Linear model has defined set of components required for a communication to be established where

Sender is the person who sends a message after encoding.

Encoding is the process of converting the message into codes compatible with the channel and
understandable for the receiver.

Decoding is the process of changing the encoded message into understandable language by the
receiver.

Message is the information sent by the sender to the receiver.

Channel is the medium through which the message is sent.

Receiver is the person who gets the message after decoding.

Noise is the disruptions that are caused in the communication process in channel or in understandability
of the message.

Types of Linear Communications

Different types of communication models based on linear model of communication are:

Aristotle's Model

Aristotle's Model is a linear communication model which was made for public speaking. In Aristotle's
model, the speaker sent message and the audience receive it. The model was made to establish a
propaganda. Learn more about, Aristotle Model of Communication.

Shannon Weaver Model

The Shannon Weaver Model of Communication is a mathematical model used for technical
communication or machine communication like telegraph and telephone. In Shannon Weaver's model, if
the channel does not have distorting elements or noise producing elements, the communication is
successful. Learn more about Shannon Weaver Model of Communication.
Berlo's SMCR Model

Berlo's Model was made to understand general human communication. In Berlo's Model,
communication depends on many factors: like communication skills, attitude, knowledge, socio-cultural
systems, the way in which the message has been sent, the content of the message, senses of the
receiver, etc. Learn more about, Berlo's SMCR Model of Communication

Criticisms of Linear Model

The model assumes that communication has a particular beginning and an end, so it is not continuous.

There is no concept of feedback which makes it inapplicable to direct human communication and only
applicable to mass communication like newspaper, television, etc. There is no way to know if the
communication was effective or not.

Human communication is mostly circular rather than linear as audience is also an active participant.

Communication may not happen in turns and more than one message can be sent at the same time.

The sender must have the ability to encode and the receiver must have the ability to decode.

The model has become less relevant to electronic communication and internet where its not clear who
is the sender and who is the receiver.
Concepts in Shannon Weaver Model
Sender (Information source) Sender is the person who makes the message,
chooses the channel and sends the message.
Encoder (Transmitter) Encoder is the sender who uses machine, which converts
message into signals or binary data. It might also directly refer to the machine.
Channel Channel is the medium used to send message.
Decoder (Receiver) Decoder is the machine used to convert signals or binary
data into message or the receiver who translates the message from signals.
Receiver (Destination) Receiver is the person who gets the message or the place
where the message must reach. The receiver provides feedback according to
the message.
Noise Noise is the physical disturbances like environment, people, etc. which
does not let the message get to the receiver as what is sent.
 EPLANATION OF SHANNON AND WEAVERS MODEL

The sender encodes the message and sends it to the receiver through a
technological channel like telephone and telegraph. The sender converts the
message into codes understandable to the machine. The message is sent in
codes through a medium.

The receiver has to decode the message before understanding it and

interpreting it. The receptor machine can also act as a decoder in some cases.
The channel can have noise and the receiver might not have the capacity to
decode which might cause problems in communication process.

Here, for instance, brain might be the sender, mouth might be the encoder which
encodes to a particular language, air might be the channel, another persons ear
might be the receptor and his brain might be the decoder and receiver.
Similarly, air is the channel here, the noise present in his environment that
disturbs them is the noise whereas his response is the feedback. There were only
5 components when the model was made. Noise was added later.
As Shannon was an engineer, this model was first made to improve technical
communication, mainly for telephonic communication. It was made to to
maximize telephone capacity with minimum noise.

Later, Weaver applied it for all kind of communications to develop effective

communicationand the model became famous as Shannon Weaver model. In
engineering, Shannons model is also called information theory and is used
academically to calculate transmission through machines and also has a
formula.

Example of Shannon Weaver Model

A businessman sends a message via phone text to his worker about a meeting
happening about their brand promotion. The worker does not receive the full
message because of noise. It goes like this:
Businessman: We have a meeting at the office ("at 8 am" goes missing due to
phone network disruption or noise)

Worker (feedback) : At what time?

Here,

Sender: Businessman
Encoder: Telephone network company
Channel: Mobile network
Noise: Missing text due to disruption
Decoder: Mobile phone
Receiver: Worker
The transmission error is the noise in this case. The feedback lets the
businessman know that the message reached incomplete. The receiver gets the
chance to get the full message only after his feedback.

Levels of Communication Problems

There are three levels of problems of communication according to Shannon
Weaver. They are:

1. Technical problem How a channel causes a problem

2. Semantic problem Is the meaning of message sent and received very different
3. Effectiveness problem How effectively does the message cause reaction

Advantages of Shannon Weaver Model

Concept of noise helps in making the communication effective by removing
the noise or problem causing noise.
This model takes communication as a two way process. It makes the model
applicable in general communication.
Communication is taken as quantifiable in Shannon Weaver model.
Criticisms of Shannon Weaver Model
It can be applied more for interpersonal communication than group communication
and mass communication.
Receiver plays the passive part in the communication process as sender
plays the primary role that sends messages.
Feedback is taken as less important in comparison to the messages sent by
the sender.
The model is taken by some critics as a "misleading misrepresentation of the
nature of human communication" as human communication is not
mathematical in nature.
 Berlo's SMCR Model of
Communication
In 1960, David Berlo postulated Berlo's Sender-Message-Channel-Receiver
(SMCR) model of communication from Shannon Weaver's Model of
Communication (1949). He described factors affecting the individual components in
the communication making the communication more efficient.
The model also focuses on encoding and decoding which happens before sender
sends the message and before receiver receives the message respectively.

Berlo's Model has mainly, four components to describe the communication

process. They are sender, message, channel and receiver. Each of the component is
affected by many factors.
Components of Berlo's Model of
Communication

S -Sender
Sender is the source of the message or the person who originates the message.
The person or source sends the message to the receiver. The following are the
factor related to sender and is also the same in the case of receiver.

Communication Skills
Communication skills of a person is a factor that affects the
communication process. If the sender has good communication skills, the
message will be communicated better than if the sender's communication
skills are not good. Similarly, if the receiver can not grasp the message,
then the communication will not be effective. Communication skills
include the skills to speak, present, read, write, listening, etc.
Attitude
The attitude of the sender and the receiver creates the effect of the
message. The person's attitude towards self, the receiver and the
environment changes the meaning and effect of the message.
Knowledge
Familiarity with the subject of the message makes the communicated
message have its effect more. Knowledge on the subject matter makes
the communicator send the message effectively.
Social Systems
Values, beliefs, laws, rules, religion and many other social factors affect
the sender's way of communicating the message. It creates difference in
the generation of message. Place and situation also fall under social
systems.
Culture
Cultural differences make messages different. A person from one culture
might find something offensive which is very much accepted in another
culture.
M-Message
A message is the substance that is being sent by the sender to the receiver. It
might be in the form of voice, audio, text, video or other media. The key factors
affecting the message are

Content
Content is the thing that is in the message. The whole message from
beginning to end is the content.
Elements
Elements are the non verbal things that tag along with the content like
gestures, signs, language, etc.
Treatment
Treatment is the way in which the message is conveyed to the receiver.
Treatment also effects the feedback of the receiver.
Structure
The structure of the message or the way it has been structured or
arranged, affects the effectiveness of the message.
Code
Code is the form in which the message is sent. It might be in the form of
language, text, video, etc.

C-Channel
Channel is the medium used to send the message. In mass communication and
other forms of communication, technical machines might be used as a channel
like telephone, internet, etc. But in general communication, the five senses of a
human being is the channel for the communication flow and it affects the
effectiveness of the channel.
Hearing - We receive the message through hearing.

Seeing - We perceive through seeing. We also get non-verbal messages

by seeing.
 Touching - Many of the non-verbal communication happens from touching
like holding hands.
Smelling - We collect information from smelling.

Tasting - Taste also provides the information to be sent as a message.

R- Receiver
Receiver is the person who gets the message sent in the process. This model
believes that the thinking pattern and all other factors mentioned above must
be in sync to that of the sender for the communication to be effective. The
message might not have the same effect as intended if the receiver and sender
are not similar. The receiver must also have a very good listening skill. Other
factors are similar to that of the sender.

Communication skills
Attitudes

Knowledge

Social Systems

Culture

Criticisms of Berlo's SMCR Model:

There is no concept of feedback, so the effect is not considered.

There is no concept of noise or any kind of barriers in communication process.

It is a linear model of communication, there is no two way
communication.
Both of the people must be similar according to all the factors mentioned
above.
 Schramm's Model of
Communication
Schramm's Model of Communication was postulated by Wilbur Schramm in
1954, where he suggested that communication is a two way process where both
sender and receiver take turns to send and receive a message.

The message is only sent after encoding so the sender is also called Encoder
and the encoded message is decoded under receipt by the receiver, making him
the Decoder.

This model was adapted from the theories of another theorist Osgood, so is also
known as Osgood and Schramm Model of Communication or Encode-Decode Model of
Communication.
Osgood replaced the linear model of communication with the circular process of
communication and Schramm added the concept of field of experience to it. This
model is described in Schramm's book "The Process and Effects of Communication".

Different Components of Schramm's Model

Schramm's Model has different components for communications where

Sender (transmitter) is the person who sends the message.

Encoder is the person who converts the message to be sent into codes.
Decoder is the person who gets the encoded message which has been sent by
the encoder and converts it into the language understandable by the person.
Interpreter is the person who tries to understand and analyze the message.
Message is received after interpretation. Interpreter and receiver is the same
person.
Receiver is the person who gets the message. He/she decodes and interprets
the actual message.
Message is the data sent by the sender and information that the receiver
gets.
Feedback is the process of responding to the received message by the
receiver.
Medium or media is the channel used to send the message.
Noise is the interference and interruptions caused during the process. It is
also created when the intended meaning of the message sent by the sender
and the meaning interpreted by the receiver is different which
is known as Semantic Noise.

How Schramm's Model Works?

The model suggests that encoding and decoding are the two most important
part of a communication process.

Encoding assumes a critical part in starting the procedure of correspondence by

converting data into information. Encoding is done by a sender (transmitter)
and sent to a receiver.

When data reaches to the receiver, receiver decodes and interprets the data.
This data is called a message, and it is transmitted through a medium.
This model shows how meaning is transferred from one person or group to
another. Schramm's model of communication is used in both Intrapersonal and
Interpersonal communication.

The model takes communication as a never ending process which constitutes

messages and feedbacks.

Each person is both sender and receiver, so there must be interpretation of the
message on each turn. The interpreted data is known as information. This
makes communication effective but might cause problems too as the message
sent after encoding might not be the same when decoded by the receiver. So,
this model is not conventional like other models that only talk about sender and
receiver.

Feedback is also a very important component as it lets the sender know if the
receiver has interpreted the message as required or not. The message becomes
useless if the receiver does not understand it making feedback different than
the expected outcome.

The communication is incomplete if there is no feedback. Deliberate articulation

and passing on of message to others ensures communication.

For instance, A person is talking to someone who does not understand English.
The person codes the message and writes the message in the form of language.
The other person won't be able to decode it as the person cannot understand
the language. The feedback is immediately passed to the sender acknowledging
that the receiver hasn't interpreted the message as required making feedback
an important component in the communication.
Schramm's model of communication originated from Shannon Weaver's model
of communication. The Shannon-Weaver model is a more mathematical and
technological, whereas Schramm's model is more psychological.
Concepts of Schramm's Communication
Model
Schramm believed that the background of the individual who is involved plays
an important role in communication. People with various knowledge, experience
and cultural practices interpret message in a different way than other.

A sender passes on the information to the receiver. The receiver interprets it

according to his/her knowledge, experiences and gives feedback to the sender.
The main concepts behind his model were

Field of experience
Field of Experience are the things that influences the understanding and
interpretation of message like culture, social background, beliefs, experiences,
values and rules.

Same message can be interpreted differently by different people. If the words

and signs they both(sender and receiver) use are common they communicate
more efficiently.

For example, a person who always eats with spoon is informed that that he has
to eat with hands in that place, the person will get offended because he will
think it is impolite to eat that way. Socio-cultural gap will change the way a
person interprets the message.

[Related Reading: Cultural Barriers to Communication]

Context of the relationship

The people involved must have things in common to talk about. The message
must be something important to both. Communication will be easier if the
relationship between the sender and receiver is close.

For example, old friends will have many things to talk about in comparison to
new ones as they will have a larger mutual social circle.

Context of social environment influencing the field of

reference
People communicate according to the situation they are in. People act and
communicate according to the place, time, reason and settings they are facing.
The same people will act differently when they meet casually or for official
purposes.

Use of Metaphors
Metaphors are used from experiences and it makes communication easier.
When a person relates one thing to another, explaining and interpreting it
becomes easier.

For example, when relating the color blue to sea, the second person can form a
proper picture if he/she is said that the color of the glass in which he/she is
supposed to drink tea from is blue like sea.

Mental Models
Field of experience overlap due to mental conditioning and social conditioning of
a person.

Advantages of Schramm's Model of

Communication
Circular communication gives opportunity to both parties to give their
opinion.
As it is dynamic and ever changing model, it is helpful in general practice.
Sender and receiver interchanges and both are equally active.
Semantic noise included as a concept helps in understanding problems that can
occur during interpretation of message.
Feedback makes it easier to know if the message is interpreted by the
receiver as intended or not.
Concept of interpretation makes the communication effective.
Field of experience (psychological effect) helps to understand the
communication process in many other ways than the traditional ones..
Concept of context makes the environmental factor be included in
interpretation of message and brings change in the message value.

Disadvantages of Schramm's Model of

Communication
This model can not deal with multiple levels of communication and complex
communication processes.
There can only be two sources communicating, many sources complicates
the process and the model can not be implemented.
Message sent and received might be interpreted differently than intended.
 Helical Model of Communication
"If you're born today, you've limited expressions"- Frank Dance

Frank Dance proposed a communication modelinspired by a helix in 1967, known as

Helical Model of Communication. A helix is a three dimensional spring like curve
in the shape of a cylinder or a cone. Helix is compared with evolution of
communication of a human since birth to existence or existing moment. Helical
model gives geometrical testimony of communication. The model is linear as
well as circular combined and disagrees the concept of linearity and circularity
individually.

Concept of Helical Model of Communication

Helical model of communication introduces the concept of time where
continuousness of the communication process and relational interactions are
very important. Communication is taken as a dynamic process in helical model
of communication and it progresses with age as our experience and vocabulary
increases. At first, helical spring is small at the bottom and grows bigger as the
communication progresses. The same effect can be seen with communication of
humans, where you know nothing about a person at first and the knowledge
grows steadily as you know the person better. It considers all the activities of
the person, from the past and present.

Communication is affected by the curve from which it emerges which denotes

past behavior and experiences. Slowly, the helix leaves its lower levels of
behavior and grows upward in a new way. It always depends on the lowest level
to form the message. Thus, the communicative relationship reaches to the next
level in which people share more information.

Communication is supposed to be continuous and non-repetitive. It is always

growing and accumulative.

Example of Helical Model of Communication

A child crying at birth signifies the communication of the child to its parents that
he/she is alive. After some years, the child cries whenever the child needs
anything like food or attention. He/she learns words and starts communicating
with words. The child learns specific languages and communicates with the
people who know the language that he/she knows. Communication becomes
more complex as the child grows into adult and to the existing moment. The
adult uses the same pronunciations and use of words or facial expressions that
he/she learned when he/she was a child. Communication is directly dependent
on his/her past behavior as a child but can also modify as the person grows.
In this example, communication evolves with the child crying. This is where the
helix is small at the bottom. And he continues communication, the helix
gradually grows. When the communication becomes more complex, the spiral
grows wider. From then on, it grows steadily as his life goes on.

Advantages of Helical Model of

Communication
The model assumes sender and receiver to be interchangeable and makes
communication process to be two way.
The model takes the communication process speculative and intellectual.

Disadvantages of Helical Model of

Communication
The model is taken as more simple than it should be.

Some critics dont take it to be a model as it has very few variables.

It is not testable because it is abstract.

It is not represent in a systematic and orderly way.

Variables cannot be differentiated in this model.

Continuity may not always be true for communication. There might be

breaks in situations as well as events can be meaningless, forced or
unproductive.
The purpose of communication is not always growth.

[Related Reading: Becker's Mosaic Model of Communication]