Models of communication

The Shannon-Weaver Mathematical Model, 1949

Claude Shannon, an engineer for the Bell Telephone Company, designed the most influential
of all early communication models. His goal was to formulate a theory to guide the efforts of
engineers in finding the most efficient way of transmitting electrical signals from one
location to another. Later Shannon introduced a mechanism in the receiver which corrected
for differences between the transmitted and received signal; this monitoring or correcting
mechanism was the forerunner of the now widely used concept of feedback (information
which a communicator gains from others in response to his own verbal behavior).

Schramms Interactive Model, 1954
Wilbur Schramm (1954) was one of the first to alter the mathematical model of Shannon
and Weaver. He conceived of decoding and encoding as activities maintained
simultaneously by sender and receiver; he also made provisions for a two-way interchange
of messages. Notice also the inclusion of an interpreter as an abstract representation of
the problem of meaning.