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Seven traditions in the field of communication socio-psychological tradition

The socio-psychological tradition in communication epitomizes the scientific perspective, using systematic observation and experimental methods to study cause-and-effect relationships and behavioral change. Its founding father, Carl Hovland, conducted experimental research on the effects of communication at Yale University. The tradition brought empiricism to communication research by systematically studying relationships between communication stimuli, audience characteristics, and opinion change. It can be divided into behavioral, cognitive, and communi-biological branches.

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Seven Traditions in 1/14/2013 the Field of Communication The Socio-Psychological Tradition 1
The Socio-Psychological Tradition • Epitomizes the scientific perspective • Systematic observation 1/14/2013 • Cause-and-effect relationships • Behavioural change • Empiricists • Design and run experiments in communication 2
The Socio-Psychological Tradition • Founding father: Carl Hovland noted for experimental research on the effects of communication. 1/14/2013 • Hovland and colleagues @ Yale University sought to lay a groundwork of empirical propositions concerning relationships between communication stimuli, audience predisposition, and opinion change. 3
The Socio-Psychological Tradition • Hovland & Co. had an initial framework for theory building based on: who says what to whom and with what effect. 1/14/2013 • They explored three causes of persuasiveness: who – source, what – content of the message, and whom – audience characteristics. 4
The Socio-Psychological Tradition The main effect they 1/14/2013 measured was opinion change as revealed by attitude scales given before and after the message. 5
The Socio-Psychological Tradition The Yale school plowed new 1/14/2013 ground in many areas of communication, their work on source credibility contributed significantly to the ‘effects tradition’ of communication theory. 6
The Socio-Psychological Tradition Beyond the specific findings, Hovland & Co. of the Yale school 1/14/2013 brought into communication scholarship and research the idea of empiricism. They systematically checked out every aspect of communication and opinion change. 7
The Socio-Psychological Tradition The socio-psychological tradition can be divided into three large branches: 1/14/2013 1. Behavioral, associated with a stimulus-response approach, concentrates on how people actually behave in communication situations. 2. Cognitive, the mental operations used in managing information that leads to behavioral outputs, is much more in vogue today because many see the behavioral as too simplistic. 8
The Socio-Psychological Tradition 3. Communi-biology is the study of communication from a 1/14/2013 biological perspective. 9
The Socio-Psychological Tradition • “scientific” in the classic sense • prefer quantitative methodologies 1/14/2013 • truth is singular • focus on cause and effect • deterministic; behavior seen as influenced by factors or forces beyond level of awareness 10
The Socio-Psychological Tradition • search for universal laws / generalizability 1/14/2013 • search for predictability and control • methodologies designed to keep out “values”, to be “value free” 11
Jimi Kayode 1/14/2013 Lagos State University Adebola Adegunwa School of Communication, Lagos. Nigeria. 12