Models of communication

To communicate effectively, knowledge of the dynamics underlying the communication

process is essential. One way to analyze communication is to present it in the form of a
model. A model is nothing but the mechanistic perspective of human communication that
effectively tells at a glance how it works.
Several theorists have discussed the communication process in ways that have important
implications for those involved in informal education programs such as extension work.
Each of the "models" that we review has a point of vital interest. Communication models
come in a variety of forms, ranging from catchy summations to diagrams to mathematical
formulas.
A model is an abstracted representation of a reality. A good model comes as close to reality
as possible and it discusses and explains the reality as clearly as possible. But being an
abstraction, a model is not a reality; it only represents the reality of communication for better
understanding of the communication process. For example, an architectural model of a house
is only a representation of the house giving a fair idea of the number of rooms, layout, etc.
but it is not the house per se. Thus a model is a pictorial presentation to show the structure
of communication process in which various component elements are linked. Arrows are used
to depict the transmission of messages from communicators to receiver.
Models are based on assumption that theorists make as to how communication functions and
what affect it has upon individual and society. A variety of models exists all of which strive to
explain the different components of communication and the role each plays in the total
process.
The following are the five models that are going to be explained in this paper:

Aristotle Model

Laswell Model

Shannon & Weaver Model

Osgood and Schramm Circular Model

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New Combes Model

Aristotles Model
Aristotle is a great philosopher initiative the earliest mass communication model called
Aristotles Model of Communication. He proposed model before 300 B.C who found
the importance of audience role in communication chain in his communication model.
The speaker must be very careful about his selection of words and content in this model
of communication. He should understand his target audience and then prepare his speech.
Making eye contact with the second party is again a must to create an impact among the
listeners.
Example 1: The politician must understand the needs of the people in his constituency
like the need of a shopping mall, better transport system, safety of girls etc. and then
design his speech. His speech should address all the above issues and focus on providing
the solutions to their problems to expect maximum votes from them. His tone and pitch
should also be loud and clear enough for the people to hear and understand the speech
properly. Stammering, getting nervous in between of a conversation must be avoided.
Voice modulations also play a very important role in creating the desired effect. Blank
expressions, confused looks and similar pitch all through the speech make it monotonous
and nullify its effect. The speaker should know where to lay more stress on, highlight
which words to influence the listeners.
Aristotle Model of Communication is formed with 5 basic elements
(i) Speaker, (ii) Speech, (iii) Occasion, (iv) Audience and (v) Effect.
Aristotle advises speakers to build speech for different audience on different time
(occasion) and for different effects.

Example 2: One will definitely purchase the mobile handset from that store where the
sales man gives an impressive demo of the mobile. It depends on the sales man what to
speak and how to speak in a manner to influence the listeners so that they respond to him
in a way he actually wants i.e. purchase the handset and increase his billing.
The Aristotle model of communication is the widely accepted and the most common
model of communication where the sender sends the information or a message to the
receivers to influence them and make them respond and act accordingly. Aristotle model
of communication is the golden rule to excel in public speaking, seminars, lectures where
the sender makes his point clear by designing an impressive content, passing on the
message to the second part and they simply respond accordingly. Here the sender is the
active member and the receiver is passive one.

Lasswells Model (1948)

When Harold D. Laswell, an American political scientist, asked a basic communication
question, Who says What in Which channel to Whom with What effect, he propounded a
new model of communication. This has since then been known as Lasswells communication
model. It can be represented as under:

Laswells simple representation has revolutionized the communication model scene. Laswell
himself is believed to have used it to point out distinct types of communications research.
This model is about process of communication and its function to society.
According to Lasswell there are three functions for communication:
1. Surveillance of the environment
2. Correlation of components of society
3. Cultural transmission between generations.
Lasswell model suggests the message flow in a multicultural society with multiple audiences.
The flow of message is through various channels. And also this communication model is
similar to Aristotles communication model. This model is devised in an era of political
propaganda.

This model is said to be too simple, assuming communication as a persuasion process

exaggerating the effects of mass communication. Although Lasswell Model is being criticised
for being a linear model omitting any noise nor feedback factor.

Shannon & Weaver Model (1949)

Shannon, an acclaimed mathematician, developed this communication model in 1947. Later
with Warren Weaver, he perfected it. Thus, this model came to be known as Shannon-Weaver
Model. They were the first to develop an engineering model of human communication based
on telephone communication. These two researchers were of the opinion that the ingredients
in communication include: (1) a source, (2) a transmitter, (3) a signal, (4) a receiver, and (5)
destination.
All human communication has some source (information source in Shannon's terminology),
some person, or group of persons with a given purpose, a reason for engaging in
communication. Shannon and Weavers model is important as it introduces the concept of
Noise. Noise in this model refers to disturbances in the channel that may interfere with the
signals transmitted and produce different signals.
When you communicate, you have a particular purpose in mind:

You want to show that you're a friendly person

You want to give them some information

You want to get them to do something

You want to persuade them of your point of view

And so on. You, as the source, have to express your purpose in the form of a message. That
message has to be formulated in some kind of code. How do the source's purposes get
translated into a code? This requires an encoder. The communication encoder is
responsible for taking the ideas of the source and putting them in code, expressing the
source's purpose in the form of a message.

It's fairly easy to think in terms of source and encoder when you are talking on the phone
(transmitter in Shannon's terminology). You are the source of the message and the 'phone is
the encoder which does the job of turning your sounds into electrical impulses. The
distinction is not quite so obvious when you think of yourself communicating face-to-face.
In person-to -person communication, the encoding process is performed by the motor skills
of the source - vocal mechanisms (lip and tongue movements, the vocal cords, the lungs,
face muscles etc.), muscles in the hand and so on. Some people's encoding systems are not
as efficient as others'. So, for example, a disabled person might not be able to control
movement of their limbs and so find it difficult to encode the intended non-verbal messages
or they may communicate unintended messages. A person who has suffered throat cancer
may have had their vocal cords removed. They can encode their messages verbally using an
artificial aid, but much of the non-verbal messages most of us send via pitch, intonation,
volume, and so on cannot be encoded.
Just as a source needs an encoder to translate her purposes into a message, so the receiver
needs a decoder to retranslate. For communication to occur, there must be somebody at the
other end of the channel. This person or persons can be called the receiver. To put it in
Shannon's terms, information transmitters and receivers must be similar systems. If they are
not, communication cannot occur. (Actually Shannon used the term destination, reserving
the term receiver for what we have called decoder).
Feedback is a vital part of communication. When we are talking to someone over the
phone, if they don't give us the occasional 'mmmm', 'aaah', 'yes, I see' and so on, it can be
very disconcerting. This lack of feedback explains why most of us don't like telephones. In
face-to-face communication, we get feedback in the visual channel as well - head nods,
smiles, frowns, changes in posture and orientation, gaze and so on. Advertisers need
feedback, which they get in the form of market research.
Here, the source is a speaker, the signal is speech, and the destination is the receiver and the
transmitter is used to send the message from the source to the receiver. This model is believed
to have been derived from a mathematical interpretation of communication for sending or
transmitting the message with the help of a technology or manually by human beings.

Source

Transmitter

Signal

Receiver

Destination

Noise
Noise can be in the form of:

Distraction: What happens when you communicate to a physically attractive person?

Differences in the use of Code: Is there a communication when you speak to a

German using the Hindi language?

Examples of NOISE:

A loud motorbike roaring down the road while youre trying to hold a
conversation.

Smudges on a printed page.

Loud music being played in your neighborhood while you are studying for your
exams.

In this model, the important objective is transmitting the message. For this process three
stages have been identified: technical, semantic and the message reception (of the source or
the sender). This model has not studied the other concerned or allied areas of impact, or effect
on the receiver, i.e. destination or his reactions to the message. As a result, the SMCR Model
was suggested in its place.

Osgood & Schramm Circular Model (1954)

Wilbur Schramm and Charles Osgood developed a model to show how communication
works between two or few people. This model does not identify a source and receiver like
other traditional models. Rather, communication is a revolving process and all the
participants work together to communicate with each other by encoding and decoding
messages to create meaning. First, a message is encoded and then turned into a sign and
symbol system. These encoded messages are sent through a medium. For example, the
sound waves of our voice are a medium. After the message is received, its decoded and
interpreted (e.g. listening, reading, watching T.V., etc.). Then the decoder can send a
message back to the original encoder. In this case, the decoder now becomes the encoder and
the original encoder now becomes the decoder. This cycle can go on and on.
The models discussed above present communication as a linear process, within which the
roles of sender and receiver are clearly distinguished. But Schramm W. stated that it is
misleading to think of the communication process as starting somewhere and ending
somewhere. It is really endless and we are little switchboard centers handling and rerouting
the great endless current of information.

The Osgood and Schramm circular model is an attempt to remedy that deficiency. The
model emphasizes the circular nature of communication. The participants swap between the
roles of source/ encoder and receiver/decoder.
The model is particularly helpful in understanding the process of interpretation which takes
place whenever a message is decoded. Whenever we receive data from the world around us,
even in, say, the apparently very simple act of seeing whats in front of us, we are engaged in
an active process of interpretation, not simply taking in information, but actively making
sense of it.
An important question is: what criteria are we using to make sense of what we are
receiving? Since the criteria we use will inevitably differ from one person to another, there
will always be semantic noise. If we can answer that question about our audience, then we
stand a chance of communicating successfully.
But its certainly not an easy question to answer and hence Berios SMCR Model is one of
the most useful models as a starting point for organising any practical work in
communication.

Example: ABC News- Massachusetts Gay Couple Sues Catholic Diocese Over Failed
Housing Bid. Sept 11, 2012.
This article is about a gay couple suing the Catholic Diocese in Massachusetts for
supposedly not allowing them to purchase a house because they are gay. This relates to
Wilbur Schramm and Charles Osgoods model because this is the type of communication
that is used in this case. The participants are the buyers, Lawyers, sellers.
First, the buyers and their lawyer (encoders) send an encoded message to the sellers
(decoder). Then, the seller (now the encoder) interpreted the message and sent a message
back to the buyers and their lawyer to interpret (now the decoders). This case is an ongoing
communication process between few participants (buyers, sellers, lawyers) that will keep
revolving in this manner until they reach a verdict or agree on plea deal.

New Combes Model (1953)

The New Combs model of communication was introduced by Theodore M Newcomb of
the University of Michigan in 1953. He gives different approach to the communication
process. The main purpose of this theory is to introduce the role of communication in a
social relationship (society) and to maintain social equilibrium within the social system.
He does not include the message as a separate entity in his diagram, implying it only by
use of directional arrows. He concentrates on the social purpose of communication,
showing all communication as a means of sustaining relationships between people.
Sometimes its called as an ABX model of communication.
Communication process is perceived in shape of a triangle, it signifies that the
communication keeps on moving from one point to another in a continuous process.
Model attempts at elucidating the role of communication plays in a society on social
relationships. The main stress of this model is that it maintains status quo within the social
system. This model includes two individual communicators who play dual role of being
senders and receivers. They could be individuals, unions, group of people or anyone.
Where as the other constituent of the communication process is the third person who
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represents the social environment. This model indicates three of these entities are
independent systems and their relationship changes on interaction.
Closeness of communicators depends upon the third factor the social
environment. The model indicates the increased relevance of communication, as the
individuals need more and more information in the new era of communication explosion,
continuous up gradation in the fast changing social environment. This model helps in
understanding each others problem, point of view and then finding a solution to it by
sharing information.
The main purpose of this theory is:

To introduce the role of communication in a social relationship (society) and to

maintain social equilibrium within the social system.

New Comb does not include the message as a separate entity in his diagram.

He concentrates on the social purpose of communication, showing all

communication as a means of sustaining relationships between people.

The Newcombs model works in a triangular format or A-B-X system

A Sender
B Receiver
X Matter of Concern
The relationship between A and B is like student and teacher, government and public or
newspaper and readers.
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Sender and Receiver may work in a same flow but the same time some factor like X
may affect their flow of relationship.
X it may be third persons, issue, topic or policy
For Example:
Teachers introduce a new policy to increase the college timing from 6 hours to 8 hours.
A Teachers

B Students

X Policy or issue

If both students and teachers are satisfied with this policy then the communication
maintains its equilibrium status between them. Otherwise the flow of communication
between A and B becomes trouble in the social system. If A or B is not ready to
accept the policy then it will directly affect the social system and cant maintain the
equilibrium status. So Teachers A can convince students B as much as possible.
Otherwise they have to make some adjustments in the Policy X and convince them
towards the policy.

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