A Mathematical Theory of Communication

In their paper, "Towards a Theory of Emotional Communication," Anne Bartsch and Susanne Hübner outline a model of emotional communication where emotional communication is conceptualized as a process of mutual influence between the emotions of communication partners. To elaborate this general notion further, four working definitions of emotional communication are introduced, each of which is based on a different theory of emotions. In the second part of the paper, an integrative framework is proposed that reconciles the four working definitions and their underlying theories of emotion. According to this framework, emotional communication comprises three interrelated levels of complexity: 1) innate stimulus-response-patterns, 2) associative schemata, and 3) symbolic meaning. Finally, Bartsch and Hübner discuss how emotional communication can be described in terms of general communication theory, and conclude that the three complexity levels are heterogeneous with regard to definitional issues in general communication theory. Hence, emotional communication cannot be subsumed under a single theory of communication. Taken separately, however, each complexity level of emotional communication can be related meaningfully to approaches in general communication theory.

Verbal and nonverbal communication are seen in terms of interacting streams of spontaneous and symbolic communication, and posed “pseudo-spontaneous” displays. Spontaneous communication is defined as the nonintentional communication of motivational-emotional states based upon biologically shared nonpropositional signal systems, with information transmitted via displays. Symbolic communication is the intentional communication, using learned, socially shared signal systems, of propositional information transmitted via symbols. Pseudospontaneous communication involves the intentional and strategic manipulation of displays. An original meta-analysis demonstrates that, like verbal symbolic communication, nonverbal analogic (pantomimic) communication is related to left hemisphere cerebral processing. In contrast, spontaneous communication is related to the right hemisphere. A general theory of communication should account for the natural biologically based aspects of communication as well as its learned and symbolically structured aspects. Further, such a general theory should include a feedback process—explanations of message production alone or message reception alone, although potentially useful, are incomplete. A corollary of these two criteria is that a general theory of communication should account for the coevolution of symbolic and nonsymbolic feedback processes and their integration into systems of communication characteristic of the human species. Whereas the explication of such a general theory is beyond the scope of this article, developmental interactionist theory (Buck, 1984, 1989, 1994) does aim to offer such an integrated view. The current article poses how developmental interactionist theory deals with the topic of this special issue of Journal of Communication—the relationship between verbal and nonverbal communication.

In the modern world, the use of innovative tools for distance and multimedia learning is relevant in connection with the digital transformation of the world. Future technicians should not only learn the theory of any technical discipline, but also be able to apply the knowledge gained in practice. Given the popularity of information technology, any technical specialist should learn the basics of programming and creating simulation models for further research and technical development. In this regard, the article proposes a method of teaching the course "General Theory of Communication" and related disciplines using multimedia (presentation) technologies with audio accompaniment and animation, as well as using the "MATLAB" software for laboratory work. Descriptions and software implementation of laboratory works on the topic "M-QAM signal processing in a system with MIMO and a direct conversion receiver" and visual information about the lecture course are presented.

We define here communication theory as the simplest abstract concept of a description of communicative processes serving as an explication for this phenomenon. To describe these processes we will use the term 'state'. The term general communication theory is used here to emphasize that communication is not related to a specific field - it is neither a purely linguistic nor a 'real world' phenomenon. (The contemporary contribution and segmentation of field of communication gives us the impression of specific fields and sub-fields of communication). Functional theory means here that we are interested in the functions that entities have, when participating in a communication and enable all communicators to make a communication process.

Some highly abstract elements in communication theory are presented by Professor Braga, who invites correspondence from our readers, in English, French, or Italian. He considers communication as the formal aspect of action, simplifies the problem of meaning, and introduces models for elementary analysis.

In the present paper, we will review the methods to produce superposition of entangled coherent state using polarizing beam splitter and Kerr non linearity. These coherent states have many attractive features and can be used in various schemes. Entanglement, refers to the superposition of a multiparticle system and explains a new type of correlations between any two subsystems of the quantum system, which is not existing in the classical physics. The present paper deals with the use of these states in quantum teleportation, entanglement diversion and entanglement swapping schemes. Entanglement diversion and entanglement-swapping refers to a scheme which may entangle those particles which had never interacted before. In the swapping scheme, two pairs of entangled state are taken. One particle from each pair is subjected to a Bell-state-measurement. This would result in projection of the other two outgoing particles in an entangled pair. Quantum Teleportation of two mode and three modes states is also studied with perfect fidelity. Minimum assured fidelity which is defined as the minimum of the fidelity for any unknown quantum information of the states is also discussed. It is also shown how the success rate of teleportation of a superposition of odd and even coherent states can be increased from 50% to almost 100%. The scheme suggested by van Enk and Hirota was modified by Prakash, Chandra, Prakash and Shivani in 2007. We find that an almost teleportation, diversion and swapping is possible by simply separating vacuum state from the even state. The present paper also deals with study of effect of decoherence and noise on these states and the effect of noise on fidelity and minimum assured fidelity. It is also discussed that these schemes can also be applied to the process of entanglement diversion and entanglement swapping.

Symbolic convergence theory (SCT), a general communication theory (→ Communication Theory and Philosophy), explains the emergence of a common symbolic consciousness – one that contains shared meanings, → emotions, values, and motives for human action – among participants in a small group (→ Group Communication), organization (→ Organizational Communication), or other rhetorical community. SCT, as developed by Ernest Bormann, John Cragan, and Donald Shields, among others, is a message‐centered theory grounded through the observation of symbolic facts in communication. Observers noted the sharing of dramatized messages, called fantasy themes, within small‐group communication, in mediated communication, and among the communicating memberships of organizations and other large publics (→ Rhetoric and Narrativity; Storytelling and Narration). Within each context, researchers found that people shared, reiterated, and wove fantasy themes to form a larger, more complex view of reality called a rhetorical vision (e.g., the Cold War, global warming, or neo‐conservatism). A rhetorical vision contains many fantasy themes that depict heroes and villains in dramatic action within a scene. Within a group such a vision establishes identity, cohesion, and culture (→ Culture: Definitions and Concepts).

This introductory paper focuses on protest banners, interpreted as a form of protest bitnish—a coined expression combining the notions of significance (bitan) and triviality (sitniš). In other words, banners are considered both as supplementary tools of grassroots political communication within significant political contexts and as indicators of how protest participants subjectively experience the political reality in Serbia. The empirical material was collected between December 2024 and March 2025 through field observation, note-taking, and photography, as well as via media sources. The research covers seven major protests involving students and citizens, held in Serbia’s university centers: Belgrade, Novi Sad, Kragujevac, Novi Pazar, and Niš. This study does not aim to provide a deep or groundbreaking content analysis of the banners from these protest events. Rather, drawing on general communication theory and, more specifically, political communication theory, it seeks to offer one possible classification of the extensive and dispersed empirical material, along with accompanying analytical commentary. The goal is to explore, at least partially, the potential of protest banners as a subject of scientific research—one that has so far been largely neglected—and to propose guidelines for future,thematically diverse and analytically more thorough studies of specific political communication and/or particular features of the student movement in question.

Elaborating on my earlier work (Forceville 1996: chapter 5, 2005, 2009; see also Yus 2008), I will here sketch how discussions of visual and multimodal discourse can be embedded in a more general theory of communication and cognition: Sperber and Wilson’s Relevance Theory/RT (Sperber and Wilson 1986, 1995; Wilson and Sperber 2004, 2012). The focus of attention will be the visual mode, sometimes accompanied by the written verbal mode, but the idea is that the reasoning developed here is generalizable to other (combinations of) modes. Such a project should benefit both multimodality theory, which urgently needs more rigorous analytic models than have hitherto been proposed for it, and RT, which while claiming to hold for all forms of communication has been mainly applied to its spoken verbal varieties.

The relation between correlation functions and the general theory of communication is presented, and this relation leads to a technique for electronic computation of correlation functions and to the design of a machine for carrying out the computation. Because of the requirements of great accuracy and long storage, the machine makes use of binary digital techniques for storage, multiplication, and integration. Descriptions of the more unusual circuits in the machine are given, and circuit diagrams are included. A number of experimental results obtained by the machine are presented.

Q methodology makes a science of subjectivity possible and solves the “riddle of mind.” An illustration is given of a 4-year-old child sorting postcard pictures of children under a variety of conditions of instruction, entering into communication within herself, which is transformed into operant factor structure. The context is generalized in reference to the objective fact that “it is raining,” and the concourse of communicability that it engenders and the factor structure that results, leading to the conclusion that all such communicative action is transformable in the same way. The operantcy of factors is objective, as reached through centroid factor analysis and rotation (judgmental or varimax), with all factors being schematical (Peirce’s Law) and representing new understandings reached through feeling rather than logic, and whose meaning is found a posteriori as new propositions or principles that are open for all to examine and not for semanticists and professional critics only. Q’s forward movement has been blocked primarily by its being regarded as a branch of advanced statistics rather than as the basis of a subjective science focused on behavior with the self as central to it and subject to the study of single cases rather than large samples. It constitutes an end to Cartesian dualism on evidential grounds and provides information that is both structural and functional.

Summary The theoretical accuracy and certainty with which range may be determined by radar is obtained quantitatively by applying the principle of inverse probability. In agreement with experience, the theory yields two fundamental criteria for satisfactory radar reception. First, the total received signal energy must always be larger than the effective noise power per unit bandwidth. Secondly, there is a more stringent threshold of unambiguous reception which depends not only on the quantity of received energy but also on the bandwidth of the transmitted waveform, for as this is increased the minimum energy required for the certain detection of an echo also increases. The quantity of information obtainable at the receiver, as measured by reduction of entropy, is evaluated for comparison with that given by Shannon's general theory of communication (Shannon 1948). It is found that as the time of observation and hence the received energy increases, information is initially obtained at a roughly uniform rate which is not far removed from the absolute limit for an ideal communication system, but that after crossing the threshold of unambiguous reception, additional received energy contributes little further information.

Apesar de colocações anteriores, o casamento entre retórica e semiótica foi consumado pelo Groupe μ, que o tornou produtivo também para a semiótica visual. Há, no entanto, diversos problemas com a abordagem do Groupe, sendo o primeiro sua redução da retórica à elocutio, isto é, o sentido produzido por meio de transgressões, enquanto o antigo sentido amplo de retórica como uma teoria geral da comunicação foi renovado por Perelman e seus discípulos. O segundo problema diz respeito à divisão um pouco abstrata das figuras retóricas, quando uma abordagem mais sistemática pode ser obtida partindo-se da mereologia, isto é, a teoria das partes e dos todos. Este artigo procura avançar na discussão de ambos os tópicos.

The theory of relevance presented by Dan Sperber and Deidre Wilson (1995) is a general theory of communication which has been developing over the past decades and apart from the theoretical developments it has been implemented as a tool for various analyses of discourse. The aim of the paper is to present a relevance theoretic account of a special kind of attributive use of campaign material which was employed by candidates in TV advertisements for the US presidential election campaign in 2012. Candidates use this special kind, echoic use, implementing it not only to criticise the opponent but also to justify their negative attitude towards the material mentioned. Echoic use proves to be a powerful tool not only to criticise and maintain credibility, but also allow irony which seems to be, along with discrediting the rival, the most powerful weapon at a politician's disposal.

The article proposes a methodology for introducing video lectures into the educational process of students studying the disciplines of the department ”General Theory of Communication”. The process of preparing electronic material, a teleprompter, multimedia presentations with the brand of the university, as well as recording videos with lecturers is considered step by step. The introduction of video lectures in the ”Electronic University” system will allow full-time students to repeat the lecture material in a convenient format, and provide additional material for self-study for part-time students. Also, the format of video lectures will be useful in the implementation of additional professional education programs.