COMMUNICATION

THEORY
Prof.ssa Amy McIntire
 What is Communication
Theory

In 1980, S. F. Scudder proposed “Communication Theory.”

- All living beings on the planet communicate, even if

the way of communicating is different.

• A baby crying
• A leaf turning brown
• Animals making sounds

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Communication is a
need for survival

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 1) MECHANISTIC

Communication is simply the

transmission of information from the
first party (SENDER) to the second
party (RECEIVER).

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 2) PSYCHOLOGICAL

Communication is not merely the flow of

information from the sender to the receiver,
but rather his/her thoughts and feelings. This
point of view also encompasses the reactions
and feelings of the receiver after decoding the
information.

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 3) SOCIAL

Communication as a result of interaction

between the sender and the receiver. “How
one communicates”

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 4) SYSTEMIC

Communication is actually a new and a different

message which is created when various
individuals interpret it in their own way and then
reinterpret it and draw their own conclusion.

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 5) CRITICAL

Communication is a way an
individual expresses his power and
authority among other individuals.

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Basic Elements of
Communication

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 SOURCE

The “information source”—“produces a

message or sequence of messages to
be communicated to the receiving
terminal”

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 SENDER
The “transmitter”—“operates on the
message in some way to produce a
signal suitable for transmission over the
channel”

•For Aristotle, the SENDER is the “SPEAKER”

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 CHANNEL

“merely the medium used to

transmit the signal from
transmitter to receiver.”

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 RECEIVER

“performs the inverse operation of that

done by the transmitter, reconstructing
the message from the signal.”

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 DESTINATION

“the person (or thing) for whom the

message is intended.”

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 MESSAGE
(from the Latin word “mittere” or “to send”).

The statement, information, or concept

that is sent in a verbal, written or visual
form to the recipient (DESTINATION).

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 FEEDBACK
The response of a Receiver to the Sender’s
message (for example asking for clarifications). This
is important so as to ensure the message was
received.

Could be:

• Oral

• Non-verbal (smile)

• Written

• Audience’s response Amy McIntire

ARISTOTLE’S MODEL OF COMMUNICATION

MODES of Persuasion:
Ethos- ethical appeal/credibility
Pathos- appealing to the emotions of the audience
Logos- appeal to logic and reason

SPEAKER LISTENER
MESSAGE

*For example, and ORATOR speaking to a LARGE AUDIENCE

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Harold Lasswell (1948)
*Political Scientist

WHO? What?
How?
(Channel/
To Whom? EFFECT
(Speaker) (Message) (Audience)
Medium)

• “Who says what in which channel to whom with what

effect?”

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 Shannon-Weaver Mathematical
*Concept as Model (1949)
noise: physical
and semantic

RECEIVED
MESSAGE MESSAGE

NOISE

ENCODER CHANNEL DECODER

(Transmitter) (Medium) (Reception)

SENDER RECEIVER
(Information Source) (Destination)
FEEDBACK

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The Process of Sending the Message

1) The SENDER first thinks of what he/she wants to communicate to

others. The information or “the MESSAGE” is then put into words and
transformed into content.

2) ENCODING: The process of transforming thoughts into words is

called encoding.

3) Finally, the prepared content is transmitted to the receiver.

The process of receiving the Message

1) The message reaches the RECEIVER, who then decodes the

message, understands the message and responds to the SENDER.

2) The RECEIVER gives FEEDBACK to the SENDER.

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• ENTROPIC: Entropy is high when a communication
is high in new information and highly unpredictable.

• REDUNDANCY: Redundancy occurs when a

communication is low in new information and highly
predictable.

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“Roger Roger” from the movie Airplane (1980)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NfDUkR3DOFw

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 CHANNEL NOISE
Video from Big Bang Theory Season 9, Ep. 19

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=17jknknIYRI

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 Schramm’s Model
*Does not consider
communication to be linear,
rather that there is an
exchange of roles
Message *Considers the Decoder’s
capacities

ENCODER DECODER
INTERPRETER FIELDS OF INTERPRETER
DECODER ENCODER
EXPERIENCE

Feedback
Message

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Wilbur Schramm (1954)
1) Communication is a 2-way street, with a Sender and a
Receiver.

2) Schramm believed that the communication was not

complete or effective until the sender receives
feedback from the recipient.

3) FIELDS OF EXPERIENCE: If there is no commonality in

the sender’s and receiver’s field of experience, then
communication does not take place.

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Big Bang Theory “Sheldon teaches Penny Physics”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AEIn3T6nDAo

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DAVID BERLO’S “SMCR”
MODEL (1960)
“a model of the ingredients of communication” (pp. 23–24).
This model identifies four elements of communication:
Source, Message, Channel, and Receiver.

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 S (ender)
• The COMMUNICATION SKILLS of a person affects the communication process. If the
sender has strong communication skills, the message will be communicated more
effectively than if the sender’s communication skills are weak. Likewise, if the receiver is
unable to understand the message, then the communication will not be effective.
Communication skills include: speaking, reading, writing, listening, and presenting.

• The ATTITUDE of the sender and the receiver creates the effect of the message. The
sender’s attitude towards his/herself, the receiver, as well as the environment, will change
the meaning and effect of the message.

• KNOWLEDGE of the message’s subject matter effects the communicated message,

allowing the communicator to send the message more effectively.

• SOCIAL SYSTEMS: Values, beliefs, laws, rules, religion and many other social factors also
affect the sender’s communication. Location and situation also fall under social systems.

• CULTURE also influences how messages are made. Something in offensive in one culture
may be perfectly acceptable in another.

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 M (essage)
A message is the substance that is being sent from the sender to the receiver. The key factors
affecting the message are:

• CONTENT is the message. The whole message from beginning to end is the content.

• ELEMENTS are the non verbal that accompany the content like gestures, signs, language,
etc.

• TREATMENT is the way in which the message is conveyed to the receiver.

• The STRUCTURE of the message or the way it has been arranged, affects the
effectiveness of the message.

• CODE is the mode in which the message is sent. It might be in the form of language, text,
video, etc.

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 C (hannel)
Channel is the medium used to send the message:

1) MASS COMMUNICATION: Telephone, internet, TV, radio, etc.

2) GENERAL COMMUNICATION: The 5 senses

• Hearing—Spoken messages and non verbal sounds

• Seeing – Including non verbal messages
• Touching – Non-verbal communication often happens from touch,
like holding hands, or a pat on the shoulder.
• Smelling – We collect information from smelling.
• Tasting – Taste also provides information to be sent as a message.

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 R (eceiver)
The RECEIVER is the person who receives the message that is
sent in the process. This model assumes that the receiver and
sender are similar, otherwise the message may not have the
same intended effect.The receiver should also have strong
listening skills. The factors of the receiver are similar to that of the
sender as listed below:

• Communication Skills
• Attitude
• Knowledge
• Social Systems
• Culture

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Berlo’s SMCR Model differs from other models in that:

• There is no concept of feedback. Therefore, the effect is not

considered.
• There is no concept of noise.
• It is a linear model of communication, as opposed to a 2-way
communication process.
• Both the sender and receiver must be similar in accordance
with all of the factors previously mentioned.

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Helical Model of Communication
by Frank Dance (1967)

• Communication is a dynamic process. “The helix

represents the way communication evolves in an
individual from his birth to the the existing moment. (e.g.
impact of advertising)
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• Communication is continuous and non-repetitive. It grows and
accumulates.

• For example: At birth, a child cries to communicate he is alive. He cries

as a baby when in need. He cries as an adult when in pain or sad.

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Westley&MacLean’s Model
of Communication (1957)

X: Environment
A: Sender
C: Channel
B: Audience

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 WESTLEY AND MACCLEAN
•Different from Dance in that Westley and MacLean didn’t
believe that communication started from birth. Rather,
Westley and MacLean expounded that communication
begins when the speaker responds to something from his/
her external surroundings.
•In other words, this model supports the idea that
communication starts from receiving messages instead of
sending them.
•Thus, after receiving messages/information from different
sources, they are combined to create a message.
•This message passes through a gatekeeping before
reaching the Audience.
•The Audience then sends feedback to the Sender: directly
and quickly in interpersonal communication or indirectly and
slower in mass communication.
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 References

Berlo, D. (1960). The process of communication: An introduction to theory and practice. New York:
Holt, Rinehart and Winston.
Dance, Frank E.X. “A Helical Model of Communication.” In Human Communication Theory,
edited by Frank Dance. New York: Holt, Reinhart and Winston, 1967
Laswell, H. (1948). The structure and function of communication in society. In L. Bryson
(Ed.), The communication of ideas. New York: Harper.
Schramm, W. (1954). How communication works. In W. Schramm (Ed.), The process and effects
of mass communication. Urbana, IL: University of Illinois Press.
Shannon, C. & Weaver, W. (1949). The mathematical theory of communication. . Urbana, IL:
University of Illinois Press.
Westley, B. H., & MacLean, M.S. Jr. (1957). A conceptual model for communications research. Journalism
Quarterly, 34(31-38).

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