Introduces six articles comprising a symposium on dynamic social impact theory--a theory discussing the creation, maintenance, structuring, and alteration of attitude, beliefs, and belief systems; the dynamics of social influence; and the role of human ecology in the formation of belief and belief systems. Discusses theoretical premises and…

Presents a theory of how individuals located in social space influence each other to create higher order patterns of cultural structure. Presents the theory as five propositions and six derivations, arguing that Dynamic Social Impact Theory accounts for four key features of culture: regional clustering, correlations among cultural elements,…

Uses a typology to characterize the situation in communication research in 1993 as compared to the situation in 1983. Compares previous predictions to the present situation and makes new predictions. Argues that a cause for the fragmentation in communication studies is the lack of a basic precondition for cumulative growth--formal models. (SR)

Argues that social structures, in the form of shared attitudes, values, beliefs, and identities, can emerge out of the spatially constrained nature of social interaction and influence. Discusses the processes that differentiate social space from both subjective psychological space and objective physical reality. (SR)

Presents results of experimental tests of Dynamic Social Impact Theory (DSIT) in which participants engaged in discussions over electronic mail. Finds support for the emergence of four group phenomena predicted by DSIT. Shows how, rewarded for being in the majority, individuals' choices resulted in the emergence of four forms of group level…

Discusses new research which suggests a need for a model integrating all the various approaches to the study of nonverbal cues. (MH)

Describes Social Representation Theory (SRT), an important and controversial development in European social constructivism. Argues that, although SRT and Dynamic Social Impact Theory (DSIT) come from different research traditions, they are complementary. Maintains that DSIT goes further in providing a clear mechanism for how dialog creates…

Proposes two theories which constitute an interactive and dynamical system from which public opinion may emerge and become organized: (1) a dynamic theory of cognitive impact specifying processes for resolving inconsistency within an individual's attitudinal structure; and (2) a cognitive-social theory of the structural organization of attitudes…

Shows how Dynamic Social Impact Theory (DSIT) and an evolutionary perspective offer new ways of understanding social representations through communication. Outlines the metatheoretical perspective that social representations emerge as structure in self-organizing systems. Explores ways in which DSIT might be further informed by the dynamic…