COMM

• Communication is the process by which individuals share meaning
• Communication is the process by which an individual transmits stimuli to modify the behavior of other individuals
• Communication occurs whenever information is passed from one place to another
• Communication includes all processes by which people influence one another
• Communication may be defined as social interaction through messages
• Communication does not always have to be human communication
• Communication can take place over large distances of space and time
• Not all participants in a communication process have to be present at the same time
• Not all communication takes place in words
• Communication does not always require two or more participants
• Thinking is a form of communication
• Purposive Communication is intentional communication that happens within specific contexts
• Purposive Communication is applied in specific settings, environments, scenes, and social relations
• Context affects the process of sending and receiving messages
• Attributes of Communication Process:

  • Systematic: Consists of a group of elements that interact to influence each other and the system as a whole
  • Dynamic: Ongoing, ever-changing, with no clear beginnings and endings
  • Meaning is personally constructed: Meanings are in people, not in words
  • Symbolic Interaction: Language is a form of symbol
• Berlo's Model of Communication:

  • Source, message, channel, receiver, effect, feedback
• Source refers to a person or group of persons with a purpose for engaging in communication
• Receiver refers to the person or group of persons at the other end of the communication process
• Message is what the source must have to transmit
• Channel is the mode of encoding and decoding messages
• Effect is the outcome of communication or the response of the receiver to the message
• Feedback is the communication response to both source and receiver
• Levels of Communication:

  • Intrapersonal Communication: Communication with oneself
  • Interpersonal Communication: Face-to-face communication, person-to-person communication
  • Mass Communication: Communication that employs technological devices to disseminate symbolic content to large, heterogeneous, and widely dispersed audiences
• Laswell's Model by Harold D. Laswell:

  • S (who), R (to whom), M (says what), E (with what effect), C (in which channel)
• Shannon and Weaver's "Mathematical" Model by Claude Shannon and Warren Weaver:

  • Information, transmitter, receiver, destination, one-way linear model
• Newcomb’s Model:

  • Introduces the role of communication in a society or social relationship
  • Communication maintains equilibrium within a social system
  • If A and B have similar attitudes about X, then the system is in equilibrium. Should their attitudes differ, then there is no equilibrium and A and B must communicate to find a way to put their system in balance
• Osgood and Schramms Model by Wilbur Schramm and Charles Osgood:

  • Compares their model to Shannon and Weaver’s (focus on channel)
  • Focuses on the actors in the communication to be equal in performing the tasks of encoding, interpreting, and decoding messages
  • Cyclical representation (Schramm, 1954) states that the communication process is endless
• Dance’s Helical Model:

  • Portrays the communication process as moving
  • Shows the dynamism of the communication process
  • May be used to illustrate information gaps and the thesis that knowledge tends to create more knowledge
• Kincaid’s Convergence Model by D. Lawrence Kincaid:

  • Shows a process of convergence to which participants share information so that mutual understanding is reached
  • Once mutual understanding is reached, there is mutual agreement, then collective action can be taken
• Distortions in effective communication:

  • Distortions in the message
  • Misinformation
  • Lack of information
• Berlo's explanation of communication effectiveness:

  • Effect is the difference between what a receiver thinks, feels, and does before and after exposure to a message
  • Effect is best expressed in behavioral terms
  • The communicator has one or more purposes: to gain attention, understanding, or acceptance, or to elicit action
• Noise in communication:

  • Any interference with the message travelling along the channel
  • Examples include static over telephone lines, blaring of the radio, car horns outside your window
• Classifying Communication Barriers:

  • Technical Problems Barriers: How accurately the message can be transmitted
  • Semantic Problems: How precisely the meaning is conveyed
  • Effectiveness Problems: How effectively does the received message affect behavior
• Barriers of communication classified by a group of scientists into five categories:

  1. Physical barriers

  2. Psychological-cultural barriers

  3. Social barriers

  4. Channel Noise

  5. Environmental Factors

  6. Semantic Noise

  7. Socio-Psychological Barriers
• Communication Competence according to Rothwell (1992):

  • Knowing what constitutes human communication does not automatically make you an effective communicator
  • Qualities of a Competent Communicator:
  • They have a We-not-Me Orientation
  • They understand communication effectiveness
  • They have a sense of appropriateness
• 4 Basic Components Of Communication Competence by Littlejohn and Jabusch (1982):

  1. Understanding

  2. Communication skills

  3. Interpersonal sensitivity

  4. Ethical responsibility
• Shockley-Zalabak (1988) modified the components into four easily remembered elements:

  a. Knowledge

  b. Skills

  c. Sensitivity

  d. Values