Communication

Researchers in this field often refine their definition of communicative behavior by including the criteria that observable responses are present and that the participants benefit from the exchange.

For example, maple trees release so-called volatile organic compounds into the air to warn other plants of a herbivore attack.

[1] Communication is usually understood as the transmission of information:[2] a message is conveyed from a sender to a receiver using some medium, such as sound, written signs, bodily movements, or electricity.

This includes issues like which empirical phenomena are observed, how they are categorized, which hypotheses and laws are formulated as well as how systematic theories based on these steps are articulated.

Transactional and constitutive perspectives hold that communication shapes the participant's experience by conceptualizing the world and making sense of their environment and themselves.

[28] The goal of these questions is to identify the basic components involved in the communicative process: the sender, the message, the channel, the receiver, and the effect.

Some theorists, like Judee Burgoon, hold that it depends on the existence of a socially shared coding system that is used to interpret the meaning of non-verbal behavior.

[60] Non-verbal communication often happens unintentionally and unconsciously, like sweating or blushing, but there are also conscious intentional forms, like shaking hands or raising a thumb.

[75] The physical appearance of the communicator, such as height, weight, hair, skin color, gender, clothing, tattooing, and piercing, also carries information.

[101] In some cases this manifests externally, like when engaged in a monologue, taking notes, highlighting a passage, and writing a diary or a shopping list.

[110] But in the widest sense, channels encompass any form of transmission, including technological means like books, cables, radio waves, telephones, or television.

[126] This means that the speaker is aware of the social and cultural context in order to adapt and express the message in a way that is considered acceptable in the given situation.

[134] For example, verbal communication skills involve the proper understanding of a language, including its phonology, orthography, syntax, lexicon, and semantics.

[135] Many aspects of human life depend on successful communication, from ensuring basic necessities of survival to building and maintaining relationships.

[136] Communicative competence is a key factor regarding whether a person is able to reach their goals in social life, like having a successful career and finding a suitable spouse.

However, various observations seem to contradict this view, such as the warning signals in response to different types of predators used by vervet monkeys, Gunnison's prairie dogs, and red squirrels.

Grasshoppers and crickets communicate acoustically by using songs, moths rely on chemical means by releasing pheromones, and fireflies send visual messages by flashing light.

[164] Social animals, like chimpanzees, bonobos, wolves, and dogs, engage in various forms of communication to express their feelings and build relations.

[172] This field poses additional difficulties for researchers since plants are different from humans and other animals in that they lack a central nervous system and have rigid cell walls.

For simplex systems, signals flow only in one direction from the sender to the receiver, like in radio, cable television, and screens displaying arrivals and departures at airports.

[214] Half-duplex systems allow two-way exchanges but signals can only flow in one direction at a time, like walkie-talkies and police radios.

[215] In either case, it is often important for successful communication that the connection is secure to ensure that the transmitted data reaches only the intended destination and is not intercepted by an unauthorized third party.

[217] Human-computer communication is a closely related field that concerns topics like how humans interact with computers and how data in the form of inputs and outputs is exchanged.

It is closely related to semiotics, with one difference being that communication studies focuses more on technical questions of how messages are sent, received, and processed.

[225] Some theories focus on communication as a practical art of discourse while others explore the roles of signs, experience, information processing, and the goal of building a social order through coordinated interaction.

It covers issues like how communication satisfies physiological and psychological needs, helps build relationships, and assists in gathering information about the environment, other individuals, and oneself.

[249] As people started to settle and form agricultural communities, societies grew and there was an increased need for stable records of ownership of land and commercial transactions.

They include the invention of telegraphs and telephones, which made it even easier and faster to transmit information from one location to another without the need to transport written documents.

[261] The reach of wireless communication was further enhanced with the development of satellites, which made it possible to broadcast radio and television signals to stations all over the world.

It made it easier than ever before for people to exchange ideas, collaborate, and access information from anywhere in the world by using a variety of means, such as websites, e-mail, social media, and video conferences.