MODELS OF

COMMUNICATION
BAILA AFTAB
Contents

Introduction Conclusion
(Context vs Models) (Inferences)

Types of Models of Communication

(Three Types)
WHAT ARE THE MODELS?

❑ Contexts are environments in which

communication takes place.

❑ Models: are the simplified representations of

the communication process.

❑ Communication theorists create models, or

simplified representations of complex
interrelationships among elements to explain
the communication process.
Types of Models of Communication

01 03
Linear Models of Transactional Models of
Communication Communication

02
Interactional Models of
Communication
 THE LINEAR MODEL

• Linear model of communication: one-way view of communication that assumes a message

is sent by a source to a receiver through a channel.

• Source: originator of a message.

• Message: words, sounds, actions, or gestures in an interaction.

• Channel: pathway to communication.

• Receiver: recipient of a message.

• Noise: distortion in channel not intended by the source. It is anything not intended by the
informational source.
The Linear Model
Categories

Shannon-
Aristotle Model Lasswell’s Model Berlo’s S-M-C-R
Weaver Model
of of Model of
of
Communication Communication Communication
Communication
 Limitations

First, the model presumes that there Second, communication does not Furthermore, to suggest that
is only one message in the have a definable beginning and communication is simply one person
communication process. ending. speaking to another oversimplifies
the complex communication process.
 The Interactional Model

• It emphasizes the two-way communication process between communicators.

• In other words, communication goes in two directions: from sender to receiver and from
receiver to sender.

• This circular process suggests that communication is ongoing. And involves sharing of
meanings with feedback that links source and receiver.

• Feedback: communication given to the source by the receiver to indicate understanding

(meaning).
• Field of Experience: overlap of sender’s and receiver’s culture and experiences in
communication.
The Interactional Model
Categories

Osgood
Schramm
Model
Westley and
MacLean’s
Model
Limitations

It suggests that one person

acts as sender while the
other acts as receiver in a
communication encounter.

However, people The interactional view

communicate as both assumes two people
senders and receivers in a speaking and listening, but
single encounter. not at the same time.
 The Transactional Model

• Transactional model of communication view communication as the simultaneous sending

and receiving of messages.
• In the transactional model, the fields of experience exist, but overlap occurs.
• That is, rather than person A and person B having separate fields of experience, eventually
the two fields merge.
• It defines the communication as a cyclical process.
The Transactional Model
Categories

Dance’s Barnlund’s
Helical Transactional
Model Model
Conclusion

Different Contexts Different Models

Different
Environments
Inferences
Holistic
Contexts of understanding why Field of
Communication models are needed? Experiences

1 3 5

2 4 6

Interconnectivity in Direction of Interactive view of

Communication Communication Communication
Process
Lasswell’s Communication Model
Cont.
– Control analysis helps the sender to have all the power.
– Content analysis is associated to stereotyping and representation of
different groups politically. It is also related to the purpose or the
ulterior motives of the message.
– Media analysis represents which medium should be used to exercise
maximum power against the receivers.
– Audience analysis shows who are the target population to be
manipulated or brain-washed.
– Effect analysis is done before the process starts. It is used to predict
the effect of message over the target population to be exploited.
For Example:
CNN NEWS – A water leak from Japan’s tsunami-crippled nuclear
power station resulted in about 100 times the permitted level of
radioactive material flowing into the sea, operator Tokyo Electric Power
Co said on Saturday.

Identify the components

 Disadvantages

Does not include feedback

Ignore possibility of noise

General & simple

Aristotle’s Model of Communication
Cont.
❑ Aristotle’s model of communication is mainly a speaker centered model where the
speaker and speech are very important.
❑ It is broadly divided into 5 primary elements Speaker, Speech, Occasion, Audience,
and Effect.
❑ The speaker’s role to deliver a speech is considered as the first element of the 5
primary elements.
❑ In this model, the speaker gives the speech whereas the target audience is passively
influenced.
 Elements of a good speaker

– Ethos
– Pathos
– Logos
Criticism
– No concept of feedback
– No concept of communication failure
– Model can only be used in public speaking
Example of Shannon Weaver Model
A businessman sends a message via phone text to his worker about a meeting
happening about their brand promotion. The worker does not receive the full
message because of noise. It goes like this:

Businessman: We have a meeting at the office (“at 8 am” goes missing due to
phone network disruption or noise)

Worker (feedback) : At what time?

Here:
Sender: Businessman
Encoder: Telephone network company
Channel: Mobile network
Noise: Missing text due to disruption
Decoder: Mobile phone
Receiver: Worker
 Levels of Communication Problems
– There are three levels of problems of communication according to Shannon
Weaver. They are:
1. Technical problem –How a channel causes a problem. Means, How accurately can the
symbol of communication be transmitted? when the decoder, encoder or channel causes
the problems. For example, when a machine important for the communication of the
message has a fault.
2. Semantic problem –Is the meaning of message sent and received very different. Means,
How precisely do the transmitted symbols convey the desired meaning? This is when the
message that was sent is different from the message that was received (a practical way to
think about this is the game ‘Telephone’, also known as ‘Chinese whispers’ or ‘telephono
roto’. The message is lost somewhere in the retelling.).
3. Effectiveness problem –How effectively does the message cause reaction. Means, How
effectively does the received meaning affect conduct in the desired way? This explains
how well the message can cause a response or reaction from the receiver.
Disadvantages

– It can be applied more for interpersonal communication than group

communication and mass communication.
– Receiver plays the passive part in the communication process as sender plays
the primary role that sends messages.
– Feedback is taken as less important in comparison to the messages sent by the
sender.
– The model is taken by some critics as a “misleading misrepresentation of the
nature of human communication” as human communication is not
mathematical in nature.
Criticism
– There is no concept of feedback
– There is no concept of any kind of noise and barriers
– It is a linear model of communication
– Both of the people must be similar according to the factors
mentioned above
The Westley and MacLean
Sender-receiver Model
– Source (A) – Source is the message creator and sender.
– Environment (X) – Environment is the physical and psychological situation where the message is being
created and sent.
– Sensory experience (X1) – Sensory experience is the first thing that the source sees by which the source
gets the idea for the formation of the message.
– Objects of Orientation (X1, X2) – Objects of orientation is the person’s social and cultural reality that has
formed from his/her past experiences and teachings.
– Message Interpretation or Coding (X’) – Message is interpreted with the objects of orientation of the
receiver of the message.
– Receiver (B) – The person who gets the message sent by the source and the person who interprets
according to his/her objects of orientation.
– Object of Orientation of Receiver (X, b) – The views and ideas of the receiver or his/her social reality is
his/her object of orientation. That is how the receiver interprets the message.
– Feedback (f) – The receiver forms another message after interpreting the message and sends it back to the
sender. It is known as feedback.
– Gatekeeper (C) – Gatekeepers are found in mass communication. The gatekeeper is the editor who filters
the message as per the needs of the audience and media institution.
– Opinion Leader – Opinion leaders are well known and recognized people who can influence public
opinions.
 Gate Keeping Theory
• The Gatekeeper decides what information should move to group or individual and
what information should not.

• Here, the gatekeeper are the decision makers who letting the whole social system.
The gatekeeper is having its own influence like social, cultural, ethical and political.
Based on personal or social influences they let the information to the group.

• Through this process the unwanted, sensible and controversial information’s are
removed by the gate keeper which helps to control the society or a group and
letting them in a right path.

• In news medium editor play vital role. He has to decide what kind of news items will
publish and what should not.
Example
An international news channel receives numbers of news items within day like
international terror issues, UN discussions, Texas bull fighting and religious abuse on
international community.
News items:
N1: Texas bull fiaghting, N2: International terror issues, N3: UN discussions, N4:
religious abuse on international community
Gatekeeper:
Chief Editor
Selected News Items:
N2: International terror issues, N3: UN discussions,
Discarded News Items: (on popularity)
N1: Texas bull fighting
Discarded News Items: (on policy)
N4: Religious abuse on International community
 Two-step Flow of Communication
• Theory of communication that proposes that interpersonal interaction has a far
stronger effect on shaping public opinion than mass media outlets.

• It stipulates that mass media content first reaches “opinion leaders,” people who are
active media users and who collect, interpret, and diffuse the meaning of media
messages to less-active media consumers.

• According to the authors, opinion leaders pick up information from the media, and this
information then gets passed on to less-active members of the public.

• This implies that most people receive information from opinion leaders through
interpersonal communication rather than directly from mass media.
Advantages
– There is the concept of feedback.
– As the message comes from the environment, sensory field
improves the message formation.
– Social and other factors are included in objects of orientation.
– The model can be applied to interpersonal, group communication
as well as mass communication.
– The model is very descriptive.
Criticism
– There are many variables even for simple communication
which makes the model very complicated.
– The model is only two-dimensional and does not explain
communication which involves multiple messages and
complicated messages.
– The information can get modified while sending it from the
sender to the receiver as there can be noise. The model
does not account for noise in communication.
Interaction Model The
Schramm Model