This document discusses different types of communication, beginning with intrapersonal communication. Intrapersonal communication refers to communicating within oneself through thinking, daydreaming, problem solving, and imagining. It is the most basic level of communication and involves processing both internal and external stimuli cognitively, emotionally, and physiologically. Interpersonal communication then refers to interactions between two or more people through face-to-face communication. Group communication shares qualities of interpersonal communication but to a lesser degree as group size increases. Mass communication involves using media like print, radio, television, and computers to transmit messages from a sender to a large number of receivers.

1. Types of Communication
Intrape rsonal Communication
Communication has been classified into severaltypes: in terms of the verbal-nonverbal, oral- written, intentional-
unintentional etc. One of the most common typology relates to the size of the social group or the number of people
involved in the experience of communication. Such a typology ranges from the intrapersonal and interpersonal and
transpersonal, to the group and the mass.
Intrape rsonal communication
You can probably guess that this means communicating within yourself. When you think, daydream,
solve problems, and image, you are in the realm of intrapersonal communication. Some investigators also include
in this area all physical feedback mechanisms, such as the sensations of hunger, pain, and pleasure. Intrapersonal
communication is individual reflection contemplation and meditation. Transcendentalmeditation, for instance, is
an example of such communication. Conversing with the divine, with spirits and ancestors,may be termed
―transpersonal‖ communication. This is a vital experience in the religious and monastic life, in ashrams and places
of prayer, and among aboriginal and tribal communities.
Interpersonal communication
This form of communication describes the interactions of two or more people. The most significant
setting for interpersonal communication is direct face-to face communication between two persons. An interview,
a conversation, and intimate communications come under this heading. It is more persuasive and influential than
any other type of communication, for it involves the interplay of words and gestures,the warmth of human
closeness and in fact all the five senses. Feedbackis the key word here. Feedback
is instantaneous.
Group communication
Group communication shares all these qualities, though in a much less measure. The larger the group the
less personal and intimate is the possibility of exchange. In fact, as the group grows in size communication tends
to become more and more of monologue, for participation becomes problematic. The degree of directness and
intimacy, therefore, depends upon the size of the group, the place where it meets, as also the relationship of the
members of the group to one another, and to the group leader. Group communication requires the following
conditions: leadership, equal sharing of ideas, peer pressure, roles and norms, and focus on a common goal.
Mass Communication
When a message needs help to get from its source to its destination, mass communication begins to
function. Usually some form of medium- one meaning of which is ‗between‘- is needed to connect the sender to
receivers.These media may be print (newspapersor magazines) electrical (radio, TV or video), or even
electronic (computer modems). Mass communication powerfully affects our attitudes and beliefs, as well as our
perspective on social life. Today mass communication is a major source of information, companionship, and
entertainment. Yet mass communication does more than report
information and entertain us. It also presents us with views of human beings, events, issues, and cultural life.
Mass communication also grants a hearing and visibility to some people and points of views, whereas it mutes
other voices and viewpoints. Thus mass communication affects our perceptions of issues, events, and people.
Communication is part of your social self. Because we are using a person-centered definition of
communication, not one related to machine or animal communication, it is important to see how a person‘s self
is at the heart of all communication interactions. You think, you listen, you respond, and you speak and you do
all of these things from your self-perspective. You need to look at the self- your

2. self- to understand the key to any communication event. Intrapersonal communication is basis of
the entire communication-taking place in variety of settings.
Intrapersonal Communication- A Definition:
Intrapersonal Communication is communication within your self. You engage in intrapersonal
communication when you are thinking, listening, daydreaming, studying, creating, contemplating or
dreaming. You are both source and destination of this type of communication. You use your brain
waves as a channel; and the outcomes are thoughts or ideas, sometimes decisions, and sometimes
actions or behaviors. You still communicate within the context or environment. Your language and
other social considerations shape the environment.
Intrapersonal communication takes place wheneverwe evaluate and react to internal and external
stimuli- and involves messagesthat are sent and received within ourselves. Thus it involves not only
our intellect self but also our physical and emotional self. As you can see, intrapersonal communication
is more far reaching than just ―talking to yourself‖. Intrapersonalmessagesreflect your habits, self-
concept; self related roles, and your attitudes, values, and beliefs. This type of communication takes
place every moment that we live.
The most basic level of communication is intrapersonal communication. It is a function of the
physical self, the intellectual self, habits, and private versus public situations. In addition, the need for
a unified conceptual system and the picture that you have of yourself- your self concept- also strongly
influence these self-communications. Your past experiences, reference groups,and accustomed roles
combine in ever-changing relationships to form this self concept. At the same time, internal and
external stimuli affect the cognitive, emotional, and physiological processing of intrapersonal
communication.
The process of intrapersonal communication
Intrapersonal communication is the foundation upon which interpersonal communication rests.
Therefore,it is necessaryto understand how you communicate with yourself before you approach
the process of communicating with others. The elements that set the process in motion are called
stimuli.
The brain is made aware of the state of the body by nerve impulses, internal stimuli that can prompt
you to respond by communicating. Let‘s say you have the flu. Your muscles ache, your fever is high,
and you are depressed.Such a miserable state may prompt you to call a doctor to relieve your physical
ills and friend to relieve your depression. The internal stimuli in this situation have resulted in
communication.
External stimuli, of course, those stimuli that originate in the environment outside of your body.
There are two kinds of externalstimuli. Over stimuli are received on the conscious level. They are
picked up
by the sensory organs and then sent to the brain. More than one overt stimulus usually affects a person
at any given moment. For example, the pizza being advertised on TV and the sounds and aromas
coming from the kitchen can prompt an eager,―What‘s for dinner?‖
Cover stimuli are externalstimuli that are received on the subconscious level. Let‘s say you are getting
dressed for work. One of your favorite songs comes on the radio, so you turn the volume up. The song
ends and the news begin, just as you discover a gaping hole in your sock. You find another pair and

3. finish dressing, but you are running late. Is it too cold for your lightweight jacket? You suddenly
realize that the weather report has just ended, but you have no idea what was said, despite the blaring
volume.
The stimulus of the weather report was received and stored in your brain, but it was below the
threshold of consciousness. Thus, you were not consciously aware of what was said, even though you
recognized that you were hearing the weather report. Such covert stimuli have been shown to affect
behavior and communication.
Reception
The process by which the body receives stimuli is called reception. In intrapersonal communication,
both externaland internal receptorssend information to the centralnervous system. External
receptors for the five senses––sight, sound, smell, taste, and touch––receive stimuli that are changed
into nerve impulses and then sent to the brain. These external receptorsare located on or near the
body‘s surface and react to physical, chemical, and mechanical stimuli to provide you with
information about the
environment. Internal receptors such as nerve endings, on the other hand, convey information about
your interior state––the dryness of your mouth or the fullness of your stomach, for example.
Processing
Processing of internal and external communication occurs at three levels: cognitive, emotional, and
physiological. At each level of processing, some stimuli receive more conscious attention than others.
This attention is a function of the particular stimulus and of the context in which it is presented. Some
stimuli are perceived with full awareness(traffic lights, sirens, TV programs), while others may not be
consciously noticed (background noise during a lecture, the hum of fluorescent lights in a room).
Stimuli that are perceived consciously, or at least with some awarenessare the first to be processed.
Stimuli that are perceived subconsciously are usually ―stored‖ in your memory for later processing.
Cognitive Processing. Cognitive processes are associatedwith the intellectual self and include the
storage, retrieval, sorting, and assimilation of information. We don‘t know exactly how such
processing occurs; our goal here is simply to describe these processeson both the conscious and
subconscious cognitive levels.
Memory The storage of information that we choose to remember is called memory. There are three
forms of memory: (1) sensory storage, in which the information is held for only an instant (2) short-
term memory, in which the information is stored for severalseconds; and (3) long-term memory, in
which the information is stored indefinitely. Sensory storage refers to our ability to hold some
information for a fraction of a second after the stimulus disappears. For example, you are not aware of
the gaps between frames when you watch a movie because each frame is held in sensory storage until
the next appears.
The major difference between sensory storage and short-term memory is that in the latter, data are
analyzed, identified, and simplified so that they can be conveniently stored and handled. Short-term
memory is a kind of ―holding device‖ in which you keep information until you are ready to use or
discard it. If such information seems useful, you may transfer it to the permanent storage of long-term
memory is that in the latter, data are analyzed, identified, and simplified so that they can be
conveniently stored and handled. Short-term memory is a kind of ―holding device‖ in which you keep
information until you are readyto use or discard it. If such information seems useful, you may transfer
it to the permanent storage of long-term memory for future reference.
Retrieval Information is stored so that it can be used to help establish the meaning of later incoming

4. stimuli. However,stored information is relatively useless unless it can be retrieved from memory.
Such
retrieval takes the form of either recognition or recall. Recognition involves awarenessthat certain
information is familiar, having been experienced previously. Recall is more difficult, in that it
requires reconstruction of the information that has been stored. For example, while we may recognize
a certain word whose meaning we looked up last week,we may be unable to recall its definition.
Sorting your mind contains countless bits and pieces of information. In any particular processing
situation, you must first select or sort the most relevant information from your entire storehouse of
knowledge. Here again we know very little about the actualworkings of our individual selection
systems.We do know, however,that such selection processesoccur. For example, when we read,
we sort the letters until we are able to make words of them.
Assimilation Cognitive processing is not simply the sum of memory storage, retrieval, and sorting
functions. Rather, it involves assimilation, the process of incorporating some aspect of the
environment into the whole set of mental functioning in order to make sense out of what goes on
around us. To continue our reading example, your ability to read was first learned, then stored in long-
term memory. Whenever you open a book, you retrieve this information, use it to sort the letters on the
page into words, and then assimilate the words into sentencesand ideas that have meaning for you.
Emotional Processing.As mentioned at the beginning of this chapter, intrapersonal processing also
involves emotional processing, or the nonlogical response of an organism to a stimulus. Later in this
chapter we will take a closer look at the different variables that operate in emotional processing.
However,it is important to mention here that variables, ranging from attitudes, beliefs, and opinions
at the subconscious level to emotions at the conscious level, all interact to determine our response to
any particular communication.
Physiological Processing. The third type of processing occurs at the physiological level and is
associated with the physical self. Although physiological processing is of obvious importance in staying
alive, its significance to intrapersonal communication is only beginning to be recognized. Some of the
subconscious variables in this process are heart rate,brain activity, muscle tension, blood pressure,and
body temperature.
Transmission
The process by which messagesare sent from a source to a receiver is called transmission. In
intrapersonal communication the source and the receiver are the same person. Thus, transmission
takes place through nerve impulses in their brain rather than through sound waves in the air or words
written on a page. The intrapersonal communication cycle is completed when the brain reacts to these
nerve impulses by transmitting a message to smooth muscles, which regulate the movements of the
body. Putting a hand on a hot pan causes the individual‘s touch receptorsto send a neural transmission
to the brain, saying, ―It‘s hot,‖ which causes the brain to transmit a message to the muscles in hand,
ordering,
―Move away from the pan immediately.‖
Feedback
We usually think of feedback as information from another person. In intrapersonal
communication, however, there are two kinds of self-feedback––external and internal.
External self-feedbackis the part of your message that you hear yourself. This kind of feedback
enables you to correct your own mistakes. For example, you would surely backtrack if you heard

5. yourself say something like ―external self-feed – back.‖
Internal self-feedbackis usually picked up through bone conduction, nerve endings, or muscular
movement. For example, you might perceive an awkwardfacial gesture without actually seeing it–
– simply by feeling the muscle tension in your face. Again, perceiving this information enables you
to correct yourself.
Interference
Interference is another important variable in the communication process. Interference refers to
any factor that negatively affects communication. It can occur at any point along the
communication
network and at any level of communication. For example, the blast of your roommate‘s TV or a splitting
headache might make it impossible for you to read.
A special form of interference occurs intrapersonally when stimuli are processedat one level, although
another level is better suited to dealing with them. For example, many people react emotionally to
information that should be processed on a cognitive level. Have you ever started crying or gotten
angry in response to a teacher‘s commentson your paper, when if you had remained calm, you might
have been able to analyze and profit from the information? On the other hand, some individuals insist
on processing information on the cognitive level when an emotional response would actually be more
helpful. Often a good cry can relieve the pressure of a bad day better than a carefulrehash of the day‘s
events.
The effects of intrapersonal variables on communication
Even though a particular communication may focus on the here and now, your personality and past
experience influence your interpretation of it. Thus, it is important to consider the intrapersonal
factors that influence the communicators. For example, the experiences of someone who has recently
lost a close friend will no doubt affect that person‘s communication on the subject of death.
PersonalOrientation
The way you react to the following situation will be determined by your personal orientation. Warren
and Jerry are interviewing for the job of advertising copywriter in a large advertising agency. Neither of
them has had any experience, but both come to the interview prepared to show samples of the kind of
work they are capable of producing. Jerry‘s samples much talent but very little effort––he lifted them
almost word for word from a textbook. How do you feelabout Jerry and Warren? Do you respect Jerry
for his honesty and hard work, or do you appreciate Warren‘s craftinessin trying to get the kind of job
he wants? Your reaction to this situation reflects the values, attitudes, beliefs, and opinions that make
up your personal orientation.
Values. Each of us maintains a set of values ––moralor ethical judgments of things we consider
important. Values can be a source of conflict within an individual as well as a barrier between people
of opposing standards. Fearing a malpractice suit, for instance, a doctor who comes upon an accident
victim may be reluctant to offer assistance. The doctor‘s values will determine what action is taken.
Sometimes an individual will voice one set of values and be guided by another. For example, parents
may scold their children for dishonesty but think nothing of cheating on their income tax.
Attitudes. An attitude is a learned tendency to react positively or negatively to an object or situation.
It implies a positive or negative evaluation of someone or something. Attitudes operate at three
different

6. levels: (1) cognitive, (2) affective,and (3) instrumental. The cognitive level involves a particular
belief, the affective level involves a particular feeling, and the instrumental level involves overt
behavior or action.
Let‘s examine a specific situation. Carlotta Ramirez, a member of the state board of higher education, is
a strong opponent of free tuition. Her negative attitude toward the topic can be broken down in this way:
Cognitive (belief): People who value a college education should be willing to pay for it, even if it
means going to work to go enough money for tuition.
Affective (feeling): People who try to get something for nothing make me angry.
Instrumental (action): I vote no on the proposal for free tuition at state universities.
Beliefs, Opinions, and Prejudices. A Belief is anything accepted as true. Note that this definition does
not imply either a positive or negative judgment. For example, you may believe that there is life on
other planets, yet this belief does not indicate a positive or negative attitude toward that idea. However,
if you were to take your belief one step further to say that since you believe there is life on other planets,
it would be in our best interests to increase space exploration programs, you would then be voicing an
opinion. An opinion lies somewhere between an attitude and a belief. It implies a positive or negative
reaction.
Not all out beliefs and opinions are well founded. Sometimes they are based on preconceived ideas and
not on our own actualexperiences. In this case they are,in fact, prejudices––preformed judgments
about a particular person, group, or thing. None of us is free from prejudice, but certain prejudices are
more harmful than others. Think for a moment about your own experiences with prejudice, when you
were either guilty of prejudice or were its victim. Or consider this example of how foolish our
prejudices can be:
Although it was against her principles, Ruth had agreed to help a good friend out of a tight spot
by accepting a blind date with the friend‘s uncle from Louisiana. Ruth, who had never been
south of Philadelphia, just knew that an evening spent with this hick was going to be one of the
of the most boring of her life.
He arrived, and, sure enough, his accent was unlike anything Ruth had everheard.By evening‘s
end, however,she had changed her mind. Full of administration for the most interesting and
beautifully mannered man she had ever met. Ruth eagerly awaited their next date.
He never called again. A few weeks later, Ruth learned from her friend that he had returned to New
Orleans and, before leaving, had announced: ―All Yankee women are alike––hard to please!‖
Think about the groups toward which you may be prejudiced. Does this example suggest ways in
which you may be oversimplifying to the point of prejudice?
Review questions
 What are different types of communication?
 Explain how intrapersonal communication is basis of all communication-taking place in
variety of settings?

7. References-
1. Narula, Uma; Mass Communication theory and practice; (1994); Haranand
2. Andal; Communication theories and model.
3. Ed. Barker and Petley; III Effects; 2nd edition; (1997); Routledge