Sociopsychological,Cybernetics and Systems Theories

Kevin Driscoll, Neta Kligler Vilenchik, Li Lu, Ritesh Mehta,Andrew Schrock, Poong Oh, Nan Zhao

Agenda

• Socio-psychological theories- Intro- Andrew: ??- Li: ??• Cybernetics & Systems theories- Intro- ??- ??

Sociology vs. Psychology –Where do they fit in ?

Individual Level of Analysis

Collective Level of analysis

Natural – Sociocultural phenomena occur naturally

Constructed –Sociocultural phenomena are voluntary human constructions

Psychology

Sociology

Sociology –Marxism

Psychology -Psychoanalysis

Source: Levine, 1995

Socio-psychological theories –the individual and the group

• Psychology – Study of human mental functions of behavior + Sociology – Study of human societies = Socio-psychological theories – study the individual as a social being• Seek for the universal mechanisms that govern action• The individual as the primary unit of analysis (however…)• Current focus on cognitive aspect

Source: Littlejohn & Foss, Theories of Human Communication, 9th ed., ch. 3

Branches of Socio-psychological tradition

1. Behavioral theories – how people behave in communication situations (stimulus and response)

2. Cognitive theories – how individuals acquire, store and process information, leading to behavioral outputs

3. Biological theories – how brain structure, neurochemistry and genetic factors explain human behavior

Our socio-psychological readings focus on cognitive Theories, with a move towards emotion and behavior

Source: Littlejohn & Foss, Theories of Human Communication, 9th ed., ch. 3

Bandura: Social Cognitive Theory of Mass Communication

• Bandura – trained as a clinical psychologist, interested in phobias. • People learned by seeing models on TV coping with their phobias • Moved to focus on cognitive learning behavior, opposes behavioral psychologists• Famous for the “Bobo doll” experiment

Social cognitive learning á la Bandura

• People learn behavior from media models, if:-The behavior is socially rewarded (e.g. comments from parents)- They encounter similar situations- They possess self-efficacy – the belief that they are capable of performing the behavior• People as cognitive learners who actively decide whether to learn and perform• With time Bandura moves to a more and more social perspective

Thompson & Fine – Moving to the group / societal level

• Socially shared meaning – how dyads, groups and larger collectives create and utilize interpersonal understanding• Socially shared behavior as a perspective, a collection of ideas• The unit of analysis – the social unit (dyad or group)• Moving from a cognitive focus to a concern with emotion and behavior