Trait-Treatment Interactions (TTI), Cognitive Processes and Research on Communication Media.

The Trait Treatment Interaction (TTI) Process approach is particularly adapted to the study of information-processing by receivers of information presented in the media. Differences in people's experiences do lead to different cognitive structures. Different people use the same machinery of perceiving, coding, storing, and retrieving. Neverthless, how they use this machinery, what information they process by this machinery, and which particular use of a given piece of machinery they prefer, will make a major difference in knowledge structures leading to an enormous variety of individual differences. Even very small differences in environment and experience can make large differences in knowledge structures including the learner's knowledge about how to process information, even though it is probably true that the underlying machinery is the same for all learners. Systematic investigations on the media based on TTI-Process oriented theories appear now to hold the promise of making a major impact on our understanding of the communication process as well as on our understanding of human behavior. In terms of the theories, technology, and research methods that the task requires there has never been a more opportune time. (WCM)