A model can be defined as a visual presentation that identifies, classifies and describes various parts of a process. In the communication process, sender, message, media, and receiver are associated. Communication process starts with the transmission of a message by communicator and end with receiver’s feedback. When this communication process is represented by a line or picture, it is called communication model. In other words, pictorial presentation of the communication process is known as communication model.
In the words of MacLean-
“The models help the business organizations and other institutions to understand how communication works, how messages are transmitted, how it is received by the other party, and how the message is eventually interpreted and understood.”
Types of communication model
There are many models of communication developed by noted theorists of different disciplines. Among the theorists, Aristotle, Lasswell, Shannon, Weaver, McLuhan, MacLean, Rileys, Westley, Gerbner, Rothstein, Schramn, Berlo, Osgood, Johnson, Cherry are the renowned ones. Some important and well-known models are-
- Aristotle’s Model
- Lasswell’s Model
- Shannon and Weaver Model
- Schramm’s Model
- Riley’s Model
- Berlo’s S-M-C-R Model
- Contemporary Model
Communication stands so deeply rooted in human behaviors and the structures of society that scholars have difficulty thinking of it while excluding social or behavioral events. Because communication theory remains a relatively young field of inquiry and integrates itself with other disciplines such as philosophy, psychology, and sociology, one probably cannot yet expect a consensus of communication across disciplines.
