cybernetics, information theory, interactional

theory

systems paradigms

the parameter

mathematical theory of communication: transposition of models from the exact sciences to the communication field

information; based on communication devices developed during World War II became a calculable symbol

… a strong currency allowing free conceptual trade among disciplines

• cybernetics

(etymology: kybernetes-governor) – the theory of self-regulating systems

focus: how anything (digital, mechanical or biological) processes information, reacts to information, and can be changed to better accomplish them

the concept: feedback – the control of the future conduct of a system by information about its past performance

the protagonist

Norbert Wiener (1948): ‘Cybernetics or Control and Communication in the Animal and the Machine’

he offered a glimpse of the organization of future society based on what he claimed would soon be ‘the new raw material’: information

prospect: the realization of the ideal of an information society – ‘new utopia’

the framework

information must be able to circulate; the information society can only exist if there are no obstacles to exchange

Wiener warned against the threat of entropy, the disorganization of a system

information society is by definition incompatible to embargoes or secrets, unequal access to information or its transformation into commodity

a communication theory

Wiener was concerned with how messages are exchanged between two or more units so that each influences the other

the units might consist of a machine, it’s human operator and the target

includes machines as possible components in a communication system

the role of feedback

in a communication system, feedback is the response by a receiver to the source’s previous message, indicating its effects

feedback: allows a source gradually to correct the effectiveness of a series of messages, making them closer and closer to what is needed to accomplish their intent

through its use of feedback, a system can be self-correcting

… circularity

cybernetics deals in circular causalities in which:

A causes B,

B causes C,

and C causes A,

so that A causes itself

ex: a speaker modifies his or her presentation while monitoring audience reactions to it

appeal …

cybernetics is a communication theory, but communication study has not been much influenced by it

- a certain degree of mathematical ability is necessary to understand the theory, and conduct relevant research

- not interested in social science problems; human relationships are more complex than machine-machine or human-machine relationships

• information theory

… appeared at the same time with cybernetics; it fit more easily with scholars’ interest in studying communication effects

communication studies owes to information theory the recognition that a large class of problems related to encoding, transmitting, and decoding information can be approached in a systematic and disciplined way

the protagonist

Claude E. Shannon (1948) ‘A mathematical theory of communication’

contributions:

- conceptualization of information

- a universal measure of information: bit

- model of communication

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z2Whj_nL-x8

- the concept of information

information behaves in some unusual ways:

its value typically increases when it is selectively shared; it does not depreciate with use

you can give information away without giving it up (different in nature from money or other forms of energy or matter)

... uncertainty

any message is a combination of the known and the unknown, the expected and the unexpected

in a message containing only content that you already know, there is no information; so the amount of surprise in a message is an index of information

information thus is decreased uncertainty

- bit (binary digit)

the amount of information can be measured by the logarithm of the number of available choices, with the logarithm calculated to the base 2

… imagine an electrical switch that is either on or off, so two alternatives exist; each should be equally probable for the choice to represent 1 bit of information

advantage: bit can be utilized for a wide range of types of matter/energy – ink on paper, electrical impulses, radio waves etc.

- the model

Shannon (and Weaver 1949) proposed a framework for a general system of communication

the problem: ‘to reproduce at a given time in an exact or approximate way a message selected at another point’

in this linear scheme with poles indicating the beginning and end of the process, communication is based on a chain of constitutive elements

the schemathe models states 5 functions to be performed and notes one

dysfunctional factor, noise

…

- the information source produces a message to be communicated

- the message is formed into signals by a transmitter/encoder

- a channel is used to send the signals

- the receiver/decoder reconstructs the message from the signals

- the received message reaches the destination

… the noise

the signal is vulnerable in so far as it may disturbed by noise (interference when there are many signals in the same channel at the same time)

this may result in a difference between transmitted and received signal – message produced by the source and the one reconstructed by the receiver may not have the same meaning

… a common reason why communication fails

contribution

the conception of the communication process as a straight line between a starting point and a point of arrival was to influence very different and even radically opposed schools and currents of research

- it provided the underlying assumption of all functional analysis of effects

- it was criticized for its linearity, the understanding of communication as one way process

• interactional theory

a group of American scholars (‘Invisible College’) from diverse disciplines developed a position opposed to Shannon’s model

they started from the circular model of Nobert Wiener; research in communication had to be conceived in terms of multiple contexts and circular systems

the argument

it is impossible to reduce even the smallest situation of interaction to three of four variables operating in a liner fashion

in the circular vision of communication the role played by the receiver is just as important as that of transmitter

the hypotheses

- the elements themselves are less important than the relationships between the elements

- all human behavior has communicative value (relations)

- by observing the succession of messages both horizontally (sequence) and vertically (relation between elements and the system) it is possible to arrive at a logic of communication

contribution

the notion of isolated communication as a deliberate, conscious, verbal act (functional sociologist) was replaced by the idea of communication as an ongoing, social process involving various behavioral modes (gestures, facial expressions, etc.)

analysis of the context instead analysis of the content

paradigm

an holistic perspective that stresses the interrelationships among parts of a whole

a reaction to the reductionist approach of classical physics that investigates smaller and smaller pieces or components of a phenomenon (specialization)

important: the context of the behavior of study; need to look at it in a multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary way

living systems

they are open to their environment, exchanging information across their boundary

studying them:

- concern with problems of interdependence of parts of the structure

- rejects atomistic research and looks at the networks and the relationships of an individual with others

#- Barlow, D. & Mills, B. (2009) Reading Media Theory:

Thinkers, Approaches, Contexts. London: Pearson

- Mattelart, A. & Mattelart, M. (1998) Theories of Communication: a Short Introduction. London: Sage

- McQuail, D. (1994) McQuail’s Mass Communication Theory, 4th edition. London: Sage

- Rogers, M. E. (1994) A History of Communication Study. NY: Free Press

- Shannon, C. & Weaver, W. (1949) The Mathematical Theory of Communication. Urbana: UIP

coming next week …

mass communication effects

key text: McQuail, D. & Windhal, S. (1993).

Communication models: for the study of Mass Communications. London: Pearson, ch. 3, 4

thank you for your attention

further discussion

Paul Watzlawick reflecting on:

“One cannot not communicate”

workshop

identify two systems: a non-human system (a computer or engine) and a human system (an organization, or family)

for each of these identify the parts and look for how the parts relate to one another and affect one another; you can describe the system in words, or if you prefer a map or flow chart

in mapping the system, be sure to look for wholeness; how do the parts interact in a way that creates something larger than the sum of the parts?