Communication Theory

1. In what ways does knowledge of Tannen's theory make us better or worse communicators? Make sure your answer includes examples from real life and identifies specific communication encounters that Tannen discusses in her theory (e.g., report v. rapport talk, etc.).  Deborah Tannen developed genderlect styles of communication in the 1990s. Genderlect is “a term suggesting that masculine and feminine styles of discourse are best viewed as two distinct cultural dialects” (Griffin, p. 385). Tannen’s theory describes how men and women communicate differently, depending on the circumstances, such as when they are listening, telling a story, or when there is conflict. In my own experiences, I have seen this play out massively. I will give people those nonverbal cues — I will smile or nod, give noises of agreement (typically a mhm or an uh-huh ), all just to show I am listening and am paying attention. When I am talking to others and I do not get those nonverbal cues, I assume they are...

1. How would you describe your own television viewing habits – which typology typically describes your television viewing habits? How does the “typology” meet a particular need of Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs? On a typical day, I don't usually watch a lot of television. But when I do, I watch it with friends. My roommates and I will put on a show (usually an anime) and watch it while we all work on homework. With my boyfriend, we watch different Star Wars  shows (like The Mandalorian  or  Book of Boba Fett ) and his favorite, Letterkenny .  The typology, or "a  classification scheme that attempts to sort a large number of specific instances into a more manageable set of categories,"  I would use to describe my television viewing habits is passing time  and companionship  (Griffin, p. 350). When my roommates and I put on a show, we are using it mostly as a distraction or background noise while we complete homework; hence, passing time. But, we are a...

1. Consider McLuhan’s claim, “the medium is the message.” How does the medium impact the content and meaning of the advertisement’s message? For instance, do you think your response to the message varies from one medium to the other? If so, how and why? What implications do you think your responses have for producers of persuasive messages and for your own role as a receiver of a message?  Marshall McLuhan thought of the study of thought, media ecology . Media ecology refers to the study of media, technology, and communication and how each affects human environments (Griffin, p. 310). Within media ecology is McLuhan’s most famous quote: “ The medium is the message .” This means that “media—regardless of content—reshape human experience and exert far more change in our world than the sum total of the messages they contain” (Griffin, p. 310). The medium , “a specific type of media; for example, a book, newspaper, radio, television, telephone, film, website, or email,” affects the mes...

Apple iPhone 13 Advertisement 1 . A core assumption of social judgment theory is that your attitudinal anchor influences how you evaluate a persuasive message. Use the advertisement you selected to answer these questions: Who has high ego involvement in terms of this ad and who has low-ego involvement? How does ego-involvement impact the “contrasting” and “assimilation” of a person’s attitudinal anchor? Social Judgment Theory (SJT) is a cognitive theory that examines how persuasive messages are processed based on how involved people are in those messages. A part of this theory is something called ego-involvement , which basically means “how central an issue is in our lives” (Griffin, p. 172). If someone cares about an issue (or product), they will have a higher ego-involvement.  In this iPhone 13 advertisement, someone would have a high ego-involvement if they like using Apple products. If someone doesn’t like Apple, they would have a lower ego-involvement. Furthermore, their leve...

2. Compare the approach to relational communication championed by Baxter and Montgomery with either social penetration theory or uncertainty reduction theory (e.g., identify an axiom). How would you assess the insights and value of each theory? Use a real-life example to support your answer. Uncertainty reduction theory (URT) is the idea that people will try to reduce uncertainty around new people through different ways, such as verbal communication, similarity, etc. (Griffin, p. 105). Baxter and Montgomery thought of an approach to relational communication which they dubbed Relational Dialectics Theory ( RDT). RDT “is about struggle between discourses, and these unceasing struggles are ‘located in the relationship between parties, produced and reproduced through the parties’ joint communicative activity’” (Griffin, p. 132). The main difference between these two theories is that URT is a more internal struggle, whereas RDT is between two people, so it is more external.  One of th...

  1. Think back on your initial encounters with a roommate, romantic partner, or friend. Now, select two axioms to explain your encounter – What strategies were employed to reduce uncertainty? Were there elements about the individual or the context of your meeting that motivated your quest to reduce uncertainty?   My boyfriend, Hunter, and I met online, in a group chat for incoming freshmen at Fredonia. At first, all of our interactions were made through that group chat, before he privately messaged me one day. We instantly hit it off, and we texted each other every day. He decided to make the drive to see me (we lived about an hour and a half away from each other before we both went to Fredonia). Soon after that, we started dating.  There are two axioms of the Uncertainty Reduction Theory that explain how we met and how we were able to reduce uncertainty. URT is a theory that states “when strangers meet, their primary concern is reducing uncertainty, or increasing pred...