Summary
COM1501 Summary Notes
- Institution
- University Of South Africa (Unisa)
Summary notes for the COM1501 course that would be helpful for the exam. I achieved a distinction using only these notes.
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COM1501 SummaryChapters 1
The stages of human communication
Stages in human com are associated w/ development of:
Speaking
Writing
Printing
Mass media (newspapers, magazines, radio, film + TV)
Information age (most recent) outcome of computer technology.
The age of speech and language
Speech gave people the ability to:
think + plan
to hunt + defend themselves
to invent ways of preserving food
keeping warm in winter
to learn to cultivate the land
People began expressing creativity (art).
The age of writing
Cave paintings:
Cave paintings provided people w/ a way of recording customs, traditions and ceremonies for
succeeding generations.
Cave paintings = precursor to writing.
Writing enabled ppl to standardise + share meanings of signs (words) bc each lang system has its
own set of rules (grammar).
Earliest form of writing:
Cuneiform (System of writing w/ wedge-shaped characters in clay tablets)
Hieroglyphics (Egyptian writing using picture symbols carved in stone)
Problem Clay tablets + stone doc = dif to transport
1st advances toward more portable writing were Egyptians = invented papyrus-making process.
Animal skin + parchment replaced papyrus. (paper made of water plants).
Paper made from wood pulp invented by Chinese.
Papyrus to record:
affairs of government
write down legal act
literary, scientific, religious ideas
Not until invention of printing that literacy started to spread.
The age of print
Printing process attributed to invention of movable metal type Johannes Gutenberg.
Johannes’ invention permitted storage of large amounts of info.
Printing marked the start of modern world bc it changed the way info was conveyed.
, Primary role of com Spoken language.
Social significance of printing
W/ spread of books, info became available to more ppl.
Knowledge could be shared that were previously denied.
Ppl’s thinking was freed from restrictions of church + the government.
Public opinion became something political leaders had to consider.
Newspaper 1st mass com medium.
The age of electronic mass media
Scientific discoveries + tech inventions during 19th century (electricity + telegraph) lead to
mass electronic media.
End of 19th cent ppl were able to send telegrams + cabled + talk to each other on the
telephone.
Created wired world possible to separate com + transport.
Info travelled only as fast as messenger who carried it.
Radio
Guglielmo Marconi invented the first 'wireless telegraph' permitted signals to be transmitted
without use of electric wires.
The British Broadcasting Corporation was established in 1922.
Second World War radio was primary means for keeping ppl informed on progress of war.
Film
1st projected images demonstrated in France by Lumière Brothers.
Most important person associated w/ first full-length (silent) movies David Wark Griffith
American filmmaker directed Tile Birth of a Nation Intolerance.
1st sound film The Jazz Singer
Television
Radio, television, VCRs (video cassette recorders), CDs (compact discs), DVDs (digital video discs)
newspapers, books, magazines, fax machines + computers.
The Information Age (computer age/digital age)
Created 'information societies'.
The Internet
The Internet is an International 'network of computer networks'.
Internet system that combines thousands of computers from all over the world into one big
computer.
E-mail (electronic mall)
The World Wide Web
Part of the Internet in which info is presented in multimedia format.
Created in 1989 by Tim Bemers-Lee.
Browser: Software prog that enables you to look over info on a topic thousands of web sites.
Newsgroups + classrooms
Newsgroups/bulletin board electronic gathering place for ppl w/ similar interests. (Miller)
Internet chat interactive exchange between 2 or more ppl. (Verderber + Verderber)
Teleconferencing
, Way to hold meetings w/ ppl who are in dif locations.
Audioconferencing telephone tech substitute for face-to-face com allows businesses +
org to cut down on business expenses.
Videoconferencing audio + video links allows ppl in dif locations to see + hear each other.
Telecommuting
Ppl commute to work via the Info Highway.
Chapter 2
Purposes of communication
Physical and psychological needs
Relationships
Our sense of self
Information
Decision making
Persuasion
Effects of communication
Intentional effects
Direct + predictable changes in behaviour, opinion, attitudes + feelings of ppl in response to
com messages.
Unintentional effects
Indirect influences + predictable results of com.
Maslow's hierarchy of needs
1. Self-actualisation
2. Esteem
3. Social
4. Safety or security
5. Survival
Shortcomings:
Ppl from other cultures don’t t always agree w/ hierarchical order in which Maslow placed the
needs.
Maslow's highest need in hierarchy is product of Western, Industrial, Individualised culture.
Packard's theory of needs
Persuasion is more effective when the message Is directed at emotion that Is associated w/ a basic
need.
Hidden needs
emotional security.
assurance of worth.
ego gratification.
creative outlets.
love objects.
the sense of power.
roots.
immortality.
Communication as a scientific discipline
Sources of knowledge:
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