This chapter has been significantly reordered. Students are first introduced to communication, separately addressing the creation of messages, the characteristics of messages, and interpretation and response to messages. Then, they are introduced to theory. The cartoon used as a running example has changed for this edition.

While the content is similar to the previous edition, the authors have consciously altered the labels, consistently referring to the two paradigmatic camps as “objective scholars” (instead of empirical) and “interpretive scholars.” This change clarifies that each camp has a different underlying value (objectivity or interpretation). The other major change is a new featured ad as the focal example and a new pair of communication scholars who offer their insight.

The overall content remains the same as in the 10th edition; it has been only lightly edited for readability.

The core contents of this chapter are nearly identical to the treatment in the 10th edition.

This chapter has been only slightly edited for clarity and precision.

The content of this chapter, which has been edited for clarity and precision, is largely unchanged from the previous edition. Previous editions included Burgoon’s expansion, Interaction Adaptation Theory, but that has been removed in the 11th edition.

This is a brand-new chapter for the 11th edition.

This chapter has been lightly edited for clarity. The critique has also been updated. 

This chapter has been edited for clarity and precision. Towards the chapter’s conclusion, the authors have replaced the section on communication plans with an introduction to three lines of scholarship based on URT: Gudykunst’s anxiety-uncertainty management, Knobloch’s turbulence model, and Afifi’s motivated information management.

The material in this chapter has been edited for clarity and precision. Where previous editions focused on text-only media, the treatment in the 11th edition includes more explicit discussion of a broader base of communication technologies. In addition, the critique has been retooled, eliminating the references to Sherry Turkle’s work (which has been moved to ch. 13 on media multiplexity theory) and focusing on the real-world validity threats to SIP

Much of this chapter has been retooled. If you have used previous editions of the book, the new treatment likely warrants a careful re-reading. While the core material is the same, the authors have moved away from some of the distinctive language Baxter utilizes from Bakhtin in order to present a more accessible version of RDT 2.0. They’ve eliminated the terminology of diachronic or synchronic strategies to reposition the focus on the difference in functional outcome (separation or interplay) instead of synchronistic time elements. They have also changed the ethical reflection to Martin Buber’s dialogic ethics, a natural fit with the material. 

This chapter has been edited for clarity and readability.  In particular, the introductory comments have been streamlined with the authors plunging right into the dynamics of ownership and control. It doesn’t change the substance of the chapter but may make it more straightforward for students. 

The chapter was new in the previous edition, and the treatment in the 11th edition has been further clarified and refined in light of recent work. Much of the content remains unchanged but is presented differently, chiefly organized around 5 central propositions. I would suggest a close read to be sure you are tracking with the more contemporary take on the theory. For example, while earlier research suggested that content would vary by relationship but not channel, more recent scholarship suggests it’s likely more complex than that. The other major addition is the ethical reflection on Sherry Turkle’s reclaiming conversation. 

This chapter has been edited for clarity. The chapter-wide example about drunk driving has been expanded to include distracted driving as well. Otherwise, the content remains the same.  

This chapter has been edited for clarity. In addition, the section on the power of a celebrity as an endorser has been revised and updated. We now know that the sway of a celebrity endorsement may not be entirely based on peripheral thinking, but may be processed on the central route if the product being advertised is perceived as both highly important and contributes to the endorser’s success or fame. Recent research is cited to support this addendum.

In this edition, the chapter-wide example now focuses on vaping and the dissonance it creates from vapers. The previous edition illustrated the theory as it applied to smoking. While the theoretical material is the same, this new illustration changes the feel of the chapter since each step is applied to the new case study. 

This chapter is the same as the treatment in the 10th edition; there are no substantive changes and very few edits.

The theory content and organization of this chapter are unchanged from the 10th edition. What is new for this edition is the example used to illustrate the pentad. Here, then-President Trump’s words on January 6, 2021 during the Capitol riot are used to illustrate the component parts of the pentad.  

The chapter-long illustration has been changed in this edition of A First Look. Previously the biblical story of Hosea and Gomer (as interpreted by Frederick Buechner) was used; here, the authors examine the testimony of Dr. Christine Blasey Ford. The theoretical material is the same but applied to the contemporary, real-world example.

The chapter has been lightly edited for clarity and readability. When discussing Dewey’s process of reflective thinking, the chapter now describes recent research by Hirokawa on health care teams. The theoretical material and the chapter-wide example (of the island course) are unchanged. 

This chapter has been slightly edited for clarity. One primary example used in previous editions, that of a Kentucky cigar shop, has been replaced with recent research on fantasy themes among schoolteachers. The theoretical content remains consistent with the 10th edition. 

The material has been edited and updated to feature new examples of corporate culture (i.e. Transgender Resource Center of New Mexico, a US airline) but the theoretical material and the critique remain the same. 

After being retooled by Katherine Cooper for this edition, the chapter’s treatment of CCO reads quite different this time around. She has streamlined the theoretical material by removing some of the nuances that will likely improve readability for students. The place you will probably notice the most change is the chapter-wide examples. In the 10th edition, they were primarily drawn from Greek life organizations found on many American campuses. While she has retained some of those notes, she has included (and foregrounded) examples from Habitat for Humanity to show CCO at work in the nonprofit sector. Beyond these changes, much of the theoretical content remains the same.

In this edition, the material has been reworked by Katherine Cooper, streamlining the content and updating the examples used. No new theoretical content is added and a few potentially difficult concepts from Deetz (such as systematically distorted communication) have been eliminated, as was the discussion of politically attentive relational constructivism (PARC). 

This chapter has been edited for clarity and readability. The discussion of Dixon and Giles’ research on police-civilian interactions has been further sharpened from its treatment in the 10th edition. 

The contents of this chapter have been reworked here for a more streamlined presentation of the theory. In previous editions, the authors have first presented Ting-Toomey’s predicted styles of conflict followed by a discussion of how the research did not support those predictions leading her to revise the theory. In this edition, the authors highlight only the state-of-the-art version of the theory (without discussing the earlier predictions). They have also included a more thorough discussion of the research on apologies. 

While much of the content remains consistent with the 10th edition of A First Look, here the authors included a section covering dominant group theory (DGT)—Orbe and Razzante’s extension of the original work. This provides the mirror-image of co-cultural theory and is posed from the position of those in power or with more status.

This is a new chapter in the 11th edition of A First Look.

In addition to edits for clarity, this edition’s coverage has shifted to highlight a broader diversity of marginalized groups. Specifically, the text emphasizes the critique of feminism from women of color, discussing Patricia Hill Collins’ Black feminist thought much earlier in the chapter and using Shardé Davis’ strong Black woman controlling image as an example throughout. These changes replace the example of The Help used in previous editions. Consistent with the essence of the theory, the chapter more strongly emphasizes epistemology and differences in ways of knowing, devoting particular attention to the concept of intersectionality. Fricker’s epistemic injustice serves as a new ethical reflection in this chapter. 

This chapter has been edited for clarity. The most focused revision is in the section on male gatekeeping, with new examples drawn from Bob Iger’s recollections of his time as CEO of Disney, Sarah Sobieraj’s research on gender oppression online, and Safiya Umoja Noble’s work on gender bias encoded in algorithms.

The content of this chapter has been heavily retooled for clarity and readability. Discussion of McLuhan’s inspiration based on his Catholic faith has been included in other sections but eliminated as a stand-alone section. The major change is the theory’s critique. In the 10th edition of A First Look, the authors applied both empirical and interpretive metrics (from ch. 3). In this edition, the theory is only evaluated against interpretive standards and given a much more favorable review that reflects the ongoing work of McLuhan scholars. 

This is a new chapter in the 11th edition of A First Look.

This chapter has been revised, changing the central example from yellow ribbons (in the 10th edition) to COVID-19 mask wearing in this edition. The illustration is used to demonstrate how a denotative sign transforms into a connotative sign system.  The chapter’s critique now also discusses how signs may not always reinforce the status quo such as the sign of taking a knee used to protest present conditions. 

This chapter has been significantly revised from the treatment in the 10th edition. The writing has been clarified to more closely align with Hall’s argument about the media’s role as producers of consent. The encoding (by the media) and the decoding (by consumers) are shown in greater relationship to each other, including a new full-page figure that clarifies these concepts. Policing the Crisis, Hall’s research on “mugging,” gets extended treatment alongside applications from popular culture.

This chapter has been edited for clarity and readability. In addition, new research from studies of 21st century media technologies is discussed. The critique has been revised to include Sundar’s affordance-centered, uses & grats 2.0 approach. 

This chapter has been substantially rewritten for the 11th edition. Gerbner’s original work and conclusions are discussed alongside more contemporary 21st-century approaches to television watching (e.g., streaming services). Institutional process analysis—which led in the 10th edition—now comes at the end, after the other analyses are discussed.  The chapter also includes a broader focus of cultivation studies, beyond Gerbner’s work on violence, and more inclusive of research that modifies or contradicts some of the theory’s original findings. The critique is completely revised, pointing to some substantial concerns with the heavily researched theory.    

This chapter has been lightly edited for clarity and readability. The theoretical content, examples, and critique remain the same.

This chapter has been updated to include the new theories (i.e., family communication patterns theory, Afrocentricity, and context collapse) in this edition.