According to the textbook in 1948 Laswell came up with the first model of communication which he called linear. This is because he considered communication a one way process, meaning that there was the person talking as the transmitter (communicator) and the person listening was a receiver but did not offer communication back. It is linear because it is on a single plane or straight like a line. If the person who was the listener then spoke back they became the transmitter and the other individual listening became the receiver.A good example of this from my life is when I would visit my grandparents during summer vacation. They could be very strict at times. If my grandmother said "go clean your room" you did it without verbalizing back. She was the transmitter and I was the receiver. She knew by me going up to my room that I was going to do what she asked.
Interactive models of communication according to the textbook accepts the concept of the the listener providing feedback to make sure the message has been properly understood. This concept is modeled in a circular drawing in the textbook on page 18. It shows message, decoder receiver encoder, feedback, encoder source decoder. According to the author Julia Wood (textbook: Interpersonal Communication) this concept is still based on the theory that communication is a sequential processes meaning there is one individual sender and a receiver. An example of this type of communication in my life would again be from my younger years. My mother would say eat your meat (because I enjoyed eating vegetables more than meat when I was little). I would then say I will eat my meat last because I like my carrots and peas better. This way she knew I understood she wanted me to eat my protein because the reply correlated to the original message she was giving me.
Thanks,
katrina
Catana said...
ReplyDeleteHello Katrina,
I thought you brought up great examples of both linear and interactive communication in regard to your grandmother and mother. In my post I mentioned parent/child interaction being a good example of linear communication, and this would include the scenario you gave with your grandma. There is not always a communicative response in situations where an elder tells a family member to do something. When I was younger I remember listening to my parents, grandparents, aunts, and teachers when they would tell me to do something, but I would rarely respond with my own messages until I reached an older age. Once we get older we often have questions which make communication more complex than the linear model. You gave an example of how you would respond to your mother telling you to eat your carrots, and your response to her in these situations. If I were to sit down with my mother now while eating a salad I think that even one sentence from her such as "You should eat those carrots because they are good for you" would become a conversation about a program she recently watched on health and/or our love for certain foods, whereas when I was very young I would have probably just said "I don't like them" or "Okay I will, mom".