Examines laws, systems and rules approaches to theory using generality and necessity as the criteria for viability. (MH)

This paper considers what the author believes to be weaknesses in Donald Cushman's and Gordon Whiting's analysis of rules, which represent an important movement from monadic to dyadic concepts in explaining patterns of communication behavior. (Author/RK)

Contends that naturalistic inquiry differs in function and form from objective inquiry in the positivist tradition and suggests that objective and naturalistic procedures are complementary in both science and communication processes. (MH)

The current development of a communication theory known as coordinated management of meaning is presented in this report. The communication process is modeled as an open system; human actors constitute component subsystems with the ability to organize their cognitions into constitutive and regulative rules. The conjoining of individuals' rule sets…

A theory of interpersonal communication called "the coordinated management of meaning" (CMM) involves three propositions. (1) The fundamental unit of communication is the "speech act," something that the speaker does to the listener by making that particular message at that time. (2) The structure of communication is episodic, consisting of a…

Recurrent claims of ineffable experience and their importance for communication theory are analyzed in this paper. Four positions are identified: (1) the "complete effability/complete communicability" position is historically identified with Western culture but repudiated by modern thought; (2) the "complete ineffability/complete communicability"…

The theory of the coordinated management of meaning (CMM) describes the structural relationship between a conversation as it appears in a verbatim transcript and as it appears in the meaning-system of the participants. The five essential features of CMM theory are: a set of four propositions about the nature of communication and human behavior, a…

Studies based on models of interpersonal coorientation have discovered regularities in communication behavior that coorientation theory cannot explain. On the other hand, rules-based theories of communication contain explanatory concepts seemingly applicable to these phenomena, but have not been articulated sufficiently to be applied to the…

Presents a model of meanings in coherent conversation taking the form of a hierarchy of levels of cognitive interpolations between the stream of behavior and archetypal patterns in conversations. A study of indirect responses in conversation is reported which supports the hierarchical structure of the model. (JMF)

A concept of trust is presented which draws from game theory, credibility theories, and sensitivity training literatures. (CH)

Examines the communicative behaviors of subordinate groups with dominant social groups. Analyzes the following forms of communication performed by and seen from the perspective of a lower-statused person communicating with a higher-statused person: tomming, passing, shucking, and dissembling. (PD)

Communication between persons who trust each other differs from that between those who do not. A new conceptualization of trust is offered, drawing from game theory, credibility research, sensitivity/encounter groups, and studies of generalized expectations of trustworthiness, which makes an important distinction between the cognitive state of…