Understanding Communication Models: A Comprehensive Overview, Study notes of Communication

Download Understanding Communication Models: A Comprehensive Overview and more Study notes Communication in PDF only on Docsity! UNIT 2 MODELS OF COMMUNICATION Structure 2.0 Objectives 2.1 Introduction 2.2 Models of Communication 2.2.1 Meaning and Definition 2.2.2 Process of Communication 2.2.3 Developing Communication Models 2.3 Some Important Models of Communication 2.3.1 Lasswell's Models 2.3.2 Shannon-Weaver's Model 2.3.3 Osgood's Model 2.3.4 Schramm's Model 2.3.5 Gehner's Model 2.3.6 Newcomb's Model 2.3.7 Westley and MacLean's Model 2.4 Let Us Sum Up 2.5 Further Reading 2.6 Check Your Progress: Model Answers OB JECTNES This unit discusses why a model is an important tool to conceptualize, organize a~ld thereby understand the process of communication. After going through this unit, you should be able to : explain the meaning of 'model'; construct a model to explain the process of communication; describe the relationship between models and process of communication; develop simple to complex models of communication; describe, explain and comment on the working of communication process as visualized by some of the important communication scholars. 2.1 INTRODUCTION We know that communication has become an important part of our life. In the previous unit, we considered the various definitions and functions of communication. We .also examined the process and elements of communication and noted the four main kinds of communication: intrapersonal, interpersonal, group and mass. Recognising the important role which mass media have assumed in modern society, we dealt with the issues of media reach, access and impact. Now, in this unit, we shall find out what a communication model is, how different models have developed and what are the characteristics of some well known models. Having done that, in the next unit we shall proceed to discuss the various media theories. 2.2 MODELS OF COMMUNICATION In orddr to communicate effectively, knowledge of the dynamics underlying the communication process is essential. One way to analyse 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. . . Introduction to Communications 2.2.1 Meaping and Definition 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 communicatibn for better understanding of the communication process. For example, 1 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'. The discussion that follows explains the importance o'f model in unravelling the process from an initial simplistic version of communication to a very intricate, complex process of mass communication. A model is a pictorial presentation to 1 show the structure of communication process in which various component elements are linked. Arrows are used to depict the transmission of messages from communicator to receiver. Models are basedoon assumptions that theorists make as to how communication functions and what effect it has upon individual and society. A variety of models exist all of which strive to explain the different components of communication and the role each part plays in the total process. some of the important models of communici)tion dealt with in this unit are specifically chosen to illustrate how a particular scholar highlights the significance of one or the other I elements that are common to every act of communication. I I Since communication is a transmission process, the mechanistic interpretation is rather a convenient way of viewing the relationship among the variables of human communication and of explaining how communication flows from one stage to the next and so on. Models are based on assumptions that theorists make as to how communication functions and what effect it has upon individual and society. 2.2.2 Process of Communication In simple terms the basic process of communication, as explained in Unit-I of this block, comprises a sender or a communicator who has a message that he or she , transmits or conveys through some means, say a channel, to a receiver who . responds, according to his or her understanding of the message, to the sender (feedback). This is a simple, yet verbal version of communication process which when explained pictorially in the form of a model will look like this : Sender Message Channel Receiver 'r J. Fb 'r Feedback I Diagram 2.1: A Simple Model of Communication Process I At a glance the model not only reveals the various elements of human communication but also their interdependence and the flow of communication fro& sender to receiver and back to sender. For instance, in a communication process there has to be a sender whose main intention is to communicate a message; what to convey is hisher thinking process; how to cornrnunicate the message is hisher choice of right means Or channel; and whom to convey the message is hisher job to decide. The sender also needs to know the receiver's response to the message, whether or not it is being received as intended. Then only can the sender proceed further with the next act of communication and in this way it goes on and on. In this interaction procss, there is an interdependence of relationship among the . various variables of human communication. The mechanistic perspective of communication emphasizes the physical element of communication, the transmission and the reception of messages flowing in 'conveyer belt fashion' (B. Aubrey Fisher 1978). I The basic proc ss of human communication applies to mass communication process e as well, but as the nature of the latter's elements differ markedly, the process becomes different and mQre complex. For instance, in mass communication a big organisation that takes on the role of a sender, the message is not siGg1e but " B, in turn, might respond and formulate his 'message', as best as he can, and * communicate it to A. This can be shown as : Fig. 2.1 : Intenctlon between sender and lwelver of eanmunlatloa And communication goes on and on. How this simple model of human communication process is adapted to a more complex form is apparent from a further discussion of some of the models of communication. I -Check Your Progress 2 Note : i.) Use the space below for your answers. ii) Compare your answers with those given at the end of this unit. Please tick ( 4 ) the appropriate answers. 13 A model is a pictorial representation of ( ) a theory ( ) an abstract ( ) a human communication 2) In communication 'feedback' can be explained as ( ) response from the receiver ( ) explanation of a theory ( ) process of communication 3) Aristotle constructed a model of communication and he thought that the basic function of communication was to ( ) speak and to listen ( ) persuade the other party ( ) defeat the other persons 4) During World War-II, a newly invented commlnication model was considered 1 ( ) a bullet ( ) a pistol ( ' agun 5 ) Communication models developed in 1950s were mostly ( ) one directional ( ) non-directional ( ) multi-directional Introduction to Communications 2.3 SOME IMPORTANT MODELS OF. COMMUNICATION The purpose of presentihg some models of communication here is to illustrate the range of approaches to an investigation of the communication process. Shannon and Weaver's and Gerbner's models are considered to be universally applicable for they can explain any example of communication. The widely quoted model of Lasswell verbalizes communication in terms that can be applied to mass media. Osgood, however emphasizes the dynamic relationship between source and receiver. Schramm, on the other hand, visualizes communication essentially as a process of sharing of experiences on the basis of commonness of social context and stresses the importance of feedback and noise in the process. Newcomb's triangular linear form of model is designed specifically in the interpersonal and social communication context. Finally, a 'gatekeeper' model developed by Westley and MacLean, is considered useful to the mass media and is often zssxiated with news. 2.3.1 Harold D. Lasswell's Model (1948) Lasswell presented a strictly verbal model which takes the form of a question: Who Says What In Which Channel To Whom With What effect? This model briefly and clearly introduces several highly significant variables in the / communication process. Identification of source (who), analysis of message content (what), choice of channel (which channel), gharacteristics of audience (whom) and evaluation of effects (what effect) are the basic five components of communication - process. It is the 'effect'. that the model emphasizes the most. 'Effect' implies an observable and measurable change in the receiver that is caused by identifiable elements in the precess. .Change in one of-these elements will lead to a change in the effect. I ' a , Check Your Progress 3 I Note : i, Use the space below for your answers ii) Compare your answers with those given at the end of this unit. ( It is said that mass communication reiearch has followed the models of Harold Lasswell. Identify the areaskihds of research implicit in this model. Who I What I What Channel : I Whom I What Effect : I I 2.3.2 Claude Shannon and Warren weaveris Model (1949) Shannon and Weaver were the first to develop an engineering model of human communication based on telephone communication. Diagrammatically, the process of communication can be shown like this : i Diagram 2.5 : The Shannon and Weaver M e t In this model, communication begins with an information source who creates the / message; he transmits it by means of his v a a l apparatus which acts as a transmitter (a telephone speaker in telephone); through the air as the channel with noise i interference (such as a telephone wire and sound waves) to the hearing mechanism of the person he is communicating with acting as the receiver (such as telephone receiver) which recreates the message so that mother person, a receiver, as we have defined, can receive it. Shannon and weaver's model is important it introduces the concept of 'Noise'. Noise in this model refers to disturbances in the channel thrt may interfere with the signals transmitted and produce different signals. Later, based on the above principle, Shannon developed an "Information Theory" which says that the source has a message that it is trying to get through some channel to some destination : i) it ,requires a transmitier ii) to convert the message into transmittable signal iii) a complementary receiver iv) receive it from the channel. It must contend with certain disruptive forces represented by a noise source. I Check Your Progress 4 . . Note : i) Use the space below for your answers. ii) Compare your answers with those given at the end of this unit. 1 ) Lasswell's Model mentioned five important elements in the process of communication. What are the elements? ...................................................................................................................... Models of Communlcatlon to Communications Schramm further elaborated this model by bringing into focus the frames of reference of the persons participating in the communication process. He also look into account the wider societal situation and relationship both of which influence the communication process. Diagrammatically, it can be shown like this : I Sodal sltuatlon and reJatlonsMps I Diagram 2.10 : Schramm's Model A (source) and B (destination) have the same kind of situation, have the same social resources and face similar constraints. If the destination decides that the message is interesting and promising enough, he selects some of jt or all of it, interprets it according to his frame of reference and disposes it according to his needs, values, social imperatives and constraints. ~ h & k Your Progress 5 Note : i) Use the space below for your answers. ii) Compare your answers with those given at the end of this ' unit. 1 What is the main characteristic feature of each of following models? 1) Shannon Weaver's model : ......................................................................... 2) Harold Lasswell's model : .......................................................................... 3) Westley and MacLean's model : ................................................................ 4) Wilbur Schramm's model : ......................................................................... .- Activity 2 Suppose you have attended a lecture of an eminent scholar on the cominunal , situation in the country. Describe pictorially the procesv of communication between the speaker and the audience based on S c h r a m m ' e e l . Highlight the role' of feedback and noise. You may use the space given below. b. - 2.3.5 George Gerbner's Model (1956) Models OP Communicatton / George Gerbner attempts to produce a general purpose model of communication in which the communication act is seen as a transmission of messages. The model assumes significance as i t is seen as an advancement over earlier models in two ways. It relates the messages to 'reality' and thus enables us to approach the question of perception and meaning; further it sees the commuaication process as consisting of two alternative dimensions - the perceptual or receptive dimension and the communicating or means and control dimension. The complex ode1 of Gerbner looks like this : I" Selection , context avaUabUity Percept means and control (or Communicating dimension) perceptual dlrnenslon Wdon oontnt .vrll&llllity Diagram 2.11 : Gerbner's Model ( m d i f i d ) In this model, the communication process can be explained in three stages. The first step is referred to as the horizontal dimension. It starts with an event E (external reality) as perceived by M (Human being directly or through a machine such as a camera or a microphone). M selects E according to his perception of the event. Since human perception is a complex phenomenon, the process involves interaction and negotiation. In this way, we try to match external stimuli with internal pattern of thought or concept and arrive at some perception of the event. In the second stage, the vertical dimension, we give meaning to whatever we have perceived. It is then converted into a signal about SE. Thls is called message, that is, a singular statement about the event SE. Here, it is important to select the appropriate 'means' - the medium channel of communication. In this context, access to media assumes significance. So who makes the selection and whose picture of the world is transmitted as SE is obviously of prime importance. The media, especially television, often dubbed 'elitist', naturally would produce the elite biased version of an event. The third spge of the process is again horizontal. M2 is not an event E, but a ' signal or sfatement about an event, or SE. The process here is something like we have explained in stage one, i.e. the meaning of the message is not 'contained' in the message itself, but is the result of an interaction or negotiation between the receiver and the message. M2 brings to SE a set of needs and concepts derived from his culture and sub-culture and if he can relate SE to them, we can say that he finds meaning in the message. And this can be realised only by interaction or negotiation between M2 and SF the resulting meaning is SE. For example, the government's policy of not showing programme containing sex and v?olence is a . way of restricting their availability to_people. I 37 \ lrltroduction to Communicatiolr~ 2.3.6 Theodore M. Newcomb's Model (1953) Newcomb's model, unlike other models, takes the shape of a triangle and its main significance is that it tries to explain the role of communication in a society or a social relationship. According to it, communication maintains equilibrium within the social system and works like this. Diagram 2.12 : The Newcomb Model Here A and B are communicator and receiver. They may be individuals, or management and union, or government and people. X is part of their social environment. ABX is a system, which means that its internal relations are interdependent: if A changes, B and X will change as well or if A changes his relationship to X;B will have to change either his relationship with X or with A. The A-B-X system will be in equilibrium only if A and B have similar attitude to X. The more important a place X has in A's and B's social environment, the more urgent will be their drive to share an orientation towards it. Take the example of War time. During such a time, A, the government, and B, the public, need to communicate to establish their co-orientation to the War X because it concerns both A and B. Both A's and B's dependence on media is increased. This is because the War X is not only of crucial importance but also because the situation is constantly changing. So, government and people (A and B) need to be in constant communication via mass media. This model assumes significance in the light of people's increasing need for information. In fact, in a democracy people need adequate information about their social environment so that they can identify their problems and share with their peer group, and know how to react. Check Your ~roiress 6 Note : i) Use the space below for your answer. ii) Coqpare your answers with the one given at the end of this unit. X [Expenditure of the Indian Govt. for the maintenance of its own infrastructure, ministries and [Indian People] A B [Indian Government] *