Interactive Model of Communication

Description

Communication is a two-way process. The sender communicates something, sending it to another person. The receiver receives and interprets it. They then become the sender, transmitting a response message back to the original sender.

Given this feedback the first person may now communicate again and the process becomes a circular, reciprocating pattern of sending based on what was received.

Within this process interference can happen at any time, changing or distorting the message, or distracting the people from the job of interpersonal communication. This may happen in the medium between the two people. It can also happen in the heads of the speaker or listener.

Discussion

Basic communication models talk about the sender, the receiver and the message, but do not say anything about what happens next.

Two key point about the interactive model are the principles of response and feedback.

The first point is the idea that when a person receives a message, they may well want to respond in some way, for example commenting on what was received or asking for more information. They consequently formulate and transmit their message back.

The second point is that the original speaker now gets feedback on what they said. This can be quite a surprise as the original message may have been distorted such that the second person received a different meaning to that which was intended. The second person's response may also be distorted by the time it gets to the first person and is interpreted by them.

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Interactive Model of Communication

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