• Communication as a process can be easily understood in terms of what can be called as models.

• These models, although aren’t exact replicas of what communication actually is, tend to give an understanding into the process of communication.

• These models are actually concepts that help us better understand how communication takes place and what are the elements involved.

• The first models that came into existence were merely technical models which comprised of simplistic terms for a general understanding of the process.

• S-M-C-R model developed by Berlo is one of the examples for this type of a model wherein the elements are the Source, Message, Channel and Receiver.

• As the studies progressed, a 5th element was added to it, ie: the Effect.

• Yet, the S-M-C-R-E model wasn’t advanced enough to explain the complex process of communication, and thus further theories and models developed.

• These theories and models have been classified under categories like Mechanical, Psychological, Sociological, Socio-pyschological etc.

• When seen as a sociological model, it is generally governed by how the society influences a particular set of communication taking place. Many sociological factors are taken into consideration in the model. This includes cultural, economic, social and political aspects of communication.

SOCIOLOGICAL MODEL: A General Understanding

• Society affects an individual in every instance of life.

• Communication is no exception to this, and thus everything communicated is affected by our surroundings and the state of affairs prevalent around us.

• This is not just true in the case of a sender of the message, but also with regard to the receiver.

• Thus, it is extremely essential to understand social implications when we intend to communicate with people.

• The sociological approach is primarily guided by four major aspects – Society, Culture, Politics and Economics.

• Society comprises of accepted relations, structures, institutions and associations.

• Culture on the other hand, comprises of differences in between social setups.

• This can include identity, values, ethos, religion and ideologies.

• Politics and economy also have a prominent role to play in some of the major communication that occurs in the present day.

• Thus it becomes essential while communicating to understand that while interacting with diverse groups, it can have different effects based on the sociological factors affecting those groups.

PSYCHOLOGICAL MODEL: A General Understanding

• A psychological model on the other hand goes beyond the standard functions defined by communication and tends to attach a originator-receptor perspective into the communication process, thereby making it dynamic and unrestricted.

• The psychological model derives its aspects from the individuals perspective, basing the communication on a variety of internal factors of the individual’s psychology and attempts to explain the thought process and linguistics involved.

• In a psychological model, there is necessarily a sender and a receiver.

• The number can be as low as a single person acting both as the sender and receiver or can go upto hundreds of thousands of people based on the medium of communication.

• The first step in this process begins with the formation of an idea or a thought that the sender wishes to convey to the receiver.

• Then the sender now translates this idea or thought into a tangible form of code that can be sent to the receiver.

• This process is generally called encoding.

• The code can be in the form of speech, gesture or written content.

• Now this content has to be transmitted via a certain medium.

• This is generally known as a channel which can be a telephone line, the air, paper or a computer.

• At this phase, it is essential to keep noise to a minimum as it can affect the reception of the receiver.

• The message can be lost or misinterpreted in the case of excessive noise, here again based on the capacity of the individual to effectively decode the message which is sent.

• This is where the psychological aspect of an individual kicks in.

• Once the transmission of the message is done through a medium, it is sent to the receivers end where it is decoded.

• This decoding process is very essential as it is the point where the integrity of the communication is tested.

• If, based on psychological factors the receiver makes an error in decoding, then it can have widespread implications on the communication process, which may end up as a failure.

• Interpretation of the communication is entirely based on the receivers psychological set up and hence, the psychological models are employed to understand the communication process.

• Gerbner’s Model of 1956 on the other hand is a complex model which deals with psychological aspects of an individual and his perception of an event which is occurring.

• Hence, it is a Pyschological model. • In this model, the process begins with an event E, which is

an external event that is perceived by M (which is to be interpreted as a receiver, this can be either a human or a machine like a microphone or a camera).

• Thus, M’s perception of E is taken as E1. • This relationship is complex in the case that M cannot

perceive the whole complexity of E, and hence there is a selective difference between E and E1.

• “Human perception is not a simple reception of stimuli, but is a process of interaction or negotiation.” – Fiske, John.

• In this case, the receiver (M) tries to match the external event (E) with internal patterns of thoughts and ideas derived out of his/her own experiences. When this happens, perception of the event is said to have occurred and this in itself is termed as a perceived event (or rather a perceived notion of the event) E1. Thus, meaning is derived by matching external events with internal concepts.

References

• http://sudyspeaks.wordpress.com/2012/09/16/psychological-and-sociological-models-of-communication-a-distinguishment/