Lecture 12 - Communication Theory

Lasswell's maxim: "Who says what to whom in what channel with what effect"
 

• How do we get through to other people
• There is allot of Different ways we can do this which is a problem
•  Semiotics
• The Phenomenological Tradition
• Rhetorical
• Socio-Cultural
• Critical Theory

Two Models

Transmission (informational) model examines the process of sending and receiving messages or transferring information from one mind to another. This model’s limitations are that sending and receiving messages sometimes create gaps in communication because communication signs can be perceived differently by different people.

  Constitutive model (the process of production and reproduction of shared meaning)

  These models have several limitations, most of which are due to the fact that there can be can be gaps that occur in an understanding of the communication process either due to socio-cultural diversity and change or due to the limitations of being able to measure authentic communication between people.

Three Levels of Potential Communication Problems

Level 1  Technical  Accuracy

  Systems of encoding and decoding

  Compatibility of systems/need for specialist equipment or knowledge

Level 2  Semantic  Precision of language

  How much of the message can be lost without meaning being lost?

  What language to use?

Level 3  Effectiveness  Does the message affect behavior the way we want it to?

  What can be done if the required effect fails to happen?

Systems theory 

• link other theories together, overlapping theories 
• switch between theories 
• without one system it will eventually effect another
• some more important than others
• big part of communication is the audience, became key with products 
• definition of audience changes, re-establishing classifications of audiences constantly
• Audiences- constantly changing
• Broadcaster Audience through radio
• Audience became to break down into categories of ages
• Media Distribution- Newspaper, Radio and TVs

Semiotics - 3 Basic Theories

• Semantics addresses what a sign stands for. Dictionaries are semantic reference books; they tell us what a sign means.
• Syntactics is the relationships among signs. »Signs rarely stand alone. They are almost always part of a larger sign system referred to as codes. »Codes are organized rules that designate what different signs stand for.
•   Pragmatics studies the practical use and effects of signs.

Bay Watch

• cultures been effected by disease of communication 
• power of signifiers in cultures and ages 

• Semiosphere- signs so powerful they are no longer noticed 
• Semiotics can apply to many different objects- link to social status 
• Linguistic- signifies that countries cultures to others 
• Discontinuous signs- different but works at some time 
• Series of codes 

 

Phenomenological tradition 

• process of knowing through direct experiences 
• perceptions/ physical experiences 
• the embodied mind 
• gained much knowledge from other humans 
• face recognition- coded deeply in what we understand 
• process of interpretation is central 

3 schools of phenomenology- classical, perception, hermeneutic 

 

Hermeneutics- study and interpretations in the margins 

• rhetoric 
• synecdoche, hyperbole, irony 
• constructed to persuade 
• often used for propaganda 
• make that audience listen 

Repetition

• drills into brain 
• pictures without context are meaningless, they need to be anchored 
• without text message is lost or confused 
• how world operates 

Metaphor 

• grasp new concepts and remember things by creating associations 

Socio-psychological tradition 

• body language, relationship and its understandings 
• information seeking behaviour 
• social and cognitive psychology 
• design for multi-language areas- use of visual language 
• understandings through visuals- may need explaining 
• expression, interaction and influence 
• conveyed in layers 
• useful for deep analysis of the moment of communication 
• way into thinking about crits

Critical communication theory 

• human history has a purpose that can be changed and shaped 
• structures for understanding 
• contexts used in different ways- shifts