Communication Theories

"A simple communication model with a sender transferring a message containing information to a receiver."




In the history of philosophy, Aristotle first addressed the problem of communication and attempted to work out a theory of it in The Rhetoric. He was primarily focused on the art of persuasion. Communication is the production and exchange of information and meaning by use of signs and symbols. It involves encoding and sending messages, receiving and decoding them, and interpreting information and meaning. Initially, linear models dominated communication research. We will look at several of the more famous linear models and then look at now convergence models of network communications evolved.

1. HAROLD LASSWELLS MODEL Lasswell, a political scientist, provided a general view of communication that extended well beyond the boundaries of political science. He said that the communication process could best be explained by the simple statement: "Who says what to whom in what channel with what effect." Both Aristotle and Lasswell viewed communication as a one-way process in which one individual influenced others through messages. The addition of the channel as a component was a response to the growth in new communication media, such as print, the telegraph, the radio, etc. Lasswell's approach also provided a more generalized view of the goal or effect of communication than did the Aristotelian perspective.
http://www.cultsock.ndirect.co.uk/MUHome/cshtml/introductory/lasswell.html

2. SHANNON AND WEAVER'S MODELThe information source selects a desired message out of a set of possible messages. The selected message may consist of written or spoken words, or of pictures, music, etc. The transmitter changes the message into the signal which is actually sent over the communication channel from the transmitter to the receiver. Shannon and Weaver introduced the term noise. Noise was used as a label for any distortion that interfered with the transmission of a signal from the source to the destination, such as static on a radio, rain-soaked pages of a newspaper etc.
http://www.cultsock.ndirect.co.uk/MUHome/cshtml/introductory/sw.html

3. SCHRAMM'S MODELS

First, the source encodes his message. That is, he takes the information or feeling he wants to share and puts it into a form that can be transmitted. the pictures in our heads can't be transmitted until they are coded. Once coded and sent, a message is quite free of its sender. And there is good reason for the sender to wonder whether his receiver will really be in tune with him, whether the message will be interpreted without distortion, whether the picture in the head of the receiver will bear any resemblance to that in the head of the sender.

Schramm's second model of communication - Without a common background and culture, there is little chance for a message to be interpreted correctly. He introduced the concept of a field of experience, which he thought to be essential in determining whether or not a message would be received at its destination in the manner intended by the source. He contended that without common fields of experience, a common language, common backgrounds, a common culture, and so forth, there was little chance for a message to be interpreted correctly.

To overcome the problem of noise, Schramm suggested the importance of feedback in his 3rd communication model. The roles of sender and recipient are taken on by both parties, and communication becomes circular, and create a relational model of communication and a beginning of a convergence or network approach. Communication is reciprocal, two-way, even though the feedback may be delayed. Some of these methods of communication are very direct, as when you talk in direct response to someone. Others are only moderately direct; you might squirm when a speaker drones on and on, wrinkle your nose and scratch your head when a message is too abstract, or shift your body position when you think it’s your turn to talk. For example, politicians discover if they’re getting their message across by the number of votes cast; commercial sponsors examine sales figures to gauge their communicative effectiveness in ads; teachers measure their abilities to get the material across in a particular course by seeing their student's grades.
http://www.personal.psu.edu/faculty/s/j/sjm256/portfolio/kbase/Theories&Models/communications.html

4. WESTLEY-MACLEAN MODEL

Bruce Westley and Malcolm MacLean, Jr suggests that communication does not begin with a source, but, rather, with a series of signals or potential messages. Their model suggests that in a given situation some of the many signals in one's environment at any point in time were selected by an advocate and combined to form a new message- a news story, advertisement, or speech, etc. If the audience had some first hand knowledge, they might question the advocate, and their questioning would be classified as feedback. Events occur. Advocates may choose to comment upon those events. What the advocates say may be picked up on by the channels. The channels then move that information on to the audience. Channels may also choose to report directly on events. Note that the audience never interacts directly with the events or with the advocates this is the nature of mass media. Feedback is possible, from the channels to the advocate, and from the audience to the advocates and channels. This model accounted for both mass communication and interpersonal communication, as well as the relationship between the two.

5. KINCAID'S CONVERGENCE MODEL
In this convergence model, "communication" is defined as a process in which participants create and share information with one another in order to reach a mutual understanding.
Information and mutual understanding are the dominant components of the convergence model of communication. Information shared by two or more participants in the communication process may lead to collective action, mutual agreements, and mutual understanding.
In this convergence model, "communication" is defined as a process in which participants create and share information with one another in order to reach a mutual understanding.
Information and mutual understanding are the dominant components of the convergence model of communication. Information shared by two or more participants in the communication process may lead to collective action, mutual agreements, and mutual understanding.

References
http://www.rpi.edu/~krullr/commt/communicationmodelsoverview.pdf
http://www.cas.usf.edu/lis/lis6260/lectures/shannon.htm