This paper shows that viewing dyadic communication from the perspective of servomechanisms and system dynamics rather than the cybernetics perspective (see Richardson, 1991, 128) allows deeper insights into the complex process of human conversations. Instead of viewing feedback from the cybernetic perspectives as the influence of input back on the output (Richardson, 128) we view dyadic communication as a closed system, with positive and negative feedback loops. This point of view helps us to better understand how to use feedback to achieve one's communications goals. A case study based on the short story The Revolt of Mother by Mary Wilkins Freeman, illustrates the reciprocal (not linear) nature of dyadic communication, and the role of breakdowns in revealing its structures. This analysis has implications for managers who engage in conversations in which they create, take care of, and initiate new commitments within an organization (Winograd and Flores, 1991, 151).

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Date created

• 1994

Type

• Document

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• Processing documentation available at: https://wiki.albany.edu/display/SCA/Processing+Ingested+Digital+Files

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• Creative Commons BY-NC-ND Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 4.0 International

  
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fe35db792b573af835d96e6eba4759cd

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c060552994c1527f70693734935660f1

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System Dynamic Society Records

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• This collection is part of the University Archives