The Psychobiological Model: Towards a New Theory of Computer-Mediated Communication Based on Darwinian Evolution

Organization Science - Tập 15 Số 3 - Trang 327-348 - 2004
Ned Kock1
1Department of MIS and Decision Science, Texas A&M International University, 5201 University Boulevard, Laredo, Texas 78041

Tóm tắt

This article reviews theories of organizational communication with a special emphasis on theories that have been used to explain computer-mediated communication phenomena. Among the theories reviewed, two—social presence and media richness—are identified as problematic and as posing obstacles to future theoretical development. While shortcomings of these theories have been identified in the past, some of these theories' predictions have been supported by empirical evidence. It is argued that this theoretical dilemma can be resolved based upon principles derived from a modern version of Darwin's theory of evolution by natural selection and the application of those principles to the understanding of human evolution. A new theoretical model called the psychobiological model is developed, which predicts variations in cognitive effort in computer-mediated collaborative tasks. The model proposes that there is a negative causal link between the “naturalness” of a computer-mediated communication medium, which is the similarity of the medium to the face-to-face medium, and the cognitive effort required from an individual using the medium for knowledge transfer. The model also states that this link is counterbalanced by what are referred to as “schema alignment” and “cognitive adaptation.” The schema alignment construct refers to the similarity between the mental schemas of an individual and those of other participant(s). The cognitive adaptation construct refers to an individual's level of schema development associated with the use of a particular medium. Finally, the model states that the degree to which the medium supports an individual's ability to convey and listen to speech is particularly significant in defining its naturalness, more so than the medium's degree of support for the use of facial expressions and body language. An example is offered of how the psychobiological model can be tested in the context provided by the customer support area of an online broker.

Từ khóa


Tài liệu tham khảo

Ackerman D., 1991, A Natural History of the Senses

10.2307/249763

Allen D. G., 1997, Human Relations, 50, 1239

10.5465/amr.1984.4279664

Barkow J. H., 1992, The Adapted Mind: Evolutionary Psychology and the Generation of Culture, 627, 10.1093/oso/9780195060232.003.0019

Bartlett F., 1932, Remembering: A Study in Experimental and Social Psychology

Bartlett F., 1958, Thinking: An Experimental and Social Study

Bates B., 2001, The Human Face

10.1080/03634520009379193

10.1080/03637759809376448

Bickerton D., 1990, Language and Species, 10.7208/chicago/9780226220949.001.0001

Boaz N. T., 1997, Biological Anthropology: A Synthetic Approach to Human Evolution

10.1287/orsc.6.4.350

Buss D. M., 1999, Evolutionary Psychology: The New Science of the Mind

Byrne R., 1995, The Thinking Ape.

Byrne R., 1988, Machiavellian Intelligence: Social Expertise and the Evolution of Intellect in Monkeys, Apes and Humans

Calvin W. H., 2000, Lingua ex Machina: Reconciling Darwin and Chomsky with the Human Brain, 10.7551/mitpress/4246.001.0001

Campbell B. C., 1992, Humankind Emerging

10.1111/j.1540-4560.1991.tb01830.x

10.1207/s15327957pspr0104_1

Caporael L. R., 2001, J. Soc. Issues, 52, 607

Caporael L. R., 1997, Evolutionary Social Psychology, 317

10.1111/j.1460-2466.1996.tb01485.x

10.1177/009365097024003001

10.1016/0093-934X(84)90032-4

10.2307/249669

10.2307/257090

Cartwright J., 2000, Evolution and Human Behavior: Darwinian Perspectives on Human Nature

10.2307/249688

10.4135/9781483325385.n7

Cosmides L., 1992, The Adapted Mind: Evolutionary Psychology and the Generation of Culture, 163, 10.1093/oso/9780195060232.003.0004

10.1111/j.1467-6486.1992.tb00668.x

Creswell J. W., 1994, Research Design: Qualitative and Quantitative Approaches

10.1287/mnsc.32.5.554

10.2307/248682

Darwin C., 1859, On the Origin of Species

10.2307/249008

Dawkins R., 1986, The Blind Watchmaker

Dawkins R., 1989, The Selfish Gene

Deacon D., 1999, Researching Communications: A Practical Guide to Methods in Media and Cultural Analysis

Deacon T. W., 1998, The Symbolic Species: The Co-evolution of Language and the Brain

Dennett D. C., 1991, Consciousness Explained

10.1287/isre.9.3.256

Dobzhansky T., 1937, Genetics and the Origin of Species

10.1017/S0140525X00032325

Dunbar R. I. M., 1996, Grooming Gossip and the Evolution of Language

Edelson E., 1999, Gregor Mendel: And the Roots of Genetics

Eichler L., 2000, Econtent, 23, 63

10.1109/47.735366

Eysenck M. W., 1990, Cognitive Psychology

10.1177/002194369703400101

10.4135/9781483325385.n6

Galbraith J., 1973, Designing Complex Organizations

Galbraith J., 1977, Organizational Design

Galegher J., 1990, The Association for Computing Machinery, 65

10.1007/978-0-387-35309-8_21

Ganger J., 1998, Human Biol., 70, 199

Gardner H., 1985, The Mind's New Science

Gilbert J., 1999, Advertising Age, 70, 62

Gombrich E. H., 1995, The Story of Art.

10.2307/j.ctvjsf433

10.1177/1046496498296003

10.1016/0022-5193(64)90038-4

10.1016/S0166-4115(08)62386-9

10.1016/S0167-2681(03)00094-5

Isaac G. L., 1993, The Human Evolution Source Book, 263

Janson H. W., 1997, History of Art.

10.2307/2392366

10.1080/07421222.2003.11045754

10.1080/03634520009379192

Kinney S. T., 1994, Proc. Hawaii Internat. Conf. System Sci., 21

Kinney S. T., 1992, Proc. 13th Internat. Conf. Inform. Systems, 107

Kline R. B., 1998, Principles and Practice of Structural Equation Modeling

Knowles M., 1984, Andragogy in Action

10.1016/S0378-7206(98)00066-4

10.4018/978-1-878289-58-2

10.1109/47.968108

Kock N., 2001, Comm. AIS, 5, 1

Kotulak R., 1997, Inside the Brain: Revolutionary Discoveries of How the Mind Works

Laitman J., 1993, The Human Evolution Source Book, 56

10.2307/249762

10.5465/AME.1988.4277259

Lieberman P., 1991, Uniquely Human: The Evolution of Speech Thought, and Selfless Behavior

Lieberman P., 1998, Eve Spoke: Human Language and Human Evolution

Lieberman P., 2000, Human Language and Our Reptilian Brain: The Subcortical Bases of Speech Syntax, and Thought

Lloyd C., 1985, 1773 Milestones of Art.

Lord R. G., 1986, The Thinking Organization, 20

Lorenz K., 1970, Studies in Animal and Human Behavior

Lorenz K., 1983, The Waning of Humaneness

10.1108/09604529510081794

10.4135/9781483325385.n9

10.1287/orsc.5.4.502

Maxwell J. A., 1996, Qualitative Research Design: An Interactive Approach

Mayr E., 1998, The Evolutionary Synthesis: Perspectives on the Unification of Biology

10.1080/03634520009379187

10.1108/13287269980000742

Miller G. F., 2000, The Mating Mind: How Sexual Choice Shaped the Evolution of Human Nature

Myers B. S., 1967, Art and Civilization

10.2307/249417

10.1145/105783.105793

Piaget J., 1971, Biology and Knowledge

10.2307/259358

10.1037/e412952005-009

Pinker S., 1997, How the Mind Works

Pinker S., 1992, The Adapted Mind: Evolutionary Psychology and the Generation of Culture, 451, 10.1093/oso/9780195060232.003.0013

Plotkin H., 1998, Evolution in Mind: An Introduction to Evolutionary Psychology

10.4135/9781483325385.n8

Popper K. R., 1992, The Logic of Scientific Discovery

Rencher A. C., 1998, Multivariate Statistical Inference and Applications

Rheingold H., 1993, The Virtual Community: Homesteading on the Electronic Frontier

Rice D. T., 1968, A Concise History of Painting From Prehistory to the Thirteenth Century

10.1111/j.1468-2958.1993.tb00309.x

10.1111/j.1467-6486.1990.tb00760.x

Rose S., 1999, InfoWorld, 28, 156

Rosenthal R., 1991, Essentials of Behavioral Research: Methods and Data Analysis

10.1145/365058.365086

Salomon G., 1979, Interaction of Media, Cognition, and Learning

Salomon G., 1981, Communication and Education

10.3102/0013189X020003002

Schumacker R. E., 1996, A Beginner's Guide to Structural Equation Modeling

Short J., 1976, The Social Psychology of Telecommunications

Siegel S., 1998, Nonparametric Statistics for the Behavioral Sciences

10.1287/mnsc.32.11.1492

10.1287/orsc.9.2.160

10.1057/ejis.1995.10

Tattersall I., 1997, The Fossil Trail: How We Know What We Think We Know About Human Evolution

10.1038/scientificamerican1201-56

10.1287/isre.10.4.356

Tooby J., 1992, The Adapted Mind: Evolutionary Psychology and the Generation of Culture, 19, 10.1093/oso/9780195060232.003.0002

10.4135/9781483325385.n4

10.1287/orsc.11.2.163.12510

10.1080/01463379809370105

10.1108/02634509210018711

10.1177/009365092019001003

10.1177/009365096023001001

10.1145/194313.194320

10.2307/256843

Weick K. E., 1969, The Social Psychology of Organizing

Weick K. E., 1995, Sensemaking in Organizations

Weick K. E., 1986, The Thinking Organization, 102

10.1007/BF00805695

10.2307/256623

Williams G. C., 1966, Adaptation and Natural Selection

Wills C., 1993, The Runaway Brain: The Evolution of Human Uniqueness

Wilson E. O., 1998, Consilience: The Unity of Knowledge

Wilson E. O., 2000, Sociobiology: The New Synthesis, 10.2307/j.ctvjnrttd

Wright R., 2000, Nonzero: The Logic of Human Destiny

10.5465/amr.1992.4279545

Zahavi A., 1997, The Handicap Principle: A Missing Piece of Darwin's Puzzle, 10.1093/oso/9780195100358.001.0001

10.2307/249668

10.1145/344241.344244

Zimmer C., 2001, Evolution: The Triumph of an Idea