A Communication Model

There is always a sender and a receiver in communication. At least there is an intended receiver. In the diagram above A is the sender, B is the receiver.

A and B have different personal realities. They each have their own world formed by their experiences, their perceptions, their ideas, etc. They will perceive, experience, and interpret things differently. The same event will always be perceived a little different by each of two people.

For the consideration to communicate to appear at all there must be some kind of shared space. The participants must have some kind of concept of each other's location and of a possible channel of communication existing between them. They must agree sufficiently on these to agree that communication is taking place.

The sender will have some kind of meaning she wishes to convey to the receiver. It might not be conscious knowledge; it might be a sub-conscious wish for communication. What is desired to be communicated would be some kind of idea, perception, feeling, or datum. It will be a part of her reality that she wishes to send to somebody else.

Something will be transmitted across a distance in the shared space. We can regard it as an object, a particle, or as a wave, or flow. It might be sound vibrations, rays of light, words, pieces of paper, cannon balls, body language, telepathy, or whatever.

Between humans there will be several layers of the message being sent. There will often be a verbal portion, something that is being expressed in language, spoken or written. And there is also a non-verbal portion, covering everything else, most notably body

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language. Sometimes the verbal and non-verbal messages don't agree with each other, they are incongruent. If they do agree we say that they are congruent.

Based on what the receiver perceives, and based on her interpretation of the verbal and non-verbal input, she will form a concept in her reality of what the meaning of the message is. It will mean something to her. It might or might not be what was intended by the sender. In successful communication the perceived message will approximate the intended message to the sender's satisfaction. However, the sender will only know that if she receives a message back that is congruent with what she had in mind.

One can never take for granted that the receiver has the same reality as the sender. One can never take for granted that the receiver will interpret the message the same way as the sender intended it.

Communication is not an absolute finite thing. Particularly, communication with language is always vague and misleading to some extent.

If A says a word, like for example "trust", she has a certain meaning attached to it in her reality. She has had certain experiences with the subject matter, she has made certain conclusions about it, and she has certain perceptual filters concerning it. The meaning of the word is all the stuff it is associated with in her reality. However, because words also have nice, finite dictionary definitions it might appear as if the word is something very precise.

What travel across the communication channel is NOT all the associations that A made about the word, and NOT the intentions she had with using it. What cross the distance is symbols.

When B hears the word or sentence she will interpret it based on her experiences, perceptions, and opinions. She might supplement the verbal information with non-verbal information such as body language. She might also hallucinate what it is supposed to mean. In one way or another she arrives at the meaning she assigns to it.

There is wide agreement, at least within a particular culture, on what common physical objects are. When you say "car" or "refrigerator" most people will have an understanding very close to yours. But if you say words for abstract qualities, like "trust", "love", "right", "wrong", and so forth, then there is wide variance on what people mean.

To have effective communication one needs to take all the factors into consideration. The different realities, the space the communication takes place in, verbal as well as non-verbal messages, the intended meaning versus the perceived meaning.

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Explanation:

Communication is a process whereby information is enclosed in a package and is channeled and imparted by a sender to a receiver via some medium. The receiver then decodes the message and gives the sender a feedback. All forms of communication require a sender, a message, and a receiver. Communication requires that all parties have an area of communicative commonality. There are auditory means, such as speech, song, and tone of voice, and there are nonverbal means, such as body language, sign language, paralanguage, touch, eye contact,

In a Communication Model, there are 2 communicating people, A and B person. They have different perception and interpretations of what word are they talking about. A is the sender while B is the receiver, when A says any word like “faith” he is talking about something of what she want to mean but when the B person receives it he may interpret it base on his experiences or of what he believes at. Sometimes they have misunderstanding because of the channel which the sender used but sometimes it depends on the receiver on how to interpret the sender’s message but usually it may verbal or non-verbal- where often used and misunderstood by the receiver/s.

In effective communicating there should be clear message sent by the sender to the receiver and one must be considerable in different messages to be pass and in different messages may be received, may it be verbal or non-verbal to communicate completely and clearly.

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Schramm's Model of Communication

Wilbur L. Schramm was a forefather in the development of a basic model of communication. His model is a derivation of the Shannon-Weaver transmission model of communication. The Shannon-Weaver model proposed six elements of communication:

source encoder message channel decoder receiver

Wilbur Schramm's 1954 model expands on this thinking by emphasizing the process of encoding and decoding the message. Schramm envisioned this process as a two-way circular communication between the sender and receiver. Where the Shannon-Weaver model is a more mathematical and technological one, Schramm incorporates the study of human behavior in the communication process.

In addition to the six elements above, Schramm has included these concepts:

Feedback - information that comes back from the receiver to the sender and tells him how well he is doing.

Diagram of Schramm's feedback loop

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Field of Experience - an individual's beliefs, values, experiences and learned meanings both as an individual or part of a group.

Diagram of Schramm's field of experience

Dr. Schramm suggests that the message can be complicated by different meanings learned by different people. Meanings can be denotative or connotative. Denotative meanings are common or dictionary meanings and can be roughly the same for most people. Connotative meanings are emotional or evaluative and based on personal experience. A message can also have surface and latent meanings. Other characteristics of messages that impact communication between two individuals are: intonations and pitch patterns, accents, facial expressions, quality of voice, and gestures. The successful transmission of a message depends on whether this message will be accepted over all the competing messages.

Schramm's model of communication also allows for the process of interpreting the message. This process is influenced by the presence of both physical (phone, tv, sirens, etc.) and semantic (distractions, age, attitudes, etc.) noise.

Dr. Schramm believed that all of these elements were important functions of communication in society. He felt that people in a society need information on their environment and methods of communicating in order to make decisions. Most importantly we need "places to store the accumulated knowledge and wisdom of a society and this are why we have libraries" (Schramm, 1963, pg. 14). Within a library, all of these elements of Wilbur Schramm's communication model are useful in addressing problems with conducting a reference interview. This model provides the rationale to solve the problem presented in this project.

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Explanation:

As Wilbur L. Schramm said about his model of communication, there are six elements in communicating people to people these are: source, encoder, message channel, decoder and the receiver. He believes that these six elements are the things needed in communicating people. In addition to the six elements he includes, Feedback - information that comes back from the receiver to the sender and tells him how well he is doing (see illustration in page 4) and Field of Experience - an individual's beliefs, values, experiences and learned meanings both as an individual or part of a group (at page 5).

He says that messages can be sent to people in different meanings- can be denotative or connotative. Wherein, denotative is the common meaning at the dictionary while the connotative is the emotion and the meaning based on their experiences. And these messages may undergo in different processes and may influenced by a noise- physical (phone, television, sirens, etc.) and semantic (distractions, age, attitudes, etc.) noise.

At the end, these elements are important in communicating people, especially if the message/s is/are must be noted to the receiver and it’s also important to consider the place where the two people are talking.

Shannon and Weaver's Model of Communication[6]

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Back in 1949 Claude Shannon, an electrical engineer with Bell Telephone, and Warren Weaver, of the Rockefeller Foundation, (Figure 1) published their book, The Mathematical Theory of Communication 3.

Shannon and Weaver attempted to do two things:

Reduce the communication process to a set of mathematical formulas Discuss problems that could be handled with the model.

Shannon and Weaver were not particularly interested in the sociological or psychological aspects of communication. Instead, they wanted to devise a communications system with as close to 100 percent efficiency as possible.

You'll note that the Shannon and Weaver diagram has essentially the same parts as the one formulated by Aristotle. It's true the parts have different names, and a fourth component — in this case the transmitter — is included.

However, this model has an interesting additional element. Shannon and Weaver were concerned with noise in the communications process. Noise, Weaver said, "may be distortions of sound (in telephony, for example) or static (in radio), or distortions in shape or shading of picture (television), or errors in transmission (telegraph or facsimile), etc."

The "noise" concept introduced by Shannon and Weaver can be used to illustrate "semantic noise" that interferes with communication. Semantic noise is the problem connected with differences in meaning that people assign to words, to voice inflections in speech, to gestures and expressions and to other similar "noise" in writing.

Semantic noise is a more serious problem or barrier to developing effective communications than most realize. It is hard to detect that semantic noise has interfered with communication. Too often the person sending a message chooses to use words and

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phrases that have a certain meaning to him or her. However, they may have an altogether different meaning to individuals receiving the message. In the interest of good communication, we need to work to hold semantic noise to the lowest level possible.

We should be aware that there is a semantic noise in face-to-face verbal communication just as there is static noise, for example, in radio communication.

There are other kinds of noises involved in communication as well. Keep the noise concept in mind.

Claude Shannon was a research scientist at Bell Telephone Company trying to achieve maximum telephone line capacity with minimum distortion. He had never intended for his mathematical theory of signal transmission for anything but telephones. But when Warren Weaver applied Shannon's concept of information loss to interpersonal communication, one of the most popular models of communication was created.

Suppose you have an idea in your head (information source) that you want to tell someone about. You must first move the idea from your brain to your mouth (transmitter). Since you cannot actually share your gray matter, you must select words for your transmitter to use. Once you speak, your voice (signal) is carried through the air toward the listener's ear (receiver). Along the way, your signal is joined by a myriad of other sounds and distractions (noises). The receiver then takes everything it receives and tries to maximum the message and minimizes the noise. Finally, the receiver conveys its message to the other person's mind (destination).

Shannon and Weaver's model clearly demonstrates why even the simplest communications can be misunderstood. Transmitting a signal across additional media only adds to the complexity of the communication and increases the chance for distortion. It is suddenly easier to understand why other people just can't grasp what we already know.

Explanation:

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Shannon and Weaver’s model of communication was one of my choices and I totally agree of what they have said about giving and receiving messages. In their model of communication, it includes the transmitter and the noise source because they are depending upon the destruction why people get misunderstanding.

As Schramm said earlier, Shannon and Weaver also give an element in these two-way processes of communicating- information source, transmitter, signal, signal receiver, receiver, destination and the noise source. According to Shannon and Weaver's model, a message begins at an information source, which is relayed through a transmitter, and then sent via a signal towards the receiver. But before it reaches the receiver, the message must go through noise (sources of interference). Finally, the receiver must convey the message to its destination. The said noise source is one of the realities of what is happening in us, in the field of communicating and the source of misunderstanding.

Shannon and Weaver want to show why people (receiver) get wrong in accepting message (because of the noise source). Whether we like it or not there is much liquidation in communicating and it would be better if we know what the receiver wants to mean to its receiver.

David Berlo's S-M-R-C Model

The following diagram depicts the S-M-R-C Model developed by David Berlo.

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The Berlo S-M-R-C Model accounts for a variety of human variables that are present in person-to-person communication. When one is attempting to convey an emotionally complex message, the Berlo Model may be the more appropriate choice. For the transmission of a straightforward message where both parties have a similar knowledge base, the Shannon-Weaver Model, although often thought of as simplistic, can be more effective than the Berlo Model.

The final communications model that we will consider is the SMCR model, developed by David K. Berlo, a communications theorist and consultant. In his book The Process of Communication, Berlo points out the importance of the psychological view in his communications model. The four parts of Berlo's SMCR model are — no surprises here — source, message, channel, receiver.

The first part of this communication model is the source. All communication must come from some source. The source might be one person, a group of people, or a company, organization, or institution such as MU.

Several things determine how a source will operate in the communication process. They include the source's communication skills — abilities to think, write, draw, speak. They also include attitudes toward audience, the subject matter, you, or toward any other factor pertinent to the situation. Knowledge of the subject, the audience, the situation and other background also influences the way the source operates. So will social background, education, friends, salary, culture — all sometimes called the sociocultural context in which the source lives.

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Message has to do with the package to be sent by the source. The code or language must be chosen. In general, we think of code in terms of the natural languages — English, Spanish, German, Chinese and others. Sometimes we use other languages — music, art, gestures. In all cases, look at the code in terms of ease or difficulty for audience understanding.

Within the message, select content and organize it to meet acceptable treatment for the given audience or specific channel. If the source makes a poor choice, the message will likely fail.

Channel can be thought of as a sense — smelling, tasting, feeling, hearing, and seeing. Sometimes it is preferable to think of the channel as the method over which the message will be transmitted: telegraph, newspaper, radio, letter, poster or other media.

Kind and number of channels to use may depend largely on purpose. In general, the more you can use and the more you tailor your message to the people "receiving" each channel, the more effective your message.

Receiver becomes the final link in the communication process. The receiver is the person or persons who make up the audience of your message. All of the factors that determine how a source will operate apply to the receiver. Think of communication skills in terms of how well a receiver can hear, read, or use his or her other senses. Attitudes relate to how a receiver thinks of the source, of himself or herself, of the message, and so on. The receiver may have more or less knowledge than the source. Sociocultural context could be different in many ways from that of the source, but social background, education, friends, salary, culture would still be involved. Each will affect the receiver's understanding of the message.

Messages sometimes fail to accomplish their purpose for many reasons. Frequently the source is unaware of receivers and how they view things. Certain channels may not be as effective under certain circumstances. Treatment of a message may not fit a certain channel. Or some receivers simply may not be aware of, interested in, or capable of using certain available messages.

Explanation:

David K. Berlo is the one who created the SMCR- source, message, channel and the receiver. These four elements are the things he thinks are important. As you observed,

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it may be similar to what Shannon and Weaver made but he edited some elements to make it simpler. He points out that the source and the receivers have their common idea even sometimes there are some destruction in connection with their emotions and experiences.

In Berlo’s model, the first thing is the source- it is where the message came from. The message is the article to be sent in connection with this, is the channel- the sense where you will know what the source wants to mean but sometimes not applicable at telephone, radio and etc. the last part, includes the receiver- the one who accepts the message and the person who often misunderstood the message.

The important thing in Berlo’s model is how to understand the message, because it depends to the receiver on how he will interpret the said message that sometimes in channel there are destructions but the receiver must be aware of it.

The Rileys' Model

 

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John W. and Matilda White Riley, a husband and wife team of sociologists, point out the importance of the sociological view in communication in another way. The two sociologists say such a view would fit together the many messages and individual reactions to them within an integrated social structure and process. The Riley’s developed a model (Figure 3) to illustrate these sociological implications in communication.5

The model indicates the communicator (C) emerges as part of a larger pattern, sending messages in accordance with the expectations and actions of other persons and groups within the same social structure. This also is true of the receiver (R) in the communications process.

In addition, both the communicator and receiver are part of an overall social system. Within such an all-embracing system, the communication process is seen as a part of a larger social process, both affecting it and being in turn affected by it. The model clearly illustrates that communication is a two-way proposition.

The important point the Rileys' model makes for us is that we send messages as members of certain primary groups and that our receivers receive our messages as members of primary groups. As you likely can visualize, group references may be a positive reinforcement of our messages; at other times they may create a negative force.

Explanation:

John W. and Matilda White Riley are both sociologists. Relating that social communication is important at all, in this general communication does have individual communication. In Riley’s model of communication makes we realize that communicating in the society develop us to be socialized.

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In Riley’s model, there are just 2 elements- the communicator and the receiver, believing that these are the over all two important person in the social communication wherein the communicator is the source of the message/s and the receiver is the one who receives and response to the communicator’s message.

Social communication is like a group of friends where the people discuss something and the only person are the communicator and the receiver but we must consider that having communication to a certain group is a big responsibility to understand the certain message/s.

Lasswell's Model of Communication

The begriming of the theory of communication is considered to be Harold Lasswell's "The Structure and Function of Communication in Society." The model of communication Lasswell proposed has five components:

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Who(speaker) →

What (message) →

Channel(medium) →

Whom(audience) →

Effect

The rhetorical influence is rather obvious in the exception of "channel" or "medium" which reflects a mass media orientation (Lasswell names of the components with the was a political scientist researching political propaganda). He follows Aristotle's Rhetoric in this model, adding channel or medium. Lasswell, Aristotle, and Burke view communication as an "object" they are observing. Lasswell observed messages in the mass media; Aristotle observed orators; and Burke, texts.

Harold Lasswell, a political scientist, developed a much quoted formulation of the main elements of communication: "Who says what in which channel to whom with what effect."2 This summation of the communications process has been widely quoted since the 1940s.

The point in Lasswell's comment is that there must be an "effect" if communication takes place. If we have communicated, we've "motivated" or produced an effect.

It's also interesting to note that Lasswell's version of the communication process mentions four parts — who, what, channel, whom. Three of the four parallel parts mentioned by Aristotle — speaker (who), subject (what), person addressed (whom). Only channel has been added. Most modern-day theorists discuss the four parts of the communication process, but use different terms to designate them.

Explanation:

Lasswell’ Model of Communication has five components. These are the following: who (Speaker), What (Message), and Channel (Medium), whom (audience) and Effect. Lasswell’s model had been affected by Aristotle’s Rhetoric. They view communication as an object that they are observing. Lasswell viewed the message in the mass media and Aristotle observed oratos and the one in common with then is Burke, in texts.

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He, Harold Lasswell, was a political scientist and developed a quotation of the main elements of communication which is: “Who says what in which channel to whom with what effect.” This is the short quotation made by Lasswell to shorten the explanation of his model of communication. He commented that there must be an effect if there is communication is taking place. Because in everything happening and in every deed we do, there must have effects.

It so happened that in Lasswell model or version of communication, the three of his components – Who, What, and Whom, are the same or similar with Aristotle’s. But then, they do have different interpretations with these three components.

The model shows that there is one who acts as the speaker who conveys the message, what will be his opinion of something or his message that will travel to us, the audience so that we may know what the speaker wants to say and then it will be received by the person you are conveying, the audience then they will react on it.

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