COM 101 Chaps 1-3

WEEK 1

• Aristotle+Plato’s opinions on comms
  • ==Aristotle’s 3 proofs==
  • Ethos- a person’s character
  • logos- arguments/logic
  • pathos- appeal to emotions
  • mythos
  • ==aristotle’s model of comms==
  • 
• Need examples and enthymemes to express an argument acc to Aristotle
  • ==Enthymemes-syllogism w a suppressed premise (only one premise+conclusion)==
  • ==Syllogisms- part of deductive reasoning==
  • ==Major premise==
  • ==Minor premise==
  • ==Logical conwitt==
  • ==^3 step process to prove cases==
• ==Forefather of comms==
  • ==Harold Lasswell (1902-1978)==
  • Research in prop. During WW1
  • Invented content analysis rm to measure comms
  • ==Paul Lazarsfeld (1901-1976)==
  • pioneered market research
  • initiated media effects tradition >dominant paradigm in mass comm research
  • ==Kurt Lewin (1890-1947)==
  • field theory still referred to widely in comms research
  • interpersonal and grp comms influencer
  • ==Carl Hovland (1912-1961)==
  • Sleeper effect (you agree more with someone than you disagree with them)
  • You will remember more about what you agree with than what you disagreed w
  • dyadic communication
  • ==Wilbur Schramm (1907-1987)==
  • Father of mass communication
  • schramm spoke w a stutter and sought to understand why
  • named head of journalism in 1943
  • started the first mass comm doctoral program in a J-school, created a gen model for comms study in unis

WEEK 2

• ==communication==: the process by which info is exchanged among 2 or more systems that exist within a common environment- Brian Reynolds
• interpersonal comm: comm btwn individuals focusing on relational processes
• intrapersonal comm: comm with oneself
• nonverbal communication: communication without the use of words
• mass comm: comm using tech as a medium to communicate to a large audience
• international comm: comm among nations, regional entities, and international orgs
• intercultural communication: communication that occurs in interactions between people who are culturally different, understanding how different ppl communicate and act differently
• group communication: comm which occurs in groups, looking at characteristics such as collaboration, cohesion, structure, identity, and decisions making in small scale and large scale contexts
• organizational communication: comm in and by an organization. an org is a structured collection of interdependent members with a common interest, working together to achieve goals
• model: abstract representation of a general set of elements of a phenomenon, showing the relationship of those elements and clarifying their details in context
• uses of a model
  • explain: explain the relationship btwn the elements
  • predict: understand directionality of changes w/in and btwn elements
  • control: one can potentially control the elements
• ==Linear Model of Communication==
  • ==Sender==: person who communicates the message
  • ==message==: set of info or symbols produced by sender to which meaning can be attributed
  • ==channel==: the means via which we send a message (eg- video call, cell phones, TV)
  • ==receiver==: the recipient of the message
  • 
• ==Interactive Model of communication==
  • ==Encoding==: process of creating meaning into a specific form of a message
  • ==decoding==: process of extracting meaning from a message
  • ==feedback==: response to a message
  • ==noise==: interrupters in the environment of the message
  • physical/external- literally physical noise
  • psychological/internal- might affect one of the senses which will impact ability of message to be sent and received
  • semantic/social- using words known by fewer ppl
  • 
• ==Transactional model of communication==
  • ==mutual influence==: ongoing and active contribution/influence of all parties in the communication process
  • ==transactional==: simultaneous and mutually influential process of encoding and decoding messages
  • ==communicator==: the sender/encoder and receiver/decoder in the communication process
  • 
• ==Lasswell’s model==
  • Context: productive process of communication effects
  • who → says what→ in which channel→ to whom→ w what effect
  • 
• ==Shannon-Weaver model==
  • Mediated Communication
  • Context: communication w others via a device or tech
  • info source: communicator originating the message
  • message: the info sent directly by the source
  • transmitter: the device sending the message
  • signal: the form in which the message is sent via the device
  • noise source: interference w message transmission
  • received signal: the device receiving the message
  • received message: what is actually produced by the receiving device after receiving the signal
  • destination: indivi who is the target of the mediated message
  • 
• ==Gerbner’s Model==
  • Context: journalism- describes the process of observation and communication of observed events: perception and representation
  • Perceptual dimension
  • E- event that is perceived by a person
  • M- person
  • E1- perception of the event through objective and subjective interpretation
  • Means and control dimension
  • S- form: availability of channels of the source; particular characteristics of chosen channel(s); skill of message source using chosen channel (s)
  • E- content: info abt the event
  • SE- statement construct by source abt the event
  • lower horizontal arm
  • M2- destination: a decoder (audience) interprets the info received via the channel used by the source (M)
  • SE1- perceptual filtering in the decoding process generated an interpretation of event
  • 
• ==Berlo’s SMCR model==
  • Context: complexity to achieve fidelity (accuracy) in comm
  • interdependent components w/in basic linear elements
  • Source
  • communication skills: skill of the invid to communicate
  • attitudes: attitude towards audience, subject and oneself
  • knowledge: communicator needs to be knowledgeable in the subject
  • social systems: values, beliefs, culture, and a gen understanding of society
  • culture: also comes under social systems
  • message
  • content: body of the message
  • elements: non verbal cues
  • treatment: the accuracy of the message being conveyed
  • structure: how the message is arranged
  • code: the form and means in which it was conveyed (eg- body language, gestures etc)
  • 
• ==Westley-Maclean model==
  • Context: journalism
  • A- reporter (observer)
  • C- editor (gatekeeper)
  • B- audience (receiver)
  • f- feedback
  • X^1- message
  • X^11-modified message
  • X1- info
  • 
• ==the convergence model==
  • Lawrence Kincaid (1979)
  • Context: Processual communication- change in communicators’ relationships, the understanding of each other, and continuing communication together over time. focuses on global tendencies in comm exchanges
  • “and then…”- any comm interaction is based upon what has come before and is part of a larger system and is part of a layer system of communication
  • A+B: communicators who interact in cyclical patterns of information sharing (I1)
  • each interaction represents a transaction in which participants express and interpret information
  • 

Week 3

• ==Perception==- the process by which we make sense of the world around us
• Using senses to acquire info abt the surrounding environment to situation
• Active perception- your mind selects, organizes, and interprets that which you sense
  • Physiological process-receiving info through our senses of sight, hearing, touch, taste, smell
  • Cognitive- the sorting, organizing, and interpreting of our senses
• Subjective perception- uniquely constructed meaning attributed to sensed stimuli
  • Psychological influence-own mental outlook shapes our own thought processes, character, and experience
  • Social influence- communication interaction of and with others
• Our communication should exist before any perceived reality
• our perception creates the world which requires comm
• comms is based on perception not on reality
• Perception process
  • Selection
  • How we choose which sensory info to process
  • Organization
  • How we arrange or order that info
  • Interpretation
  • How we attach meaning to that perception
• Selection process
  • frequency: things that occur repeatedly
  • contrast: things that stand out in some manner
  • intensity: things are particularly strong or extreme versions of a phenomenon
  • novel: things that are new to us
  • Other influences
  • Own individual characteristics- past experiences, socialization, knowledge and social roles
  • Social factors- social media, mass media
  • Consciously focusing on stimuli- narrow focus on an item
  • errors in selection
  • omission: inaccurate perception of events due to not selecting an important piece of information for processing
  • distortion: the incorrect prioritizing of what info is essential or imp
  • oversimplification: selection of unnecessarily significant info for a superficial or oversimplified understanding of something
• Organization process
  • ==cognitive schemata==: mental framework that are applied when organizing information about a situation, event, person etc
  • established through experience, socialization, familiarity, and biological ‘hard wiring’
  • types of schema
  • personal constructs
    • physical constructs: how ppl are organized according to their physical attributes
    • role constructs: ppl are organized based on their social role and position
    • interactional constructs: ppl are organized based on their social and interactional qualities
    • psychological constructs: ppl are organized based on their disposition or personality traits
  • ==prototype==: idealized representation that is most representative of a category and its qualities
  • scripts: a cognitive framework for an event or action
    • chronological or sequential to anticipate future/ongoing events or actions
    • series of events and linked responses
    • govern our behaviour is familiar occurrences
  • figure and ground
  • figure- the focal point
  • ground- the bg against which your focused attention occurs
  • closure
  • tendency to fill in missing info to complete your perceptive understanding
  • proximity
  • the principle that items physically close to each other will be perceived as a unit or whole
  • similarity
  • elements grouped together bc they share attributes like size, colour, or shape
• Interpretation
  • subjective interpretation of associations of meaning we have learned for numerous stimuli as part of our culture, socialization, and past experiences
  • attributions and context-
  • context- perceived rules, norms, and principles that govern our behaviour in the short and long term, in familiar and unfamiliar settings
  • attributions- assigning cause to behaviour
    • internal- external locus of control; cause of behaviours is w/in the person or beyond their control- eg. failed an exam due to bad study habits or exam is too difficult
    • stability- short or long-term behaviour- eg. failed an exam due to tiredness or dyslexia
    • control- ability to exercise control over his/her actions- eg. failed an exam bc went to an all-night party the night before
  • tendencies in perception
  • self-serving bias- judge ourselves more tolerantly than we judge other by overemphasizing situational explanations for our own actions
  • fundamental attribution error- tendency to assume the cause of the behaviour is with the person
  • out-group homogeneity- tendency to view out-grp member as more alike than in-grp members
  • persistence of first impressions- we tend to send out, infer, or assume evidence that confirms our initial reads