International Encyclopedia of Communication Online

Extract

A model is a simplified description in graphic form of some aspect of reality. A model of communication seeks to show the main elements of any structure or process of human social action and the relations between these elements, plus any flow or exchange that takes place. The main benefits are to organize disparate elements and observations and to give a simplified picture of the underlying dynamics. The purpose of such models is thus primarily heuristic – an aid to the description and explanation of communication. To a lesser extent, they can help in predicting the outcomes of certain communication processes and situations by drawing attention to factors to take into account and forces at work. In this way, they are useful as a source of hypotheses, a guide to research, and a format for ordering the results of research. To exemplify, the concentration of research effort in the early decades on the unintended effects of mass media violence and aggression led to a model ( Comstock et al. 1978 ) that organizes the result of many findings. The form of the model is that of a typical sequence, beginning with “exposure” to some mass media representation of violence, with varying degrees of arousal and a probability of imitation of the violence depicted depending on the degree of perceived realism, the perception of consequences of imitation, and the opportunity to carry out imitation. ... log in or subscribe to read full text