Transcript Information exchange between living organisms

ORAL COMMUNICATION
SKILLS
LECTURE 2
Information exchange between
living organisms
• Communication is not limited to humans
or primates.
• Every information-exchange between
living organisms — i.e. transmission of
signals involving a living sender and
receiver — can be considered as a form
of communication.
• There is the broad field of animal
communication
- cell signalling
- cellular communication
- chemical communication between
primitive organisms, like bacteria,
within the plant and fungal kingdoms
All of these communication processes
are sign-mediated interactions with
a great variety of distinct
coordinations.
Animal communication
• Any behaviour on the part of one animal
has an effect on the current or future
behaviour of another animal.
• The study of animal communication is
called zoo-semiotics (distinguishable from
anthropo-semiotics, the study of human
communication)
• rapidly growing field
Plant communication
• (a) within the plant organism, i.e. within
plant cells and between plant cells,
• (b) between plants of the same or related
species and
• (c) between plants and non-plant
organisms, especially in the rootzone.
• Plant roots communicate in parallel with
fungi and with insects in the soil.
Bacteria communication
• between different species of bacteria and
between bacteria and non bacterial life
• There are three classes of signalling
molecules for different purposes:
- signalling within the organism to
coordinate gene expressions
- to generate adequate response behaviour
- signalling between same or related and
different species.
Fungal communication
• coordinate and organize their own growth
and development
• fungi communicate with same and related
species as well as with nonfungal
organisms in a great variety of symbiotic
interactions
Language
• a syntactically organized system of signals,
such as
- voice sounds,
- intonations or pitch,
- gestures or
- written symbols which communicate
thoughts or feelings
• Animals do not have a written form of a
language, but use a language to
communicate with each another.
In that sense, an animal communication
can be considered as a separated
language.
• Human spoken and written languages can
be described as a system of symbols
(sometimes known as lexemes)
and the grammar by which the symbols
are manipulated.
The word "language" is also used to refer
to common properties of languages.
• Language learning is normal in human
childhood.
• Most human languages use patterns of
sound or
gesture for symbols which enable
communication with others around them.
There are thousands of human
languages, and these seem to share
certain properties,
even though many shared properties
have exceptions.
Media
• The beginning of human communication
through artificial channels, (i.e. not
vocalization or gestures),
goes back to ancient cave painting, drawn
maps, and writing.
• Historians have folded civilization into
"ages" according to the medium most
widely used.
• A book titled "Five Epochs of Civilization"
by William McGaughey (Thistlerose, 2000)
divides history into the following stages:
- ideographic writing produced the first
civilization;
- alphabetic writing, the second;
- printing, the third;
- electronic recording and broadcasting,
the fourth;
- computer communication, the fifth.
• The media affects what people think
about themselves and how they
perceive people as well. What we
think about self image and what
others should look like comes from
the media.
• Digital and computer communication
shows concrete evidence of changing
the way humans organize.
• The latest trend in communication,
termed smartmobbing,
• involves ad-hoc organization through
mobile devices,
• allowing for effective many-to-many
communication and social
networking.
Electronic media
• In the last century, a revolution in
telecommunications has greatly
altered communication by providing
new media for long distance
communication.
The first transatlantic two-way radio
broadcast occurred in 1906 and led to
common communication via analogue
and digital media:
• Analog telecommunications include
traditional telephone, radio and TV
broadcasts.
• Digital telecommunications allow for
computer-mediated communication,
telegraphy and computer networks.
• Modern communication media now
allow for intense long-distance
exchanges between larger numbers
of people
• (many-to-many communication via
e-mail. Internet forums).
On the other hand, many traditional
broadcast media and mass media
favour one-to-many communication
(television, cinema, radio, newspaper,
magazines).
Metacommunication
• the process of communicating about
communication,
e.g. to discuss a past conversation
and to determine the meanings
behind certain words, phrases, etc…
• It can be used as a tool for sense
making, or
for better understanding events,
places, people, relationships, etc..
The ability to communicate on the
meta-level requires introspection and,
more specifically what is called
metacommunicative competence.
Sources
• Baumeister, R. F., & Leary, M. R. (1995).
The need to belong: Desire for
interpersonal attachments as a
fundamental human motivation.
Psychological Bulletin 117, 497-529.
• Severin, Werner J., Tankard, James W.,
Jr., (1979). Communication Theories:
Origins, Methods, Uses. New York:
Hastings House