FUNDAMENTALS OF HUMAN COMMUNICATION

FUNDAMENTALS OF HUMAN COMMUNICATIONThere have been many attempts to define communication Dance and Larson (1976)Listed 126 different published definitions of communication but it may be more useful toidentify the essential elements of communication rather than reviewing each of thesedefinitions.In any communication event there are two general types of actions taking place; creatingmessages or displays, and interpreting message/ displays. The Random House Dictionaryof the English Language (1987) says that “to display is literally to spread something outso that it may most completely and favorable be seen ” Thus to display is to makesomething plainly viewable usually in a favorable position for specific observation.A message is either a visual or auditory display that we make so that others may observeit.”The visual display could be in the form of writing a graphic display, or nonverbalbehavior. An auditory display could be spoken language or other sounds.For a display to be communicative behavior it must stand for something at least in themind of the observer of the display. There are two general kinds of displays, verbal annonverbalIn verbal communication, the first act in a communicative series of events then is to makea symbolic display for the observation of someone else. When we are planning a publicspeech we are planning the symbolic displays we will present to our audience. Thisdisplay is our message.This message/display that we present is the information we make available. Informationin this context refers to the words, sounds, and visual information we make available forothers to observe.Information can be transferred to others in messages/displays but meaning cannot.Meaning is the result of the second type of action which takes place in anycommunication situation-interpretation. Interpretation is the act of making sense ofsomething. The Random House Dictionary says that to interpret means “to construe orunderstand something in a particular way.”Communication ContextPerson A’sPerson B’sFrame of ReferenceFrame of ReferencePersonalityPersonalityCultureCultureLife HistoryLife HistoryEducationEducationFamilyFamilyConsciousnessConsciousnessCommunication ProcessCommunication ProcessIntentionIntention/ ReceptionPredictionPredicoonEncoding-competenceDecodingPerformance-transmissionInterpretationFeedback