communication theories
Aristotle’s model of communication
Formal communication theory (rhetorical theory) goes back 2500 years ago to Classical Greece when Plato, Aristotle, and the Sophists were speech teachers. Classical Rhetoric. Early Greek society (Plato, Aristotle) began the study of communication. The social context, the society's structure leads to a certain picture of communication. The study of communication in Greek society was called RHETORIC, and this was how Greek philosophers thought about communication. Most politics then were based on the oral tradition, you had to defend yourself before a court of law, and nothing was really written. Public speaking was the basis of society and effective public speaking was important. The word SOPHIST (or applied communicator) comes from these times. These were clever people who were very effective debaters (nowadays it means someone who can trick you in a debate, someone sophisticated).
The Greek tradition was continued and improved upon by the Romans, after which it remained static until the twentieth century. Indeed, Classical Rhetoric was and still is being taught today. However, a result of the proliferation of mass communications via radio, movies, and television, and of empirical scientific methods, communication theory changed in the latter part of the twentieth century.
The model proposed by Aristotle is a linear one. In his Rhetoric, Aristotle tells us that we must consider three elements in communication:
The speaker
The speech
The audience
The speaker
The speech
The audience
What is Communication Science?
Communication science concentrates on the human aspect of processing information, regardless of the medium or communication system being utilized.
These models are similar to each other, but each adds at least one important element to the process and definition of communication
Classic corporate identity theory speaks of three different areas:
- Corporate design
- Corporate communications
- Corporate behavior
- Models of Communication
A number of models of communication have been proposed over the last fifty years. Most of these models have been built and modified from previous models.
However, understanding these models serves the dual purpose of providing a foundation for communication theory and improving communication in multimedia.
Some criticism has been made against these models as being: - To simplistic
- Too linear
- Not reflective of the process of communication itself.
Lasswell’s model (1948)
Harold Lasswell a political scientist studied very carefully the American presidential Elections (1948). Based on his studies on the process of political campaigning and propagandas he introduced an important model, elements of which survive in more developed modern models.
Who
Says What
In Which Channel
To Whom
To What Effect
Example: -suppose a manager wants to send a message to other employees about the change in timing of the industry. In this case who will be manager says what will be the message like ‘there is change in timing from 8 a.m to 6 p.m from 10th July 2007 in what manner is channel like company intranet and to whom is target audience as in this case all employees of the industry. Effect will be based on employees willingness and adaptability. - As we see, Lasswell’s communication model is similar to the other models we will discuss. The "Who" is the "Source;" "Says What", the message; and "To Whom", the destination. Communications have a source that communicates a message through a channel or medium to a destination (audience) that, hopefully, creates the desired effect. Claude Shannon's model is similar, but more graphical.
Main characteristics of the model are - It is based on effect of the sender’s message on receiver.
- There is no feedback for the message.
- It is very linear in nature (researchers say communication is always in circular motion because of feedback element).
- It presents communication as more of persuasive process rather than an informative.
Lasswell’s model sees communication as the transmission of messages:
It raises the issue of ‘effect’ rather than meaning. ‘Effect’ implies an observable and measurable change in the receiver that is caused by identifiable elements in the process. Changing one of these elements will change the effect: we change the sender, we change the message, and we change the channel: each one of these changes should produce the appropriate change in the effect.
Note: -Lasswell’s was primarily concerned with mass communication.
Mass Communication
Mass communication is defined traditionally as a sender (usually a large media organization) transmitting messages (usually one-way) to a large, diverse and heterogeneous, anonymous, geographically dispersed and socially distant audience termed “the mass.”
Herbert Blumer and Robert E. Park, over 40 years ago summarized “the mass” as follows:
First it is heterogeneous in composition, its members coming from all groups of society.
Second, it is composed of individuals who do not know each other.
Third, the members of the mass are spatially separated from one another or exchanged experience.
Fourth, the mass has no definite leadership and has a very loose organization if any at all.
Note:-In addition to the four points listed, many scholars also note that mass communication permits only a rather low level of interaction or feedback both between the sender and the receiver and among the members of the audience, compared to face-to-face communication.
Difference between mass and Interpersonal communication
Prior to the advent of personal computers, local and wide area networks, multimedia and the widespread use of e-mail and the World-Wide Web, rather clear distinctions were drawn between mass communication and interpersonal communication.
Difference between mass and Interpersonal communication
Outlined below are the many differences.
The size of the audience for mass communication is far larger.
Mass communication consists of many individuals creating one message.
Mass communication is a one-way flow of information, not interactive.
Mass communication is mediated by sophisticated technology.
Messages for mass communication are produced, packaged, distributed, and public.
“Claude Shannon” The “Linear Model of Communication”(1949)
Claude Shannon, a telecommunications engineer at Bell Telephone laboratories, developed the first major theory of communication.
Years after Shannon’s model was introduced it became a general model for human communication, popularly known as a “linear model of communication.”
Example: -suppose a manager wants to send a message to other employees about the change in timing of the industry. In this case who will be manager says what will be the message like ‘there is change in timing from 8 a.m to 6 p.m from 10th July 2007 in what manner is channel like company intranet and to whom is target audience as in this case all employees of the industry. Effect will be based on employees willingness and adaptability. - As we see, Lasswell’s communication model is similar to the other models we will discuss. The "Who" is the "Source;" "Says What", the message; and "To Whom", the destination. Communications have a source that communicates a message through a channel or medium to a destination (audience) that, hopefully, creates the desired effect. Claude Shannon's model is similar, but more graphical.
Main characteristics of the model are: - It is based on effect of the sender’s message on receiver.
- There is no feedback for the message.
- It is very linear in nature (researchers say communication is always in circular motion because of feedback element)
- It presents communication as more of persuasive process rather than an informative.
Lasswell’s model sees communication as the transmission of messages:
It raises the issue of ‘effect’ rather than meaning. ‘Effect’ implies an observable and measurable change in the receiver that is caused by identifiable elements in the process. Changing one of these elements will change the effect: we change the sender, we change the message, and we change the channel: each one of these changes should produce the appropriate change in the effect.
Note: -Lasswell’s was primarily concerned with mass communication.
Mass Communication
Mass communication is defined traditionally as a sender (usually a large media organization) transmitting messages (usually one-way) to a large, diverse and heterogeneous, anonymous, geographically dispersed and socially distant audience termed “the mass.”
Herbert Blumer and Robert E. Park, over 40 years ago summarized “the mass” as follows:
First it is heterogeneous in composition, its members coming from all groups of society.
Second, it is composed of individuals who do not know each other.
Third, the members of the mass are spatially separated from one another or exchanged experience.
Fourth, the mass has no definite leadership and has a very loose organization if any at all.
Note:-In addition to the four points listed, many scholars also note that mass communication permits only a rather low level of interaction or feedback both between the sender and the receiver and among the members of the audience, compared to face-to-face communication.
Difference between mass and Interpersonal communication
Prior to the advent of personal computers, local and wide area networks, multimedia and the widespread use of e-mail and the World-Wide Web, rather clear distinctions were drawn between mass communication and interpersonal communication.
Difference between mass and Interpersonal communication
Outlined below are the many differences.
The size of the audience for mass communication is far larger.
Mass communication consists of many individuals creating one message.
Mass communication is a one-way flow of information, not interactive.
Mass communication is mediated by sophisticated technology.
Messages for mass communication are produced, packaged, distributed, and public.
“Claude Shannon” The “Linear Model of Communication”(1949)
Claude Shannon, a telecommunications engineer at Bell Telephone laboratories, developed the first major theory of communication.
Years after Shannon’s model was introduced it became a general model for human communication, popularly known as a “linear model of communication. - Shanon’s model as it applies to human communication is based upon several fundamental concepts, each of which required definition and clarification
Information
The word information in this theory is used in a special sense that must not be confused with its ordinary usage. In particular, information must not be confused with meaning.
Message
The message is the material that the information source wishes to transmit to the destination. The message may consist of words spoken, sung, written, stored in a computer and so on.
Information Source
The information source is the entity that is responsible for selecting or formulating a particular, desired message out of a set of possible messages. The information source is where the message originates or is created.
Signal
The signal is the form in which the message is physically sent to the recipient.
Channel
The channel is the medium over which the signal is sent.
Transmitter
The transmitter is the entity that changes the message from the form in which it is created by the information source into the form in which it can be sent to the receiver, the signal.
Noise Source
A noise source is any entity that introduces something to the signal that was not intended by the information source.
Received Signal
The received signal is the combination of the signal and any noise that has been introduced to the channel.
Receiver
The receiver performs the opposite function from the transmitter; it translates the signal into the message in a form that can be processed by the destination.
Destination
The destination is the recipient of the message.
Schramm’s Model of Communication (1954)
Wilbur Schramm is considered one of the founders of modern communication theory. He played an important role in legitimizing communication as a unique discipline in academe. Schramm’s research and writing dealt primarily with the process and effects of mass communication.
Schramm’s Model of Communication
Schramm added some detail to the existing model, he included feedback loops, and what he termed “field of experience” and “role exchangeability.”
Schramm’s field of experience model or Schram’s model of communication with feedback orSchramm’s Model
Encoding and decoding are an integral part of Shannon’s model, but Schramm emphasized that these roles are performed by both the sender and the receiver.
Ø Schramm introduced the concept he termed “feedback” in his model of communication. Feedback is the return process in which the originator of a message also acts as the recipient of a message resulting directly from the first message.
Ø In addition to obtaining feedback from the recipient of the message, people are constantly monitoring their personal communication behavior and evaluating it- what is sometimes termed “self-monitoring.”
Ø In face-to-face communication, feedback is immediate and simultaneous. In mass communication the feedback is delayed and indirect.
Personal experience:-I worked in IBM IN MY INTERENSHIP in which manager uses interntet for their communication. managers encodes their messages by using some principles which are also understandable by employees.
Westley-MacLean Model
Bruce Westley and Malcolm MacLean, Jr. departed from previous popular approaches in their model by suggesting 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 (politicians) may choose to comment upon those events. What the advocates say may be picked up on by the channels (press, TV). 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. Also, it broadened and elaborated on the feedback concept.
Kincaids's Convergence Model 1979
In the 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. Several cycles of information sharing about a topic may increase mutual understanding but not complete it. Generally communication ceases when a sufficient level of mutual understanding has been reached for the task at hand. Mutual understanding is never perfect.
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.
The unity of information and action is indicated by three bold lines information-action-believing; information-collection action; and information-action-believing]. All information is a consequence (or physical trace) of action, and through the various stages of human information processing; action may become the consequence of information. A similar unity underlies the relationships among all the basic components of the convergence model. The communication process has no beginning and no end, only the mutually defining relationship among the parts which give meaning to the whole.
The convergence model represents human communication as a dynamic, cyclical process over time, characterized by:
mutual causation, rather than one-way mechanistic causation; and emphasizing the
interdependent relationship of the participants, rather than a bias toward either the "source" or the "receiver" of a message.
Mutual understanding and mutual agreement are the primary goals of the communication process. They are the points toward which the participants either converge or diverge over time.
The convergence model of communication lead to a relational perspective of human communication because of the shift to information as opposed to messages as the content that is created and shared by participants. From this understanding, research into the "invisible college" and "gatekeepers" are possible, both topics of interest to information scientists.
Although acknowledging the role of interpretive processes that occur within individuals, Lawrence Kincaid (and later Everett Rogers and Kincaid) emphasized the information exchanges and networks between them. Their perspectives also carried forth the view of communication as a process rather than a single event, a point of view emphasized in nearly all communication models in recent years.
Communication Models
Ø Offer convenient way to think
Ø Provide graphical checklist
Ø Change to adapt to mass communications methods
Reference: -
Ø THEORIES OF COMMUNICATION BTST 670(PPT)
Ø KEVAL J KUMAR: MASS COMMUNICATION IN INDIA, JAICO PUBLISHING HOUSE
Ø RAYMOND ZEUSCHNER: COMMUNICATING TODAY, ALLYN AND BACON
Ø BARKER/ GAUT: COMMUNICATION, ALLYN AND BACON
Events occur. Advocates (politicians) may choose to comment upon those events. What the advocates say may be picked up on by the channels (press, TV). 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. Also, it broadened and elaborated on the feedback concept.
Kincaids's Convergence Model 1979
In the 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. Several cycles of information sharing about a topic may increase mutual understanding but not complete it. Generally communication ceases when a sufficient level of mutual understanding has been reached for the task at hand. Mutual understanding is never perfect.
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.
The unity of information and action is indicated by three bold lines information-action-believing; information-collection action; and information-action-believing]. All information is a consequence (or physical trace) of action, and through the various stages of human information processing; action may become the consequence of information. A similar unity underlies the relationships among all the basic components of the convergence model. The communication process has no beginning and no end, only the mutually defining relationship among the parts which give meaning to the whole.
The convergence model represents human communication as a dynamic, cyclical process over time, characterized by:
mutual causation, rather than one-way mechanistic causation; and emphasizing the
interdependent relationship of the participants, rather than a bias toward either the "source" or the "receiver" of a message.
Mutual understanding and mutual agreement are the primary goals of the communication process. They are the points toward which the participants either converge or diverge over time.
The convergence model of communication lead to a relational perspective of human communication because of the shift to information as opposed to messages as the content that is created and shared by participants. From this understanding, research into the "invisible college" and "gatekeepers" are possible, both topics of interest to information scientists.
Although acknowledging the role of interpretive processes that occur within individuals, Lawrence Kincaid (and later Everett Rogers and Kincaid) emphasized the information exchanges and networks between them. Their perspectives also carried forth the view of communication as a process rather than a single event, a point of view emphasized in nearly all communication models in recent years.
Communication Models
Ø Offer convenient way to think
Ø Provide graphical checklist
Ø Change to adapt to mass communications methods
Reference: -
Ø THEORIES OF COMMUNICATION BTST 670(PPT)
Ø KEVAL J KUMAR: MASS COMMUNICATION IN INDIA, JAICO PUBLISHING HOUSE
Ø RAYMOND ZEUSCHNER: COMMUNICATING TODAY, ALLYN AND BACON
Ø BARKER/ GAUT: COMMUNICATION, ALLYN AND BACON
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