Theories of Human Communication

social act involves a three-part relationship: an initialgesture from one individual, a response to that gesture by another, and a result. Theresult is what the act means for the communicators. Meaning does not reside solelyin any one of these things but in the triadic relationship of all three.

classical symbolic interactionism, the basicideas of the movement, and the theoretical extensions most recognized in the communication field.

equipment for living, rhetoric assists the audience incoping with or maneuvering through life.

Second, according to Penman and the practical-action tradition, knowledge iscreated socially. That means that communication theories themselves are createdby the process of communication or interaction—the very process they aredesigned to explain.

rhetorical work can serve as equipment for living in avariety of ways. It can provide a vocabulary of thoughts, actions, emotions, andattitudes for understanding and interpreting a situation.

Finally, theories are value laden, never neutral,

key theoretical term is equivocality, meaning uncertainty, complication,ambiguity, and lack of predictability. All information from the environment,according to Weick, is equivocal or ambiguous to some degree, and organizingactivities are designed to reduce this lack of certainty.

identification, not deliberation, is the hallmark ofmeaning-creation in the narrative paradigm; the communicator and the audienceare equally active in co-constructing a shared story that makes sense to them byidentifying together the “good reasons” for that interpretation.

A fourth element identified as part of the practical-action theoretical paradigmis that theories affect the reality they are covering.