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Communication diagrams A number of authors conceived communication models that emphasize different constituents of the model. Bühler, Lasswell, Shannon and Weaver, Jakobson, etc. They all deserve full accounts. Shannon and Weaver’s Communication Model Inspired from Karen Reynolds This is a model of communication as devised by Shannon and Weaver (1949). It is a simple linear model which has five main parts: Information source - where the message is produced Transmitter - where the message is encoded Channel - where the signal is carried Receiver - where the message is decoded Destination - where the message ends up There is also a sixth part which is noise. Noise is interference in the channel, and causes a signal to be received that was not intended by the source. The advantages of Shannon and Weaver's model are that it is in a simple, easily understood form; and that it is a general model that can be applied to most types of communication. The five main parts are selfexplanatory; the only part that needs some description is the 'noise'. One of the problems with transmission models is that the source is the decision maker and that the destination is passive. The sender chooses a message to send, and the receiver simply receives that message rather than actively participates in the communication process. But communication is a two-way process, a complex system of signals passing back and forth between the participants. Transmission models are linear, suggesting that we simply receive a message as it is sent, but we interpret the messages we receive bringing our own understanding to them. We do not just absorb information, we analyse what we see and hear in order to make sense of it. There is no exact meaning in any given message, what is meant by the sender may not be the same as what is understood by the receiver. We create meaning according to our personal experiences and our own understanding. So the same message may mean different things to different people. Often there are several ways to interpret a message, and we decide which is appropriate according to the situation at the time. For example, if the receiver is in a bad mood they are more likely to interpret what is communicated in a negative way, looking for meanings that could be construed as confrontational. Another problem with the fact that the transmission model is linear is that it does not allow for feedback. We rely on the response to a message in order to monitor how successfully we are communicating, and to make necessary adjustments. Another of the ways in which the basic transmission model fails to represent communication is that it does not allow for context. We need a contextual frame in which to make sense of things, whether it be social, historical, cultural, political or other. Communications can break down because of a lack of cultural understanding, that which is implicit within one culture may not be so in another. We make sense of what is said according to the context in which it is said, and we have shared cultural understandings which literally 'go without saying'. Problems arise when we try to communicate with others from different cultures without allowing for the fact that they may not share our cultural understanding. The relationship between people is also important. The way in which we communicate is influenced by the status of the person we are communicating with. The transmission model does not consider the medium that is used. But the medium is not neutral: it plays an important role in communication. The medium that we choose tells the receiver something of our intention when sending the message, and there are many social conventions that tell us which medium is appropriate. In conclusion, the transmission model is not an accurate reflection of the complex nature of communication. It fails to allow for the construction of meaning which is so vital to our success in communicating with one another. The model does not allow for the context of the communication, nor for the purpose; it does not consider the relationship between the parties, and it does not allow for the influence of the chosen medium. Communication is a complex, inter-active process which relies on the active participation of both sender and receiver, and cannot be accurately represented by a linear system.