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Class Exercise: Symbolic Interaction TheoryCipher in the Snow Attached is a short story by Jean Mizer entitled “Cipher in the Snow”. Please read the story then analyze it using concepts from Mead’s Symbolic Interaction Theory. Specifically:
Looking Glass Self: What
do you suppose the boy saw when he “looked in the mirror”? Why do you think he perceived himself in that way?
Pygmalion Effect: Do you see the Pygmalion effect working in this story? How? How did it affect the boy’s behavior/self concept? How did it affect his communication with others?
Particular Others: Who were the boy’s particular others? How do you think they affected his sense of self?
Generalized Others: Who were the boy’s generalized others? How do you think they affected his sense of self?
Self Fulfilling Prophecy: Was a self fulfilling prophecy operating in this story? What was it? How do you think it occurred?
General
Questions
1. Generally speaking, how do you think Mead’s concepts of Mind, Self, and Society operated to “cause” this young man’s death?
2. Do you think Mead’s Symbolic Interaction Theory provides a good theoretical framework for understanding what happened in this story? Why or why not
?
3. Can you think of an example from your own life where Symbolic Interaction Theory was at work?
2)
The Coordinated Management of MeaningA Hypothetical Negotiation Between Two Business Executives Directions: Below is a hypothetical negotiation between two business executives. Read the negotiation and then answer the questions which follow.
Business Executive #1:
Sam from the United States
Business Executive #2: Yoshio from Japan
Sam’s Perspective: This is a business negotiation. During a business negotiation it is appropriate to state one’s business, make offers and counter offers, use negotiation tactics to gain as much as possible, and then return home. Topics of conversation such as families, hobbies, religion, or politics are inappropriate. Brief inquiries about family or short discussions about sports can be used as small talk to break the ice, but the goal is to get down to business right away. Sam has been away from home for over a week and is eager to get back to her family.
Yoshio’s Perspective: This is a business negotiation. Business transactions are an extension of one’s social and family life. One would not do business with strangers. Therefore, a lot of time must be spent developing relationships before negotiating any business contracts.
Here is the Conversation:Sam: It is very nice to meet you. Shall we get down to business?
Yoshio: Fine. I thought we might go to dinner tonight, then to the Kabuki tomorrow. I want to show you my country because it is your first visit to Japan.
After several days of social activities, Sam is growing increasingly impatient. Yoshio is feeling rushed by Sam’s insistence on discussing the contract. They begin contract talks.
This is the conversation:Sam: This is my last price. Take it or leave it! I have to be back at my desk on Monday and this is the best I can do.
Yoshio: I know you are trying to give us a good price for our products.
Sam: It’s a deal, then…?
Yoshio: (long silence…)…
Sam: Fine. I’ll have my people draw up the papers for your approval. We’ll meet here again tomorrow.
Yoshio: Yes, I’ll see you tomorrow…
Sam’s Interpretation: Fabulous! They agreed to all our terms! The Japanese are easier to negotiate with than I thought. I’ll be on a plane home by noon tomorrow!
Yoshio’s Interpretation: How rude Americans are!! I can see we have our work cut out for us if we are ever going to agree on a contract. To threaten us with words like, “take it or leave it”! And, how uncivilized to refuse our hospitality! Tomorrow will be a very long day!
Discussion Questions: Did Sam and Yoshio coordinate meaning? Not coordinate meaning? Partially coordinate meaning? What was the context for the communication? What were the rules for this context? For Sam? For Yoshio? Let’s look at the speech act “Take it or Leave it!” What were the constitutive (definition) rules operating? Did they agree? What were the regulative (behavior) rules operating? Did they agree? Let’s look at the hierarchy of meaning. How were each of the negotiators creating meaning? Content? Speech Acts? Contract? Episodes? Life scripts? Cultural patterns? How can an understanding of the Coordinated Management of Meaning prevent a misunderstanding like this one from happening in your life? 3) Part I: Multiple Choice (worth 1 point each) Directions: Below are 30 multiple choice questions. Please indicate the best answer from the selections given. 1. One of the issues to consider in defining communication is intentionality. Which of the following best exemplifies the belief that communication must be intentional? a. communication is goal-oriented behaviorb. communication is any interpretation of meaningc. communication is the perception of powerd. communication is a means by which truth is established 2. Having a conversation with someone over walkie-talkies is an example of which model of the communication process? a. linearb. interactionalc. transactionald. Information transfer 3. Communication is considered transactional when a. a person waits to hear feedback after sending a messageb. the people communicating send and receive messages simultaneouslyc. one person is responsible for sending the message; the other person is responsible for understanding the messaged. each element of the communication process is not connected to the others 4. Selecting the word rage to label your feeling of anger is a process known as a. feedbackb. decodingc. encodingd. semantics 5. I define communication as “the social process of creating meaning.” Based on my definition of communication, which of the following theoretical questions is most likely to interest me? a. does increasing the strength of the arguments in a message lead to an increase in that message’s persuasiveness?b. what are the communication strategies people use to defend themselves when someone is insulting them?c. how do communicators reduce apprehension when they meet someone for the first time?d. how do lovers co-create meaning within their relationships? 6. Littlejohn defines a theory as “any conceptual representation or explanation of a phenomenon.” Based on our class discussion, why is it important to notice the word “OR” in this definition? a. it narrows the definition by making it too inclusiveb. it broadens the definition by including many approaches to theoryc. it strengthens the definition by making anything a theoryd. all of the abovee. none of the above 7. The ultimate goal of communication theory development is to produce an accumulating body of reliable knowledge enabling us to a. predict, explain, and control communication behaviorb. explain, predict, and manipulate communication behaviorc. predict, understand, manipulate communication behaviord. explain, manipulate, dominate communication behavior 8. A theorist wonders, “What are the communication strategies people use to end relationships?” In which goal of theory is the theorist primarily interested? a. understandingb. explanationc. predictiond. control 9. How do the concepts and theories people use in their everyday lives differ from what communication theorists try to do? a. theorists’ concepts are more abstract; everyday concepts are more concreteb. everyday concepts are more abstract; theorists’ concepts are more concretec. theorists try not to generalize because they want to explain specific communication behaviord. everyday theories are falsifiable (i.e., can be found to be incorrect), academic theories are not 10. Conclusions drawn from metatheoretical discussions determine a. what communication phenomenon the theorist observesb. how the theorist should observe the phenomenonc. what perspective on communication (laws, rules, systems. Rhetoric, etc.) the theorist will taked. all of the abovee. none of the above 11. “Communication is a social endeavor” is a(n) assumption a. ontologicalb. epistemologicalc. axiologicald. none of the above 12. A theorist who asks, “Should I develop a theory that will change society’s view of gay marriage?” is asking him/herself a question that pertains to the area of a. ontologyb. epistemologyc. axiologyd. phenology 13. According to class discussion, we have so many different communication theories because a. communication scholars hold different metatheoretical assumptionsb. communication scholars define communication in many different waysc. communication scholars adhere to different assumptions that guide ways of knowing or discovering the worldd. all of the abovee. none of the above 14. A communication scholar who uses the covering laws approach is essentially trying to uncover a. the social norms that influence our communication behaviorsb. cause and effect relationships between communication variablesc. why certain people achieve success in communication and others do notd. cognitive schemata people use to interpret events 15. As classroom size increases, level of student participation decreases. This hypothesis is an example of a a. a contextual lawb. a reliable lawc. a positivistic lawd. a probabilistic law 16. Communication rules tell us a. whether a problem is historical or psychologicalb. the difference between encoding and decodingc. what behavior will result under a given set of circumstancesd. what kinds of behavior are appropriate in a given context or relationship 17. Which type of data would a rules perspective theorist be most happy analyzing? a. responses to paper and pencil tests or surveysb. actual dialogue from two people in conversationc. responses to yes/no questions answered over the phoned. frequency data from polling people individually 18. The following are possible explanations for the amount of distance between two people when they are speaking to one another. Which of the following best represents a rules approach? a. if you violate an individual’s personal space they will feel threatenedb. people who want others to like them should use the distance between them to show how they feelc. if you violate an individual’s personal space, he or she will move away from youd. Our reaction to someone violating our space is the end result of being confronted with negative stimuli. 19. Sophia wants to answer the theoretical question, “Is birth order is related to communication apprehension?” She asks students who have one or more siblings to complete a survey that measures a person’s level of apprehension. Which paradigm is influencing Martha’s choice of research methods? a. empiricism (i.e., she’s a social scientist)b. humanism (i.e., she’s a humanist)c. the systems perspectived. the rules perspective 20. True or False? Systems theorists believe you can study a part of the communication process (e.g., the sender of the message) in order to fully understand how communication functions in the real world. a. trueb. false 21. True or False? The property of a system known as calibration is the system’s ability to achieve the same goals through different methods or means. a. trueb. false 22. Rhetoricians who want to “put things into an intelligible frame” have which of the goals of theory as their primary goal of theory building? a. understandingb. predictionc. controld. all of the abovee. none of the above 23. Theories about communication phenomena a. include definitions of conceptsb. may include explanations about the relationships between and among conceptsc. concern abstract ideasd. all of the abovee. none of the above 24. Imagine, for a moment, two different images: Imagine (1) Dr. Hubbard giving a lecture last Wednesday, and imagine (2) the use of “effective instructional techniques”. Which of the following statements BEST distinguishes between these two images? a. image 1 is a concept, image 2 is a concrete event b. image 1 is a concrete event, image 2 is a conceptc. image 1 is a concept, image 2 is a theoryd. image 1 is a building block of theory, image 2 is not 25. All theories must a. contain causal necessityb. contain practical necessityc. be logically consistentd. include hypotheses 26. The statement, “flattery leads to liking” indicates which type of necessity? a. causalb. practicalc. academicd. temporal 27. When you flatter a friend because you want that friend to like you, what kind of necessity is operating in your behavior? a. causalb. practicalc. academicd. temporal 28. A theory which contains only a few simply stated propositions instead of many elaborate propositions is said to be a. heuristicb. parsimoniousc. validd. testable 29. Edwin went to the library to learn more about a particular theory which attempts to explain the types of communication strategies used by women to end long-term relationships. In the process of investigating this theory, he discovered that many research studies had been conducted to “test” the theory. He concludes that the theory is a “good” theory because it passed the evaluation criteria of a. scopeb. parsimonyc. heurismd. validity 30. When you are unable
to see the concepts explained in a theory operating in real life, the theory does not have a. precisionb. scopec. validityd. power Please Continue to Part II on Next Page…. Part II. Ontological, Epistemological, and Axiological Assumptions
Directions: Please complete the table and then answer the questions that follow. (10 points total)
Social Scientist Humanist Ontological Assumptions -What are each of the theorist’s assumptions about how communication functions in the real world? What constitutes communication to each of them? In other words, how would the two types of theorists answer the three ontological questions? (3 points total) Epistemological Assumptions -What counts as knowledge for each of the theorists? – How does each theorist acquire knowledge? In other words, how would the two types of theorists answer the four epistemological questions? (4 points total) Axiological Assumptions -What are the assumptions regarding the role of values in one’s theories and research? In other words, how would the two types of theorists answer the three axiological questions? (3 points total) Questions
1. Given the table you just completed, how do you think the social scientist’s and the humanist’s theories of communication will differ? Specifically comment on (a) how the theorists’ goals of theory will differ, (b) how their explanations will differ, and (c) how they will differ in the methods used to test their theories. (6 points total)
Cipher in the Snow
A True Story
It started with tragedy on a biting cold February morning. I was driving behind the Milford Corners bus as I did most snowy mornings on my way to school. The bus veered and stopped short at the hotel, which it had no business doing, and I was annoyed as I had to come to an unexpected stop. The boy lurched out of the bus, reeled, stumbled, and collapsed on the snow bank at the curb. The bus driver and I reached him at the same moment. The boy’s thin, hollow face was white even against the snow.
“He’s dead,” the driver whispered.
It didn’t register for a minute. I glanced quickly at the scared young faces staring down at us from the school bus. “A doctor! Quick! I’ll phone from the hotel . . .”
“No use, I tell you, he’s dead.” The driver looked down at the boy’s still form. “He never even said he felt bad,” he muttered. “Just tapped me on the shoulder and said, real quiet, ‘I’m sorry. I have to get off at the hotel.’ That’s all. Polite and apologizing like.”
At school the giggling, shuffling morning noise quieted as news went down the halls. I passed a huddle of girls. “Who was it? Who dropped dead on the way to school?” I heard one of them half-whisper.
“Don’t know his name. Some kid from Milford Corners,” was the reply.
It was like that in the faculty room and the principal’s office. “I’d appreciate your going out to tell the parents,” the principal told me. “They haven’t a phone, and anyway, somebody from the school should go there in person. I’ll cover your classes.”
“Why me?” I asked. “Wouldn’t it be better if you did it?”
“I didn’t know the boy,” the principal admitted levelly. “And in last year’s sophomore personalities column I noted that you were listed as his favorite teacher.”
I drove through the snow and cold down the bad canyon road to the Evans’ place and thought about the boy, Cliff Evans. His favorite teacher! I thought. He hasn’t spoken two words to me in two years! I could see him in my mind’s eye all right, sitting back there in the last seat in my afternoon literature class. He came in the room by himself and left by himself. “Cliff Evans,” I muttered to myself, “a boy who never talked.” I thought a minute. “A boy who never smiled. I never saw him smile once.”
The big ranch kitchen was clean and warm. I blurted out my news somehow. Mrs. Evans reached blindly toward a chair. “He never said anything about bein’ ailing.”
His stepfather snorted. “He ain’t said nothin’ about anything since I moved in here.”
Mrs. Evans pushed a pan to the back of the stove and began to untie her apron. “Now hold on,” her husband snapped. “I got to have breakfast before I go to town. Nothin’ we can do now, anyway. If Cliff hadn’t been so dumb, he’d have told us he didn’t feel good.”
After school I sat in the office and stared blankly at the records spread out before me. I was to read the file and write the obituary for the school paper. The almost bare sheets mocked the effort. Cliff Evans, white, never legally adopted by stepfather, five young half-brothers and sisters. These meager strands of information and the list of “D” grades were all the records had to offer.
Cliff Evans had silently come in the school door in the mornings and gone out the school door in the evenings, and that was all. He had never belonged to a club. He had never played on a team. He had never held an office. As far as I could tell, he had never done one happy, noisy kid thing. He had never been anybody at all.
How do you go about making a boy into a zero? The grade-school records showed me. The first and second grade teachers’ annotations read, “Sweet, shy child,” “timid but eager.” Then the third grade note had opened the attack. Some teacher had written in a good, firm hand, “Cliff won’t talk. Uncooperative. Slow learner.” The other academic sheep and followed with “dull,” “slow-witted,” “low I.Q.” They became correct. The boy’s I.Q score in the ninth grade was listed at 83. But his I.Q. in the third grade had been 106. The score didn’t go under 100 until the seventh grade. Even the shy, timid, sweet children have resilience. It takes time to break them.
I stomped to the typewriter and wrote a savage report pointing out what education had done to Cliff Evans. I slapped a copy on the principal’s desk and another in the sad, dog-eared file. I banged the typewriter and slammed the file and crashed the door shut, but I didn’t feel much better. A little boy kept walking after me, a little boy with a peaked, pale face; a skinny body in faded jeans; and big eyes that had looked and searched for a long time and then had become veiled.
I could guess how many times he had been chosen last to play sides in a game, how many whispered child conversations had excluded him, how many times he hadn’t been asked. I could see and hear the faces that said over and over, “You’re nothing, Cliff Evans.”
A child is a believing creature. Cliff undoubtedly believed them. Suddenly it seemed clear to me: When finally there was nothing left at all for Cliff Evans, he collapsed on a snow bank and went away. The doctor might list “heart failure” as the cause of death, but that wouldn’t change my mind.
We couldn’t find ten students in the school who had known Cliff well enough to attend the funeral as his friends. So the student body officers and a committee from the junior class went as a group to the church, being politely sad. I attended the services with them, and sat through it with a lump of cold lead in my chest and a big resolve growing through me.
I’ve never forgotten Cliff Evans nor that resolve. He has been my challenge year after year, class after class. I look for veiled eyes or bodies scrounged into a seat in an alien world. “Look, kids,” I say silently. “I may not do anything else for you this year, but not one of you is going to come out of here as a nobody. I’ll work or fight to the bitter end doing battle with society and the school board, but I won’t have one of you coming out of there thinking himself a zero.”
Most of the time — not always, but most of the time — I’ve succeeded.
~Jean Mizer
