A First Look At Communication Theory, 10e (Griffin)
Chapter 4 Mapping the Territory (Seven Traditions in the Field of Communication
Theory)
1) The cybernetic tradition regards:
A) technology to have impacted the ways in which people persuade and inspire others.
B) reality to be shaped by culture.
C) history to be characterized by an unjust distribution of suffering.
D) communication as the link connecting the separate parts of any system.
2) Which of the following is a feature that characterizes the influential tradition of rhetorical
communication?
A) a conviction that speech distinguishes humans from other animals
B) a confidence that public address delivered in a democratic forum is an effective way to solve
political problems
C) oral public persuasion as the province of males
D) All of the answers are correct.
3) The mistaken belief that words have a precise definition:
A) is the central concept in I. A. Richards’ approach to communication.
B) identifies intentional fallacy.
C) describes affective fallacy.
D) describes the “proper meaning superstition.”
4) Metropolitan State University of Denver communication professor Michael Monsour asked
164 communication students what they meant by “intimacy” when used in reference to their
same-sex and their opposite-sex friends. Which of the following meanings of intimacy was
mentioned the most?
A) self-disclosure
B) emotional expression
C) unconditional support
D) sexual contact
5) The Sapir-Whorf hypothesis of linguistic relativity states that:
A) the structure of a culture’s language shapes what people think and do.
B) all languages are similar at the core.
C) the power and beauty of languages move people emotionally and stir them to action.
D) previous histories have been characterized by an unjust distribution of suffering.
6) Critical theorists consistently challenge three features of contemporary society. Which of the
following is NOT one of them?
A) the control of language to perpetuate power imbalances
B) the difficulty in establishing falsifiability of media theories
C) the role of mass media in dulling sensitivity to repression
D) blind reliance on the scientific method and uncritical acceptance of empirical findings
7) In the field of communication theory, which of the following traditions places great emphasis
on people’s perception and their interpretation of their own experience?
A) the semiotic tradition
B) the socio-psychological tradition
C) the cybernetic tradition
D) the phenomenological tradition
8) Identify a true statement about the seven traditions that have deep roots in the field of
communication theory.
A) The socio-cultural tradition is less interpretive than the cybernetic tradition.
B) The socio-psychological tradition is the most objective of the seven traditions.
C) The rhetoric tradition is rated less objective than the semiotic tradition.
D) The phenomenological tradition is rated as the least subjective of the seven traditions.
9) According to Robert Craig, which of the following traditions “orients to practical problems
and evaluates ideas according to their usefulness rather than by an absolute standard of truth”?
A) a pragmatist tradition
B) a spiritual tradition
C) the ethical tradition
D) the critical tradition
10) The socio-cultural tradition is based on the premise that as people talk, they produce and
reproduce culture.
11) Contemporary socio-cultural theorists reject the idea that language is powerful.
12) Hybrids are possible across the seven traditions in the field of communication theory.
13) The “Frankfurt School” embraced the economic determinism of orthodox Marxism.
14) Contemporary socio-cultural theorists claim that it is through the process of communication
that “reality is produced, maintained, repaired, and transformed.”
15) For I. A. Richards and other semiologists, meaning resides in words and other symbols rather
than in people.
16) In the tradition of rhetorical communication, oral public persuasion has primarily been the
province of men.
17) The study of information processing, feedback, and control in communication systems is
called ________.
18) Central to the critical tradition is a discussion of ________ and social inequities.
19) What are the principal characteristics of rhetorical tradition? Are these characteristics still
important in contemporary political leadership?
20) What, in your own words, is the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis? What are its consequences for
people who wish to communicate with those who speak other languages and for translators?
21) Do you believe that mass media plays a major role in dulling sensitivity to repression? What
examples can you marshal to support your argument?
22) Which traditions of communication theory seem to be most important in other
communication courses you have taken, such as public speaking or interpersonal
communication?
23) How might communication ethics affect—or be affected by—the various traditions that are
mapped in this chapter?
24) What research methods would be most appropriate for each of the seven theoretical traditions
featured in this chapter?