Fragmentation in the Field—and the Movement Toward Integration in Communication Science

Two aspects of disciplinary identity are addressed in this essay: (1) Who are we, members of one discipline or a loose confederation of scholars who each have some claim to the word communication; and (2) are we (whoever we are) becoming respectable members of the academic community? The first of these issues is examined in terms of the institutional history of communication. The various forces that contributed to a fragmentation of the discipline are discussed. Evidence that a clear disciplinary identity or “self-concept” is emerging in terms of a social science of communication is presented. This identity differentiates the emerging discipline from its various predecessors, including speech and journalism. While there is less evidence to be brought to bear on the second issue, what evidence there is indicates that respectability (and disciplinary maturity) is increasing, but that there is still much progress to be made.     

COMPONENTS IN LISTENING BEHAVIOR: THE ROLE OF SHORT-TERM MEMORY

Three measures of listening—short-term (STL), short-term listening with rehearsal (STL-R), and lecture comprehension—were compared with other scores of general mental ability and classroom performance scores. The listening measures were significantly different from each other in relation to ACT composite scores. Short-term listening related most closely to oral performance whereas lecture comprehension did so to general mental ability and written examination scores. Listening behavior seems not to be a singular skill but a very complex process.