Transcript griffin8e_ppt_ch04EM

4
Mapping the Territory
(Seven Traditions in the Field
of Communication Theory)
A First Look at
Communication Theory
8th edition
Em Griffin
© 2012 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Slide 2
Mapping the Territory
 The Socio-Psychological Tradition
 The Cybernetic Tradition
 The Rhetorical Tradition
 The Semiotic Tradition
 The Socio-Cultural Tradition
 The Critical Tradition
 The Phenomenological Tradition
 Fencing the Field of Communication Theory
 The Ethical Tradition
© 2012 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Slide 3
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”
© 2012 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Slide 4
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
© 2012 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Slide 5
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?”
© 2012 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Slide 6
The Cybernetic Tradition
Parks: studies personal relationships
by asking both partners to
describe their social networks
•
•
•
•
•
Prior contact
Range of contact
Communication
Liking
Support
© 2012 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Slide 7
The Rhetorical Tradition
Communication as Artful Address
Rhetoric – art of using all
available means of persuasion
© 2012 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Slide 8
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
© 2012 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Slide 9
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
© 2012 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Slide 10
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
© 2012 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Slide 11
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 coconstruct their own social worlds
© 2012 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Slide 12
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
© 2012 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Slide 13
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
© 2012 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Slide 14
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
© 2012 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Slide 15
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
© 2012 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Slide 16
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?
© 2012 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Slide 17
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
© 2012 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Slide 18
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
© 2012 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Slide 19
The Ethical Tradition
Ethical communication (continued)
Strive to understand and respect other
communicators before evaluating
and responding to messages
© 2012 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.