4/20/2021 Module 2 - THE SEVEN TRADITIONS OF COMMUNICATION THEORY

Module 2 - THE SEVEN TRADITIONS OF COMMUNICATION THEORY

Site: New Era University Printed by: Aron C. Perales

Course: COM122-18 - Communication Theories Date: Tuesday, 20 April 2021, 2:20 PM
Module 2 - THE SEVEN TRADITIONS OF
Book:
COMMUNICATION THEORY

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Description

Lesson 1: Title

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Table of contents

1. Introduction/Overview

2. Learning Outcomes

3. The 7-Traditions of Communication Theory

3.1. The Phenomenological Tradition
3.2. The Semiotic Tradition
3.3. The Cybernetic Tradition
3.4. The Rhetorical Tradition
3.5. The Socio-Psychological Tradition
3.6. The Socio-Cultural Tradition
3.7. The Critical Theory
3.8. The Ethical Tradition

4. ASSIGNMENT

5. QUIZ

6. FORUM

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1. Introduction/Overview

Visual Credited to: pngtree.com

There have been a lot of theories that has tried to explicate the nature of human communication and how human comprehend symbols as well
as how it is applied in a given society or community, this is so because there are different, individualistic perception of a particular form of
communication symbols and sign due to the complex nature of assimilating the meaning and application of communication. These have made
different traditions of understanding, communication to be formed to better explain different concepts and viewpoint of communication (Apuke,
2018).

Littlejohn & Foss (2008) reveals that “Robert Craig propounded a model that encapsulates the field of communication into seven traditions.
These are known as the semiotic, the phenomenological, the cybernetic, the socio-psychological, the socio-cultural, the critical, and the
rhetorical traditions”. Thus, each of this tradition captures a different aspect or specialized area of communication and knowing each one gives
new and sometimes conflicting viewpoints on why we relate and comprehend the information we absorb on a daily basis (Apuke, 2018).

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2. Learning Outcomes

At the end of the module, students should be able to:

Critically analyze the Seven Traditions of Communication Theory:

The Phenomenological Tradition

The Semiotic Tradition

The Rhetorical Tradition

The Cybernetic Tradition

The Socio-Psychological Tradition

The Socio-Cultural Tradition

The Critical Tradition

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3. The 7-Traditions of Communication Theory

Visual Credited to: slideshare.com

The following is a list of criteria inspired by Robert T. Craig, a well-renowned communication theorist from the University of Colorado, Boulder.
His meta-model of communication reflects on the communication field in a holistic way. In a world of exchanging information galore, Craig
organizes communication theories into 7 traditions. Meaning, any theory about communication is to be considered from at least all of the
following 7 traditional perspectives.

Professor Emeritus Robert T. Craig specializes in communication theory and philosophy, discourse analysis and argumentation. He is an
affiliate faculty member of the Culture, Language and Social Practice (CLASP) graduate certificate program. He joined our faculty in 1990, was
chair of the Department of Communication for 2001- 2005 and retired from full time teaching in 2014. He is a Distinguished Scholar of the
National Communication Association (NCA) and a fellow and past president of the International Communication Association (ICA). He was
founding editor of the ICA journal, Communication Theory, and currently serves as series editor of the ICA Handbook Series. He publishes
widely in academic journals and books. Current projects include a book on communication theory and studies of meta-discourse with a focus
on arguments about communication in public discourse.

The Phenomenological Tradition: Communication as the experience of self and others through dialogue. (Symbolic Interactionism,
Coordinated Management of Meaning, Social Exchange)

Phenomenology refers to the intentional analysis of everyday life from the standpoint of the person who is living it.

The phenomenological tradition places great emphasis on people’s perceptions and interpretations of their own subjective experiences.

Phenomenological tradition answers two questions: Why is it so hard to establish and sustain authentic human relationships? How can this
problem be overcome?

Congruence - The match between an individual’s inner feelings and out display; authenticity, genuineness

The Semiotic Tradition: Communication as the process of sharing meaning through signs. (Symbolic Interactionism, Social Exchange,
Dramatism, Muted Group, Genderlect)

Semiotics is the study of signs.

Sign - anything that can stand for something else. High body temperature is a sign of infection. Birds flying south signal the coming of winter.
A white cane signifies blindness. An arrow designates which direction to go.

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Symbols - arbitrary words and nonverbal signs that bear no natural connection with the things they describe; meaning is learned within a
given culture

I.A. Richards, Cambridge University literary critic and C.K. Ogden, British colleague developed the Triangle of Meaning - we have a thought
about a thing and need to find a symbol to communicate our meaning about the thing to someone else.

His “proper meaning superstition” identifies the mistaken belief that words have a precise meaning.

Meanings don’t reside in words or other symbols, but in people.

The Cybernetic Tradition: Communication as a system of information processing. (Coordinated Management of Meaning, Organizational
Information, Structuration, Spiral of Silence).

Norbert Wiener coined the term cybernetics to describe the field of artificial intelligence. Wiener’s concept of feedback anchored the
cybernetic tradition.

Communication is the link separating the separate parts of any system.

Theorists seek to answer the questions: How does the system work? What could change it? How can we get the bugs out?

Cybernetics - field of artificial intelligence, the study of information processing, feedback. Coined by Norbert Wiener, MIT scientist

Claude Shannon (Bell Telephone researcher) and Weaver Communication Model: The Mathematical Theory of Communication

Channel Capacity = Information + Noise

Information source -> Message -> Transmitter -> Signal -> Received signal <- Noise Source

Receiver -> Message -> Destination

Information - the reduction of uncertainty, it combats chaos. If the receiver already knows what message is coming, information is zero. The
less predictable the message, the more information it carries.

A phone call from your mother telling you “I love you.” may be predictable. Noise in terms of reiteration, restatement, and redundancy quickly
overloads the channel. Every channel has a maximum capacity. On the other hand, needless duplication is boring for the listener.

The rhetorical tradition: Communication as artful public address.

Greco-Roman rhetoric was the main communication theory until the twentieth century.

Six features characterize the tradition.

1. A conviction that speech distinguishes humans from other animals.

2. A confidence in the efficacy of public address.
3. A setting of 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.
6. Rhetoric was the province of males.

The Socio-Psychological Tradition - Communication as interpersonal interaction and influence. (Cognitive Dissonance, Expectancy
Violation, Uncertainty Reduction, Social Exchange, Social Penetration, Groupthink, Uses and Gratifications, Spiral of Silence, Face-
Negotiation, Communication Accommodation).

Expertness and Character- Two types of speaker credibility found to influence opinion change most.

Theorists check data through surveys or controlled experiments, often calling for longitudinal empirical studies.

Psychologist Carl Hovland at Yale University was one of the founding fathers of experimental research (careful, systematic observation). He
was primarily concerned with finding universal communication truths/laws and cause and effect relationships that would predict opinion
change. He used the framework of “who says what to whom and with what effect.”

1. Who-source of the message (expertise, trustworthiness)

2. What- content of the message (fear appeals, order of arguments)
3. Whom- audience characteristics (personality, susceptibility to influence)
4. Effect- measure of opinion change

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The Socio-Cultural Tradition: Communication as the creation and enactment of social reality. (Relational Dialectics, Communication Privacy
Management, Groupthink, Organizational Culture, Cultivation Analysis, Media Ecology, Genderlect)

Communication as the creation and enactment of social reality

Edward Sapir and Benjamin Lee Whorf pioneered this tradition.

The Sapir-Whorf hypothesis of linguistic relativity states that the structure of a culture’s language shapes what people think and do -- the
social construction of reality.

Their theory counters the notion that languages are neutral conduits of meaning.

Linguistic relativity counteracts the assumption that all languages are similar and words are merely neutral vehicles to carry meaning.
Language actually structures our perception of reality.

Americans = one word for “you”

Germans = two words for “you” formal/informal

Japanese = ten words for “ you” depending on the type of relationship

Persons-in-conversations co-construct their own social worlds. “reality is produced, maintained, repaired and transformed.”

The critical tradition: Communication as a reflective challenge of unjust discourse. (Dramatism, Cultural Studies, Media Ecology, Muted
Group, Standpoint).

Critical theory derives from the German Frankfurt School.

The Frankfurt School rejected Karl Marx’s economic determinism, but embraced the Marxist tradition of critiquing society.

Communication as a way of questioning unjust discourse.

Culture industries - entertainment businesses that reproduce the dominant ideology of a culture and distract people from recognizing unjust
distribution of power within society, e.g. film, television, music and advertising.

Critical theorists challenge three features of contemporary society.

1. The control of language to perpetuate power imbalances.

2. The role of mass media in dulling sensitivity to repression.
3. Blind reliance on the scientific method and uncritical acceptance of empirical findings.

Fencing the field of communication theory.

1. These seven traditions have deep roots in communication theory.
2. They have been mapped with respect to the objective/interpretive dichotomy.
3. Hybrids are possible across traditions.
4. They might not cover every approach to communication theory—thus the addition of the ethical tradition.

The Ethical Tradition: Communication as people of character interacting in just and beneficial ways

Since ancient Greece, scholars have grappled with the obligations of the communicator.

The NCA recently adopted a “Credo for Communication Ethics,” which includes the conviction that ethical communication:

1. Advocates truthfulness, accuracy, honesty, and reason

2. Accepts responsibility for short-term and long-term consequences of communication.
3. Strives to understand and respect other communicators before evaluating and responding to their messages.
4. Concern for ethics spreads across the objective-interpretive landscape.
5. Craig’s framework of seven traditions helps us make sense of the great diversity in the field of communication.

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3.1. The Phenomenological Tradition

Visual Credited to: famouspeople.com

Phenomenological Communication Tradition

Let us study the Phenomenological Tradition's core concepts as published in coupleofcreatives.com by Leverenz, A. in 2020.

Theories in the phenomenological tradition assume that people actively interpret what happens around them and come to understand the world
by personal direct experience with it— the perception of a phenomenon, whether an object, event or condition. Knowledge is found directly in
conscious experience — we come to know the world as we engage in it. The meaning of a thing consists of the potential of that thing in one’s
life, so how you relate to an object determines its meaningfulness to you. Therefore, the process of interpretation is the active process of
assigning meaning to an experience.

Classical phenomenology is primarily associated with Edmund Husserl, the founder of modern phenomenology. For Husserl, truth can only
be ascertained through direct, objective experience, meaning in order to arrive at truth through conscious attention, we must suspend our
categories of thinking and habits of seeing in order to experience the thing as it really is. In other words, the world can be experienced without
the knower bringing his or her own categories to bear on the process.

One of the most influential philosophers of the 20th century. He has made important contributions to almost all areas of philosophy and
anticipated central ideas of its neighboring disciplines such as linguistics, sociology and cognitive psychology (Standford Encyclopedia, 2020).

Phenomenology of perception is a realm of phenomenology as introduced by Merleau-Ponty as a subjective experience, meaning the
human being is a unified mind-body who creates meaning in the world. This means that people give meaning to the things in the world and
any phenomenological experience is necessarily a subjective one.

Hermeneutic phenomenology is another popular branch within phenomenology associated with Martin Heidegger, which asserts a
philosophy dealing with the interpretation of being. For Heidegger, the reality of something is not known by careful analysis or reduction but by
natural experience, which is created by the use of language in everyday life. Communication, in other words, is the vehicle by which meaning is
assigned to experience. When you communicate, you work out new ways of seeing the world — your speech affects your thoughts and your
thoughts, in turn create new meanings.

Let us examine the following example theories under Phenomenological Tradition:

SYMBOLIC INTERACTIONISM THEORY (Crossman, 2020)

The symbolic interaction perspective, also called symbolic interactionism, is a major framework of the sociological theory. This perspective
relies on the symbolic meaning that people develop and build upon in the process of social interaction. Although symbolic interactionism traces
its origins to Max Weber's assertion that individuals act according to their interpretation of the meaning of their world, the American philosopher
George Herbert Mead introduced this perspective to American sociology in the 1920s.

The Subjective Meanings

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Symbolic interaction theory analyzes society by addressing the subjective meanings that people impose on objects, events, and behaviors.
Subjective meanings are given primacy because it is believed that people behave based on what they believe and not just on what is
objectively true. Thus, society is thought to be socially constructed through human interpretation. People interpret one another’s behavior, and
it is these interpretations that form the social bond. These interpretations are called the “definition of the situation.”

For example, why would young people smoke cigarettes even when all objective medical evidence points to the dangers of doing so?1 The
answer is in the definition of the situation that people create. Studies find that teenagers are well informed about the risks of tobacco, but they
also think that smoking is cool, that they will be safe from harm, and that smoking projects a positive image to their peers. So, the symbolic
meaning of smoking overrides the facts regarding smoking and risk.

SOCIAL EXCHANGE THEORY

Social exchange theory is a model for interpreting society as a series of interactions between people that are based on estimates of rewards
and punishments. According to this view, our interactions are determined by the rewards or punishments that we expect to receive from others,
which we evaluate using a cost-benefit analysis model (whether consciously or subconsciously).

Central to the social exchange theory is the idea that an interaction that elicits approval from another person is more likely to be repeated than
an interaction that elicits disapproval. We can thus predict whether a particular interaction will be repeated by calculating the degree of reward
(approval) or punishment (disapproval) resulting from the interaction. If the reward for an interaction exceeds the punishment, then the
interaction is likely to occur or continue.

According to this theory, the formula for predicting the behavior of any individual in any situation is:

Behavior (profits) = Rewards of interaction – costs of interaction.

Rewards can come in many forms: social recognition, money, gifts, and even subtle everyday gestures like a smile, nod, or pat on the back.
Punishments also come in many forms, from extremes like public humiliation, beating, or execution, to subtle gestures like a raised eyebrow or
a frown.

While social exchange theory is found in economics and psychology, it was first developed by the sociologist George Homans, who wrote
about it in a 1958 essay titled "Social Behavior as Exchange." Later, sociologists Peter Blau and Richard Emerson further developed the theory.

Basic Assumptions of Social Exchange Theory

People who are involved in the interaction are rationally seeking to maximize their profits.
Most gratification among humans comes from others.
People have access to information about social, economic, and psychological aspects of their interactions that allow them to consider the
alternative, more profitable situations relative to their present situation.
People are goal-oriented in a freely competitive system.
The exchange operates within cultural norms.
Social credit is preferred over social indebtedness.
The more deprived the individual feels in terms of an act, the more the person will assign a value to it.
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People are rational and calculate the best possible means to compete in rewarding situations. The same is true of punishment avoidance
situations.

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3.2. The Semiotic Tradition

Visual Credited to: theindependent.com

Semiotics is the study of signs, symbols and signification (interpretation of said signs). The semiotic tradition is an important communication
theory including a host of theories about how signs come to represent objects, ideas, states, situations, feelings and conditions outside of
themselves.

The basic concept unifying this tradition is the sign, defined as “a stimulus designating or indicating some other condition,” as when smoke
indicates the presence of fire.

A second basic concept is symbol, which usually designates a complex sign with many meanings, including highly personal ones. Most
semiotic thinking involves a triad of meaning, which asserts that meaning arises from a relationship among 3 things — the object (reference),
the person (interpreter) and the sign.

Semiotics are often divided into 3 areas of study — semantics, syntactics and pragmatics.

Semantics address how signs relate to their referents and answer the question, “what does a sign represent?”

Syntactics is the study of relationships among signs and consist of the rules by which people combine signs into complex systems of meaning.
When we move a single word to a sentence, we are dealing with syntax or grammar, which deals with the relationships among words and
linguistic structures. Syntactic rules enable humans to use an infinite combination of signs to express a wealth of meanings.

Pragmatics look at the utility of signs and how signs make a difference in people’s lives. This branch has a considerable impact in
communication theory as many theorists are interested in how signs and sign systems are used as tools to accomplish things in the world.

Let us analyze the Muted Group Theory as an example of Semiotic Tradition.

MUTED GROUP THEORY

Muted group theory is a critical theory concerning the certain groups of people who remain powerless compared to the others. Edwin Ardener,
a British anthropologist, introduced the concept. His noted contributions in anthropology are the studies on gender and found that the studies
made by many ethnographers in the society was generalized to the male population and accumulated the finding accepting only one side. The
voices of the women and other unheard have been ignored and muted. The narrow perspective to the society ignoring almost half of the
population affected the studies and the muted group theory brought a light into the powers of the marginalized in the society.

Muted Group Theory (communicationtheory.org, 2020)

The muted group theory explains the cause of muteness by a certain group of population especially of that of women in the society. The theory
upholds a gender perspective where the male is the dominant class. The women live with the attitude where her opinions remain muted when
spoken and mostly choose to adapt with the situation. The attitudes of the male who are the bread winners are considered dominant than the
women who rely on them. The age old tradition made a whole new power division in the society.

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The muted group theory was further studied by Cheris kramarae, a professor in women studies upheld the idea that, communication was
started by men and due to that reason they take advantage of women. While speaking, women are considered less powerful than men and the
reason behind this is simple psychology. Women’s needs are emotionally driven unlike men. And thus the perspective of women differs from
men in all aspects.

John Berger says “the language is the potential holding for whole human experience”.

The quotes give space to think. When a woman comes to social space they are facing the most abusive language because women are
considering as a less power than a men. But men are taking more advantage by using the existing male dominant power in the social space
and protect themselves from these abusive languages. In our society most of the abusive languages denotes feminine and very few for men.

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3.3. The Cybernetic Tradition

Visual Credited to: researchgate.com

Cybernetics is the tradition of complex systems in which interacting elements influence one another. Theories in cybernetic tradition explain
how physical, biological, social and behavioral processes work. Within cybernetics, communication is understood as a system of variables that
influence one another, shape and control the character of the overall system, and, like any organism, achieve both balance and change.

The idea of a system forms the core of cybernetic thinking.

Systems are set of interacting components that together form something more than the sum of its parts. Systems theorists are not simply
interested in the nature of the system and its functions but also in how it manages to sustain and control itself over time.

In complex systems, a series of feedback loops connect the parts, called networks. The key ideas of system theory are coherent, consistent
and have a major impact in the field of communication. Communication as a system of information processing.

Let us take a look the CMM Theory as an example under Cybernetic Tradition

COORDINATED MANAGEMENT OF MEANING THEORY (communicationtheory.org, 2020)

The CMM is theory that lays down the process that helps us to socially communicate that makes us create meaning and also manage the
social reality. This theory of CMM advocates on articulation of a process on developing prepositions on given situation by the people. The
process happens in an order to present the appropriate action/reaction. And to help the people enriching them with communication patterns is
seen important like following the set rules and apply them to resolve/conflict the situations that is entirely different from the views set.

The theorists believe that the co-construct of social realities are shaped as they are created and human beings create an hierarchy to organize
the meanings to it that is associated with assumptions. So the organizing of meaning will help the people to determine the output/the throw of
the message sent.

There are two major rules in Coordinated Management of Meaning

1. Constructive rules: Communicators made an interaction to understand the events or message from others is known as Constructive
rules. Here interpretation is helps to understand the meaning of the message
2. Regulative rules: It is more about how communicator reacts for the message and how they respond or behave towards the message
they received is known as Regulative rules

The communication perspective of CMM sees communication as the objects of communication in the social world. This perspective and the
models of CMM are understood better in the aspects of performance.

CMM relies on three processes

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1. Coherence
2. Coordination
3. Mystery

Coherence:

The basic human nature convey about themselves to the rest of the world through various stories. As humans we construct meanings for
everything that is happening around us and the stories helps the people to understand about the communicator. Our mind develops a meaning
and these form the base of the situation the people try to convey. This also helps in understanding and interpreting the world around us.

Coordination:

The actions and words are interlinked together to form patterns and these patterns are comprised of the objects and the social world we live in.
The actions and words from a person creates a situation in our lives and the rules guide through these situations. And thus the events in social
worlds are produce by these patterns.

Mystery:

As the term implies, mystery is anything beyond what is made coherent. It explains that not everything in the world can be explained and the
world we live in is sometimes a mystery. Not everything can be put together in a story or could be guided through rules. There can be situations
where interactions can lead to surprising outcomes and causes a mystery.

CMM Models

The theorists have formulated the CMM Models that are used casually by the people like “The Daisy model, The Serpentine Model and The
Luuutt Model.

THE DAISY MODEL

The theorist say that we never indulge in single conversation, even alone silent conversations can always be witnessed when we are talking.
Calling for attention for multiple conversations in the form of nexus is the Daisy model. In this type the conversation start with the interesting
common center and eventually forms as petals. Each petal forms a different conversation.

THE SERPENTINE MODEL

It is a fact that ever person has their own interpretation to act in ways is to be a part of the social world. And, in this serpentine model, there is
an out phase in the sequence while action/reaction and interpretation happens with others. The communications starts in a wavy line within the
social world with one of the participants of the conversation which moves to action that the next person performs forming the conversation
which is interpreted with another person forming a crystallized pattern. This type of model brings in the necessity of thinking about the next act
with continues in this serpentine pattern.

THE LUUUTT MODEL

This is a model formalized by the practitioners that calls attention to storytelling. The acronym of LUUUTT is

Stories Lived
Unknown stories
Untold stories
Unheard stories
Stories Told
Story Telling

Stories lived are the joint action performed by the group in the conversation, stories told are the tales told by the people to make stories live.
Unknown stories are the people who are inefficient to tell and untold stories are the people who choose not to tell even though they are
efficient. The storytelling are the people who tell the stories with content, narrations and with interactions of characters in the story and outside.
Local myths and beliefs are the best examples of storytelling.

CONCLUSION

The communication is naturally interactive. Misinterpretation and misunderstanding of messages can form communication gap that can create
a huge barrier in the interpersonal relationship. It proved that CMM theory and its models are used in our daily life which has also proved that
with proper use of these models in the suitable situations the communications can be improved and so the reach of the communication.

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Hierarchy of Organized Meaning

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3.4. The Rhetorical Tradition

Visual Credited to: coupleofcreatives.com

Rhetoric evolved through the ages to develop a character associated with public speaking and the persuasion of audiences using strategic
language (Craig & Muller 2007: 105). While originally only concerned with constructing verbal arguments for public speeches, rhetoric
expanded its scope to include all communication-bearing symbols that can influence or persuade the receivers of such messages (Littlejohn &
Foss 2008: 49)

The rhetorical tradition conceptualises communication as “the practical art of discourse” (Craig 1999: 135; Macguire 2006: 89; Craig & Muller
2007: 103). This construction implies that human communication is an art form that is often displayed on platforms such as public addresses or
in persuasive speeches (Macguire 2006: 89; Craig & Muller 2007: 103). According to this tradition, communication can be used in “strategic,
eloquent, and skilful ways” to “develop strong, credible, and convincing arguments” which lead to successful persuasion of audiences (Garcia-
Jimenez 2014: 90). When viewing communication from a rhetorical perspective, it becomes clear that words are powerful tools that, when used
correctly, can influence or persuade others (Craig 1999: 136). Communication problems, according to the rhetorical tradition, can occur when
communicators experience uncertainty during the “artful use of public discourse” (Craig 1999: 135) during social interactions.

The rhetorical tradition can be identified through its meta-discursive vocabulary used to talk about communication, which contains concepts
such as “art”, “audience”, “persuasion”, “argument”, “logic”, “emotion”, “rhetor”, “symbol”, “public address”, and “discourse” (Craig 1999: 133;
Littlejohn & Foss 2008: 49; West & Turner 2014: 28-29). This tradition also contains some customised constructs such as the canons of
rhetoric, which refer to the five elements of public speaking developed by Aristotle, namely invention, arrangement, style, delivery, and memory
(Littlejohn & Foss 2008: 49). The construct of persuasive discourse is also associated with rhetorical perspectives and refers to how
communication messages must rely on the “power and beauty of language to move people emotionally and to stir them to action” (Griffin et al.
2015: 40). Critical rhetoric is a construct used to refer to the unmasking of “the discourse of power” (McKerrow 1989: 91-92), which serves as
critique of the ways in which rhetoric (speech) contributes to the creation of social inequalities and instances of oppression and coercion (Ibid.).

COGNITIVE PROCESSING THEORY (A. Kozbelt, in Encyclopedia of Creativity, Second Edition), 2011

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Cognitive theories emphasize the creative process and person: process, in emphasizing the role of cognitive mechanisms as a basis for
creative thought; and person, in considering individual differences in such mechanisms. Some cognitive theories focus on universal capacities,
like attention or memory; others emphasize individual differences, like those indexed by divergent thinking tasks; some focus on conscious
operations; others, on preconscious, implicit, or unintentional processes.

One classic cognitive theory, by Sarnoff A. Mednick, argues that creative insights can result from associative processes in memory. In this view,
ideas are chained together, one after another, and more remote associates tend to be more original. This perspective argues that more creative
individuals tend to have flatter hierarchies of associations than less creative individuals; in other words, more creative people have many more
relatively strong associates for a given concept, rather than only a few. This is thought to provide greater scope for the simultaneous activation
of far-flung representations, which many believe to be an important engine of creative thought.

Along similar lines, another cognitive theory focuses on how concepts are combined to generate novelty. Research suggests that conceptual
combination – bringing two different sets of information together – is often involved in creative ideation, that original insights are more likely
when two disparate features are brought together, and that connections between these concepts might only be seen at a very high level of
abstraction. This kind of thinking has been called metaphoric logical, the idea being that something like ‘angry weather’ is only comprehensible
in a nonliteral fashion. Such processes may suggest creative alternatives to well-worn lines of thought.

More generally, research in the ‘creative cognition approach’ tradition, another important contemporary view of creativity developed mainly by
Ronald A. Finke, Steven M. Smith, and Thomas B. Ward, has likewise emphasized ideas drawn from cognitive psychology (e.g., conceptual
combination, conceptual expansion, creative imagery, and metaphor) to understand how individuals generate ideas and explore their
implications in laboratory-based invention and design tasks. Such processes are thought to play out in two fundamental regimes of thought:
generating ideas and exploring their implications. In practice, the two are strongly interleaved and combined in the ‘geneplore’ model of
creative thought (from generate + explore).

Finally, metacognitive processes (thinking about one's own thinking) are also frequently tied to creativity. Many tactics for increasing creative
problem solving have been proposed and popularized, including ‘think backwards,’ ‘shift your perspective,’ ‘put the problem aside,’ and
‘question assumptions.’ Tactical thinking is especially useful for programs designed to facilitate creative problem solving since they are a
function of conscious decisions and can be employed when necessary.

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3.5. The Socio-Psychological Tradition

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The socio-psychological theory is grounded in the study of the individual and there is specific focus on interpersonal interaction and influences.
The psychological aspect of this approach views persons as entities with characteristics which cause them to act in independent ways.

In the socio-psychological tradition the focus is on individual cognition and behavioural characteristics in a communicative context. Scholars of
this tradition seek to provide insight in the ways we process information. Attention is also paid persuasion and attitude change as scholars
realize the power that other persons can have on others and how messages affect the mind as well. For instance, one might be inclined to stop
smoking if they saw public service announcements with graphics details of what smoking does to the lungs.

Scholars of this theory maintain that there is singular communication truth to be discovered through careful systematic research to show cause
and effect. For that reason this tradition can be categorized as objective/scientific. It often associated with the “science of communication”.
Questions about predictability of behaviour, how persons accommodate and adapt to certain communication situations or how information is
interpreted and used to formulate messages may arise and to answer these questions quantitive research methods such as surveys and
controlled experiments might be used.

The socio-psychological tradition can be divided in to three branches:

Behavioural – This examines on how people behave in communication situations and considers the relationship between communication
behaviour and variables like the individual’s personality, situational differences and learning.

Cognitive Theory – Concentrates on patterns of thought, how people acquire, store and process information and how that may influence
their behaviour.

Biological – This branch identifies with the theory that a person’s personality traits, behaviour and way of thinking is actually the result of
inborn neurobiological influences.

Let us study the following theories under the Socio-Psychological Tradition.

UNCERTAINTY REDUCTION THEORY

Uncertainty Reduction Theory asserts that people have a need to reduce uncertainty about others by gaining information about them.
Information gained can then be used to predict the others' behavior. Reducing uncertainty is particularly important in relationship development,
so it is typical to find more uncertainty reduction behavior among people when they expect or want to develop a relationship than among
people who expect or know they will not develop a relationship. Consider how you try to reduce uncertainty about someone you have just met
and want to spend more time with. Now consider how you try to reduce uncertainty about people you meet on an elevator.

There are three basic ways people seek information about another person:

1. Passive strategies -- we observe the person, either in situations where the other person is likely to be self-monitoring* (a reactivity
search) as in a classroom, or where the other person is likely to act more naturally (a disinhibition search) as in the stands at a football
game.
2. Active strategies -- we ask others about the person we're interested in or try to set up a situation where we can observe that person (e.g.,
taking the same class, sitting a table away at dinner). Once the situation is set up we sometime observe (a passive strategy) or talk with
the person (an interactive strategy).
3. Interactive strategies -- we communicate directly with the person.

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* Self-monitoring is a behavior where we watch and strategically manipulate how we present ourselves to others.

COGNITIVE DISSONANCE THEORY

Cognitive dissonance refers to a situation involving conflicting attitudes, beliefs or behaviors. This produces a feeling of mental discomfort
leading to an alteration in one of the attitudes, beliefs or behaviors to reduce the discomfort and restore balance.

For example, when people smoke (behavior) and they know that smoking causes cancer (cognition), they are in a state of cognitive
dissonance.

Cognitive dissonance was first investigated by Leon Festinger, arising out of a participant observation study of a cult which believed that the
earth was going to be destroyed by a flood, and what happened to its members — particularly the really committed ones who had given up
their homes and jobs to work for the cult — when the flood did not happen.

While fringe members were more inclined to recognize that they had made fools of themselves and to "put it down to experience," committed
members were more likely to re-interpret the evidence to show that they were right all along (the earth was not destroyed because of the
faithfulness of the cult members).

How Attitude Change Takes Place

Festinger's (1957) cognitive dissonance theory suggests that we have an inner drive to hold all our attitudes and behavior in harmony and
avoid disharmony (or dissonance). This is known as the principle of cognitive consistency.

When there is an inconsistency between attitudes or behaviors (dissonance), something must change to eliminate the dissonance.

Notice that dissonance theory does not state that these modes of dissonance reduction will actually work, only that individuals who are in a
state of cognitive dissonance will take steps to reduce the extent of their dissonance.

The theory of cognitive dissonance has been widely researched in a number of situations to develop the basic idea in more detail, and various
factors that have been identified which may be important in attitude change.

What causes cognitive dissonance?

1. Forced Compliance Behavior,

2. Decision Making,
3. Effort.

Forced Compliance Behavior

When someone is forced to do (publicly) something they (privately) really don't want to do, dissonance is created between their cognition (I
didn't want to do this) and their behavior (I did it).

Forced compliance occurs when an individual performs an action that is inconsistent with his or her beliefs. The behavior can't be changed,
since it was already in the past, so dissonance will need to be reduced by re-evaluating their attitude to what they have done. This prediction
has been tested experimentally:

In an intriguing experiment, Festinger and Carlsmith (1959) asked participants to perform a series of dull tasks (such as turning pegs in a peg
board for an hour). As you can imagine, participant's attitudes toward this task were highly negative.

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Aim

Festinger and Carlsmith (1959) investigated if making people perform a dull task would create
cognitive dissonance through forced compliance behavior.

Method

In their laboratory experiment, they used 71 male students as participants to perform a series of
dull tasks (such as turning pegs in a peg board for an hour).

They were then paid either $1 or $20 to tell a waiting participant (a confederate) that the tasks
were really interesting. Almost all of the participants agreed to walk into the waiting room and
persuade the confederate that the boring experiment would be fun.

Results

When the participants were asked to evaluate the experiment, the participants who were paid
only $1 rated the tedious task as more fun and enjoyable than the participants who were paid
$20 to lie.

Conclusion

Being paid only $1 is not sufficient incentive for lying and so those who were paid $1
experienced dissonance. They could only overcome that dissonance by coming to believe that
the tasks really were interesting and enjoyable. Being paid $20 provides a reason for turning
pegs, and there is therefore no dissonance.

Decision Making

Life is filled with decisions, and decisions (as a general rule) arouse dissonance.

For example, suppose you had to decide whether to accept a job in an absolutely beautiful area of the country, or turn down the job so you
could be near your friends and family. Either way, you would experience dissonance. If you took the job you would miss your loved ones; if you
turned the job down, you would pine for the beautiful streams, mountains, and valleys.

Both alternatives have their good points and bad points. The rub is that making a decision cuts off the possibility that you can enjoy the
advantages of the unchosen alternative, yet it assures you that you must accept the disadvantages of the chosen alternative.

People have several ways to reduce dissonance that is aroused by making a decision (Festinger, 1964). One thing they can do is to change
the behavior. As noted earlier, this is often very difficult, so people frequently employ a variety of mental maneuvers. A common way to reduce
dissonance is to increase the attractiveness of the chosen alternative and to decrease the attractiveness of the rejected alternative. This is
referred to as "spreading apart the alternatives."

Brehm (1956) was the first to investigate the relationship between dissonance and decision-making.

Effort

It also seems to be the case that we value most highly those goals or items which have required considerable effort to achieve.

This is probably because dissonance would be caused if we spent a great effort to achieve something and then evaluated it negatively. We
could, of course, spend years of effort into achieving something which turns out to be a load of rubbish and then, in order to avoid the
dissonance that produces, try to convince ourselves that we didn't really spend years of effort, or that the effort was really quite enjoyable, or
that it wasn't really a lot of effort.

In fact, though, it seems we find it easier to persuade ourselves that what we have achieved is worthwhile and that's what most of us do,
evaluating highly something whose achievement has cost us dear - whether other people think it's much cop or not! This method of reducing
dissonance is known as 'effort justification.'

If we put effort into a task which we have chosen to carry out, and the task turns out badly, we experience dissonance. To reduce this
dissonance, we are motivated to try to think that the task turned out well.

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A classic dissonance experiment by Aronson and Mills (1959) demonstrates the basic idea.

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3.6. The Socio-Cultural Tradition

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Sociocultural approaches to communication theory address the ways our understandings, meanings, norms, roles and rules are worked out
interactively in communication.

This tradition focuses on patterns of interaction between people rather than on individual characteristics or mental models. Researchers in
this tradition want to understand ways in which people collectively create the realities of their social groups, organizations and cultures.

Social structures and meanings are created and maintained in social interaction, thus symbolic interactionism has been highly influential in
this tradition, which emphasizes the importance of participant observation in the study of communication as a way of exploring social
relationships.

A second line of work in the sociocultural tradition is social construction, which investigates how human knowledge is constructed through
social interaction. The nature of the world, then, is less important than the language used to name, discuss and orient to that world.

A third influence in the sociocultural tradition of communication is sociolinguistics, or the study of language and culture. Important in this
tradition is that people use language differently in different social and cultural groups.

Lastly, another influential perspective within the sociocultural approach is ethnography, or the observation of how actual social groups come to
build meaning through their linguistic and nonlinguistic behaviors.

SYMBOLIC INTERACTIONISM and SOCIAL CONSTRUCTIVISM

Symbolic Interactionism is a micro-level theory that focuses on the relationships among individuals within a society. Communication—the
exchange of meaning through language and symbols—is believed to be the way in which people make sense of their social worlds. Theorists
Herman and Reynolds (1994) note that this perspective sees people as being active in shaping the social world rather than simply being acted
upon.

George Herbert Mead (1863–1931) is considered a founder of symbolic interactionism though he never published his work on it (LaRossa and
Reitzes 1993). Mead’s student, Herbert Blumer, coined the term “symbolic interactionism” and outlined these basic premises: humans interact
with things based on meanings ascribed to those things; the ascribed meaning of things comes from our interactions with others and society;
the meanings of things are interpreted by a person when dealing with things in specific circumstances (Blumer 1969). If you love books, for
example, a symbolic interactionist might propose that you learned that books are good or important in the interactions you had with family,
friends, school, or church; maybe your family had a special reading time each week, getting your library card was treated as a special event, or
bedtime stories were associated with warmth and comfort.

Social scientists who apply symbolic-interactionist thinking look for patterns of interaction between individuals. Their studies often involve
observation of one-on-one interactions. For example, while a conflict theorist studying a political protest might focus on class difference, a
symbolic interactionist would be more interested in how individuals in the protesting group interact, as well as the signs and symbols protesters
use to communicate their message.

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The focus on the importance of symbols in building a society led sociologists like Erving Goffman (1922–1982) to develop a technique
called dramaturgical analysis. Goffman used theater as an analogy for social interaction and recognized that people’s interactions showed
patterns of cultural “scripts.” Because it can be unclear what part a person may play in a given situation, he or she has to improvise his or her
role as the situation unfolds (Goffman 1958).

Studies that use the symbolic interactionist perspective are more likely to use qualitative research methods, such as in-depth interviews or
participant observation, because they seek to understand the symbolic worlds in which research subjects live.

Social Constructivism is an extension of symbolic interaction theory which proposes that reality is what humans cognitively construct it to be.
We develop social constructs based on interactions with others, and those constructs that last over time are those that have meanings which
are widely agreed-upon or generally accepted by most within the society. This approach is often used to understand what’s defined as deviant
within a society. There is no absolute definition of deviance, and different societies have constructed different meanings for deviance, as well as
associating different behaviors with deviance. One situation that illustrates this is what you believe you’re to do if you find a wallet in the street.
In the United States, turning the wallet in to local authorities would be considered the appropriate action, and to keep the wallet would be seen
as deviant. In contrast, many Eastern societies would consider it much more appropriate to keep the wallet and search for the owner yourself;
turning it over to someone else, even the authorities, would be considered deviant behavior.

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3.7. The Critical Theory

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Although there are several varieties of critical theory, all share some essential features.

The critical tradition seeks to understand the taken-for-granted systems, power structures and beliefs that dominate society with a close eye on
whose interests are served by those power structures. Questions such as, “who does and does not get to speak?”, “what does and does not
get said?” and “who stands to benefit from a particular system?” are typical of those asked by critical theorists.

Critical theorists are particularly interested in uncovering oppressive social conditions and power arrangements in order to promote a more
fulfilling society. Furthermore, critical scholarship makes a conscious attempt to fuse theory and action. Such theories act to accomplish change
in conditions that affect society. Although critical theory has come a long way since the works of Karl Marx, Marxism is the originating brand of
critical theory, which taught that the means of production in society determines the nature of society, so the economy is the basis of all social
structure.

In capitalistic systems, profit drives production, a process that ends up oppressing the working class. Only when the working class rises up
against dominant groups can the means of production be changed and the liberation of the worker achieved.

In Marxism, communication practices are seen as an outcome of the tension between individual creativity and the social constraints on that
creativity. Liberation will occur only when individuals are truly free to express themselves with clarity and reason.

The Frankfurt School is another popular branch of critical theory, which refers to a group of German philosophers, sociologists and economists
that saw capitalism as an evolutionary stage in the development of socialism first and then of communism. Unfortunately, the failure of working-
class movements and the rise of Fascism led many members to abandon their faith in the working-class proletariat as the agent of
revolutionary change.

At its core, critical theory falls within a modernist paradigm which can be subdivided into three more branches: postmodernism, post-
structuralism and post-colonialism. What these modern philosophical traditions have in common is an insistence on the plurality of meaning, a
distrust in science and reluctance to accept limiting beliefs for how society works that are agreed upon as the status quo.

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3.8. The Ethical Tradition

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In this tradition communication is seen as people of character interacting in just and beneficial ways. The ethical tradition speaks to all the
values that communication theorists regardless of theoretical standpoints should seek to incorporate whilst doing their research or scholarly
undertakings All communication scholars should strive to adhere to the set of ethical principles as outlined by the National Communication
Association’s Credo for Communication Ethics.

Three of the core principles are:

1. Truthfulness – accuracy, honesty and reason.

2. Responsibility for the short and long-term consequences.
3. Understanding and respect for other communicators before evaluating and responding to their messages.

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4. ASSIGNMENT

CLICK THE IMAGE BELOW TO ANSWER THE ASSIGNMENT.

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5. QUIZ

CLICK THE IMAGE BELOW TO TAKE THE QUIZ.

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6. FORUM

CLICK THE IMAGE BELOW TO ANSWER THE FORUM.

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