Intro To Comm Theory

Front 1

symbolic interactionism

Back 1

Socio-cultural tradition. Humans act toward people, things, and events on the basis of the meaning they assign to them
-Mead

Front 2

coordinated management of meaning

Back 2

people in conversation co-construct their own social realities and are simultaneously shaped by the words they create. They achieve coordination by meshing their stories

Front 3

expectancy violation

Back 3

violating another person's interpersonal expectations can be a superior strategy to conformity. (high or low reward valence)

Front 4

interpersonal deception theory

Back 4

people are poor lie detectors in interactive situation. We miss the telltale signs due to a strong truth bias.

Front 5

social penetration

Back 5

relationships go from non intimate to intimate because of self-disclosure. Lasting intimacy requires continual and mutual vulnerability

Front 6

uncertainty reduction

Back 6

when people meet, their primary concern is to reduce uncertainty about each other and about their relationships
(8 axioms)

Front 7

social information processing

Back 7

computer mediated communication

Front 8

relational dialects

Back 8

social life is a constant dynamic knot of contradiction, a ceaseless interplay between contradictory or opposing tendencies. Integration vs. separation

Front 9

interactional view

Back 9

relationships within a family are highly connected and resistant to change. Content and relational component in all communication

Front 10

constructivism

Back 10

individuals who are more cognitively complex have the ability to say the right things in the right scenarios. They can deliver person-centered messages and achieve the desirable outcomes
-construct meaning by cognitive schemata: prototypes, personal constructs, stereotypes, scripts

Front 11

social judgement theory

Back 11

the larger the discrepancy between the speaker's position and the listener's point of view, the greater the change in attitude-as long as the hearer accepts the message

Front 12

elaboration likelihood model

Back 12

what is the best way to change the person's attitude and how likely is the audience to elaborate (peripheral and central processing)

Front 13

cognitive dissonance

Back 13

an aversive drive that causes people to avoid opposing view points, seek reassurance after making a tough decision, and change private beliefs to match public beliefs. We want constancy and when we don't get it dissonance occurs
-consonant relationship vs. dissonant relationship

Front 14

adaptive structure

Back 14

social institutions are produced, reproduced and transformed through the use of social rules. Communication helps form these rules and helps the group make decision

Front 15

symbolic convergence

Back 15

sharing common fantasies transforms individuals into a cohesive group. SC occurs when group members create a fantasy chain that displays an energized, unified response to common themes

Front 16

systems approach/interactive theory

Back 16

we act within a system, not just as an isolated individual. We cannot not communicate (we are constantly sending messages) different levels of meaning: content and relational
-mom hurts her back, she can't do the laundry-> you have to do the laundry

Front 17

organizational culture

Back 17

system of shared values and beliefs that interact with people to produce social norms

Front 18

Aristotle's rhetoric

Back 18

all available means of persuasions. One uses ethos, pathos, and logos to persuade

Front 19

drmatism

Back 19

the dramatist pentad of act, scene, agent, agency , and purpose is a tool to discover the speaker's motives. The ultimate motivation of rhetoric is purging guilt
-Burke

Front 20

narrative

Back 20

people tell stories to promote values that will influence thinking. Persuasion occurs when people see good reason to adopt your point of view. The story must have coherence and fidelity
-Fisher

Front 21

semiotics

Back 21

the significant visual sign systems of a culture affirm the status quo by saying that the world as it is today is nature, inevitable, and eternal. Covers all non-verbal signaling

Front 22

cultivation theory

Back 22

the concern that televised violence has an impact on actual violent behavior and our tolerance for violence. We assume that things we see to be true.
-Gerbner

Front 23

agenda setting

Back 23

media tells us what to think about but not necessarily what to think

Front 24

spiral of silence

Back 24

mass media helps us gage public opinion. Society threatens to deviate individuals who have an opinion that varies from the majority

Front 25

uncertainty management

Back 25

intergroup encounters are characterized by high levels of uncertainty and anxiety (especially when cultural variability is high) effective communication is made possible by our ability to manage our anxiety and reduce uncertainty about ourselves

Front 26

face negotiation

Back 26

people from individualistic cultures with an independent self-image are concerned with giving other-face (behaviors people use to protect their image)

Front 27

speech codes

Back 27

all cultures have multiple speech codes. The meaning of speech codes are determined by speakers and listeners and is woven into speech itself. It can control talk about talk

Front 28

gender communication

Back 28

men and women communication are best viewed as two distinct cultural dialects

Front 29

standpoint theory

Back 29

the social group we belong to shapes the way we experience the world

Front 30

muted group

Back 30

how groups in power can silence or mute others. Powerful people control language-less powerful groups are often ignored or not taken seriously