Communications Exam Review

Flashcards based on Communications lecture COMM 9402

What is communication?

The transmission of messages (process) and the production and exchange of meaning (semiotics).

According to Shannon & Weaver's communication model, what are the key components?

Sender, message, encoding, channel, decoding, recipient, noise, and feedback.

What does the statement 'Everything is mediated' imply according to Sonia Livingstone?

All aspects of life, from childhood to war, are influenced by media.

What is perception?

The process through which our brain consciously receives, selects, synthesizes, and interprets information from our senses.

What is Attribution Theory?

A theory that explains how people interpret others' behaviors and assign causes to actions, considering internal versus external factors.

What is Expectancy Violations Theory (EVT)?

A theory that explains how individuals respond to unanticipated violations of social norms and expectations, leading to emotional reactions and attempts to explain the unexpected behavior.

What is Framing Theory?

A theory that explains how the presentation of information influences people's choices about how to process that information.

What is Social Constructivism?

A theory that explains how knowledge and reality are constructed through social interactions and shared meanings rather than being passively received.

What are the components of self-concept?

Content, positivity vs. negativity, intensity, stability over time, and accuracy.

What is Symbolic Interactionism?

A theory that explains how identity is socially constructed through interaction, including the 'looking-glass self' and 'role-taking'.

What is Dramaturgy in the context of identity?

A theory that explains how identity is performed in social interactions, involving front stage vs. backstage behavior and impression management.

What is Communication Accommodation Theory?

A theory that explains how people adjust their communication styles based on social identity and group dynamics, including convergence and divergence.

What is Social Identity Theory?

A theory that explains how identity is shaped by group memberships, involving in-groups vs. out-groups and social categorization.

What is Identity Negotiation Theory?

A theory that explains how identity is negotiated through intercultural and interpersonal communication, exploring cultural identity and facework.

What is Standpoint Theory?

The theory that identities are shaped by social position and lived experiences, emphasizing how marginalized perspectives shape communication and knowledge production.

What is Hyper-personal Communication Theory?

An online identity construction and selective self-presentation.

What is Cultivation Theory?

A theory that explains how media representations shape how people perceive social identities.

What are the examples of verbal communication?

Spoken language, written language, and sign language.

What are symbols in verbal communication?

Arbitrary representations of thoughts, ideas, emotions, objects, or actions used to encode and decode meaning.

What are the rules of verbal communication?

Phonology, semantic rules, syntactics, and pragmatics.

What is non-verbal communication?

Communication based on symbols and cues that can enhance or contradict verbal communication. It includes universally understood signals and culturally specific ones.

What is proxemics?

Communication through proximity and distance.

What is chronemics?

Communication through the use of time.

What is kinesics?

Communication through body movements and gestures.

What is paralanguage?

Non-verbal vocal elements of speech that convey meaning, such as tone, pitch, and pauses.

How does culture influence communication?

Culture shapes our identity, influences our perception, and affects both verbal and non-verbal communication by establishing shared learned behaviors, values, and norms.

What is Face Negotiation Theory?

A theory that explains how different cultures handle 'face' concerns (self-image/social identity) during communication, managing and protecting face during interactions.

What is high-context communication?

Communication where meaning is heavily implied through context, relationships, and non-verbal cues, common in cultures that value group identity and relationships.

What is low-context communication?

Communication where meaning is explicit and direct, common in cultures that emphasize individual identity and personal expression.

What is Cultural Identity Theory?

A theory that explains how individuals express and negotiate identity through media, including code-switching, symbols, and language.

How does media influence culture?

Media actively shapes culture by influencing values, identity, and global perceptions, and serves as a vehicle for cultural transmission through globalization.

What is Cultural Imperialism/Globalization Theory?

A theory that media is a tool for cultural imperialism/colonialism, where Western ideals are enforced and the spread of Western culture erodes local cultures.

What is Hybridization Theory?

A theory that globalization leads to a blending of cultures rather than cultural dominance, integrating different cultural elements.

What is interpersonal communication?

An exchange of information between 2 or more people with verbal & nonverbal communication.

What is Interaction Adaptation Theory?

A theory that examines how we adjust our communication based on others’ behaviors.

What is Interpersonal needs theory?

Explains how we use communication to fulfill our basic interpersonal needs, including the needs for inclusion, control and affection.

What is Uncertainty Reduction Theory?

A theory that outlines how we dislike uncertainty and try to prepare to avoid/minimise it.

What are the strategies for reducing uncertainty?

Passive, Active, Interactive, Extractive.

What is Communication Privacy Management Theory?

Explains how people manage private information /boundaries between themselves & others.

How does technology affect social interaction?

Transforming how we communicate, creating instant communication, affecting non-verbal cues, and providing anonymity and constant accessibility.

What is Social presence theory?

Focuses on how tech affects degree of “presence” felt in communication, and how we represent ourselves online.

What is Media Richness Theory?

An understanding that communication channels differ in amount of info they can convey.

What is a group?

People working towards a goal whose work is coordinated by someone else.

What is a team?

People working towards a common goal who coordinate their work amongst themselves.

What are Tuckman's Stages of Group Development?

Forming, Storming, Norming, Performing, Adjourning.

What are Benne & Sheats's Group Roles?

Task roles, Building & maintenance roles, Self-centered roles.

What is group think?

Mode of thinking where desire for unanimity in a group overrides motivation to realistically assess alternative actions.

What is power structure?

Power structures almost always exist in some capacity in group dynamics.

What is structuration theory?

Explores relationship between individuals' actions (agency) and social structures in which they operate.

What are the three Lewin Styles of leadership?

Authoritarian, laissez-faire, and democratic are the three styles of leadership.

What are the classical organizational theories?

Weber’s Bureaucracy, Taylor’s Scientific Management.

What are the Human Relations Approach Theories?

Mayo’s Hawthorne Studies, Barnard’s Functions of the Executive.

What are the Contemporary Approach Theories?

Open Systems Theory, CCO, Network theory, Power and critical approaches, sensemaking.

What are the three levels of organizational culture according to Schein?

Artifacts, espoused values, and basic underlying assumptions.

What are structural barriers?

Rigid hierarchy (top-down), Silos, Information overload, Slow decision-making.

What are the two main sources of power?

Position (structural) & Personal (social).

What are Stakeholders?

Stakeholders have different communication needs and are internal or external.

What is Mass communication

Mass communication is the industrialized production and multiple distribution of messages through technological devices.

What does Media Convergence refer to?

Media convergence refers to the blending and integration of different media platforms, technologies, and content into a unified experience.

Who controls the media industries?

Those who have concentration of ownership (conglomerates, monopolies, public vs. private media).

Who the audience segmentation and targeting?

Demographics, Psychographics, Behaviour, Lifestyle, Customer personas.

What financing methods are there for new productions?

Loans and investments are financing methods for new productions.

What is Media Regulation?

Laws and guidelines that affect how media companies produce, distribute, and exhibit content.

What is freedom of press?

Freedom of the press isn’t always absolute.

What is copyright?

Legal protection of a creator's rights to their work.

What is the role of mass media?

The mass media presents culture as doing 3 things: 1. Identify & discuss codes of acceptable behaviour (norms) in society 2. Learn what and who counts in our world and why 3. Determine what others think of us and what people “like us” think of others.

Can you name of the principles of media literacy?

he Media Construct Our Individual Realities, The Media Are Influenced by Industrial Pressures, The Media Are Influenced by Political Pressures, The Media Are Influenced by Format,Audiences Are Active Recipients of the Media, The Media Tell Us About Who We Are as a Society.

What is C.R.A.A.P?

Credibility, Relevancy, Authority, Accuracy, and Purpose

What is agenda setting?

the notion that the media create “the ideas in our heads” about what is going on in the world.

What is Critical theory (Frankfurt School)?

Marxist view of capitalism with a powerful move of “the culture industry” to move audience members toward ways of looking at the world.