels on employee productivity; - First to put a human face on the impersonal corporate world - Not only did environmental conditions influence employee productivity, but so did the interpersonal relationships with other employees and supervisors. Outcomes: - Organizations should be viewed as social entities - To speed up production, employers must take workers' attitudes and feelings into consideration

Intentionality Debate

- One cannot not communicate - Questions: Is all behavior communication? - Differing views include: * Only intentional acts are communicative * A person cannot not communicate; all things can be considered communication * Setting boundaries is necessary

Development and Change of Theories

- Theories are not stagnant - Continual study and development refines, modifies, and extends the theory

Three Types of Theory

1. Commonsense Theory: - "Theory-in-use" - Type of theory is generally created by an individual's own personal experiences or developed from helpful hunts passed on from family members, friends, or colleagues. - Often bases for our decisions about how to communicate - Sometimes backfires 2. Working Theory - Generalizations made in particular professions about the best techniques for doing something - More systematic than commonsense theories because they represent agreed-on ways of doing things for a particular profession. - More closely represent guidelines for behavior than systematic representations. 3. Scholarly Theory - Provide more thorough, accurate, and abstract explanations for communication than do commonsense or working theories. - The downside is that scholarly theories are typically more complex and difficult to understand than commonsense or working theories.

Six Research Methods

1. Interview (Donovan et al., 2014) Qual or quant?: Qualitative - Individual (in-depth) interviews are a productive means of understanding points of view from participants - Aim: to develop and elaborate on concepts and social phenomena, emphasizing the meanings, experiences, and views of the participants - Good for research that aims to achieve deep and detailed data - Structured, semi-structured, and unstructured interview - Probing technique (asking follow-up questions) 2. Focus Group Qual or quant?: Qualitative - Focus group expedient ways to collect responses from a variety of people - Small group communication between participants can be beneficial to producing interaction data - Sample: focus groups of 6-8 participants each (kept small so that each person has a chance to participate) - Homogeneity Principle: You want a comparatively homogenous group (so you don't mix levels of education, authority, political parties quarelling, people who know each other too well come up with similar answers etc.) - Questions should be open-ended and conversational 3. Content Analysis Qual or quant?: Quantitative - Research technique for the objective, systematic, and quantitative description of the manifest context of communication. - In many cases, it is about the presence or absence of some sign or symbol in the communication texts. 4. Ethnography Qual or quant?: Qualitative - Involves the researcher immersing her/himself into a culture or context to understand communication rules and meanings for that culture or context. Useful when studing a secretive group of people. Three Roles of Ethnographers: 1. Complete Participants: Participates in all activities of the culture without disclosing their role as a researcher. 2. Participant-Observer: Participate in activities of that culture but also disclose their role as a researcher. 3. Complete Observers: Only observe activities without participation. Makes position known but never gets personally involved. 5. Survey Qual or quant?: - A task researchers seek to perform with a particular population, in order to test relationships between variables. - Procedure: 1. Deciding on sampling (e.g.,, population of interest, convenience (people there) or representative (people representative of your subject) sample, sample size) 2. Choosing variables to measure (variables are based on your theory) 3. Selecting measurement (questions to ask; make sure they are valid and relevant to the information) 4. Determining a research design (e.g., corss-sectional (survey only conducted once) or longitudinal (survey conducted multiple times)) 5. Deciding on a method of data collection (e.g., paper, telephone, or computer) 6. Experiment Qual or quant?: - Considered the only method that allows researchers to evaluate the causal relationship - The tests of the cause-and-effect relationships that researchers suspect exist - Procedure: 1. Manipulate independent variables (IVs) - Researcher controls and defines variables - Experimental group (receive manipulation) vs. control group (no manipulation) 2. Measure the consequences of that manipulation-dependent variable (DV)

Seven Contexts in the Communication Field

1. Intrapersonal - Communication with oneself - Focuses on the role of cognition in behavior [e.g., imagining, perceiving, daydreaming, and problem-solving, attributions you make about another's character and yourself] - More repetitive than other communication - Communication with oneself helps develop self-esteem 2. Interpersonal Face-to-Face communication between people: - investigates how various types of relationships begin, are maintained, and dissolve - Sub-contexts include family, friendships, long-term marriages, workplaces, etc. - Issues include risk, teasing, attraction, etc. 3. Small-Group 3 (at least) or more people working toward a common task-related purpose: - Concerned with the dynamic nature of groups - Disagreement about what number constitutes a small group (optimal: 5-7) People are influenced by the presence of others Synergy: exchange of multiple perspectives - More effective than individuals in achieving goals 4. Organizational Focuses on communication within and among large, extended environments - Concerned with climate, rules, personnel, etc. - Distinguished by clearly heirarchy Hawthorne Experiments (mid-20s and earl-30s: Foundartion of contemporary research) - Employers must consider workers attitudes and feelings) 5. Public/Rhetorical Dissemination of information from one person to a large group - Rhetoric: art of bringing together speaker & audience - Goals of public speaking: to inform, to entertain, or to persuade (core) - Early rhetorical principles of Aristotle applied - Communication apprehension [blurs boundaries among contexts; can be reduced; measure: PRCA-24] 6. Mass/Media Mass media refers to the channels for mass messages including both traditional and new media - Includes both channel and audience - Both senders and receivers exercise control - Inherently serves elite (Hall) - Research has focused on media content, effects, and related phenomena 7. Cultural Communication between individuals whose cultural backgrounds differ - Culture as a "community of meaning and a shared body of local knowledge" - Co-cultures exist within a larger common culture The cultural context differentiates itself in several ways - It is the only context that specifically addresses culture - Study in this context relies on the assumption that human behavior is culturally based

Primary vs. Secondary Research

1. Primary Research: Reported by the person who conducted it (e.g., experiments, survey) 2. Secondary Research: Reported by someone other than the person who conducted it (e.g., literature review, systematic review, meta-analytic review)

Seven Traditions in the Communication Field

1. Rhetorical - OLDEST tradition - Emphasizes talk as a practical art (than science) [Speech distinguishes humans from other animals] - Interests in public speaking and its societal functions [Attempts to influence multiple listeners through persuasive discourse] - Acknowledges audience appeals [e.g. logos, pathos, ethos in "Rhetoric" by Aristotle] 2. Semiotic - Semiotics: study of signs [signs are a) part of social life & b) stand for something else] - Words are arbitrary and have no intrinsic meaning [Meaning is achieved when we share a common language and learn a given culture; Achieving commonality in meaning is more difficult] - Values and belief structures are passed down from previous generations 3. Phenomenological - Phenomenology: personal interpretation of everyday life and activities - Marked by communication that is an "experience of otherness" [Emphasizes people's perception and interpretation of subjective experience; Acknowledges the impact of one's biases; however, eliminating biases can be challenging or even a "practical impossibility"] 4. Cybernetic - Reflects communication as information science [e.g., the mathematical model of signal transmission (or linear model) by Shannon & Weaver] - Acknowledges noise in communication [underscores the unpredictability of feedback; not to hold individuals responsible for systemic outcomes that no individual can control] - Involves a broader, systemic communication viewpoint 5. Social-Psychological - Emphasizes causal linking (IV -> DV) [uses experimental research] - Reflects the notion that behavior is influenced by one or more variables - Acknowledges that patterns vary across people but can be detected - Comm. theory is explained from the view that holds that someone's behavior is influenced by something else - something social psychologists call a "variable" 6. Socio-Cultural - Premise: as people talk, they produce and reproduce culture; the shared cultural patterns and social structures influence communication [ Individuals belong to larger groups that have unique rules and patterns of interaction ] [ Socio-cultural theorists emphasize the need to be sensitive to differences in individual identity ] - Involves viewing social order and reality as co-created 7. Critical - Reflects a concern for injustice, oppression, power, and inequality [a group of German scholars known as "Frankfurt School"; originally test Karl Marx's idea] - Involves a critique of: 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

Five Key Terms of Communication

1. Social - Involves people and interaction (both FacetoFace and Online) - Implies a sender and receiver of messages - People interact with various intentions, motivations, and abilities 2. Process - Communication is ongoing and unending - No definable beginning and ending - Much can happen from the beginning to the end - Communication Process as a Helix: unending, ongoing, cumulative (influenced by the past), & dynamic 3. Symbol (Concrete vs. Abstract) - An arbitrary label or representation of phenomena; agreed on within a group; may not be understood outside of the group - CONCRETE SYMBOL: representing an object - ABSTRACT symbol: representing an idea or thought 4. Meaning - What people extract from a message - Messages can have more than one meaning and multiple layers of meaning 5. Environment - the situation or context in which communication occurs, including time, place, historical period, relationship, and cultural backgrounds - Can be mediated (e.g., SNSs, email, text messages, online courses)

7 Criterion to Evaluate Theory

1. Theoretical Scope - Comprehensiveness or inclusiveness 2. Parsimony - Logical simplicity 3. Appropriateness (Logical Consistency) - There are no contradictions within the assumptions of the theory 4. Testability/Validity - Refers to our ability to investigate a theory's accuracy. One of the biggest issues involved in testability concerns the specificity of the theory's central concepts. 5. Utility - Usefulness or practical value - A theory has utility when it tells us a great deal about communication and human behavior 6. Heuristic Value - Refers to the amount of new research and thinking that is stimulated by the theory 7. Test of Time - Is the theory still generating research or has it been discarded as outmoded?

Research

A disciplined inquiry that involves: - Planned study of a given phenomenon - Reporting it so that other inquirers can potentially replicate the process

Theory

An abstract system of concepts with indications of the relationships among these concepts. - The reason we learn theory is to inform research - The reason we conduct research is to extend theory

Attribution Theory

Attributions: judgments and conclusions that provide reasons for behavior (human beings like naive detectives) 1. Dispositional & Situational Factors (Two Major Attributions; Heider, 1958): Dispositional Factors: internal or personal features (e.g., personality, character, and/or biological traits); relatively stable. Situational Factors: External dynamics that are relatively uncontrollable and determined by the environment or experience at hand 2. Kelley's Covariation Model: - Consensus: Do other people act this way? - Consistency: Has him/her behaved this way before? - Distinctiveness: Has him/her behaved differently? - Locus of Control: Interior: behavior under control; Exterior: behavior uncontrollable 3. Self-Serving/Attribution Bias: People do not make objective situational/personal attributions for their own behavior. They tend to attribute their successes to dispositional factors and their failures to situational factors. 4. Criticisms: Internal and external attributions change over time Individual differences & attributional style - Studies indicating cultural differences in the attribution biases between Eastern & Western societies - Theory may not be a general, universal principle 5. Fundamental Attribution Error The situation is not salient when people make attributions for the behaviors of others but the situation is salient when making attributions for one's own behavior. Thus, people are more inclined to take the situation into account when explaining their own behavior.

Behavioral vs. Cognitive Approach

Behavioral: - Beginning of the 1990s - Ivan Pavlov (Pavlov's dog); Burrhus Skinner - Focuses on external causes (stimuli) and behavioral effect Cognitive: - Middle of 1990s - Noam Chomsky - Concerned with the mental processes that are used to process stimuli and generate particular effects

Theories Grow by Extension vs. Intension

Extension: - Adds more concepts and builds upon what was already established Intension: - Gain a deeper and more nuanced understanding of the original concepts presented in the theory - Applying the same theory in different contexts to better understand applicabilities and original concepts of theories

Expectancy Violations Theory (EVT)

Focused on nonverbal communication's influence on message production; now expanded to include violations outside of nonverbal communication People have expectations about the verbal and nonverbal behaviors of others and react when those expectations are violated 1. Space Relations Proxemics: the study of a person's use of space (in conversations & in perceptions of another's use of space) Use of space affects achievement of goals Competing needs for space: - Affiliation: Your desire to stay in close proximity - Personal space: Your desire for your personal bubble 2. Proxemics Zone (among North Americans) Intimate Distance: - Share personal feelings - 0-18 in. Personal Distance: - Family, friends - 18 in. - 4 ft. Social Distance: - Co-workers, causal social setting - 4 ft. - 12 ft. Public Distance: - Formal Discussion - 12+ ft. 3. Three Types of Territoriality: Territoriality: a person's ownership of an area/object; with prevention and reaction (1) Primary: individual's exclusive domain (e.g., bedroom, own workspace) (2) Secondary: personal connection to an area/object; usually with frequent occupation (e.g., classroom, library, research lab) (3) Public: involved no personal affiliations and include those areas open to all people (e.g., park, movie theatres, beach) 4. Three Assumptions of EVT: (1) Expectancies drive human interaction Expectancies: cognitions and behaviors anticipated and prescribed in conversations - Can be verbal/nonverbal - Influenced by individual/relational/context factors - Expectation types: pre-interactional and interactional (2) Expectancies for human behavior are learned from individuals or culture at large (3) People make predictions about nonverbal behavior - Attractiveness influences the expectancy evaluation 5. Key Concepts: - Arousal (Cog. vs. Phys.): The increased interest or attention when deviations from expectations occur; one pays less attention to the message but more attention to the arousal source - Cognitive: mental awareness - Physical: bodies are in a heightened sense (e.g., heart rate, skin temperature, pulse volume) - Threat Threshold: Tolerance for distance violations "When distance is equated with threat, closer distances are perceived as more threatening and farther distances are less threatening." a) intensity depends on the violator's reward value b) threat threshold mat change - Violation Valence: Perceived negative or positive value of a deviation from expectations - Communicators interpret the meaning of a violation - Communicator Reward Valence: The sum of the positive and negative characteristics of a person - VV is influenced by the CRV - Violations by more rewarding communicators may be more positively evaluated (and vise versa) INTEGRATION: - Comm. Tradition: Socio-Psychological - Comm. Context: Intrapersonal; Interpersonal - Approaches to knowing: positivisitc/empirical

Inductive vs. Deductive Approaches (What is "hypothesis")

Inductive: - Research then theory - Movement from the specific (the observations) to the general (the theory) - Research or empirical data first - If there isn't enough research first, they collect their own data then come up with a typology - Using QUALITATIVE research approaches (interview) Deductive: - Theory then research - Moving from the general (the theory) to the specific (the observations) - Develop a hypothesis before the research is conducted - Hypothesis: testable predictions of relationships, of varying levels of specificity - Scholars normally use QUANTITATIVE research

Nominal vs. Real Concepts

Nominal: Non-Observable - Ex. uncertainty, relationship, privacy Real: Observable - Ex. Book, computer, table - Usually real objects are not the subject of theory

Symbolic Interaction Theory

People act based on symbolic meanings that arise in situations (Mead, 1934) Symbolic Interaction: Ongoing use of language and gestures in anticipation of how the other will react SIT helps us understand how humans co-create symbolic worlds that shape behavior Mead believed that individuals are active, reflective participants in their social context; social structures and meaning are created through interaction. 1. Chicago and Iowa Schools: Chicago: qualitative (i.e., interview) Iowa: quantitative (i.e., survey) 2. Three themes & assumptions: (1) Individuals construct meaning via the communication process - Humans act towards others on the basis of meanings those others have for them - Meaning is created in interaction between people and modified through an interpretive process (2) Self-Concept is a motivation for behavior - Individuals develop self-concepts through interactions with others - Self-concepts provide an important motive for behavior **SELF-FULFILLING PROPHECY: the tendency for expectations to evoke responses that confirm what we originally anticipated (3) A unique relationship exists b/w the individual & society - Both social structural and personal factors influence behavior; people and groups are influenced by cultural and social processes (e.g., power distance in different cultures; real cost) - Social structure is worked out through social interaction; social norms constrain behavior (e.g., dress up/down) 3. Concepts of mind, self, and society: MIND: the ability to use symbols with common social meanings; the way people internalize society - Thought: inner conversation - Language: a shared system of verbal and non-verbal symbols; interaction is limited until we learn language - Role taking: capacity to take the role of the other SELF: ability to reflect on ourselves from the perspective of others - Looking-Glass Self: Ability to see ourselves how we imagine others see us and the feelings that result; reflected appraisal - Pygmalion Effect: Living up or down to another's expectations of us - Two-Dimensions of Self Subject, "I" - "Acting self" - We act ourselves - Spontaneous, impulsive, creative Object, "Me" - "Observing self" - We observe ourselves acting - Reflective, socially aware SOCIETY: the web of social relationships that humans create - Particular vs. Generalized others: Particular Others: - Individuals who are significant to us - Get a sense of social acceptability and self Generalized Other: - The attitude or viewpoint of the larger group - Influential in developing a social conscience - Injunctive vs. Descriptive Norm: Injunctive: Conclusions drawn about what people actually do Descriptive: Conclusions drawn about what people should do

Positivistic/Empirical, Interpretive, and Critical Approaches

Positivistic/Empirical: - Social-scientific approach - "Theory-then-research" (deductive) - Truth is objective and can be uncovered through research of human interactions - The goal is to construct general laws governing human interactions (universally applied) - Avoid personal value as much as possible in the research - Natural scientific methods are applied with control over variables (e.g., experiment, survey) Interpretive: - Humanistic approach - "Research-then-theory" (inductive) - Truth is subjective and co-created by the participants in the research process; Complete objectivity is often impossible - The study of interaction; is value-relevant (must involve your own value or beliefs to interpret the data) - No concern for control or ability to generalize - The focus is on providing rich descriptions Critical: - Those in power shape knowledge in ways that perpetuate the status quo - These imbalances are often reproduced accidentally through social norms - Researchers seek to change the status quo - Goals: 1. Resolve power imbalances 2. Give voice to the silenced

Cognitive Dissonance Theory (CDT):

The feeling of discomfort resulting from inconsistent attitudes, thoughts, and behaviors 1. Principles of Consistency Theories: People are motivated to reduce dissonance and will: - Ignore opposing viewpoints - Change their beliefs to match their actions (or vise versa) - Seek reassurances after making a difficult decision Mind is intermediary between stimulus and response: - New stimuli are organized into a pattern with other previously encountered stimuli - Schemata: cognitive structures for organizing new info If the new stimulus is inconsistent, then people feel discomfort 2. Process of Cognitive Dissonance: Inconsistent attitudes, thoughts, and behaviors result in -> Feelings of dissonance which results in -> Unpleasant arousal reduced by -> A change that removes inconsistency 3. Three Types of Cognitive Relationships: (1) Consonant Relationships [e.g., Belief that fitness in important/working out regularly] (2) Irrelevant Relationships [e.g., Learning a foreign language/belief that women should have equal rights] (3) Dissonant Relationships [e.g., Belief that GPA is important/going to a party every day] 4. Four Assumptions of CDT: (1) Humans desire consistency - Also true for the uncertainty reduction theory (2) Dissonancy created by psychological inconsistencies - Logical inconsistency is not the same as psychological inconsistency (3) Dissonance is an aversive state that drives people to actions with measurable effects - Dissonance is also related to physiological discomfort (4) Dissonance motivates efforts to achieve consonance 5. Concepts & Processes: - Magnitude of Dissonance: quantitative amount of dissonance felt (1) Degree of importance: significance of the issue; contradictory cognitions that are related to issues of less importance create less dissonance (and vice versa) (2) Dissonance Ratio: Amount of dissonant cognitions/Amount of conosant cognitions; if more of the relevant cognitions are consistent with each other & outnumber the few dissonant ones, there will be less dissonance felt (and vise versa) (3) Rationale: The ease with which inconsistencies can be explained or justified - The easier it is to explain or justify why the contradiction exists, the less dissonance that will be felt (and vise versa) - Three Coping Strategies/ Techniques: (1) Adding to your consonant beliefs (2) Reducing the importance of our dissonant beliefs (3) Changing our beliefs to seemingly eliminate the dissonance in some way - Cognitive Dissonance & Perception: Selective Exposure: - Seek consonant info [Ex. smokers avoid subscribing to tobacco control magazines] Selective Attention: - Pay attention to consonant info [Ex. Only paying attention to smoking advertisements] Selective Interpretation: - Interpret ambiguous info [Ex. Favorably interpret scientific uncertainty] Selective Retention: - Remember consonant info [Ex. Only remember the arguments the person agrees with] - Minimal Justification: offering the least amount of incentive necessary to obtain compliance; doing something a person doesn't believe in for a minimum reward sets up more dissonance than doing the same thing for a larger reqard; focuses on changing attitudes rather than behavior 5. CDT & Persuasion: - Discomfort caused by dissonance motivates attitude for behavior change - CDT offers explanation for persuasion and provides guidelines for creating persuasive messages

Ontology, Epistemology, and Axiology

The types of questions one ask about the world influences how and what one chooses to research 1. Ontology: The first philosophy (talks about existence); about truth or reality (ex. if a tree falls in the forest and nobody is there to see it? does it falling exist?/ Qs about whether something concrete or abstract actually exists) 2. Epistemology: About knowledge acquisition; only after you admit the existence of something, then you ask the question: How do I know it? (Has to do with uncertainty; How are you going to get to know what actually happened.) 3. Axiology: About values of theory and research (ex. What is the role of values in the research process?)

Definitions & Characteristics of Communication Theory

Theory - "An umbrella term for all careful, systematic, and self-conscious discussion and analysis of communication phenomena" - Set of systematic, informed hunches about the way things work * Set of hunches: theory is not an isolated idea * Informed hunches: a lot of work before developing theory * Systematic hunches: specify relationships among ideas What is a Communication Theory? - Theories provide explanations of how or why something happens by identifying key variables and establishing the relationship between them - Communication theories provide patterns across a large number of cases and permits us to "generalize" to other unobserved cases

Goals of Theory

To help us explain, understand, predict, or change (e.g. critical) a phenomenon EXPLAIN UNDERSTAND PREDICT CHANGE