1. Sociopsychological, Cybernetics and Systems Theories Kevin Driscoll, Neta Kligler Vilenchik, Li Lu, Ritesh Mehta, Andrew Schrock, Poong Oh, Nan Zhao

2. Agenda Socio-psychological theories -Intro -Andrew: ?? -Li: ?? Cybernetics & Systems theories -Intro -??

3. 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

4. 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, 9 th ed., ch. 3

5. 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, 9 th ed., ch. 3

6. 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“Bobo doll” experiment

7. 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

8. 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