Danielle Peracchio

Professor Berkos
COM 491-A
September 12, 2016
Communication is word that contains multiple interpretations, meaning and levels of
complexity. To fully understand the text you first need to be clear on what they perceive the term
communication to be, thus, stated in the text communication is defined as, a complex process
associated with sending, receiving, and interpreting messages. Scholars disagree as to the scope
of the process, whether a source of receiver orientation should be taken or whether message
exchange need be successful to count as communication.
Another piece of this chapter are the nine contexts of communication. These contexts of
communication are used to aid scholars into further breaking down communication. The theories
are Cognitive, Individual and social, Interpersonal, Intercultural, Persuasive, Group,
Organizational, Mediated, and Mass communication. All of these theories will be elaborated and
discussed more in depth in upcoming chapters.
Being a communication major, since my first year at Bryant concepts, models, and
theories have gotten me panicky. Over the years they have actually become more helpful to be
and I learned how to use them as a tool to understand different angles of the communication
world. Theories can be seen as an abstract understanding of the process of communication. In the
text, they refer to concept as an agreed-upon aspect of reality. What you gather from concepts
can be applied in a variety of situations and experiences but are not to be confused with theories.
A model can be used hand in hand with the word theory but a model usually comes first then is
molded and advanced into a theory. According to the reading, a model is a physical
representation of a theory, or a specific typically mathematical application of prediction.
The most heavily focused theory in this book is known as the scholarly theory. Just like I
fell a victim too, students should not be quick to assume that this theory isnt useful for
businesses, the word scholarly is simply referring to the research equated with it. Scholarly
theories are typically more in-depth, intellectual, and complex making it a more difficult to
understand then commonsense or working theories. The commonsense theory is descried in the
text, as one that is created by an individuals personal experiences or established from the
suggestions of family members passed down. Though for commonsense theories we create our
own basis sometimes our commonsense can deceive us and work against us. The working theory
provides generalizations in a specific work setting and how the best techniques can work for
certain professions. This theory can represent guidelines for behavior and can be usually taught
in content specific classes.
The evaluation theory is not concerned with whether or not the theory is bad or good but
the level of helpfulness can come from the theory. There is an area of evaluation for each theory
with five areas of focus. Accuracy, to show if research supports the workings of the theory;
Practicality, looks for the ability to be used in an everyday setting; Succinctness, evaluating if the

theory is in its most appropriate number of concepts or steps; Consistency, to show if the theory
is logical on its own and combined with other theories; Acuity, looks for a theorys ability to
provide insight into an complex issue.
In this chapter I found that I related most to the commonsense theory. This theory made
my think about situation I was individually in and other situations where my family, friends, and
colleagues have influenced by thoughts. I will chose to focus on the backfiring of the
commonsense theory because I feel it occurs more commonly than not. Growing up I would
remember some people would say that, kids who read a lot are less likely to be sociable and are
not physically fit. But I find that statement to be changing in more recent years with kids and
parents becoming more competitive and urging them to be better-rounded.
1. How would you evaluate either the commonsense, working and scholarly theories? (use
the five areas of focus)
2. Which areas of communication competence are lacking in communication? (ex: health
communication)