What type of process by which a person transmits information or message to another person?

The process of communication is a sequence of events in which a sender transmits a message to a recipient. The message can be verbal or nonverbal as long as the recipient is able to understand it. There are several steps in the process: encoding, medium of transmission, decoding, and feedback. The sender selects a format for the message, "encodes" it into that form, and then selects and uses a medium, or method, of transmission. When the recipient receives the message, it is "decoded," and feedback occurs.

The necessary components that need to be present for the process of communication to occur include the sender, the recipient, and the message. The sender is the person or group who needs to communicate information and transmits the message. The message can take many forms such as writing, pictures, gestures, or speech. In order for effective communication to take place, it's vital that the message is able to be easily understood. The recipient is the person or group who gets the message, understands it, and responds if appropriate.

The first step in the process of communication is called encoding. This is when the message is transformed from a thought in someone's mind to a form that can be understood by others. The message can be written down, spoken, or it can even take a nonverbal, or wordless, form such as gestures or a picture. Once the message has been encoded, it should be in a form that is ready to be received and understood.

After the message has been prepared for transmission, it needs to be sent. This part of the process of communication is called the medium of transmission. In this step, the sender selects the best method for sending the message and transmits it. For example, a written message may take the form of e-mail or a business report that is printed out and hand delivered. A verbal message may be telephone conversation or a speech given before an audience, and a nonverbal message such as a picture may be transmitted by posting it on the Internet or hanging it in a museum.

Once the message has been transmitted, the next step in the process of communication requires decoding. This occurs once the recipient gets the message, examines, and interprets it using prior knowledge and experience. In this manner the recipient develops an understanding of the meaning of the message which is partially based his or her own background. Finally, feedback is the last part of the process where the recipient responds to the message, thereby indicating understanding.

3 Communications Process: Encoding and Decoding

In basic terms, humans communicate through a process of encoding and decoding. The encoder is the person who develops and sends the message. As represented in Figure 1.1 below, the encoder must determine how the message will be received by the audience, and make adjustments so the message is received the way they want it to be received.

Encoding is the process of turning thoughts into communication. The encoder uses a ‘medium’ to send the message — a phone call, email, text message, face-to-face meeting, or other communication tool. The level of conscious thought that goes into encoding messages may vary. The encoder should also take into account any ‘noise’ that might interfere with their message, such as other messages, distractions, or influences.

The audience then ‘decodes’, or interprets, the message for themselves. Decoding is the process of turning communication into thoughts. For example, you may realize you’re hungry and encode the following message to send to your roommate: “I’m hungry. Do you want to get pizza tonight?” As your roommate receives the message, they decode your communication and turn it back into thoughts to make meaning.

Figure 1.1. The communication process. Encoding, media, and decoding (Hawkins, 2016).

Of course, you don’t just communicate verbally—you have various options, or channels, for communication. Encoded messages are sent through a channel, or a sensory route, on which a message travels to the receiver for decoding. While communication can be sent and received using any sensory route (sight, smell, touch, taste, or sound), most communication occurs through visual (sight) and/or auditory (sound) channels. If your roommate has headphones on and is engrossed in a video game, you may need to get their attention by waving your hands before you can ask them about dinner.

The transmission model of communication describes communication as a linear, one-way process in which a sender intentionally transmits a message to a receiver (Ellis & McClintock, 1990). This model focuses on the sender and message within a communication encounter. Although the receiver is included in the model, this role is viewed as more of a target or end point rather than part of an ongoing process. You are left to presume that the receiver either successfully receives and understands the message or does not. Think of how a radio message is sent from a person in the radio studio to you listening in your car. The sender is the radio announcer who encodes a verbal message that is transmitted by a radio tower through electromagnetic waves (the channel) and eventually reaches your (the receiver’s) ears via an antenna and speakers in order to be decoded. The radio announcer doesn’t really know if you receive their message or not, but if the equipment is working and the channel is free of static, then there is a good chance that the message was successfully received.

The interaction model of communication describes communication as a process in which participants alternate positions as sender and receiver and generate meaning by sending messages and receiving feedback within physical and psychological contexts (Schramm, 1997). Rather than illustrating communication as a linear, one-way process, the interaction model incorporates feedback, which makes communication a more interactive, two-way process. Feedback includes messages sent in response to other messages. For example, your instructor may respond to a point you raise during class discussion or you may point to the sofa when your roommate asks you where the remote control is. The inclusion of a feedback loop also leads to a more complex understanding of the roles of participants in a communication encounter. Rather than having one sender, one message, and one receiver, this model has two sender-receivers who exchange messages. Each participant alternates roles as sender and receiver in order to keep a communication encounter going. Although this seems like a perceptible and deliberate process, you alternate between the roles of sender and receiver very quickly and often without conscious thought.

The transaction model of communication describes communication as a process in which communicators generate social realities within social, relational, and cultural contexts. In this model, you don’t just communicate to exchange messages; you communicate to create relationships, form intercultural alliances, shape your self-concepts, and engage with others in dialogue to create communities. In short, you don’t communicate about your realities; communication helps to construct your realities (and the realities of others).

The roles of sender and receiver in the transaction model of communication differ significantly from the other models. Instead of labeling participants as senders and receivers, the people in a communication encounter are referred to as communicators. Unlike the interaction model, which suggests that participants alternate positions as sender and receiver, the transaction model suggests that you are simultaneously a sender and a receiver. For example, when meeting a new friend, you send verbal messages about your interests and background, your companion reacts nonverbally. You don’t wait until you are done sending your verbal message to start receiving and decoding the nonverbal messages of your new friend. Instead, you are simultaneously sending your verbal message and receiving your friend’s nonverbal messages. This is an important addition to the model because it allows you to understand how you are able to adapt your communication—for example, adapting a verbal message—in the middle of sending it based on the communication you are simultaneously receiving from your communication partner.