Charles R Berger
Biographic Data
| ID | 90012 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Charles R Berger |
| GIVEN NAMES | Charles R |
| FAMILY NAME | Berger |
| SIGNATURE | BERGER C R |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of California, Davis |
| VERIFIED | No |
| TOTAL WORKS | 48 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 851 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 46 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 2 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1942 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2018 |
| H-INDEX | 11 |
The International Encyclopedia of Interpersonal Communication
Volume I The International Communication Association vii About the Editors ix Contributors xi Alphabetical List of Entries xix Thematic List of Entries xxiii Editors Introduction xxix Interpersonal Communication A ? 000 Volume II Interpersonal Communication ? ? 000 Volume III Interpersonal Communication ? Z 000 Index 000
International Encyclopedia of Interpersonal Communication
Electroencephalographic Analysis in Communication Science
Electroencephalographic (EEG) analysis allows measurement of electrical activity in bundles of neurons around electrodes placed at various locations on the scalp. In this essay, we provide an overview of the biological basis of EEG methodology and outline basic principles and practices of data collection. We conducted a study using EEG to test expectations from two competing cognitive theories of communication—computational theory and dynamic mem…
Interpersonal Communication
Interpersonal communication has been studied in terms of both communication functions and specialized contexts. This handbook comprehensively covers the field including research on processes of social influence, the role of communication in the development, maintenance and decline of close personal relationships, nonverbal communication, cognitive approaches, communication and conflict, bargaining and negotiation, health communication, organizati…
Advancing the Theory and Practice of Supportive Communication
The Handbook of Communication Science
The opening chapters of this work address the methods of research and the history of the field of communication science. In subsequent parts, the authors examine the levels of analysis in communication, the functions of communication, and the contexts in which communication occurs
The Handbook of Communication Science
Making a Differential Difference
A Tale of Two Communication Modes
Cognitive-experiential self-theory proposes that individuals use two systems to process information, a highly conscious and analytical rational system and a preconscious, intuitive experiential system. These two systems operate in parallel and synchronistically but sometimes one may dominate the other. Findings from several experiments demonstrate that when information about threatening phenomena are presented in statistical or graphical form and…
Approaching the Limits of Language
Interpersonal Communication
Journal Article Interpersonal Communication: Theoretical Perspectives, Future Prospects Get access Charles R. Berger Charles R. Berger 1Charles R. Berger (PhD, Michigan State University) is a professor in the Department of Communication, University of California, Davis Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar Journal of Communication, Volume 55, Issue 3, September 2005, Pages 415-447, https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1460…
Speechlessness
Individuals recalled the most recent time they found themselves speechless during social interaction. In addition to characterizing a number of attributes of the event, Study 1 participants provided causal attributions for their speechlessness, the emotions they experienced before and after the event and the event's social consequences. Speechlessness emanated from a variety of sources, including violated expectations, extreme emotional states, a…
Strategic and Nonstrategic Information Acquisition
Communication researchers routinely assume that information seeking is a strategic, goaldirected process; however, several domains of theory and research suggest that potentially consequential information may be acquired nonstrategically. Dual-process theories and research concerned with automaticity and the role conceptual short-term memory (CSTM) plays in visual information processing are used to illustrate both the ubiquity of nonstrategic inf…
Making It Worse than It Is
An analysis of accident, crime, and health news reports sought to determine how story drama is increased by using quantitative data depicting threatening trends. These reports often used frequency data to characterize worsening trends and rate data to illustrate improving trends. Increasing magnitudes signified worsening trends, and decreasing magnitudes signified improving trends. Worsening trends and frequency data depictions were more likely t…
Goal Detection and Efficiency
Journal Article Goal Detection and Efficiency: Neglected Aspects of Message Production Get access Charles R. Berger Charles R. Berger 1Charles R. Berger is a professor in the Department of Communication, University of California, Davis. Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar Communication Theory, Volume 10, Issue 2, 1 May 2000, Pages 156–166, https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2885.2000.tb00185.x Published: 17 March …
Mindfulness and Interpersonal Communication
Many social problems can be traced to interpersonal communicationdifficulties, just as many proposed interventions to solve social ills also depend on effective interpersonal communication. This article examines three potential relationships between states of mind and social interaction followed by illustrations from research related to five exemplar social issues—developing effective programs for solving workplace communicationproblems, training…
Processing Quantitative Data About Risk and Threat in News Reports
Two experiments examined whether the apprehension and perceived victimization risk of individuals reading news reports depicting frequency of increases in threatening phenomena would be lowered by exposure to stories portraying population increases. Experiment 1 found higher apprehension and victimization risk levels among females, but no population data effects. In Experiment 2, males who received moderately risky threats manifested significantl…
Communication and social influence processes
Communication and Social Influence Processes examines the relationships between verbal and nonverbal communicative activity and social influence processes in a new light. The authors of the eight essays contained in this work have abandoned the narrow constraints of the standard experimental paradigm, and move toward redefining the relationships between communication and social influence processes. This volume does not look at the social influenc…
Finding a Cure for Communication
Journal Article Finding a Cure for Communication Get access Charles R. Berger Charles R. Berger 1University of California, Davis, CA, USA Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar Journal of Communication, Volume 47, Issue 1, March 1997, Pages 109–115, https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1460-2466.1997.tb02695.x Published: 07 February 2006
Message Planning, Communication Failure, and Cognitive Load Further Explorations of the Hierarchy Principle
The hierarchy principle predicts and research has demonstrated that in response to communication failure, individuals make less cognitively demanding, low-level changes to message plans, such as the vocal intensity at which they are delivered, rather than more demanding alterations to message content and structure. Three experiments examined the effects of different message preparations on cognitive loads associated with high-level message plan a…
The Hierarchy Principle in Strategic Communication
The hierarchy principle suggests that when individuals fail to reach social goals and they continue to pursue them, their first tendency is to alter lower level elements of message plan hierarchies concerned with speech rate and vocal intensity rather than higher level elements related to the structure and sequencing of message content. This pattern of message plan alteration is predicated on the notion that higher level alterations are more dema…
Uncertainty and Social Interaction
Communication failure and plan adaptation
The hierarchy hypothesis asserts that when persons initially fail to reach social goals but they continue to try to attain them, they will first alter such lower level elements of message plans as speech rate and vocal intensity rather than more abstract plan elements having to do with the organization and structure of message content. Support for this hypothesis was found in a study in which persons were thwarted in their attempts to provide geo…
Information seeking and plan elaboration
Participants sought target and situation information either before or after devising plans to reach one of two social goals. Seeking information before planning produced more elaborate plans, as measured by their length, for one goal. For both goals, quantity and diversity of information sought and plan length were positively correlated but only for those who sought information before planning. Plan elaboration also was influenced by the type of …
Curiouser and curiouser curios
(1992). Curiouser and curiouser curios. Communication Monographs: Vol. 59, No. 1, pp. 101-107
Some Explorations in Initial Interaction and Beyond
This paper provides a theoretical perspective for dealing with the initial entry stage of interpersonal interaction. The seven axioms and 21 theorems presented suggest a set of research priorities for studying the development of interpersonal relationships. The paper concludes with a discussion of some of the problems to be considered if the theory is to be extended beyond the initial stages of interaction
Communication theories and other curios
(1991). Communication theories and other curios. Communication Monographs: Vol. 58, No. 1, pp. 101-113
Uncertain Outcome Values in Predicted Relationships Uncertainty Reduction Theory Then and Now
Journal Article Uncertain Outcome Values in Predicted Relationships: Uncertainty Reduction Theory Then and Now Get access Charles R. Berger Charles R. Berger 1Charles R. Berger (Ph.D. Michigan State University, 1968) is a professor in the Department of Communication Studies, Northwestern University Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar Human Communication Research, Volume 13, Issue 1, September 1986, Pages 34–38…
Interpersonal Communication
Journal Article Interpersonal Communication: Theoretical Perspectives, Future Prospects Get access Charles R. Berger Charles R. Berger 1Charles R. Berger (PhD, Michigan State University) is a professor in the Department of Communication, University of California, Davis Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar Journal of Communication, Volume 55, Issue 3, September 2005, Pages 415-447, https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1460…
Perceptions of Information Sequencing in Relationship Development
Randomly selected adult residents (N = 204) of a Chicago suburb sorted 150 statements along a time continuum according to their estimate of when each statement would first be made during a two-hour conversation between two strangers. Analyses were conducted on the items employing the following variables: self-esteem, birth order, number of close friends, economic status, desired number of friends, age, sex, and education. Only the latter four var…
Studies in interpersonal epistemology
Multidimensional scaling analyses of information preferences of slide pictures of a target person in a wide variety of situations revealed two judgmental dimensions: social interaction and formality‐informality. Persons anticipating interaction with the target person in the slides and high self‐monitors manifested greater preferences for slides which showed the target person in informal contexts. Verbal access to judgmental dimensions was found t…
Plans and the Initiation of Social Relationships
Journal Article Plans and the Initiation of Social Relationships Get access Charles R. Berger, Charles R. Berger 1Charles R. Berger (Ph.D., Michigan State University, 1968) is professor of communication studies at Northwestern University Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar Robert A. Bell Robert A. Bell 2Robert A. Bell (Ph.D., University of Texas, 1984) is assistant professor of rhetoric and communication at th…
When a Lot of Knowledge Is a Dangerous Thing The Debilitating Effects of Plan Complexity on Verbal Fluency
Three experiments examined the relationships among plan complexity, access to planned actions, and verbal fluency while pursuing a persuasion goal. Consistent with theoretical expectations, complex planners were less fluent than less complex planners under high access conditions. Persons whose access was raised were less fluent than those whose access was not raised. A second experiment showed that reduced fluency was not induced by lowering of s…
On Bridging the Communication Gap
While we endorse recent calls for greater collaboration between mass communication and interpersonal communication researchers, in this response we delineate four factors that account for the relative lack of integration of these two areas of communication inquiry. The social policy focus of mass communication research, the high level of public concern over media effects, a variety of methodological cleavages, and different cognate field referent…
Planning sources, planning difficulty and verbal fluency
This investigation examined the sources of knowledge that persons use to devise plans to reach social goals. Specific episodes, ensembles of episodes, hypothetical episodes, role models, instruction, and previous plans were identified as sources. Using a think‐aloud procedure, persons were asked to develop plans for reaching the goals of requesting a date, ingratiating one's self to a new roommate, persuading another person on an issue, and becom…
Proactive and Retroactive Attribution Processes in Interpersonal Communications
The purpose of the present series of studies was to investigate the process of proactive and retroactive attribution in ongoing communication transactions. This objective was accomplished by studying the ways in which information disclosed early in the relationship is used (1) to form predictions concerning the probable attitudes of the other person, and (2) to explain subsequent communication behavior as the relationship progresses. Experiment I…
Communication failure and plan adaptation
The hierarchy hypothesis asserts that when persons initially fail to reach social goals but they continue to try to attain them, they will first alter such lower level elements of message plans as speech rate and vocal intensity rather than more abstract plan elements having to do with the organization and structure of message content. Support for this hypothesis was found in a study in which persons were thwarted in their attempts to provide geo…
The Hierarchy Principle in Strategic Communication
The hierarchy principle suggests that when individuals fail to reach social goals and they continue to pursue them, their first tendency is to alter lower level elements of message plan hierarchies concerned with speech rate and vocal intensity rather than higher level elements related to the structure and sequencing of message content. This pattern of message plan alteration is predicated on the notion that higher level alterations are more dema…
Interpersonal Communication Theory and Research
Strategic and Nonstrategic Information Acquisition
Communication researchers routinely assume that information seeking is a strategic, goaldirected process; however, several domains of theory and research suggest that potentially consequential information may be acquired nonstrategically. Dual-process theories and research concerned with automaticity and the role conceptual short-term memory (CSTM) plays in visual information processing are used to illustrate both the ubiquity of nonstrategic inf…
Message Planning, Communication Failure, and Cognitive Load Further Explorations of the Hierarchy Principle
The hierarchy principle predicts and research has demonstrated that in response to communication failure, individuals make less cognitively demanding, low-level changes to message plans, such as the vocal intensity at which they are delivered, rather than more demanding alterations to message content and structure. Three experiments examined the effects of different message preparations on cognitive loads associated with high-level message plan a…
Curiouser and curiouser curios
(1992). Curiouser and curiouser curios. Communication Monographs: Vol. 59, No. 1, pp. 101-107
Mindfulness and Interpersonal Communication
Many social problems can be traced to interpersonal communicationdifficulties, just as many proposed interventions to solve social ills also depend on effective interpersonal communication. This article examines three potential relationships between states of mind and social interaction followed by illustrations from research related to five exemplar social issues—developing effective programs for solving workplace communicationproblems, training…
Speechlessness
Individuals recalled the most recent time they found themselves speechless during social interaction. In addition to characterizing a number of attributes of the event, Study 1 participants provided causal attributions for their speechlessness, the emotions they experienced before and after the event and the event's social consequences. Speechlessness emanated from a variety of sources, including violated expectations, extreme emotional states, a…
Interpersonal Relationship Levels and Interpersonal Attraction
The present studies were designed to explore the factorial composition of sources of attraction and to see how the various dimensions of attractiveness varied across the relationship levels of formal role, acquaintance, friend, close friend, and lover. In the first phase of the study, persons indicated those attributes they found attractive in specific persons. In the second phase, persons indicated the extent to which persons with whom they had …
A Tale of Two Communication Modes
Cognitive-experiential self-theory proposes that individuals use two systems to process information, a highly conscious and analytical rational system and a preconscious, intuitive experiential system. These two systems operate in parallel and synchronistically but sometimes one may dominate the other. Findings from several experiments demonstrate that when information about threatening phenomena are presented in statistical or graphical form and…
Goal Detection and Efficiency
Journal Article Goal Detection and Efficiency: Neglected Aspects of Message Production Get access Charles R. Berger Charles R. Berger 1Charles R. Berger is a professor in the Department of Communication, University of California, Davis. Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar Communication Theory, Volume 10, Issue 2, 1 May 2000, Pages 156–166, https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2885.2000.tb00185.x Published: 17 March …
Affect and Social Information Acquisition
To Ask or Not to Ask
Studies in Interpersonal Epistemology I
The present studies investigated the bases upon which persons choose social contexts in order to maximize information acquisition about a stranger. In Experiment 1, persons expressed information acquisition preferences for pictures in which a target person was in either solitary or social situations. Judges strongly preferred social contexts for information acquisition. In Experiment 2, persons made preference judgments on the informational value…
Scientific Aspects of the Race Problem
Two-Way Analysis of Covariance
Influence motivation and feedback regarding influence outcomes as determinants of self-persuasion magnitude 1
Attributional Communication, Situational Involvement, Self-Esteem and Interpersonal Attraction1
Two experiments were conducted which assumed that persons with extremely high or low self-esteem would be more defensive than moderate self-esteem persons when receiving ego-threatening communication. In Study I, students imagined themselves in situations in which a professor told them they had succeeded or failed on a test. For some students, success was attributed to excessive test ease, while, for others, success was attributed to high ability…
Proactive and Retroactive Attribution Processes in Interpersonal Communications
The purpose of the present series of studies was to investigate the process of proactive and retroactive attribution in ongoing communication transactions. This objective was accomplished by studying the ways in which information disclosed early in the relationship is used (1) to form predictions concerning the probable attitudes of the other person, and (2) to explain subsequent communication behavior as the relationship progresses. Experiment I…
Some Explorations in Initial Interaction and Beyond
This paper provides a theoretical perspective for dealing with the initial entry stage of interpersonal interaction. The seven axioms and 21 theorems presented suggest a set of research priorities for studying the development of interpersonal relationships. The paper concludes with a discussion of some of the problems to be considered if the theory is to be extended beyond the initial stages of interaction
Perceptions of Information Sequencing in Relationship Development
Randomly selected adult residents (N = 204) of a Chicago suburb sorted 150 statements along a time continuum according to their estimate of when each statement would first be made during a two-hour conversation between two strangers. Analyses were conducted on the items employing the following variables: self-esteem, birth order, number of close friends, economic status, desired number of friends, age, sex, and education. Only the latter four var…
Interpersonal Communication Theory and Research
Interpersonal Relationship Levels and Interpersonal Attraction
The present studies were designed to explore the factorial composition of sources of attraction and to see how the various dimensions of attractiveness varied across the relationship levels of formal role, acquaintance, friend, close friend, and lover. In the first phase of the study, persons indicated those attributes they found attractive in specific persons. In the second phase, persons indicated the extent to which persons with whom they had …
Studies in Interpersonal Epistemology I
The present studies investigated the bases upon which persons choose social contexts in order to maximize information acquisition about a stranger. In Experiment 1, persons expressed information acquisition preferences for pictures in which a target person was in either solitary or social situations. Judges strongly preferred social contexts for information acquisition. In Experiment 2, persons made preference judgments on the informational value…
Studies in interpersonal epistemology
Multidimensional scaling analyses of information preferences of slide pictures of a target person in a wide variety of situations revealed two judgmental dimensions: social interaction and formality‐informality. Persons anticipating interaction with the target person in the slides and high self‐monitors manifested greater preferences for slides which showed the target person in informal contexts. Verbal access to judgmental dimensions was found t…
To Ask or Not to Ask
Language and Social Knowledge
Affect and Social Information Acquisition
Language and Social Knowledge
Language and social knowledge
Uncertain Outcome Values in Predicted Relationships Uncertainty Reduction Theory Then and Now
Journal Article Uncertain Outcome Values in Predicted Relationships: Uncertainty Reduction Theory Then and Now Get access Charles R. Berger Charles R. Berger 1Charles R. Berger (Ph.D. Michigan State University, 1968) is a professor in the Department of Communication Studies, Northwestern University Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar Human Communication Research, Volume 13, Issue 1, September 1986, Pages 34–38…
Forms of Farewell
On Bridging the Communication Gap
While we endorse recent calls for greater collaboration between mass communication and interpersonal communication researchers, in this response we delineate four factors that account for the relative lack of integration of these two areas of communication inquiry. The social policy focus of mass communication research, the high level of public concern over media effects, a variety of methodological cleavages, and different cognate field referent…
Plans and the Initiation of Social Relationships
Journal Article Plans and the Initiation of Social Relationships Get access Charles R. Berger, Charles R. Berger 1Charles R. Berger (Ph.D., Michigan State University, 1968) is professor of communication studies at Northwestern University Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar Robert A. Bell Robert A. Bell 2Robert A. Bell (Ph.D., University of Texas, 1984) is assistant professor of rhetoric and communication at th…
When a Lot of Knowledge Is a Dangerous Thing The Debilitating Effects of Plan Complexity on Verbal Fluency
Three experiments examined the relationships among plan complexity, access to planned actions, and verbal fluency while pursuing a persuasion goal. Consistent with theoretical expectations, complex planners were less fluent than less complex planners under high access conditions. Persons whose access was raised were less fluent than those whose access was not raised. A second experiment showed that reduced fluency was not induced by lowering of s…
Communication theories and other curios
(1991). Communication theories and other curios. Communication Monographs: Vol. 58, No. 1, pp. 101-113
Information seeking and plan elaboration
Participants sought target and situation information either before or after devising plans to reach one of two social goals. Seeking information before planning produced more elaborate plans, as measured by their length, for one goal. For both goals, quantity and diversity of information sought and plan length were positively correlated but only for those who sought information before planning. Plan elaboration also was influenced by the type of …
Curiouser and curiouser curios
(1992). Curiouser and curiouser curios. Communication Monographs: Vol. 59, No. 1, pp. 101-107
Planning sources, planning difficulty and verbal fluency
This investigation examined the sources of knowledge that persons use to devise plans to reach social goals. Specific episodes, ensembles of episodes, hypothetical episodes, role models, instruction, and previous plans were identified as sources. Using a think‐aloud procedure, persons were asked to develop plans for reaching the goals of requesting a date, ingratiating one's self to a new roommate, persuading another person on an issue, and becom…
Psychology (39 works) · Social Psychology (29 works) · Social Psychology (22 works) · Computer Science (21 works) · Sociology (18 works) · Cognitive psychology (13 works) · Communication in Education and Healthcare (13 works) · Interpersonal communication (13 works) · Communication (12 works) · Language, Discourse, Communication Strategies (10 works)