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Comm theory final Flashcards

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1
Q

what is communication?

A

means of sending or receiving information or news

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2
Q

what are the 3 parts of the communication process?

A

sender, message, and receiver

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3
Q

What is communication theory?

A

a way of understanding and explaining how people share information, ideas, and meanings

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4
Q

Theory as a net

A

theory helps us capture or understand a complex phenomenon

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5
Q

theory as a lens

A

theory shapes our perception and guides our attention

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6
Q

theory as a map

A

theory provides a framework for navigating and understanding the world around us

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7
Q

objective theory

A

assume we live in a world where we can understand truth through unbiased observations

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8
Q

interpretive theory

A

focuses on understanding how people create meaning through their actions, interactions, and communicative practices

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9
Q

what is interpersonal communication?

A

exchanging info between two or more people

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10
Q

What are the 4 principles of Interpersonal Communication?

A

inescapable, irreversible, complicated, and contextual

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11
Q

What are the three major premises that come form the core principles?

A

humans act towards things based on the meanings those things have for them, the meanings of things arise from social interaction with others, and the meaning of things is a process of interpretation

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12
Q

Expectancy violations theory

A

people have expectations about how others will behave in social interactions, and when those expectations are violated, it can lead to arousal and evaluation of the violator

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13
Q

What is personal space and is it the same for everyone?

A

intimate: 0-18 in
personal: 1.5-4 ft
social: 4-12 ft
public: 12ft+

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14
Q

3 major assumptions of expectancy violation theory

A

individuals hold expectations about how others will communicate, we experience physical or psychological arousal when people violate, and the evaluation of the violation depends on the relationship

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15
Q

How do we respond to expectancy violations?

A

ignoring the violation, expressing a response to correct the situation, or fleeing the situation

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16
Q

Social Penetration Theory

A

explains how relationships develop and depend through increased self-disclosure

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17
Q

What object is this theory compared to?

A

onion

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18
Q

What is Social Exchange Theory and how does it relate to SPT?

A

SET proposes that individuals seek to maximize rewards and minimize costs in their relationships. SPT builds on this by explaining info exchange leads to deeper levels of intimacy

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19
Q

Uncertainty Reduction Theory

A

individuals are motivated to reduce uncertainty about others in social interactions to feel more comfortable and predictable.

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20
Q

What are the three prior conditions that prompt us to reduce uncertainty?

A

anticipations of future interaction, incentive value, and deviance

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21
Q

Two key concepts of URT

A

cognitive and behavioral uncertainty

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22
Q

What are the four ways we seek information when coping with uncertainty?

A

actively collecting info, engaging with others, relying on intuition, and focusing on the present

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23
Q

Relational Dialectics Theory

A

suggests that relationships are not linear but rather involve ongoing pulls and pushes between opposing desires and needs

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24
Q

What are the three main overall dialectics?

A

autonomy vs connection
novelty vs predictability
openness vs closedness

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25
What is a dialectic?
internal struggle or tensions that arise from opposing forces within a relationship
26
social judgement thory
explains how people evaluate and respond to persuasive messages by comparing them to their existing beliefs and attitudes
27
3 attitude zones of SJT
acceptance, rejection, and non-commitment
28
Where does a message need to fall in order to be the most persuasive?
within acceptance or non-commitment
29
Elaboration Likelihood Model
explains how people are persuaded to change their attitudes
30
What are the main assumption of ELM?
persuasion can occur through 2 main routes: central and peripheral
31
central route ELM
careful consideration of arguments and leads to stronger attitude changes
32
peripheral route ELM
less motivate to engage in deep thinking, less attitude change
33
Cognitive Dissonance Theory
state of mental discomfort experienced when someones beliefs or actions contradict each other
34
What is minimal justification and how does it work?
the phenomenon where a small reward is enough to induce a change in attitude about a behavior
35
What is rhetoric?
using language effectively to persuade or influence others
36
logos
relies on logic and reason (evidence, facts, stats)
37
pathos
appeals to emotions
38
ethos
a speaker's trustworthiness, to convince the audience the speaker is reliable and knowledgeable
39
5 canons of rhetoric
invention (brainstorming), arrangement (organization), style (overall tone), memory (recall), delivery (presentation)
40
Communication Accommodation Theory
how people adjust their communication styles during interactions to either converge or diverge
41
What is social distance? How does this affect accommodation?
refers to the perceived similarity or difference between individuals in communication. can either increase feelings of connection or emphasize difference
42
Face Negotiation Theory
explains how people manage conflict and negotiate relationships across cultures (individualistic vs collectivist)
43
Feminist Standpoint Theory
a person's social position significantly shapes their understanding of the world and that marginalized groups have a unique perspective on power structures and social inequalities
44
Where does knowledge come from?
socially situated (stems from social position)
45
What forms our standpoint and what does our standpoint affect?
standpoint is formed by social locations, particularly experiences within marginalized groups, it affects our communication and relationships
46
Muted Group theory
examines how dominant groups shapes language and communication, often silencing the voices of marginalized groups
47
how are men gatekeepers?
men, as the dominant group, control the language and cultural norms that shape how women's experiences are perceived and expressed
48
Media Ecology
(McLuhan and Postman) how communication technologies and systems shape human behavior
49
What does “The medium is the message” mean?
the nature of a communication medium itself is what shapes and influences our understanding (ex: tv vs. radio)
50
What are the 4 key “ages” discussed? What sense and/or invention is associated with each?
tribal age: spoken word/hearing literate age: writing/visual print age: sight or touch electronic age: hearing, sight, and touch
51
What is the proposed 5th age?
digital media age
52
What is a critique of a theory?
This perspective suggests that technology is the primary driver of social change, potentially overlooking the agency of individuals and other social, cultural, and political factors
53
Uses and Gratifications
(Blumler and Katz) suggests that individuals actively choose and use media to fulfill specific needs and desires
54
What key question does the theory ask?
what do people do with media?
55
5 key assumptions of uses and gratifications theory
media use is goal-oriented and motivated, audiences are active in their selection and interpretation of media, media competes with other sources for attention, audience members are aware of their motivations, and only the audience can evaluate the value of media content
56
What is a typology?
system for classifying communication elements based on shared characteristics
57
What are Rubin’s 8 key motivations for why we consume tv? Are these categories mutually exclusive?
1. passing time 2. relax 3. companionship 4. escape 5. enjoyment 6. social interaction 7. information 8. excitement they are not exclusive
58
What are parasocial relationships and why do we build them?
one-sided connections where individuals develop a sense of intimacy or familiarity with someone they don't know, often media personalities or fictional characters. We build these relationships because of our innate human need to connect with others
59
What are examples of modern uses and grats?
social media usage, mobile phone usage, online platforms
60
What is a critique of uses and grats theory
overly individualistic and psychological focus, neglecting the social and structural contexts in which media use occurs
61
Cultivation Theory
(Gerbner) long-term exposure to television cultivates specific values, beliefs, attitudes, and perceptions of reality in viewers
62
The theory argues that by watching TV, what view of the world do we develop?
mainstream
63
three parts to cultivation theory
media institutions, message production, and message effects on viewers
64
mainstreaming
tv viewers tend to adopt a more similar homogenous worldview
65
resonance
when a viewers personal experiences align with the messages they see on tv
66
Do people with light and heavy tv viewing habits see the world the same way?
people with different levels of television viewing habits (light vs. heavy) are likely to perceive the world differently, particularly regarding social reality and crime. Heavy viewers, exposed to more television content, tend to see the world as more violent and dangerous, while light viewers' perceptions are less influenced by TV portrayals
67
What is a critique of cultivation theory?
tendency to oversimplify the impact of media
68
Agenda Setting theory
(McCombs and Shaw) suggests the media influences what issues the public thinks about and considers important
69
What are the different types of agendas?
public agenda (issues the public deem important), media agenda (issues the media highlight), and policy agenda (issues addressed in legislation)
70
What is framing and how does it work?
how the media selects and present aspects of a story to influence how the public interprets it
71
Who is least susceptible to agenda-setting?
those who have strong, well-formed opinions on the topic
72
What is agenda-melding?
the process where individuals combine agendas from different media sources to form their own understanding of issues
73
What is a critique of this theory?
overlooks other factors that shape individuals beliefs

Comm theory final (2 decks)

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