Communication Models and Theories

What does it mean by Communication Model?

Communication model is a simplified description in
graphic form of a communication reality.
 There are several basic models of
communication. These are Laswell’s
Model of Communication, Shannon and
Weaver’s Mathematical Model, Berlo’s
SMCR Model, and Schramm’s Model.
 Lasswell’s Model has five elements : the who or the
communicator , the message, the medium, the receiver, and
the
Effect of the message on the receiver physically, emotionally,
and mentally.

As a social scientist , he based his model on what he saw to be

the key functions of communication in our society, which
Were mainly surveillance, correlation, and transmission.
Laswell’s model is a linear
model of communication
2. Shannon and Weaver’s
Mathematical Model
(1949)
 2. Shannon and Weaver’s Mathematical Model (1949) This
model was used by linguistic and behavioral scientists.
Linguistic scientists study language, while behavioral scientists.
Linguistic scientists study language, while behavioral scientists
study human behavior.

Under this model, communication is described as linear, one-

way process. The model identifies five functions to be
performed and notes one dysfunctional factor, which is the
noise.
Noise in this model refers not only to
physical noise that we hear from the
environment. It also includes the
noise we hear within us like our low
self- esteem and anxieties in
communicating.
Shannon and Weaver’s model added
the element of noise in the
communication process.
3. Berlo’s SMCR Model of
Communication
 Berlos’ Model – In this model it discusses how the
communication process can be even more complex as many
factors affect what could have been simple elements. The
source and the receiver could be affected by their
communication skills, knowledge, attitudes, and socio-cultural
system. The message can be altered depending on its content,
elements, structure, treatment, and code. The channel or
medium could involve the five senses, proving that
communication is not as simple as we think.
Berlo’s model expands the concepts
of source and receiver. He saw
communication as a process. He was
also the first to include the five
senses as channels of
communication.
 A. Source
1. Communication Skills
2. Attitudes
3. Knowledge
4. Social System
5. Culture
 B. Message
1. Content
2. Elements
3. Treatment
4. Structure
5. Code
C. Channel
Five Senses
D.
Receiver
Schramm’s Communication Model – proceeded
from a simple human communication model
that accounted for the accumulated
experiences of two individuals trying to
communicate to each other, and then to a
model that considers human communication as
interaction between two individuals.
 Schramm’s model is a
nonlinear model in which
communicators act both as
speaker, and receiver, encoder
and decoder.
What is theory in
Communication?
 A theory is the thorough discussion
and analysis of a communication
phenomenon. The three basic goals
of theory are to explain, predict, and
control.
Theories organize experience, extend
knowledge, stimulate and guide
research, and perform an anticipatory
function.
 Rhetorical Tradition of
Communication Theory serves as
artful poetic address. Symbolic
interactionism had meaning,
language , and thought as its core
premises.
 1. Charles Berger’s Uncertainty
Reduction Theory- discusses our
drive to reduce uncertainty in
meeting new people.
 2. Fisher’s narrative paradigm-
people are story telling animals.
Narrative is a matter of coherence
and fidelity. Listeners judge a story by
whether or not it hangs together and
rings true to with their values.
 3. Aristotle’s rhetoric- rhetoric is the
art of persuasion. A speaker supports
his message by emotional , ethical,
and logical proofs.
 4. Burker’s dramatism- life is a
drama. The dramatistic pentad of
act, agent, agency, and purpose
reflect the speaker’s motives.
5. Herbert Blumer’s Symbolic
Interactionism
 Assignment

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