Model of Communication- Berlo and Wendell Johnson

Communication Models

What is communication model?

Model of communication is systematic representations of the process which helps in understanding
how communication works can be done. Models show the process metaphorically and in symbols.
They form general perspectives on communication by breaking communication from complex to
simple and keep the components in order.

According to Narula, Communication models are the visualizations of the communication process.
They depict how various elements of communication process are interrelated and how they interact
and operate. Models of communication are needed as an aid in studying communication to simplify
the process.

According to Narula, models may serve any or all of the four general functions:

• Models organize the various elements and process of communication act in a meaningful and

interesting way.

• Models aid in discovery of new facts about communication.

• Model enables u to make predictions communication, i.e. what will happen under certain

conditions.

• Models may provide means of measuring the elements and processes involved in communication.

There are various communication models.

Linear and Non-linear Models

Linear models of communication take the process as one-way or unidirectional. The S-M-C-R-E
(Sender-Message-Channel-Receiver-Effect) model is a classic example of linear model. In the early
days communication experts thought that communication is dominated by the sender and the
receiver’s role is just to receive the message.

The non-linear models do not assume that the communication is unidirectional. Rather, such models
are considered consisting feedback and the principle of convergence. Nonlinear models emphasize on
mutual understanding of both the sender and the receiver.

Transactional Communication Model

The Transactional Model becomes more sophisticated yet. This model depicts face-to-face interaction,
or “trans-action” as a dynamic and changeable process that is not limited to simple definition.  In the
Transactional Model, receiver and sender can play the same roles simultaneously, as sometimes
happens, as messages can be sent back and forth simultaneously.  It appears chaotic and ineffective,
but sometimes communication is just that.  Throw in some noise, and it would be a wonder whether
any message is conveyed successfully in this environment.

Communication Models Presented by Different Scholars

1. Aristotle’s Model

Aristotle, your well known Ancient Greek thinker, unveiled an operation involving by oral
communication within his / her creating 3 hundred years prior to the birth involving Christ. The task is
regarded worthy inside analyze involving modern day communication. He articulates of any
communication practice consisting of a new loudspeaker, a message and also a listener.  Aristotle
pointed out that the person at the end of communication processes plays the key role to whether or not
communication takes place.

2. Lasswell’s Model

Lasswell's model of communication (also known as Lasswell's communication model)
describes an act of communication by defining who said it, what was said, in what channel it
was said, to whom it was said, and with what effect it was said. It is regarded by many
 communication and public relations scholars as "one of the earliest and most influential 
communication models.

3. Shannon and Weaver’s Model

This is one of the earliest models of communication developed. Shannon, an acclaimed
mathematician, developed this communication model in 1947. Later with Warren Weaver, he
perfected it. This model is known as the Shannon-Weaver Model. Shannon and Weaver listed the
major elements of the process of communication. According to them, the ingredients in the
communication process include source, transmitter, signal, receiver, Destination and Noise

To understanding the theory properly, we can say that the source is a speaker, the signal is
speech, and the destination is the receiver and the transmitter is used to send the message from
the source to the receiver. This model is supposedly derived from a mathematical interpretation
of communication for sending or transmitting the message with the help of a technology or
manually by human beings. This is illustrated as under: In this model, the important objective
is transmitting the message. This model has not studied the other concerned or allied areas of
impact, or effect on the receiver, i.e., destination or his reactions to the message.

4. Wendell Johnson’s Model

Wendell Johnson proposed one of the most insightful model in 1951. It is a simple model
explaining the complex process of communication.

5 stages of communication

Stage 1 : communication event

Stage 2:  receivers stimulated ( s/he perceives it through their own   experience)

Stage 3: certain bodily changes ( muscular tension)

Stage 4: Stage three is translated into words

Stage 5: Certain one are selected and arranged into pattern

5. Osgood and Schramm’s Model

This model is a “highly circular” model. The important characteristics of Osgood’s model are
that the message receiver is also a message sender. Thus the messages move in cycles. And the
sender and the receiver interact with one another establishing a kind of "interactive relationship"
where one person may be source one moment and a receiver the next and again a source the
following moment. This process mostly takes place in interpersonal communication. The figure
below explains the model (Charles E. Osgood's Model).

Wilbur Schramm's contribution in communication, especially in mass communication research,
is exemplary. He has analyzed and presented communication in new light and explained
communication in various ways. These are communication with one’s self, communication
between two persons, or a group of persons, communication with mass audience running into
hundreds or thousands of millions of people. Schramm further developed Shannon and
Weaver's model to further elaborate and clarify his various concept of communication. He
explained the communication process as an interaction among an encoder, decoder, message,
feedback and noise. Schramm emphasized on the roles of feedback and noise in his model.
This added new dimension to the understanding communication study and research.

6. Gerbner’s Model

This model was proposed by George Gerbner in 1956.

Someone

Perceives an Event

And Reacts

Ina Situation

Through Some Means

To Make Available Materials

In Some Form

And Context

Conveying Content

Of Some Consequences.

This model considers these elements in the communication model: there is a source, an event, the
source reacts to the event in a situation through some channel, the content and the consequences
of the communication acts are conveyed in some form and context.

7. Berlo’s Model

David K. Berlo, a communication theorist and consultant developed a model named S-M-C-R
model of communication in 1960 in his book “The process of communication”. Berlo pointed out
the importance of the psychological view in his communication model. The four parts of Berlo’s
S-M-C-R model are S = Source, M = Message, C = Channel and R = Receiver. The elements of
Berlo’s model are discussed below:

Source: The first element of Berlo’s communication model is the source. All communication
must come from some sources. The source might be one person, a group of people of a company.
Several things determine how a source will operate in the communication process such as
communication skills like abilities to think, write, draw and speak.

• Attitudes toward audience, the subject matter etc.

• Knowledge of the subject, the audience and the situation.

• Social background, education, friends, salary, culture etc.  

Message: Message is the information, views of thoughts to be sent by the source. The source
must choose the code or language for sending the message.

Channel: The channel is the method such as telegraph, newspaper, radio, letter, poster or other
media through which the message will be transmitted.

Receiver: Receiver is the final element in the communication process. The receiver is the
audience of the message.

We can see by this that the most of the communication models used in the early days were linear model
where the senders were dominant and they were only one to send message to the receivers and the
receivers only consumed the message and did not communicate back with the senders. As in the
present there is more non-linear communication than linear as it has become kind of compulsory to
react as soon as they hear any message from the sender.

After learning all the models of communication, I prefer non-linear model as it lets one person to
communicate with other as well as listens to other. In this way, the message from both the sides will
be heard and the communication will be more effective than any other communication model.

Reference

Communication, Media and Journalism An Integrated Study- Nirmala Mani Adhikary

http://nivedita-sharma.blogspot.com/2014/12/models-of-communication.html

http://thecommunicationprocess.com/models-of-communication/