Wilbur Schramm's Communication Model

Schramm (1954) modified the Shannon-Weaver model to create a circular, more comprehensive model. Here the sender gives the

message to a receiver and the feedback is returned from the receiver to the sender. The experiences of both the sender and the receiver are taken

into consideration. Schramm explained that if the circles that represent the communicators’ experiences overlap to a large extent, then

communication is easily established. If the circles overlap slightly or do not overlap at all, communication is difficult because the communicators

do not share common background knowledge.

See the figure on next page.

 Schramm’s adaptation of the Shannon-Weaver
Communication Model

Field of experience
Field of experience

Sender Encoder Signal Decoder Receiver

Noise

Feedback

Mass Media
Wilbur Schramm, “Procedures and Effects of Mass Communication,” in and Education
, ed. Nelson B.
Henry (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1954), p. 116.