180 Day 3 Notes

January 22, 2001

On Wednesday, Yihua Zhang: Tannen; Autumn Winters: Rogers; Emily Warmoth: Chatman #1. NOTE: we will discuss project ideas NEXT Monday.

1. One minute papers

Big point

Ambiguity of definitions

It is not the definition that matters, but the agreements on definitions in a conversation or interaction

Meaning constructed in receiver’s head

Selective attention

Comm. Requires negotiation of meaning

Info is the encoding, communication is the interpretation (and expression)

Q:

What is homeostasis?

Where does context fit into the pierce/Shannon scheme? Channel?

What are implications of relationship between reduction in uncertainty and element of surprise?

Must comm. (or interaction) involve 2 people?

Significance of multiplicative power and control of info?

Internet impact as a medium?

Are we creating systems that exceed human info proc capacity?

Role of intention in comm.?

Shannon’s theory?

2. Some Shannon notes ala Weaver

Three levels of communication problem

Accuracy of transmission (technical problem)

Degree of meaning (semantic problem)

Effec of transmission (effectiveness problem)

Do not confuse information with meaning!!

Shannon assumes communication initiated by SELECTING a desired message from a set of possible messages

Then, information is the amount of uncertainty in the SOURCE (not the message). This the amount of entropy (randomness). “Information is a measure of one’s freedom of choices when one selects a message.” P. 9

A search grammar providing 32 commands (or 32 icons in a graphic language) implies 5 bits of information (log 32₂=5) assumes 32 commands are independent and equally likely at a given time, and that exactly one will be selected. This works fine for a simple, one unit message (a battlefield command, an executive decision, etc.) but for human communication, conditional probability comes into play since the number of possible selections available once one is made may vary (leads to coding theory), complicating the technical subproblems (unit size, channel capacity, noise effects, etc.)

3. objects, acts, and environments. Because our interests (info, comm., interaction) are so complex, different researchers address particular parameters. This week’s readings illustrate this: Tannen, a specific actor characteristic and environment (cultural) relationships; Rogers, the “spread” of ideas/info across populations; Chatman, groups of actors and info roles.

4. The one-minute paper

What was the big point you learned in class today?

What is the main, unanswered question you leave class with today?