The process of message exchanges, or semiosis, is a key characteristic of human life depending on rule-governed and learned codes that, for the most part, unconsciously guide the communication of meaning between individuals.
Early theorists like Saussure (1857–1913) proposed the theory that when the addresser wishes to transmit a message to an addressee, the intended meaning must be converted into content so that it can be delivered.
Roman Jakobson (1896–1982) offered a structuralist theory that the transmission and response would not sustain an efficient discourse unless the parties used the same codes in the appropriate social contexts.
But the medium of communication is not necessarily neutral and the ability of the addressee to accurately decode the message may be affected by a number of factors.
This relates to Gestalt psychology, Max Wertheimer (1880–1943) examined the factors that determine grouping in cognitive processes: If an addresser is writing a speech, rhetorical tropes may be used to emphasise the elements that the audience is to focus upon and potentially perceive as predicating a particular conclusion.