Communication Technologies: Verbal and Non-Verbal
Communication Technologies
Communication is a process that involves the transmission of information from a point of origin to a point of arrival. Humans, as social beings, have a type of communication with complex and unexpected possibilities: communication through sign systems. Among these, the most potent is verbal language. Verbal language is the principal instrument of human communication in all its forms. It helps us to know ourselves and to discover the world around us. In the media, disseminating ideas, attitudes, and lifestyles are becoming the main instrument of socialization.
Elements of Communication
In every act of communication, a series of interrelated elements are involved that enable the transmission of information. Additionally, one must take into account the speaker’s intent and knowledge of extralinguistic elements of reality. The elements in an act of communication are as follows:
- Sender: The element that transmits the information.
- Receiver: The element that receives and interprets the information.
- Message: The information that is transmitted.
- Channel: The natural or artificial vehicle through which the message is transmitted.
- Code: The set of signs and rules that enables the development of the message.
- Context: The situation surrounding the act of communication that influences its interpretation.
Depending on the relationship between the sender and receiver, communication can be:
- Bidirectional: The sender and receiver relate and exchange their roles.
- Unidirectional: The sender is not the receiver, and vice versa.
Communication in an act of receiving information may be affected by noise:
- Noise: Disturbances that are difficult to apply to any interference in communication. These prevent adequate reception of the message.
The sender neutralizes disturbances through compensation mechanisms; this is what is known as redundancy.
- Redundancy: The way to counteract the noise and ensure the reception of the message. For example, repeating a message with the same or different words. This ensures that the message reaches the receiver and compensates for interference.
Verbal and Non-Verbal Communication
Humans, as social beings, need to communicate and are immersed in a world of codes and signs. The inventory is extensive and not confined to verbal language. Information often comes through non-verbal signs such as gestures, sounds, images, traffic signals, etc. We define a sign as a physical object, perceived by the senses, that is involved in cognitive and communicative processes, substituting another object. The sign is a carrier of meaning, also used to think about reality and to perform mental operations. Depending on the relation of the sign with respect to reality, the following classification can be established:
- Evidence: Signs that maintain a natural dependency ratio with the referent.
- Icons: Signs that maintain a similarity ratio with what is meant (photos, maps, etc.).
- Symbols: Unmotivated signs that have no direct relationship with the referent.
A code is a set of signs and rules representing a reality. Depending on the code used, we distinguish two types of communication:
- Non-Verbal: Uses non-linguistic signs.
- Verbal: Uses linguistic signs.