A Definition and Model of Communication

If there is one thing that seems to be a commonality to all people, it is the desire to understand and to be understood. The basic way in which we do this is to send out messages and interpret those of others, to include verbal, non-verbal, art, and other forms of communication. In the basic sense, "communication is the transmission of information, ideas, emotions, skills, etc. (i.e. message), by the use of symbols-words, pictures, figures, graphs etc.," (Berelson and Steiner).

"Communication always requires at least three elements -- the sender, the message and the receiver," (Schramm). Understanding communication can enhance the quality of life for all people because it influences every area of our lives.

This paper will focus on further defining the key words of this definition, and will give a communication model of this definition to further enhance this definition.

A sender may be an individual, speaking, writing, drawing, gesturing, or a communication organization like a newspaper, film studio or publishing house. What happens in the communication process is that the sender takes the information or feelings they want to share and pu

Decoding is the process of the receiver giving meaning to the stimuli that has been received. In human communication transactions, the stimuli are signs and symbols.

The receiver may be an individual listening, watching, or reading; or a member of a group. Again, within this process occurs the act of decoding the transmission by the receiver.

This paper will attempt to depict the process of communication with a model. Communication models are visualizations of the communication process. In one sense they are basic theories concerning the elements of communication and how these elements operate and interact. More specifically, models of communication may serve to help organize the various elements, to aid in the discovery of new facts, to help us to make predictions and as a way of measuring the elements and processes involved in communication. The model that best fits the chosen definition of communication is the Shannon and Weavers model.

The part of the message that is distorted during the transmission and were not part of the message sent by the source are called noise. Three types of noise can disrupt communication, external, psysiological and psychological. External noise includes those factors outside of the receiver that make it difficult to hear, as well as many other types of distractions. For example, too much cigarette smoke or a cold atmosphere can make it hard to pay attention to the sender.

Perhaps the most famous of all models of communication is the Shannon and Weaver Mathematical Theory of Communication. Communication, according to this model, follows a simple left to right process. The information source, or sender, as explained above, selects a desired message from all the possible messages. The message is sent through a transmitter, such as a microphone, and is changed into signals. In telephone communication these symbols would be electrical impulses and the communication channel a wire. The signals are received by a receiver, changed back into a message and given over to the destination, the listener. One aspect that is different about this model

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Approximate Word count = 1411
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)