a. Human message systems, focusing particularly on the way in which human beings create, exchange, and are affected by messages. 2. Know the Department of Communication’s four areas of research expertise. a. Interpersonal communication: how do individuals exchange messages interpersonally and what are the consequences of language and nonverbal communication for social relationships? b. Mass communication: what is the content of mass mediated messages, how do they influence their recipients, and how does media policy shape this process? c. Health Communication: what are the consequences of messages for health behaviors, and how can more effective communication practices lead to a more healthy populace? d. Social Influence: how do messages influence (or fail to influence) people to change their attitudes, beliefs, a behaviors?
Careers in Communication (pp. A-4 – A-6)
1. Know the general skills a communication degree from the University of Arizona is designed to provide. a. Students who can speak and write clearly and effectively, who are able to do research to understand more about the world around them, critical consumers of information, critical thinkers. 2. Know the career options popular among communication graduates. a. Education (teacher/professor)
b. Social and Human Services (social workers, counselors)
c. Business (business leaders look for communication skills in workers) d. International relations and negotiations
e. Law
f. Health Careers (teaching communication skills to health professionals, or large-scale health campaigns) g. Government/politics (political consultants or speech writes) h. Public relations (manage the public image of an org.)
i. Advertising (marketing)
j. Electronic media/radio television/ broadcasting
k. High Technology industries
Human Communication, Chapter 1: The Process of Human Communication 1. Know the variables that make up the human communication model on p. 9. a. Communicator 1 & 2. Send message across the channel which at another point can be interrupted by interference. 2. Know the four types of messages discussed in the human communication model. a. Verbal messages: spoken communication that uses one or more words i. Intentional verbal, unintentional verbal(things we say without meaning to) b. Intentional and unintentional nonverbal
i. Facial expression, posture, tone of voice, etc.
3. Know the difference between verbal and nonverbal messages. a. Verbal message: spoken communication using one or more words b. Nonverbal: facial expression, posture, tone of voice, etc. 4. Know the definition of interference/noise and the two kinds identified. a. Anything that distorts the information transmitted to the receiver or distracts him or her from receiving it i. Technical interference: factors that cause the receiver to perceive distortion in the intended information or stimuli ii. Semantic interference: the receiver does not attribute the same meaning ot the signal the sender does 5. Know the seven contexts of communication.
a. Interpersonal (most basic unit of communication)
b. Intercultural (b/w two cultures)
c. Interviewing (questions and answers)
d. Small group (three or more members of group)
e. Public communication (formal, public speaking)
f. Organizational communication (i.e. hospitals, churches, governments) g. Mass communication (most formal, mediated, through some print or electronic medium) 6. Know the five outcomes of effective communication.
a. Understanding
b. Pleasure (sense of mutual well-being)
c. Attitude influence
d. Improved relationships
e. Action (on the part of the receiver)
Boxing Plato’s Shadow, Introduction: Studying Communication 1. Know how Robert Gunderson described communication scholars. a. A discipline of refugees: many scholars began careers intending to be something else 2. Know how much time the average person spends communicating. a. 75% of average person’s day involves some form of communication
Boxing Plato’s Shadow, Chapter 1: The Beginning of Communication Study 1. Know Athens’ two important innovations.
a. Adversary system: two fighting parties let third party serve as judge, later formalized into court system b. Democracy: citizens made decisions by majority vote
2. Know why a market for skilled speakers developed in Athens. a. Athenian courts: citizens required to advocate for themselves in order to have an advantage and to win court cases 3. Know the meaning of the term “sophist” and the contributions of the sophists. a. Sophist was a person who studied and taught persuasive public speaking b. Corac brought study of rhetoric, Protagoras probability and idea that there are two sides, gorgias public speeches excite and inspire,hippias speakers must be broadly knowledgable to answer all questions, Isocrates brought more rhetoric, they all brought major advance sin greek thought 4. Know the attitudes of Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle towards rhetoric. a. Socrates didn’t trust men who tried to persuade one another, liked intimate communicaton b. Plato opposed democracy like Socrates,thought sophists were harmful, c. Aristotle: he thought that persuasion and advocacy were valid decision making tools. Certainty not attainable in all areas of life. 5. Know the meaning behind the title “Boxing Plato’s Shadow.” a. To explain or defend the communication discipline, fight an opponent that isn’t really there
Boxing Plato’s Shadow, Chapter 2: Communication Study from Aristotle’s Time to the Twentieth Century 1. Know the role of Alexander the Great in preserving ancient knowledge about rhetoric. a. During conquering, he carried with him library of writing from SPA and sophists. He wanted library with all the works and them translated into Arabic to teach the whole empire. Writings preserved in his library. 2. Know where Aristotle’s writings were preserved during the period when they were lost to Europe. a. Europes decline, islam took hold, acquired whatever knowledge they could, used library at Alexandria. Moors ncaded spain and established great library, copies of works at Alexandria. Bishop of toldeo ordered books in Toledo library be preserved and translated into latin, and then sent to Christian universities all over Europe. 3. Know how Aristotle’s writings and other ancient knowledge returned to Europe. a. Look above!
4. Know how humanism, the renaissance and the printing press influenced the understanding of communication. a. Humanism sought to fully understand, develop, and celebrate human nature and potential. Renaissance: ramus and followers narrowed scope of rhetoric, and scholars gave communication and language a central role in constructing the social world. Printing press gave birth to mass communication. 5. Know why there was renewed study and interest in rhetoric in the 19th century. a. George Campbell rhetoric can be used to express ideas and create moods b. Hugh blair: emotion drives action, artistic aspects of communicatin c. Richard whitely, use of reason in persuasion, logic a tool 6. Know the meaning of elocution and its significance.
a. Presenting oneself properly
b. Proper pronunciation, correct posture, etv.
c. Being able to present ideas properly
Boxing Plato’s Shadow, Chapter 3: Humanistic Study of Communication in the Twentieth Century 1. Know the two criteria that emerged during the 19th century for determining whether an area of study was a discipline. a. Content must represent a substantial and discrete subject area that is not covered by any other discipline b. Discipline must have methodology of its own—systematic methods for developing new knowledge about this subject 2. Know the early challenges faced by communication as it struggled to be recognized as a modern academic discipline. a. Subject matter overlapped, lacked methodology
b. Had a questionable reputation thanks to plato. Doubts about its relationship to the pursuit of truth. 3. Know the five important contributions of Neo-Aristotelian scholarship to contemporary communication study. a. Public speaking continues to be a very popular communication course in American colleges and universities b. Rhetorical criticism remains a significant area of scholarly activity c. Argumentation and debate continue to thrive as both research and instructional activities. d. The ancient sophists idea of arête, which view the purpose of education as helping students build the skilles necessary for useful life, still guifes decisions about communication curricula. e. The intellectual foundation for many contemporary theories of persuasion and social influence can be traced in aristotleian concepts, definitions, and principles of rhetoric.
Boxing Plato’s Shadow, Chapter 4: The Emerging Social Science of Communication Study 1. Know how social scientists gain knowledge.
a. Descriptive not prescriptive,
b. Ask questions, observe, and construct theories to answer the questions c. Theory building and testing
2. Know the difference between quantitative and qualitative research methods. a. Quantitative translate human behavior into numerical terms, draw conclusions about people in general b. Qualitative examines words and meaning in order to gain a deep understanding of people in context 3. Know how events of the 20th century affected the study of communication. a. 20s and 30s = propaganda (mass political communication)
b. Shift from Europe to America after ww1
c. Chicago researchers concerned with studying social issues and improving society d. World war II to influence public and train servicemen
Boxing Plato’s Shadow, Chapter 5: Communication Study Today and Tomorrow 1. Know the challenges facing social scientific and humanist scholars. a. Messier, measuring human beings is complex
b. Social science is naturally imprecise, phenomena is abstract c. Humanist , truth is not fixed
d. Achieving what constitutes knowledge and what constitutes scholarship 2. Know the primary purposes of communication study.
a. Presenting oneself and subject well
b. Practical solutions to social problems
c. Improve societies by evaluating institutions, structures, and communication processes. 3. Know appropriate methods in communication study.
a. Social scientists= true reality exists and that knowledge can only be achieved through scientific methods b. Postmodern theorists: cultures and societies made up of social realities that cant be evaluated with physical sciences. Try to find something wrong with. Rhetoric is usefule but of lesser value than scholarly research. c. Postmodern evaluate social reality systes, expose ethical flaws, propose ways to improve. d. Social scientists are against postmodern
Human Communication, Chapter 7: Ethics and Communication
1. Know the definition of ethics.
a. The study of the general nature of morals and of the specific moral choices to be made by a person. 2. Know the defining characteristics of the four principles of ethical communication. a. The golden mean: virtue is the man, the middle path between excess and deficiency. b. The categorical imperative: a command or obligation to act that is absolute, with no exceptions or conditions c. Utilitarianism: the greatest happiness for the greatest number d. Justice and the Veil of Ignorance: free ourselves of bias/self-interest due to our social position, education, etc. 3. Know the definition of plagiarism.
a. Using or presenting ideas as your own without acknowledgement or permission. 4. Know the definition of paraphrasing.
a. Using your own words to express or restate some elses words or ideas. 5. Know the definition of whistleblowing.
a. A member of a group makes a charge about the violation of ethical standards or norms within that group itself (i.e. doctor accusing chief surgeon of mispractice) 6. Know the definition of a leak.
a. Previously unknown info is made known to other but the source remains anonymous (unlike whistleblowing)
Human Communication, Chapter 13: Public Communication
1. Know the meaning of source credibility.
a. Willingness to believe what a person says and does. Most important influence on our judgment of the speaker. 2. Know and define the three dimensions of ethos.
a. Credibility is not a constant, each persons perception varies b. May vary from one situation to another doctor being credible but not as politician c. Dynamism: how forceful active a speaker seems to be.
3. Know the meaning of extrinsic and intrinsic credibility. a. Extrinsic: credibility a source is thought to have prior to the time he or she delivers the message b. Intrinsic: image that a speaker creates as a direct resultof his or her speech 4. Know the four modes of speech delivery.
a. Visual cues, eye contact
b. Vocal cues: volume, rate and fluency, pitch, quality
c. Modes of delivery: amount of preparation and type of presentation a speaker employs d. The sleeper effect: influence greatest right after speech is delivered, it slowly looses ground and othe side gains points. Good to remind ppl of previous message. 5. Know the various materials of support for a speech.
a. Examples
b. Statistics
c. Quotations
d. analogies
6. Know the difference between an assimilation effect and a contrast effect. a. Assimilation: the listener tends to accept the change in attitude urged by the speaker b. Speaker tends to see message more discrepant with viewpoint than it actually is so speaker elicits a negative reaction on the part of the listener 7. Know the difference between the primacy effect and the recency effect. a. Primary effect: first communication is remember somewhat better than the second (presented together, measured a week later) b. Recency effect: second message is remember somewhat better than the first (long delay b/w speakers and measured right after second speaker)
What is Political Communication? (pp. A-18 – A-19)
1. Know what distinguishes the study of political communication from political science. a. Political communication= communication processes that allow people to engage in political activity. It differs from political science because of its explicit focus on messages. 2. Know the three general categories of research in political communication. a. Various ways these three interact:
i. Political discourse: communication from those within political system ii. Media: how political discourse reached public
iii. The public: motivating factor for many of the patterns that exist in political discourse and media content What is Public Opinion? (p. A-19 – A-20)
1. Know the meaning of vox populi.
a. The voice of the people
2. Know what tool is often used by those interested in determining the “effects” of message content, source credibility, or the channels by which information is disseminated. a. They often use survey research to determine such effects
