1. WEEK 5 Communication Theory: Other Models Intro to Communication Dr. P.M.G. Verstraete

2. Three Broad Approaches  Linear Transmission (Process)  Processing and Signification (Semiosis)  Constructing Reality

3. Processing & Signification (Semiosis)

4. Signification

5. Communication is generation of meaning Who is generating a meaning? For whom? For what? Signification

6. Communication = the creation of a shared understanding through interaction among two or more agents What is the shared understanding between a chicken and a fox? Signification

7. Communication = sharing a common language, a common culture, a common heritage, cultural symbols, rituels... Signification

8. Uncommon language: No communication? Here there is no sharing; hence, There is no communication! Really?

9. Models towards signification Towards signification

10. 1. Laswell’s model (1948) Towards signification

11. who says what in which channel to whom with what effect ? Towards signification

12. But: effect is not necessarily ‘meaning’  = a measurable change in the receiver that is caused by identifiable elements in the process  Laswell’s model is about how to create appropriate change in either part of the model Towards signification

13. 2. Newcomb’s model (1953) Towards signification Ok, so ‘effect’ is not necessarily ‘meaning’… what about ‘information’?

14. Focus on the role of communication in society or in social relations = interpersonal communication = all the parts are interdependent Assumption: need for information about our social environment AB X A = communicator B = receiver X = any part of the social environment Equilibrium ! Towards signification

15. 3. Jacobson’s model (1960) Towards signification So ok, seeking information is deeply embedded in the social role of communication, but this model is still about how to change our reactions (effect) to a social environment… not quite yet ‘signification’

16. Jacobson’s interest lies in meaning and the internal structure of a message. = a double model, that bridges the gaps between process and semiotic schools Jacobson’s departure point is 6 constitutive factors that makes communication possible: Towards signification Context Message Addresser_______Addressee Contact Code Notice how Jacobson added: context, contact and code to our previous model.

17. These 6 constitutive factors correspond to different functions: Towards signification Context Message Addresser_______Addressee Contact Code Referential Poetic Emotive_______Conotative Phatic Metalingual

18. Example: ‘I like Ike’ Towards signification Referential Poetic Emotive_______Conotative Phatic Metalingual Compare with ‘Sik bakalim’

19. Constructing Reality

20. Communication is construction of personal and social realities. Social Reality

21. Who constructs your reality? You? Social Reality

22. 4. George Gerbner’s model (1956) Social Reality

23. Gerbner’s model: - it relates the message to the reality that it is about (questions of perception and meaning) - it sees the communication process as consisting of two alternating dimensions: the dimension of the perceptual/receptive the dimension of communication: means and control Social Reality

24. event E – percept of event E – statement about event SE Social Reality

25. Horizontal dimension: Human perception = filtering of external stimuli, selection & distortion Meaning = derived from the matching of external stimuli with internal concepts (recognition) This matching is controlled by our culture Social Reality

26. Can you see what I see?

27. Social Reality Can you see what I see? The Rorscharch test

28. Social Reality Can you see what I see?

29. Social Reality Can you see what I see?

30. Social Reality Can you see what I see?

31. Social Reality Can you see what I see?

32. Social Reality Can you see what I see?

33. Social Reality Can you see what I see?

34. Social Reality Can you see what I see?

35. Social Reality Can you see what I see?

36. Social Reality Can you see what I see? Culture influences our perception

37. Vertical dimension: When the percept is converted into a signal = a message (a signal or statement about the event) divided into a signal and a form (a unified concept, cf. the medium is the message) Social Reality

38. 2 more related concepts On the horizontal dimension: access Who has access to the mass media? The one who has access can also make the selection (cf. the news on TV) On the vertical dimension: availability What is made available by the communicator determines what is actually perceived (another form of selectivity, cf. restricted readership) Social Reality Add to your glossary!

39. Who constructs whose reality? And how? Social Reality So: what about social control? Mass Communication

40. Who constructs whose reality? And how? Social Reality Interpersonal Communication

41. 5. Westley and MacLean’s model (1957) Social Reality

42. Westley and MacLean’s model: ( extension of Newcomb’s model particularly for mass media) So: ABX + C: an editorial-communicating function = the process of deciding what and how to communicate Social Reality

43. B lost direct or immediate experience of X B lost direct relationship with A Social Reality A (reporter) sends story to C (newsroom) C transmits story to B (audience) Need for information + dependency

44. AB X Compare with Newcomb’s model Is the equilibrium destroyed? Towards signification

45. Recap: all models where can it go wrong?

46. 1.Anything that hinders communicating 2.Anything that orients or affects the communication in specific way with undesirable outcome Communication Problems ‘Noise’

47. who says what in which channel to whom with what effect ? Lasswell’s model Effectiveness

48. Sender Receiver Codes a message Decodes it Message Medium Feedback Noise 2-way interaction model Linear transmission models Message Listeners (Decoding) Speaker (Coding) 1-way interaction model

49. Shannon and Weaver’s model Possible problems could be: Technical (transmission) Semantic (desired meaning) Effectiveness (desired behavior)

50. event E – percept of event E – statement about event SE – percept of statement about SE Gerbner’s model Problems on horizontal dimension Problems on vertical dimension Problems of access and availability

51. AB X A = communicator B = receiver X = any part of the social environment Problems with equilibrium ? Newcomb’s model

52. Westley & MacLean’s model A = communicator B = receiver X = any part of the social environment C = editorial-communicating function Communication problems induced by power or personal interest

53. 6 constitutive factors and their corresponding functions: Jacobson’s model Context Message Addresser_______Addressee Contact Code Referential Poetic Emotive_______Conative Phatic Metalingual Problems of understanding, when culture or code is not shared