Lasswell Model (1948)
repetition of
- One of the early models of communication was
developed by the political scientist Harold D.
Lasswell who looked at communication in the form
of a question: Who, Says What, In Which Channel,
To Whom, With What Effect
- The Lasswell Model focused attention on the
essential elements of communication and identified
the areas of communication research. '
- Who' raises the question of identification of the
source of the message.
- 'Says what ' is the subject of analysis of the
message.
- Communication channel is the medium through
which the message has traveled.
- 'To whom’ deals with the characteristics of the
receivers and audience
- 'what effect' can be seen as evaluation of the effect
of the message.
- These essentially comprise the basic components of
communication.
- The Lasswell Model implied that more than one
channel could carry a message.
- The Lasswell Model was considered an
oversimplified model which implied the presence of
a communicator and a purposive message.
Shannon and Weaver Model (1949) the need for building redundancy i.e.
the message which reduces the relative Infor
- Developed by Shannon and Weaver Model (Figure
mation Source Transmitter Channel Receiver
1) of Claude Shannon and Warren Weaver
Destination Noise Source entropy or in other words,
- The Shannon and Weaver Model has been
the uncertainty about the message. This model was
considered as one of the most important models of
criticised for being based on the hardware aspect
communication and it has led to the development
developed for engineering problems and not for
of many other models.
human communication. Another criticism was that
- The Shannon and Weaver Model is referred to as
it did not take the element of feedback into
the transmission model of communication as it
account.
involves signal transmission for communication.
- In The Shannon and Weaver Model, the information Charles Osgood's Model (1954)
source produces a message to be communicated
- By Charles Osgood
out of a set of possible messages. The message may
- Charles Osgood's Model (Figure 2) showed
consist of spoken or written word. The transmitter
communication, as a dynamic process in which
converts the message into a signal suitable for the
there is an interactive relationship between the
channel to be used. The channel is the medium that
source and the receiver of the message (M).
transmits the signal from the transmitter to the
- In Charles Osgood's Model an individual engaged in
receiver. The receiver performs the inverse
the communication process sends as well as
operation of the transmitter by reconstructing the
receives messages and as such encodes, decodes
message from the signal. The destination is the
and interprets messages through a number of
person or thing for whom/which the message is
feedback mechanisms.
intended.
- Osgood stressed the social nature of
- The Shannon and Weaver Model introduced the
communication.
concepts like 'noise' i.e. disturbances or errors in
- Charles Osgood's Model was found more applicable
transmission, problems in accepting the signal
in interpersonal communication in which the
(message), etc. and the need for maintaining
source and receiver were physically present. For
necessary balance between 'entropy', which means
example when a teacher teaches, the learners
the degree of uncertainty and 'redundancy', which
interact by raising queries, answering questions,
refers to the uniqueness of the information. This
etc. The role of interpretation of the message has
implied that for effective communication the
also been highlighted in this model for decoding a
greater the noise in communication, the greater is
message .
Schramm Model (1954) of experience. If the circles do not meet there is an The linear models of communication held that a
absence of such common experience which makes message flows only from the sources to the recipient as
- Wilbur Schramm, a well-known communication
the process of communication difficult. for instance from a radio to a listener. Later on the
expert did not make a sharp distinction between
- Schramm further elaborated his model by interactive model was developed which takes into
technical and non-technical communication. But
highlighting the frames of reference of the persons account bilateral communication.
drawing upon the ideas of Shannon and Osgoods,
engaged in communication.
Schramm proceeded from a simple human Then the transactional model of communication was
- Schramm took into account the wider social
communication model to a more complicated one developed. It includes the components of linear model
situations and the relationships of both source and
(Figure 3). Wilbur Schramm’s first model has a lot of as well as the interactive ones. It emphasizes both the
destination.
similarity with Shannon and Weaver Model. content, i.e. what is being communicated and also
- Schramm maintained that when both have the
- In the second model of Wilbur Schramm, (Figure, 4, includes the component of relationship of the source
same kind of situations, the message is selected,
he visualized the process of communication as a and the recipient.
received, and interpreted according to the frames
process of sharing of experience and commonality
of references in which noise and feedback play Example: A teacher and learners will interact more if the
of experience of those communicating.
important roles. content taught is based upon the experience of the
- The second model of Wilbur Schramm introduced
- Schramm also included the idea of feedback by learners and also if the teacher is friendly and has a
the concept of shared orientation between sender
expressing that communication is reciprocal, two- good relationship with the learners, there will be more
and receiver.
way, even though the feedback may be delayed. interactions.
- In the second model of Wilbur Schramm, the circles
The weakness of this model is that it is a less linear
indicate the accumulated experience of two
model, but it still holds good for bilateral
individuals engaged in communication. The source
communication.
can encode and the destination can decode in
- The complex, multiple Field of experience Field of
terms of the experience
experience Signal Source Encoder Destination
- In the Schramm Model, the accumulated
Decoder levels of communication among several
experience of two individuals engaged .in
sources that may take place simultaneously, say in
communication is emphasized unlike in the linear
a group discussion, is not accounted for.
models discussed earlier in which interaction,
feedback and sharing of experiences find no place.
- In the Schramm Model, the source can encode and
the destination can decode in terms of the
experience/s each has had.
- In the Schramm Model, communication becomes
easy as both the participants have a common field