by Alvaro Ruiz Elgueta
Communication theory is a relatively young discipline, arising out of the confluence of other social sciences including psychology, semiotics, and sociology, to name a few. Many types of communication theories exist, each addressing a different aspect of how humans interact with each other. These theories, however, group into several large divisions: Mechanistic, Social Constructionist, Psychological, Critical, and Systemic.
Mechanistic communication theories are concerned with the actual transmission of information. They examine the communication of a message from a sender to a receiver, as well as the ways that the sender encodes the message and the receiver decodes it.
Social Constructionist theories see communication as a collaborative process in which both parties create meaning together. How the message is encoded influences not only how the receiver understands it, but also how it is understood by the sender. In turn, the response and reaction of the receiver can influence the understanding of the sender, as well. Thus, both parties shape the information that is communicated.
Psychological theories of communication examine how the brain processes a message. Critical theories look at the role of communication in creating and exploiting power relationships between groups. Systemic theories examine how communications transform as they are transmitted and interpreted.
Within each of these larger divisions, there are many individual models, ranging from inoculation theory, which examines how beliefs form, to relational dialectics, which looks at patterns within communications that are formed by the relationships between the participants.
To learn more about communication theory, check out this video produced by the Universidad del Valle de México:
Introduction to Communication Theory
