Ayse Liv Kamber

COM491-A
Discussion Prompt #1- Chapter 3
The chapter was about cognition and intrapersonal communication which was broken
down to different theories in order to understand the complex dynamic of communication. The
chapter focused on four different theories to help further asses how communication is created
between individuals, and how individuals assign meaning to messages. We asses individuals’
behavior and attitudes, and assign a meaning to their messages accordingly, which in the book,
this concept was applied to multiple theories and scenarios.
The first theory introduced in the chapter is the attribution theory. Attribution theory
allows individuals to assess certain situations and derive an explanation and causality of their
behaviors or the behaviors of others. When assigning causation, one can look at dispositional
factors which are internal factors, or situational factors, which are external factors that can not be
controlled. A holistic approach to the attribution theory is Kelley’s Covariation Model. This
model involves four factors: consensus, distinctiveness, consistency, and controllability, which
helps the process of judgement of another’s behavior. These factors can be analyzed and
evaluated within seconds when applied to daily life situations, helping individuals understand the
reasoning behind situations. During my internship, I had monthly performance evaluation
meetings with my supervisor and team members, which I have always been confident with. I was
quite worried when I have noticed during one of my meetings that my supervisor, who is always
positive, and kind was acting impatient and angry. The rest of the team did not show any for of
irritation or impatience, which was the low consensus aspect of the model. As for consistency, I
have never witnessed my supervisor behaving this way, which had a low consistency. She was
someone who handled every challenge and problem with patience and positivity, so there was a
clear high distinctiveness. After evaluating all these factors and asking one of the team members
what was the problem, I was informed that she was dealing with a personal problem outside of
work, which had low controllability.
Another theory introduced in the chapter is the expectancy violations theory. EVT
involves three concepts; expectancy, violation valence, and communicator reward valence, to
explains how individuals assign meaning to certain type of violations to their personal space.
Expectancy is what you expect will happen in the situation, for example, you will expect to
shake the other persons hand when you first meet them. If things do not go as you expected and
the person decides to give you a hug upon meeting, you will re-evaluate the situation, either
negatively or positively, which is known as violation valence. If you believe that the person
invaded your personal space, you might perceive this situation negatively, however you might
also perceive the individual as someone with a friendly personality and might see the situation in
a positive way. Eventually you will evaluate this violation and the person who committed the act,
which is known as communicator reward valence. It has been stated in the book that if the person
committing the violation is charismatic, friendly and likeable, there will be a positive reward
valence, meaning that you perceive them in a positive way. Meanwhile, if you perceive that the
person was rude and ignorant, they will have a negative reward valence.
Cognitive dissonance theory is a very interesting concept, that arises from discomfort.
Individuals do not like discomfort, which is caused by inconsistencies or conflicts in one’s
beliefs and actions. Therefore, individuals try to eliminate these inconsistencies through change.
An important concept of CDT is perception, which is quite interesting and can be easily
recognized in daily life scenarios. Selective exposure can be seen when people intentionally
avoid information that is contrary to their beliefs, and selective retention can be seen when
people tend to remember the information regarding their beliefs while they dismiss the
information that creates dissonance. This is very common in daily life scenarios regarding pro-
choice/pro-life and gun control debates, politics, and religion. Although I sometimes tend to do
these things as well, I try to read and learn information about both sides of the situation as well.
One of the topics I enjoy the most in communication is the uncertainty reduction theory.
URT arises from the idea that individuals do not like uncertainty, therefore they use
communication as a tool to eliminate uncertainty. Being a control freak myself who hates
uncertainty, I do everything in my power to reduce uncertainty. I believe that behavioral
uncertainty is something everyone deals with every day. Whether it is how to dress for a job
interview or how to complete an assignment, I deal with these uncertain situations quite often,
and try to eliminate it. In order to reduce uncertainty, I use passive, active and interactive
strategies, which is dependent on the situation. If there is an uncertain situation, I can directly ask
someone I have a personal relationship with. For example, if I am assigned a task in my group
project, I can ask one of my team members without hesitation, whereas I can be more hesitant to
directly ask something to my boss and will prefer to observe my peers instead.

Discussion Questions
1. Do you believe uncertainty reducing strategies change depending on the relationship
type/ status you have with the other person?

2. Kelley's Covariation Model is a holistic approach to the attribution theory which allows
individuals to derive explanations for another individuals behavior. The model includes
four factors; consistency, distinctiveness, consensus and controllability. Do you always
try to analyze situations and the behaviors of others by examining these factors, or do you
have a hedonic relevance or personalism approach to situations at times? If so, does your
attitude toward the individual and your liking of them play a role in these situations?

3. Do you think that concepts such as selective exposure, selective attention, selective
interpretation and selective retention causes and forms a certain bias?