Introduction to Communication Studies

Any change in the system may cause a change in the entire system( develop new patterns of interaction, subgroups realign and team performance changes. Systems are not collection of random parts, but organized wholes, system operates as a totality of interacting elements.

As parts of the system interact over time, new elements of the system emerge. E. g. teams develop norms that regulate communication. o Systems vary in how open they are.

Openness is the extent to which a system affects and is affected by outside factors and processes( Mass media and communication technologies expand the openness of most societies and thus the influences on them and their ways of life. o System strives for but cannot sustain equilibrium (homeostasis)( olicies, habits. But no living system can sustain absolute balance or equilibrium.

Change is inevitable and continuous( can be abrupt or gradual, can be prompted by external or internal factors. In order to function and survive, members must be able to adapt.

o Communication is also affected by the larger systems within which it takes place. (Even within a single culture, there are differences based on region, ethnicity, religion and other factors, therefore to interpret communication we have to consider the systems in which it takes place. – Symbols Can be abstract, arbitrary, and ambiguous representations of other things. – Meanings o Meanings are significance we bestow on phenomena, or what they signify to us. We use symbols to create meanings o Communication has 2 levels of meaning( content level of meaning (contains the literal message), relationship level of meaning (expresses the relationship between communicators( often expresses a desire to connect with the other party(good/bad way( through tone or actions) Models of Communication (3) – Linear Model o Early model that described communication as a one way process in which one person acts on another person.

Also called the transmission model because it assumes communication to be transmitted in a straightforward manner from a sender to a receiver. o Noise is anything that interferes with the intended meaning of communication and may distort meaning. – Interactive model o Bruce Gronbeck noted that communication processes are bidirectional, not unidirectional; are dialogic and not monologic. o Added feedback to early models. Feedback is a response to a message.

It may be verbal or nonverbal, may be intentional or unintentional. o Communicators create and interpret messages within personal fields of experience.

The more the fields of experience overlap, the better they can understand each other. – Transactional Models o Disadvantages of the interactive model ? People communicate simultaneously instead of taking turns ? Interactive model designates one person as the sender and the other as a receiver. But in reality, communicators both send and receive messages. ? Interactive model does not portray communication as changing over time as a result of what happened between people.

o Hence a model should include the feature of time and should depict communication as a varying and not constant. [pic] Noise includes sounds, interference within communicators, such as mental biases and preoccupation that hinders effective listening.