Comprehensive Notes on Communication Concepts, Types and Processes

Core Objectives of the Communication Study

• Understanding the term communication and its most prominent academic definitions.
• Analyzing the communication process, specifically the interaction between the sender, receiver, channel, message, and feedback.
• Examining leading theoretical models of communication to understand their unique perspectives.
• Evaluating the impact of the technological revolution on the global nature of communication.
• Identifying socio-cultural constituents, including language, signs, symbols, feedback, and noise.
• Categorizing the basic types of communication: intrapersonal, interpersonal, group, and mass communication.

Introduction and Philosophy of Communication

• Communication is fundamentally basic to human life and organized activity.
• The study of communication is inherently inter-disciplinary, requiring an understanding of fundamental principles and issues.
• Necessity and Rights: Communication is both an individual and collective necessity; human beings cannot reach full human potential without it.
• It is considered a fundamental human right, necessary for the proper functioning and development of individuals and the social environment.
• Objective: The ultimate goal of all communication acts is to establish commonness and communion.
• The Influence of Instruments: Understanding basic principles helps in grasping how communication influences society and how traditional and modern instruments (media) function.

Etymology and Scholarly Definitions

• Etymology: The word "communication" is derived from the Latin word communis, meaning "common."
• General Definition: To communicate is to impart, bestow, convey, or make known by way of information. It involves trying to establish "commonness" with someone by sharing an idea, attitude, or information.
• New Webster's Dictionary: Defines it as "the act or fact of communicating transmission, the imparting or interchange of thoughts, opinions, or information by speech, writing or signs that which is communicated or imparted; a document or message imparting views or information."
• Oxford Dictionary: Defines it as "the imparting, conveying or exchanging of ideas, knowledge etc., by means of speech, writing or signs."
• Essential Components of Definitions: Any definition must consider mutuality, commonness, exchange, a shared environment, social relationships, and common needs/goals.
• Denis McQuail: Describes it as a "process which increases commonality" and the "sending from one person to another of meaningful messages."
• Charles Morris:     * Broad definition: "The establishment of a commonage."     * Limited definition: "Use of signs to establish a commonage of signification."
• George Lundberg: Designates communication as interaction performed through signs and symbols.
• Baker Brownell:     * Direct Communication: A function of the "identification of people with one another."     * Indirect Communication: A process where something converted into symbols is carried from one person to another.
• Theodore Newcomb: The process by which people influence each other or leave impressions on others.
• Shannon (Mathematical Theory of Communication): Includes "all of the procedures by which one mind may affect another … or one mechanism affects another mechanism."
• Insights from Definitions:     * Broad definitions can include animal responses and mechanical interactions.     * Restricted definitions focus on human interactions.     * Crucial emphasis is placed on the perspective of the receiver and the "communication situation."
• Montagu and Matson Perspective: Suggest communication is more than informaton/persuasion; it is the "essential human connection" and the "gerund of meeting and the foundation of community."

The Communication Process and the SMCR Model

• Historical Origins: Aristotle was among the first to identify elements: i) the speaker, ii) the speech, and iii) the audience.
• The SMCR Model: Developed by Harold Lasswell and David Berlo, identifying four essential elements: Source, Message, Channel, and Receiver.

The Sender (Source)

• Can be an individual (speaking, writing, drawing, gesturing) or an organization (newspaper, publishing house, television station).
• Effectiveness is influenced by the sender's communication skills, attitudes, convictions, content knowledge, objectives, and socio-cultural milieu.

The Message

• The core of the communication process, made of signs, symbols, and codes representing something.
• Forms: Ink on paper, sound waves, electric impulses, physical gestures (wave of hand), flags.
• Encoding/Decoding: Senders encode messages; receivers must decode them to understand meaning.
• Wilbur Schramm’s Conditions for Effective Messages:     1. Must be designed and delivered to gain the audience's attention.     2. Must employ signs referring to common experiences between source and receiver.     3. Must arouse needs in the receiver and suggest ways to meet those needs.     4. The suggested way to meet needs must be appropriate to the receiver's current context.

The Channel

• Refers to the means of transmission and the five sensory modes: seeing, touch, hearing, smell, and taste.
• Print/Visual Media: Corresponds to seeing.
• Sound Media (Audio): Corresponds to hearing (speech, music).
• Audio-Visual Media: Combines seeing and hearing (film, television).
• Models/Specimens: Involve touch, smell, or taste.
• Mechanical Devices: Used to encode messages into words or sound waves to reach distances or ensure longevity.

The Receiver (Destination)

• The object of the process; can be an individual, group, crowd, or mob reading, listening, or watching.
• The sender must consider the receiver's needs, aspirations, knowledge, and cultural background.

Critical Concepts in Communication Theory

• Field of Experience: Wilbur Schramm argues communication is impossible without a common field of experience.     * Example: An African tribesman seeing an airplane for the first time may interpret it as a bird and the pilot as a God because it is outside his field of experience (illustrated in the film "God's Must be Crazy").
• Critique of Linear Models: The SMCR model is criticized for being too linear. Communication is actually an endless, circular process.
• Cybernetics: Provided tools such as signs, symbols, feedback, redundancy, and noise.
• Feedback: The greatest contribution of cybernetics. It makes communication circular and allows for modifications at various stages.
• Symbols: The basic units of communication. They can be verbal (spoken), graphic (written), or representational (flags). Language is a universal system of symbols.

Communication Models: A Comparative Analysis

• The Lasswell Model ($1948$): "Who says What in Which Channel to Whom, with What Effect."     * Communicator-based and linear.     * Focuses on effect rather than meaning.
• The Gerbner Model ($1956$):     * Relates the message to the reality it represents.     * Consists of two dimensions: Perceptual/Receptive and Communicating/Means and Control.     * Localizes meaning in culture: Human perception is determined by culture, explaining why different audiences interpret the same message differently.
• The Berlo Model ($1960$):     * Includes Source, Encoder, Message, Channel, Decoder, and Receiver.     * Elements are seen as "behaviours" required for communication to occur, not just isolated entities.
• Summary Table of Models:

• History: Dates from the invention of paper and the printing press.
• Industrial Era: Production of electricity led to the telegraph, telephone, radio, and cinema.
• Digital Revolution: Since the second half of the $20^{th}$ century, developments in satellites, magnetoscopes, Internet, telematics, and mobile phones have abolished barriers of time and space.
• Socio-Structural Impact:     * Printing press: Hastened the collapse of feudalism.     * Newspapers/Telegraph: Contributed to democratization.     * Film ($1895$), Radio ($1897/1921$), Television ($1935$): Crossed cultural frontiers.
• Norma-Minc Commission Report ($1978$): Emphasized that informatics causes a profound reorganization of economy and society.
• NWICO (New World Information and Communication Order): A movement since the mid-$1960s$ by developing nations and the Movement of Non-Aligned Countries to demand a free, balanced flow of information and reject cultural colonialism.
• Shift in Communication Modes:     * Until the $1920s$: $80\%$ of communication was the spoken word; $20\%$ was press/radio.     * End of $20^{th}$ Century: Only $10\%$ to $15\%$ is spoken word; the rest is mediated by machines (telematics).

Socio-Cultural Constituents

• Language: A system of arbitrary symbols (oral and written) used by a community in a standardized way.     * Function 1: Primary vehicle for communication.     * Function 2: Reflects and shapes personality and culture.     * Function 3: Enables growth/transmission of culture and social control.
• Signs: Signals representing objects at a reduced level. All communication involves decoding environment signs.
• Symbols: Something used deliberately to replace something else, accepted by a social group (e.g., the word "cat").
• Feedback: The receiver's reaction (favorable or unfavorable). Examples include letters to the editor, applause, or protests.
• Noise: Any limitation or obstacle in message transmission.     * Channel Noise: Physical interference (static on radio, smeared ink, cross-talk on phone).     * Semantic Noise: Misunderstanding despite exact transmission. Occurs due to divergent fields of experience, difficult vocabulary, or cultural differences.

Types of Communication

• Intrapersonal: Communication within oneself (reflection, meditation, contemplation). Some include prayers (Transpersonal).
• Interpersonal: Direct, intimate dialogue between two persons without technology; involves verbal and gestural interaction.
• Group Communication: Takes place among multiple persons; intimacy decreases as the group size increases.
• Mass Communication: Targeting a large, heterogeneous, and widely dispersed audience via technology.

Questions & Progress Checks

• Q: What is the aim of communication?     * A: To establish commonness and communion, interchange thoughts or information, and share ideas/attitudes.
• Q: Why is the SMCR model criticized?     * A: Because it presents communication as linear and definite with a clear start and end point, whereas communication is actually an endless process.
• Q: What is meant by a linear model?     * A: It assumes communication moves in a straight line from sender to receiver and often neglects the role of feedback.
• Q: What did NWICO demand?     * A: A free and balanced flow of information and the rejection of cultural colonialism.
• Q: What are the functions of language?     * A: Primary vehicle of communication, reflecting/shaping personality and culture, and ensuring the continuity of society.
• Q: What is Semantic Noise?     * A: A misunderstanding caused when senders and receivers have no common frame of reference, such as using words that are too difficult or having different cultural meanings for words.