Week 2 - Response to Content

What are the key turning points in communication history?

One of the major turning points include the development of the alphabet in the middle east and around the mediterrranean by the Phoenecians.  The most useful was the insertion of vowels by the Greeks; mass printing that made possible the spread of information across trhe masses - not just to a select few.  The discovery and then the ability to amplify electronic signals and the shift from analogue to digtital are more recent important turning points (About.com.Inventor 2011). 

What are the significant divisions in Communication theory?

The main theories which create the divisions in Communication theory are:
Semiotics - Ferdinand de Saussure - Structuralism and signs;
Effects Theories:
Maximum efects (1920s)
Application of Statistical Methods (1930s)
Minimum Effects (1940s)
Looking for Effects and connections to psychology (in 1950 -1960s)
Mixed Effects (1970s)
The return of Maximum effects (1980s)

What form of Communication do you use most often?

I use my mobile and email on a daily basis.   I love emailing......


It is really intriguing and amazing how involved the subject of new communications technology is - I hadn't given it much thought in the past except for the issues highlighted and sensationalised by the media.  The impact and repercusssions on individuals and society on the whole, are amazing, now my eyes have been opened to this wide new world.   I always appreciated and supported new technology advancements, although I didn't understand the newest directions ( that's why I'm here learning) but I didn't quite get it.

I didn't expect this course to be easy, but I certainly didn't realise it's scope.   Learning is wonderful - new doors open all the time.  It has now made me interested on the impact of this area on the psychology of not only individuals but our communities and even society.  This will be interesting to follow through- 'Psychology and New Communications - where is it leading?'

Interestingly, according to a study by Gilleard, C., Hyde, M. and Higgs, P. (2007) in England, the use of new communication technology such as mobile phone and internet did have a negative impact on the sense of people's attachment to their local community (50yrs and older) but it didn't effect their sense of trust in their neighbourhood nor the feeling that people there were friendly.   I look forward to investigating this further together with other areas of psychological impact on relationships and individual's new forms of interaction in society

                                                                       References

The History of Communication, Timeline.  2011.  About.com Inventors, viewed 28 July 2011 http://inventors.about.com/library/inventors/bl_history_of_communication.htm
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Gilleard, C., Hyde, M. and Higgs, P. 2007,  Community and communication in the third age: The impact of Internet and cell phone use on attachment to place in later life in England.  Oxford Journals, Life Sciences & Medicine & The Jounals of Gerontology Series B, no. 62. Issue 4, S276 - S283.