Term
| Conceptualizing Communication: Points of Convergence |
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Definition
Communication is a process
Communication is transactional
Communication is symbolic |
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Term
| Communication is a Process |
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Definition
- It is continuous, complex and unfolds over time
- Even simple interactions are influenced in complex ways by the past and influences the future |
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Term
| SMCR Model of Communication |
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Definition
| A source-message-channel-receiver model developed by Berlo. Communication here is linear and follows a singular conduit. |
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Term
| Communication is Transactional |
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Definition
- Communication is a process in which there is a constant mutual influence of the participants
- Emphasizes the importance of context in the communication process |
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Term
| The Hypodermic Needle Model/The Magic Bullet Model of Communication |
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Definition
| A linear/one way approach of communication which does not consider the reaction of the audience or its feedback. It envisions communication as a one-way process from the source to the receiver. |
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Term
| Communication is Symbolic |
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Definition
| - Communication requires signs and symbols that have relationships to referents that are to some extent arbitrary |
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Term
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Definition
| The relationship between a signifier and a signified. |
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Term
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Definition
- Not a proxy for their objects, but vehicles for the conception of objects
- Has an arbitrary, rather than natural relationship to what is symbolized
- Has no inherent meaning
- Some degree of shared meaning exists between reactants when it comes to symbols
- Gaps in understanding persist however and are minimized when interactants have shared experiences (ie. culture, age) |
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Term
| Conceptualizing Communication: Points of Divergence |
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Definition
Communication as a social activity
Communication and intention |
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Term
| Communication as a Social Activity |
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Definition
- Does communication necessarily involve two or more people or can it occur inside one person (intrapersonal communication)?
- However, even scholars who see communication as social acknowledge the importance of cognition and emotion
- Communication is critical in social commerce |
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Term
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Definition
- The semantic level of language – considers the links between signs and referents.
- The syntactic level of language – considers the rules that govern language use by considering various grammars
- The pragmatic level of language – looks at language in use (the ways in which we do things with words) |
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Term
| Communication and Intention |
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Definition
- Watzlawick, Beavin and Jackson wrote The Pragmatics of Human Communication and said that "you cannot not communicate"
- Early conceptualizations stated that communication only occurs when there is clear intent to communicate
- In the 1990s, we began to distinguish between a source perspective (the source must have intent for it to be communication) and a receiver perspective (if the message is received, it is communication)
- Burgoon and Hoobler proposed a message perspective |
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Term
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Definition
- Proposed by Burgoon and Hoobler
- Communication is defined as “those behaviours that could reasonably function as messages within a given speech community” |
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Term
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Definition
- Verbal messages – Intended for receivers (ex. Telling your friend you are tired and want to get off the phone)
- Analogic messages – Intentional imitations of symptomatic behaviours (ex. Faking a yawn to communicate exhaustion)
- Symptomatic behaviour – Observable autonomic responses (Ex. Yawning) |
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Term
| Transmission Model of Communication |
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Definition
| States that communication is a process of sending and receiving messages or transferring information from one mind to another |
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Term
| Constitutive Model of Communication |
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Definition
| States that communication is not a secondary phenomenon that can be explained by antecedent psychological, sociological, cultural or economic factors; rather, communication itself is the primary, constitutive social process that explains all these other factors |
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