Chapter 5: Communication Theory

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Chapter 5 Communication Theory

• Definitions roots
• Models of communication
• Interpersonal vs. mass communication
• Interactivity in communication

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Definitions Roots

• Multimedia involves both computers and
  communication
• Computer science focus
• Representation, manipulation, transmission, and
  reception of information on real or theoretical
  machines built by humans
• E.g., representation of binary data
• Communication science
• Human aspects of processing information,
  regardless of the media or communication system
• E.g., meaning of an image

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Communication Science

• Concerned with transmission of information
  (including emotions) from one human mind to
  another, regardless of the specific medium
• Communication
• Transfer of information between two entities
  (e.g., two minds)
• Communications
• Media system used to accomplish the communication
  (e.g. a phone)

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Discipline Boundaries
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Traditional Communication Science

• Some areas of study
• Empathy
• Social distance
• Conflict communication relevant to group
  behavior
• Educational use of technology
• Communication skills
• Communication strategies and instructional
  outcomes
• Reading listening
• Advertising

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Traditional Communication Research Questions

• (1) who (2) says what (3) to whom (4) through
  which channel, (5) with what effects, and (6) how
  can this be measured?
• Levels of problems
• Level A How accurately can the symbols of
  communication be transmitted?
• Level B How precisely do the transmitted symbols
  convey the desired meaning? (Semantics)
• Level C How effectively does the received
  meaning affect conduct e.g., behavior in the
  desired way? (Effectiveness)

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Models of Communication

• Model theory
• Mathematical theory of communication
• Claude Shannon
• linear model of communication
• Also known as information theory
• Concepts
• Information, Message, Information source, Signal,
  Channel, Transmitter, Noise source, Received
  signal, Receiver, Destination

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Mathematical theory ofcommunication - 1

• Information
• Not to be confused with meaning
• log2 of of the number of possible messages
• This is called entropy
• Information source
• Message transmitted by information source
• Signal physical form of message

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Mathematical theory ofcommunication - 2

• Channel physical medium for signal
• E.g., air in spoken communication
• Transmitter
• Noise source
• Unintended (by information source) changes to the
  signal
• Receiver
• Received signal signal noise
• Destination recipient of message

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Entropy Example

• Lets say you want to send one of eight possible
  messages
• All messages with same possible frequency
• E.g., A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H are the possible
  messages
• How many bits do you need to transmit a single
  message?
• Use the entropy calculation

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An Aspect of Shannons Model

• Information sources
• Where is the information source when using a
  CD-ROM?
• Giving the computer human qualities can ease
  identification of source
• Crafting the interactive portion of a multimedia
  production so that it appears that the user is
  communicating more with a human than with an
  inanimate computer may be quite complex and
  costly in terms of development time and effort.
  However, the benefits in terms of user
  acceptance, satisfaction, and enjoyment may
  justify the expense (p. 259)

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Schramms Model of Communication - 1

• Source destination
• Include both encoding and decoding
• And an interpretation
• Sign is output of decoding
• And input to interpretation
• Responses to sign are the meaning of the sign
• Interpreted on basis of context experience
• Response choice initiates a new message
• Need overlap in field of experience
• common ground
• A shared language can be the shared field of
  experience

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Schramms Model of Communication - 2

• Feedback
• Message originator acts as recipient of messages
  resulting directly from first message
• Sources of feedback
• From recipient(s)
• Head nods, frowns, thumbs up, thumbs down
• Self-monitoring
• Through senders own senses ears (speech) eyes
  (writing)
• E.g., were the senders words pronounced
  correctly, was there a speech error?

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Application to Multimedia Development

• Overlap of fields of experience
• What do the signs used in the multimedia
  presentation mean to the user?
• Text, images, and symbols used
• Should overlap with fields of experience in the
  potential users of the Multimedia presentation
• E.g., icons for forward ? backward ?
• Icons assume shared experience

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Berlos Model of Communication - 1

• Communication as a process
• Continuous, dynamic phenomenon
• Arises as the interaction between communicating
  parties
• Channel
• Physical conductor of message (e.g., air)
• Form of energy carrying message (e.g., sound
  waves)
• Mechanism for encoding/decoding (e.g., vocal
  chords, ears)

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Berlos Model of Communication - 2

• Fidelity
• effectiveness in achieving senders purpose
• Sender and receiver issues
• Factors in fidelity
• Communication skills
• Attitudes
• Knowledge level
• Position within a sociocultural system

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Relevant Questions

• What sorts of materials should be presented
  spoken form?
• What in writing?
• What sorts of sounds (music, sound effects, etc.)
  are most effective in various situations?
• What types of images (still, drawings,
  animations, video) are most efficient and
  effective for different purposes?
• Chapter 7 of text has some relevant guidelines

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Other Guidelines

• Simultaneous use of multiple channels often
  enhance effectiveness
• Words alone cannot convey a message with
  anywhere near the efficiency of words and images
  together (p. 269)
• The receiver will be more likely to decode a
  message accurately if he can see it and hear it
  at the same time. We know, too, that the receiver
  cannot retain as much oral information as he can
  visual, other things being equal (Berlo, 1960,
  p. 68)

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Views of Communication

• Transmission view
• Sending, giving, imparting information
• Clear aspects of mechanistic view computer and
  information processing
• Directed towards achieving goals, purpose
• Ritual view
• Communication to transmit the social reality as
  perceived by that society (p. 272)
• Symbols as representations both for and of
  reality
• Not directed towards achieving goals?
• Part of learning to communicate?

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Communication Types

• Interpersonal
• Communicators Intentionally orienting toward
  each other As both subject and object Embodying
  each others perspectives
• Mass
• Sender transmitting to large, diverse,
  heterogeneous, anonymous, geographically
  dispersed, and socially distant audience
• Low level of interaction
• Impersonal
• A type of interpersonal or mass communication
• Strategies based on group not individual

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Interpersonal vs. Mass Communication

• Is multimedia a form of interpersonal
  communication?
• Humans have programmed most of a computers
  response
• A single person typically uses a multimedia
  presentation
• But, there is a development team, and a perhaps
  wider audience of users

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Relationship Aspect in Communication

• Relationship between the sender and receiver
• Personal
• Examples
• two friends talking
• a Mothers kiss
• Impersonal
• Examples
• reading a news paper
• using a dictionary
• With changes in technology, perhaps mass
  communication is not necessarily impersonal?
• Online agents that can learn about individuals
• E.g., chat room robots

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Changes in Audience Sizes

• Mass communication
• Changing to reach smaller, more defined audiences
• Examples
• Personal profiles for online news
• Interpersonal communication
• Changing to reach broader, more diverse audience
• Examples
• Personal web pages
• Online discussion groups

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Traditional DimensionsAvailable Information
Control

• Available Information
• Interpersonal
• Psychological information about the other party
• Plus cultural sociological information
• Mass communication
• Cultural sociological information
• Control
• Interpersonal
• High degree of control over message content with
  both sender receiver
• E.g., when you are talking to someone, you can
  control what you want to hear, to a degree
• Mass communication
• Receiver has low degree of control over message
  content

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More Borders Falling

• Traditionally, the following dimensions have
  distinguished between mass and interpersonal
  communication
• Level of feedback interaction
• Transmission distance
• Costs
• Social distance (social barriers)
• Timing of production
• Synchronous vs. nonsynchronous
• See also Table 5.1 on page 285

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Aside Do Computers Reduce Costs?

• with the addition of new graphics and other
  multimedia systems, the cost of producing mass
  communications may be even greater (p. 283)
• Another example
• Libraries used to have physical card catalogs
• At that time the question was Is it cost
  effective to put the card catalogs online?

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Assumption - 1

• a multimedia producer should attempt to simulate
  interpersonal communication as closely as
  possible (p. 284)
• What is the assumption?

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Assumption - 2

• Mass communication bad
• E.g., Less effective
• Interpersonal good
• E.g., More effective
• Goal
• Tailoring to the learning style of an individual
• Creating a more personalized product
• Also, lessons from mass media can be applied
• E.g., attention grabbing holding, entertainment

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Levels of Interactivity

• Broadcast TV
• Cable TV
• Video games
• Control activity with keyboard, joystick, game
  paddle
• Logical interaction responses to situations,
  answers to questions, user directives issued
• Multimedia productions
• Face-to-face communication

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Interactivity

• Interpersonal Communication
• Aspects mutual discourse, exchangeable roles,
  control
• degree to which participants in a communication
  process have control over, and can exchange roles
  in, their mutual discourse
• Interactivity tends to be higher with one-on-one
  communication
• Key ingredients immediacy of response,
  nonsequential access to information,
  adaptability, feedback
• Multimedia
• Optimal interactivity occurs when there is a
  balance of control between the human learner and
  the computer

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Key Ingredients Applied to Multimedia - 1

• Immediacy of response
• Speed with which program replies to user
• The closer to instantaneous the response rate
  can be, the less artificial a multimedia
  interaction seems to a user, that is, the more
  transparent the medium appears
• Response rates over two seconds distract user
• Focus more on computer rather than task

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Key Ingredients Applied to Multimedia - 2

• Nonsequential access to information
• Topic shifts in conversation
• Multimedia should allow access to information in
  a user defined order
• One order of access may not be suitable for all
• Still Would like a level of structure
• Adaptability
• Tailoring messages to interests, abilities, goals
  of user
• E.g., options for user interface profiles for
  the user

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Key Ingredients Applied to Multimedia - 3

• Feedback
• Information provided from user to program
• Verbal material (spoken, typed), positional
  information, timing information
• Eye gaze
• Facial expressions

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Conversational Management - 1

• The fine grain detail of body language
  (kenesics), vocal behaviors, and also verbal
  aspects regulating one-on-one communication
• Vocal behaviors
• Duration, pauses, pitch, intensity
• Participants generally match and reciprocate
• presently, all such programs are oriented
  primarily toward content recognition and
  analysis, not toward vocal behavior (In
  research, this is not true!)
• See KISMET at MIT Infanoid at CRL
• Desirability in programs? Cost-effectiveness??
• Will the use of vocal behavior change the quality
  of human-computer interaction?

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Conversational Management - 2

• Kinesics
• a systematic study of the relationship between
  nonlinguistic body motions (as blushes, shrugs,
  or eye movement) and communication
  (Merriam-Webster Online with audio
  pronunciation)
• Body language eye gaze, proximity, facial
  expressions, hand gestures
• Effects of decreased proximity between
  conversational partners include decreasing eye
  gaze by second party, changes in body
  orientation, decreases in response duration
• In a multimedia production, it is not possible
  for a computer to move closer to a user or to
  exhibit body language, except
• Humanoid robotics related research
• Humanoid graphical surrogates

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Aside What is a Computer?

• Is a computer incapable of motion?
• Modern personal computers have
• Microphones
• Cameras
• Printers
• Ejectable devices
• What is a robot?

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Conversational Management - 3

• Verbal Behavior
• Words, phrases uttered meanings
• Reciprocity in self-disclosure
• Language choice, dialect, pronunciation
• Vocabulary choice
• Perhaps a program can assess vocabulary choice of
  the user?
• Could be spoken, typing, or action-based

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Goals of Interaction in Multimedia

• interpersonal communication is often thought of
  as the ultimate form of human communication
  interactivity
• Mutuality
• A multimedia developer should not consider a user
  as passive people are active!
• Dynamic, changing, mutual interaction
• User should not be simply the recipient of
  information
• Should have an unfolding dialog

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Another Definition of Interactivity Steuer (1992)

• the degree to which users of a medium can
  influence the form or content of the mediated
  environment
• Range
• The number of different elements under viewer
  control
• Extent to which the elements can be varied
• Speed
• Rate at which input can be assimilated into
  mediated environment responses can be presented
  to user
• Mapping
• Quality of relating actions of user to those of
  computer
• Must reflect user field of experience

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Speed Related Terms

• transparency
• Degree to which input output components of a
  multimedia system tend to disappear (be
  forgotten by the user)
• immediacy
• involvement with the task rather than
  distraction by the equipment
• (What is the task?)

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Telepresence as a Metaphor for Interactivity

• Telepresence
• E.g., tele-operation of robots, distance
  education
• the experience of presence in an environment by
  means of a communication medium the mediated
  perception of an environment (p. 295)
• Interactive multimedia may be measured through
  its ability to mediate perception of an
  environment

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Dimensions of Interactivity

• Choice and Selectivity
• greater choice selections leads to greater
  interactivity
• Effort
• More work by user ? greater interactivity
• Responsiveness
• Appropriateness of action taken by computer
• Monitoring
• Tracking a users input (e.g., to create a
  profile)
• Addition of Information
• Facilitation of Interpersonal Communication
• E.g., email, voice mail, teleconferencing