constructivism

No blogging requirement this week, but I wanted to get in a brief word about constructivism.

As I mentioned before in my mapping the territory entry, I have a background in psychology. What I like about constructivism is the link it provides between psychology and communication. Constructivists are interested in individual differences in social cognitive structures and message production and message interpretation. What does that mean? Researchers in this area want to know how the ways in which people organize social knowledge (what we know about others and our interactions with them) influence their communication. For example, researchers have found that people who think of others in more complex ways produce messages that are more geared toward others as unique individuals (more person-centered).

With its focus on person-centered messages, constructivism is a very practical theory. Research has demonstrated that people can be taught to think of others is more sophisticated ways and develop messages that are more person-centered. And person-centered message are more effective in comforting and persuading others.

For me, constructivism fills a gap that many communication theories ignore--how people think. Constructivists recognize the reflexive relationship between thinking and communicating--both influence the other.

~ Professor Cyborg