Functional perspective is defined as “a prescriptive approach that describes and predicts task-group performance when four communication functions are fulfilled.” In short, this approach, created by Randy Hirokawa and Dennis Gouran, explains that a group making a decision together is better that a singular mind trying to reach a goal. An example of this approach is present in the movie Set It Off. The group of ladies come together and have a meeting about robbing a bank. They establish the goal and they start thinking of ways to achieve that goal using all of the four functions of effective decision making.

The cultivation theory discussed in the book explains how television in modern America is often given the blame for often exaggerating our expectations and understandings in everyday life. The world may seem like a dark and scary place, but this is often related to the lens of the fictional lives you often become engulfed into through the television. We subconsciously go into situations having predetermined expectations because of what television has portrayed to us as the “norm”. The more time an individual spends getting lost in the so called “television reality”, the more likely the individual will have a more difficult time separating reality from the reality of the television show.

When Gerber, who came up with the theory, began researching in the 1960’s, he defined the cultivation theory as “ high frequency viewers of television are more susceptible to media messages and the belief that they are real and valid. Heavy viewers are exposed to more violence and therefore are affected by the Mean World Syndrome, the belief that the world is a far worse and dangerous place then it actually is” (masscomtheory.com/cultivation theory) Being that television sets were still rather new at this point and in no way as accessible as they are today, Gerber was able to notice a direct correlation between television watched and skewed versions of realities.

An example of this would be Law and Order Special victims unit. Although the show has a new episode what seems to be like every single day, depicting people of all ages and genders getting raped in New York city. If an individual spent a few hours watching a few episodes they’d more than likely believe that rape is far more common than it actually is.

Roland Barthes is given credit for having created the rhetorical term of semiotics which he defines as “the study of the social production of meaning from sign systems; the analysis of anything that can stand for something else” In my opinion however, humans have been applying meaning to symbols since the beginning of time. Whether it be consciously or subconsciously, even the earliest man knew smoke meant fire. Barthes expands on this idea when he explains the meaning of modern symbols such as diamonds to represent love. Humans go through everyday of their lives applying new meanings to symbols that we grow to understand as an entire culture. An example of this would be the handicap symbol we see everyday as Americans. Whether it be in parking spots, or on bathroom doors we are compltely aware that symbol means only people with handicaps should be using whatever the symbol is on.

Semiotics is the study of the social production of meaning from sign systems, the analysis of anything that can stand for something else. It consists of two major parts. One being “a sign is the combination of its signifier which is actually what we see in the image and the signified which is what the image actually means to us. Another part is “a sign does not stand on its own: it is part of a system”. Basically every sign we have that has meaning to us is part of a bigger picture.

We see examples of part one all the time in our every day life and each is part of a bigger picture. An example of this is a traffic light. As a signifier we literally see three lights that are red yellow and green, but as the signified we know that green means go, yellow means proceed with caution, and red means stop.

Signs and symbols, either obvious or subliminal, control our emotions and thoughts through the media today. Daily, we see and interpret different signs that rouse different emotions and connections in our mind. These signs, though our culture, have been assigned to different feelings that are passed to us through constant exposure. In other words, these signs are automatically assigned a meaning in our heads through our culture and media. Every sign or symbols portrays a specific meaning in our lives. Indexical signs have a direct relation with what they portray, symbolic signs have little or no relation to what they portray, and iconic signs share a resemblance to what they represent.

Rhetoric is the art of persuasive public speaking or writing. It was founded in ancient Roman and Greek history and has remained prevalent throughout time. In its time of creation, the use of public speech was the single most popular version of media and influence. Using the 3 forms of persuasion (Logos, Ethos, Pathos), and art of speech was formed. Logical proof is logos, emotional persuasion is ethos and pathos covers the physiological persuasion. This art form is used today in Presidential Speeches (ie Reagans speech on the challenger explosion), and other public speeches.

Hirowaka and Gouran are the two major individuals regarding the FPGM theorem. They state that in order for a group to arrive at successful solutions they must follow the 4 steps to making group decisions. First, they must analyze the problem- discussing the cause and state of the problem can lead to easy solution. Next they must set goals in the group to help solve and determine solutions for the problem. The third step is identifying alternatives- an important step to finding different solutions to one problem. Lastly, the most important step; weighing the positives and negatives of the alternatives to see which outcome fits best. In order to arrive at the best outcome all steps must be completed within the group.

When we are born with a new pure life, we are introduced to signs that carries a full story within each sign and its meaning. As a culture we do things differently that illustrates our background and who we are as people. Growing up we learn the meaning of these signs with the reactions of our peers. Signs surround us frequently on a day to day basis, that gives us a sense of direction. Without signs/symbols the world would not be as organized.

Semiotics is the study of the social production of meaning from sign systems, the analysis of anything that can stand for something else. There are three signs that portray the object, the indexical signs are fully in relation with what the signs portray. Symbolic signs shows no relation with the signs that is portrayed. Iconic signs share a seeming to be what the sign portrays. Every sign/symbols serves a purpose in our organized life’s.

The word “cultivation” is defined as “the process of trying to acquire or develop a quality or skill.” The Cultivation Theory is considered a social theory that delves into the long-term effects of television. Cultivation Theory is about the misperception/misinterpretation of what is true in our world. Gerber believes that modern television has surpassed religion as the key storyteller in our culture and that heavy television viewing creates an “exaggerated belief in a mean and scary world. J. Cohen and G. Weimann argue that “the primary proposition of the cultivation theory states that the more time people spend ‘living’ in the television world, the more likely they are to believe social ‘reality’ portrayed on television.”

George Gerber argues that the Cultivation Process is like the pull of a gravitational field and the magnitude of TV’s influence is not the same for every viewer, but everyone IS affected by it.” Gerber describes three prongs that constitute the Cultivation Theory. The first prong is the Institutional Process which includes research that addresses scholars’ concerns for the reasons why media produce the message they do. Secondly, is the Message System Analysis which utilizes content analysis to study what exactly are the messages that TV projects. The third prong of the Cultivation Theory is the Cultivation Analysis which deals with how TV’s content might affect viewers.

http://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1023%2FA%3A1018709905920.pdf

In our modern society, where mass media (print, tv, film, advertising, etc) has become such a prevelant part of our culture, we cannot escape the flood of signs and symbols. We are bombarded on a daily basis with signs and symbols that “mean” something else. Most of the time, we do not give these signs/symbols a second though; we, generally, automatically assign the learned meaning to those signs or symbols.

Semiotics is the study of meaning based on theories of signs and symbols. Charles Peirce argues that there are three different types of signs based on their relationships with the objects they “portray”. Symbolic signs show no resemblance to the objects they reference. Iconic Signs have a perceived resemblance with the objects they portray. Indexical signs are directly connected with their referents.

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