Communication Theory Lecture Notes PDF

LECTURE 4: THE SEVEN DIFFERENT TRADITIONS OF COMMUNICATION THEORY - 1 UNDERSTANDING COMMUNICATION THEORY 1 LECTURE LEARNING OUTCOMES Identify and understand the seven traditio...

LECTURE 4: THE SEVEN DIFFERENT TRADITIONS OF COMMUNICATION THEORY - 1 UNDERSTANDING COMMUNICATION THEORY 1 LECTURE LEARNING OUTCOMES Identify and understand the seven traditions of communication theory By the end of this class Distinguish between the different features you will be able to: of these traditions Apply each of the traditions to real world communication situations 2 INTRODUCTION Different views about the nature of communication amongst scholars Communication should be viewed as a practical discipline Theories are developed to solve real world problems (Robert Craig) Craig identifies seven established traditions of communication theory 3 THE SEVEN TRADITIONS 1. The socio-psychological 2. The cybernetic tradition 3. The rhetorical tradition 4. The semiotic tradition 5. The socio-cultural tradition 6. The critical tradition 4 7. The phenomenological tradition Robert T. Craig  1. The socio-psychological tradition- communication as interpersonal influence An example of the scientific perspective Associated with Carl Hovland and the Yale team Study of the individual as a social being Aims to understand the effect of persuasive communication on attitude change 5 THREE KEY AREAS OF THE SPT TRADITION Cognitive - How individuals think Biological – Individual’s personality traits Behavioural – How we behave in communication situations based on situations and past experiences 6 1. SPT - COMMUNICATION AS INTERPERSONAL INFLUENCE SPT attempts to explain how persuasion works Under which conditions are persuasive messages likely to succeed? Attitude change is the key goal of persuasive communication 7 1. SPT - COMMUNICATION AS INTERPERSONAL INFLUENCE Key objectives of SPT is to develop a theory for the following: How likely is it for a person to change his/her position? What is the likely direction of his/her attitude change? To what extent is a person likely to be tolerant of other positions? How committed is a person to his/her position? 8 1. THE SOCIO-PSYCHOLOGICAL TRADITION- COMMUNICATION AS INTERPERSONAL INFLUENCE They explored Who—the source of three separate the message What—the content of causes of the message persuasive Whom—the audience variation: characteristics Discovered that source credibility is vital to opinion shift 9 2. THE CYBERNETIC TRADITION - COMMUNICATION AS INFORMATION PROCESSING Norbert Wiener coined the term ‘cybernetics’ Communication as a system of information processing Emphasizes how feedback makes information processing possible Noise is the enemy of information 10 2. THE CYBERNETIC TRADITION - COMMUNICATION AS INFORMATION PROCESSING Claude Shannon - communication as information processing More interested in the technical efficiency of communication Little interest in the meaning of a message Defined information as the reduction of uncertainty 11  2. THE CYBERNETIC TRADITION - COMMUNICATION AS INFORMATION PROCESSING Information as the reduction of uncertainty Noise reduces the information-carrying capacity of the channel Theorists seek the answer to “How can we get the bugs out of this system?” 12  2. THE CYBERNETIC TRADITION - COMMUNICATION AS INFORMATION PROCESSING 1. How accurately can information be transmitted from source to receiver? (The technical problem) Three levels of 2. How precisely does the transmitted communication information convey the desired challenges: meaning? (the semantic problem) 3. How effectively does a received information generate a desired conduct or response? (the effectiveness problem) 13 3. THE RHETORICAL TRADITION—COMMUNICATION AS ARTFUL PUBLIC ADDRESS The art of effective and persuasive speaking/writing Communication seen as the art of public address Using all available means of persuasion and lines of argument Organization of ideas Careful choice of words and delivery styles 14  3. SIX FEATURES OF THE RHETORICAL TRADITION 1. A conviction that speech distinguishes humans from other animals 2. A confidence in the efficacy of public address 3. One speaker addressing a large audience with the intention to persuade 4. Oratorical training as the cornerstone of a leader’s education 5. An emphasis on the power and beauty of language to move people emotionally and stir them to action. 15 6. Rhetoric was the province of males. 4. THE SEMIOTIC TRADITION - COMMUNICATION AS THE PROCESS OF SHARING MEANING THROUGH SIGNS The study of signs in human communication Key scholars – Ivor Richards, Charles Ogden, Ferdinand de Saussure, Charles Pierce Richards - “proper meaning superstition” - the argument that people wrongly belief that words have a precise meaning Meanings don’t reside in words or other symbols, but in people 16 4. THE SEMIOTIC TRADITION - COMMUNICATION AS THE PROCESS OF SHARING MEANING THROUGH SIGNS Words are symbols A symbol is anything that communicates meaning A symbol is indirectly related to its referent Semantic triangle demonstrates the indirect relationship between a symbol and its referent 17  4. THE SEMIOTIC TRADITION - COMMUNICATION AS THE PROCESS OF SHARING MEANING THROUGH SIGNS REFERENCE– relates to our memory and recollections of past experiences REFERENT– physical objects that we connect to symbols or ideas SYMBOL-- is the word that calls up the referent through the mental processes of the reference 18 4. THE SEMIOTIC TRADITION - COMMUNICATION AS THE PROCESS OF SHARING MEANING THROUGH SIGNS A 'signifier' (signifiant) - the form which the sign takes The 'signified' (signifié) - the concept it represents The sign is the whole that results from the association of the signifier with the signified A sign must have both a signifier and a signified. 19 20 4. THE SEMIOTIC TRADITION – TWO LEVELS OF MEANING COMMUNICATED IN SIGNS Almost every word has two kinds of meanings: Denotation – the straightforward dictionary definition, or literal meaning Connotation – the ideas and feelings associated with the word 21 22 4. THE SEMIOTIC TRADITION - COMMUNICATION AS THE PROCESS OF SHARING MEANING THROUGH SIGNS Icon – a sign that physically resembles what it stands for, the literal sign Index - a sign that has a natural or causal connection with its object; that which points at something, indication Symbol - a sign with no direct connection to what it represents; meaning by convention, it must be learned 23 24