COMM THEORY:
On Seminal Theories
John A. Cagle, Ph.D.
Communication
California State University, Fresno
Harold D. Lasswell (1948)
Who Says What in Which
Channel to Whom with
What Effect?
Franklin Fearing (1953)
Communication behavior is a specific form of
molar behavior which occurs in a situation or
field possessing specified properties, the parts
of which are in interdependent relationship with
each other. A theory of such behavior is
concerned with forces, psychological, social,
and physical, which determine the course of this
behavior and its outcomes in relation to the
culture in which it occurs.
Such a theory should formulate hypothetical
constructs and present a terminology with
appropriate definitions in the following four
interrelated areas:
(a) the forces which determine the effects of
communication, that is, constructs regarding
individuals designated interpreters;
(b) the forces which determine the production of
communications, that is, constructs about
communicators;
(c) the nature of communications content
considered as a stimulus field;
(d) the characteristics of the situation or field in
which communication occurs.
Information
Theory
Claude Shannon
Shannon & Weaver (1947)
Norbert Weiner’s Cybernetics added the notion of
feedback to this communication model.
Information Theory



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In a perfect communication system, the sender
and receiver have identical knowledge of the
code.
All possible messages are known in advance.
The source makes a choice to send a
message from the set of possible messages.
The receiver needs to know what choice the
sender made.
Information is not content



A message has information if it
reduces the uncertainty about what
choice the sender made.
If the choice is already known to the
receiver, the message is redundant.
Information is not content in information
theory.
Aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde
Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr
the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoetnt
tihng is that the frist and lsat ltteer be at the
rghit pclae. The rset can be a total mses
and you can sitll raed it wouthit porbelm.
Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not
raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a
wlohe.
Amzanig huh?
Information is not meaning



Information is different from the content
and meaning of messages.
Information is not the interpretation of
information.
Peter Drucker wrote of the difference
between informating and
communicating in an organization.
Entropy




Entropy is randomness, chaos, the lack
of organization and predictability.
Entropy is uncertainty.
Information reduces entropy in a
communication system.
Entropy is variable in most situations.
Measurement of Information




The smallest unit of information
is a bit
Eight bits = one byte
Four bytes = one word
These terms are still at the core of
computer science
• E.g., 32-bit word processors in the CPU
Measurement of Information

I = - log2 pi
is the formula for measuring the
information value of each message sent
against the probability of that message in
the field of all the messages that could
be sent.
Measurement of Information

H = - ∑ pi log2 pi
is the formula for measuring the amount
of information of all the messages that
could be sent in a communication
system.
Choices


Signal: we make choices about which signal to
send (sounds, letters, etc.)
Semantics: we make choices in a given
situation about which meaning to send.
•
•

Lexical choice
Meaning
Pragmatics: we make choices in a given
situation about which behaviors to enact.
Communication behavior is a specific form of
molar behavior _____1_____ occurs in a
situation or field possessing specified
properties, ____2_____ parts of which are in
interdependent relationship with each
_____3_____. A theory of such behavior is
concerned with forces, _____4_____, social,
and physical, which determine the course of this
_____5_____ and its outcomes in relation to the
culture in _____6_____ it occurs.
Samuel Becker (1968)
We construct messages which "are, in effect, overlayed to
form the large and complex communication environment or
'mosaic' in which each of us exists. This mosaic consists of an
immense number of fragments or bits of information on an
immense number of topics. . . . These bits are scattered over
time and space and modes of communication. Each individual
must grasp from this mosaic those bits which serve his needs,
must group them into message sets which are relevant for him
at any given time, and within each message set must organize
the bits and close the gaps between them in order to arrive at
a coherent picture of the world to which he can respond."
Leah Vande Berg on Becker
(1999)
One of the most visionary aspects of Becker’s essay was his
call for communication scholars to reconceptualize how
we think of messages. . . . Becker’s call for messageaudience centered critical studies of differences among
audience members moved far beyond the “active
audience” notion. . . . In fact, Becker’s mosaic model of
the fragmented processes entailed in receiving
information and creating meanings, and his assertion that
critical scholars should concentrate on differences among
segments of audiences, prefigured the subsequent
development of audience-centered critical media studies.
Information theory analysis
choices
freq
rel freq
I
one
10
0.33
1.584963
-0.53
two
6
0.20
2.321928
-0.46
three
3
0.10
3.321928
-0.33
four
3
0.10
3.321928
-0.33
five
1
0.03
4.906891
-0.16
six
1
0.03
4.906891
-0.16
seven
1
0.03
4.906891
-0.16
eight
1
0.03
4.906891
-0.16
nine
1
0.03
4.906891
-0.16
ten
1
0.03
4.906891
-0.16
eleven
1
0.03
4.906891
-0.16
twelve
1
0.03
4.906891
-0.16
30
1.00
H= 2.97
Ring a-round the roses,
A pocket full of posies,
_____1_____! Ashes!
We all fall down!
Three blind mice,
See how they run!
They all _____2_____ after a farmer's wife,
Who cut off their tails _____3_____ a carving knife.
Did you ever see such a ____4______ in your life,
As three blind mice?
Brian está en el aeropuerto de Barajas en
Madrid. _____1_____ y otros estudiantes del
grupo esperan la llegada del _____2_____ para
ir a Leób. Deben esperar una hora. ¿Qué
____3______ hacer?
1 Alice
2 vuelo
3 deciden
Fritz Heider (1946)
Balance Theory
People try to maintain a certain type of consistency
between their opinions of other people and their
opinions of what those other people say.
Imbalance produces a psychological stress that
must be resolved.
Theodore Newcomb (1953)
Communication among humans performs the
essential function of enabling two or more
individuals to maintain simultaneous orientation
toward one another as communicators and toward
objects of communication.
The term “orientation” is used as equivalent to
“attitude” in its more inclusive sense of referring
to both cathectic and cognitive tendencies.
X
A
B
Tuna
Casserole
“Crap—I hate
tuna casserole.”
-
“I have cooked a
delicious casserole
for our dinner.”
+
“I love you, Eve”
John
+
+
“I love you, John”
Eve
Westley & MacLean (1957)
Watzlawick, Beavin, and
Jackson (1967)
Their theory is based on a systems
paradigm.
Their book, Pragmatics of Human
Communication, posited five axioms
of communication.
Watzlawick, Beavin, and Jackson (1967)
Five Axioms of Communication

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1. One cannot not communicate.
2. Every communication has a content and a relationship
aspect such that the latter defines the former and is
therefore metacommunication.
3. Every communication sequence is defined by the way
the interactants punctuate communication events.
4. Interpersonal contacts are digital and analogic.
5. Communication relationships are either symmetrical or
complementary.
Del Hymes (1966)
1. What are the communicative events,
and their components, in a community?
2. What are the relationships among
them?
3. What capabilities and states do they
have, in general, and in particular
events?
4. How do they work?
The concept of a message is taken as
implying the sharing (real or imputed) of a
code (or codes) in terms of which a message
is intelligible to participants, minimally an
addressor and addressee, in an event
constituted by transmission of the message,
and characterized by a channel, a setting or
context, a definite form or shape in the
message, and a topic or comment.
Jakobson’s Model
of Communicative Functions (1960)
Hymes builds upon
Type
emotive
Oriented
towards
addresser
referential context
conative
addressee
Function
expressing
feelings or
attitudes
imparting
information
influencing
behaviour
Example
It’s bloody
pissing down
again!
It’s raining.
Wait here till it
stops raining!
(cf. http://www.aber.ac.uk/media/Functions/mcs.html)
Jakobson’s Model continued
Type
phatic
metalingual
poetic
Oriented
towards
contact
code
message
Function
establishing or
maintaining
social relationships
referring to the
nature of the
interaction
foregrounding
textual features
Example
Nasty weather
again, isn’t it?
This is the
weather
forecast.
It droppeth as
the gentle rain
from heaven.
(http://www.aber.ac.uk/media/Functions/mcs.html)
Hymes adds contextual and metacommunicative functions to Jakobson
Frank E. X. Dance (1970)
His study identified 15 distinct conceptual components in
the various definitions. His analysis identified three points
of "critical conceptual differentiation" which form the basic
dimensions along which the various definitions differ:
(1) Level of observation. E.g., restricted as in a definition
pertaining to radio communication, very broad as in
Stevens's definition of communication as a discriminatory
response of a organism to a stimulus.
(2) Intentionality.
(3) Normative judgment. Implicit judgment as to success
or value of the behavior.
Conceptual Components of Communication

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Symbols/verbal/speech
Understanding
Interaction/relationship/
social process
Reduction of uncertainty
Process
Transfer/transmission/
interchange
Linking/bonding

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

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Commonality
Channel/carrier/means/
route
Replicating memories
Discriminative response/
behavior-modifyingresponse
Stimuli
Intentional
Time/situation
Power
Bowers and Bradac Axioms (1984)
A number of competing sets of axioms undergird
contemporary communication research and theory.
1a Communication is the transmission and reception of
information.
1b Communication is the generation of meaning.
2a Communication is individual behavior.
2b Communication is the relationship among behaviors of
interacting individuals.
3a Human communication is unique.
3b Human communication is a form of animal
communication.
4a Communication is processual.
4b Communication is static.
5a Communication is contextualized.
5b Communication is noncontextualized.
6a Human beings cannot not communicate.
6b Human beings can not communicate.
7a Communication is a ubiquitous and powerful force in
society.
7b Communication is one among many forces in society,
and a relatively weak one.
Definitional Issues
Intentionality: to what degree, if any, does intention play in
communication?
Symbolic behaviors: what behavior is symbolic?
Rhetorical theory and communication theory