Analysis of Information Processes in Communications

ANALYSIS OF INFORMATION PROCESSES IN COMMUNICATIONS

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Djordje Nadrljanski, PhD, Full professor Filosofski faculty Split

e-mail:

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Ratko Božić,MA cheriman Split Ship Mangament Split

(Methods to determine the quantity of information, primary information barriers and information capacity of the media)

Abstract

In everyday conversations, in media and numerous references, the term information appears. It is assumed that the readers know and understand the meaning of the word. This paper deals with this subject and definition and use of the term are further analyzed. Information as the phenomenon with numeorus implications in the process of communication, is also described in this paper. The ways to quantify the amount of information, the existence of the primary information barriers and several crucial questions concerning thee information capacity are further discussed in this paper.

CONCEPTUAL BASES OF THE STUDY

In everyday conversations, in the media and in numerous references the term information is often used. It is often considered that the speakers who use this term know the actual meaning of the word. However, it is not awlayes the case. This presentation deals with this matter. Information as the phenomenon has numerous implications in communication. Quantification of information, primary information barriers, information capacities in different media. Basic terms in informatics/computer science: information, a phenomenon and

communicationas a processUnderstanding the terms based on intuition is well known, but the definition based on scientific knowledge belongs to informatics. Information andcommunication entered the world of science after the publication of the title: The Mathematical Theory of Communication by ShannonWeaver. Information has become the relevant term for the scientific disciplines dealing with symbolic communication (math, computer science, linguistics, logic, electronic science, humanities, arts, medicine etc.). The term informationhas become an interdisciplinary term and each discipline brings its own the definition within the field of the scientific work.Information is a complex term

with numerous and different aspects of biological, physical and social context.It is therefore not an easy task to understand and define the term. Informationoriginates from Latin:informareand the original meaning was to put in shape, to give a form to sth.Today, the situation is more confusing concerning the interpretation of the meaning. Different approaches to the meaning and definition of the term. No unanimous approach concerning the definition. A great number of different definitions confirms the great interest among the scientists in different fields and disciplines.For the purpose of this presentation and better understanding of the term, two groups of definitions are formed.

1. Transcendental approach

First group of definitions: information as the category is away from human nature - transcendental approach. In this context information is defined taking into consideration 3 different aspects:

-Cosmologic

-Information and reflexion

-Information and ambiguity

COSMOLOGIC

First approach: cosmologic. Information is regarded as the third cosmic dimension.. According to the classic definition, the cosmos is defined as the junction of the matter and energy. According to A. J. Lerner: this particular point of view needs to be replaced. The other is made of 3 components: energy, matter and information. Without the exchange of information, the organized systems are not possible.Modern approach to defining cosmos includes the terminformation as the third entity, leading to the conclusion that the information represents a separate category which is neither the matter nor the energy.

INFORMATION AND REFLEXION

Second approach, from the point of view of physiology, the information is based on the theory of reflexion concerning the relationship between man and nature.According to this approach "information implies the subjective conscious model of the objective reality". So, the more different elements there are in reality, the more of information there is. "Information is just one aspect, one side of the reflexion – the “reflected diversity”, therefore the term reflexion is more comprising than the term information.

INFORMATION AND AMBIGUITY

The third approach is based regarding the information in terms of ambiguity. Ex. “information is opposed to uncertainty and it’s connected with new, “jamais vu” unseen phenomena and facts.”

INFORMATION AND HUMAN BEING

The second group of definitions consists of the definitions related to the human being. There are 3 approaches:

-information as the news

-information and learning

-information and activity

INFORMATION AS THE NEWS

Definitions based on interactions of information and the human being. Based on this, information is regarded as the phenomenon typical for human race.There is no information without the human being. Ex: «Human beings are creators and deliverers of information.»

-«Information must have the sense, the meaning»

-«Information is everything that provides new data or new explanations concerning facts or events that were unknown before.»

-«Information is the part of the news that has the value of an announcement of a new event and those values/elements help the people do their tasks and duties.»

INFORMATION AND LEARNING

The second approach includes the definitions that regard the information as learning.Ex. “Information is the knowledge that becomes available by the means of communication.”

INFORMATION AND ACTIVITY

The third approach regards information according to the usefulness. Based on this, the information is regarded as “the contents of our exchange with the community, while attempting to adapt and influence the environment. The process of receiving and using the information is the process of adaptation to the events and the attempt to be productive.”The following definition speaks of therelationship between information and knowledge:

-"Information is understood as the result of action of the existing reality, which cannot be known. From dynamic point of view, the information means delivering of knowledge i.e., the reality being presented to the listener directly or via the ‘deliverer’.

-In theory of information, knowledge is not an unrestricted term. It’s the indication of the needs i.e., what the subject needs and finds useful and appropriate to know.

COMMUNICATION

Communication is made of different elements and is considered a process or a system.There are numerous definitions. For the purpose of this presentation, some of these will be further explained.Ex. Grebner (1958) Communication is a social interaction made by exchanging messages that could be formally coded, symbolic, or simply possess the meaning known and understood within cultural background.The definitions emphasizing the transmission of information, ideas, feelings, knowledge etc. using the symbols, words, numerals, sketches etc. are frequently encountered. (Berelson & Steiner, 1964). Smith (1966) defined communicationas the subtle and ingenious group of processes.Communication contains thousands of elements – signals, codes regardless of the simplicity of the message or the way of transmission.Semiology deals with communication. Semiology deals with signs, languages, codes, signalisation etc.The whole mankind is based on signs and systems of signs and our mind cannot be separated from signs, if it cannot be considered identified with.The generally accepted classification of the study of languages considers three aspects, three dimensions of language/signs:

-synthax,

-semantic,

-pragmatic.

Each aspect deals with the study of language code dimensions.

-SYNTHAX deals with relations between the signs.

-SEMANTIC deals with relations between signs in relation to non-linguistic subjects.

-PRAGMATIC (introduced by Morris) deals with relations of the signs and humans as the users.

ELEMENTS OF THE STRUCTURE OF INFORMATION

-The contents of each message is expressed with signs of the appropriate CODE.

-CODING means transformation of signs from one way of expression into another one respecting the rules.

-Each code has its own supply of signs – alphabet, numerals.

-Typical communication scheme – chain of communication consists of:

emitor – contents (subject/referee) – signs – code – communication channel - receiver

In the analysis of the chain of communication, we shall further analyze signs and message transmission – media. Each signs contains several functions, according to Giro. Giro further proposed the classification according to the function:

referral, emotion, cognitive, esthetic or poetic, fact, meta linguistic, perceptual (understand and feel) and sense.

MEDIA

Media as the means of communication have specificcharacteristics of civilizations. Media mark our era of informatics in society/civilization, therefore they are emphasized.Medium – materialization of signs and background for transmission. Medium gives specific characteristics to the code, its nature, structure and function, so it’s often related to as “media message.”M. McLuhan speaks of media, classifying them as hot and cool, according to the "temperature" of the information or “definition” of a picture in a photo. According to Mc Luhan, the more elements of information a message contains, hotter and more dense the “information substance” is and vice versa.This literally means that the way of presentation could be “hot” or “cool” according to the media applied in communication. Based on this, temperatureof one message depends on the attention of the ‘receiver’ who has to interpret the message and attribute it the elements of information missing according to the ‘receiver’s’ point of view.In a “hot” message, the sense is given by the ‘emitter’ , while in a “cool” message the sense is attributed by the ‘receiver’ thus included in communication.

QUANTIFYING THE INFORMATION

A message is determined by the quantity of information contained.How to determine the quantity of information contained in a message? Theory of information helps us find the appropriate answer.The Theory ofinformation deals with communications starting from gathering of the data, transmission, processing, storing of the data and the use of information.The development of the Theory of Information brings to the quantification - i.e., determination of the quantity of information contained in a message.Entropy represents the measure of the quantity of information.Entropy – measure of disorganization of a system. The higher the entropy, the less organized the system is and vice versa. Entropy decreases with the extent of information – entropy.

Entropy is calculated according to Shannon:

p(xi) =1

i=1

Entropy is expressed in ShannonUnits, before ‘bit’ was used (binary digit), and the following symbols are used:

-H(X) - entropy

-p(xi) – probability of an event xi

-n – total number of events

Problems of evaluation of the information in communication, from the behaviorist approach in pragmatic aspects of the Theory of information.The triple dimension of information is contained in a message:

Ii. - informative contents,

If - formative (instructional) contents,

Im – motivational contents.

Behavioristicapproach in pragmatic aspect of the Theory of information

Ii. - informative contents

The message contains the informative character and is attributed the value Ii.

If - formative (instructional) contents

The contents of the message instructs the ‘receiver' and is attributed the value If.

Im – motivationalcontents

A message may contain the elements that would motivate the ‘receiver’ and these are attributed the value ofIm.

In a message containing all three dimensions of information (informative, instructional and motivational) with different intensity of each , the informative value of the message consists of the instruction what one should do, how and why.In communication, there is always an emitter N1 and a receiver N2.The process of communication includes the emitter who transmits messages (knowledge) that should change the state of the receiver (information and knowledge transmission). A hypothetic event: the message could have two ways of action for the receiver.In this event, the receiver could be presented in the following way:the receiver has the option to act in two ways – alternative action am1, where m>2.

Possibleresults of the actionare marked asbn.

The receiver could be in the following states:

-Pi- probability that the receiver would choose the alternative aj,

-Eij- probability that the chosen option aj would lead to the result bj,

-Vj – relative value of the result j for the receiver.

In that case, the ‚receiver‘ is in stable state if:

- there is at least one possible solution b1 of his behavior

which has a relative value for him/her in the event,

- there are at least two alternative options of the action a1 anda2 that have unequal positive effects for the result of the actionb1.

That is the reason to say that the receiver (N2) is in stable state, if he/she wants something and has different options to achieve the goal. The value of the state of the receiver X (N2) is defined as as follows:

The characteristic that the message will contain, depends not only on the message itself and the receiver, but also on those who model and process the message. The quantity of information that has influence on the change of the probability of the option Pi of the action ai has the characteristic to inform the receiver of some state.Since there is n different ways of action in undefined state, the probability of the choice of each action is 1/m, and the probability that the receiver N1 would choose any alternative option is Pj . The following model is introduced for this purpose: (2)

(2)

In an indefined state ond of Pj equals 1, and the other(m-1) probabilities Pj equal 0. If the relation (2) is applied, the following model could be proposed to show the difference between the determined and undetermined state (3):

(3)

The model (2) gives the maximal amount of information that could be contained in one state, and the model (3), the amount of information that the real state contains.The relation between the maximal information of a state and real state of information is shown in the following model (4):

(4)

The amount of informationthat one state could contain is shown by the number of binary choices between the alternative options, so that only one action could be chosen.When the model (4) is multiplied with the maximal amount of information that one state may contain, i.e., (n-1), the measure of the quantity of information that one state contains may be presented in the following model (5):

(5)

The unit for the quantity of information Ijis Inbit InShand it represents the amount of information that an alternative (binary) option contains.The quantity of the transmitted messagethat the emitter (N1) transmits to the receiver (N2) equals the subtraction of the quantity of information of the receiver before the message is received and the quantity of information immediately after the communication with the emitter.If the preliminary state concerning the amount of information X(Ii1) describes the preliminary state concerning the amount of information, than the transmitted amount of informationX(Ii1) could be presented with the following model (6):

(6)

The information that influences the change of Eij is described as instructions or orders. Instructions deal with efficiency of the state and the receiver could influence the results. In other words, the instruction assures that the receiver (N2) could be provided with the possibilities missing in the time of action. Instruction is given the appropriate place in communications.The unit for the influence of the emitter (N1) is the unit of instruction hubit huSh and is presented with the following model (7):

(7)

where I(ai/bj) is the amount of control that the emitter has over the action ai in relation tothe possible result of the action bj. The amount of instruction delivered by a message to the state X(If) follows (8):

(8)

When the amount of information has influence on Vj, then the same message is considered motivating. Quantifying the amount of motivation is done according to the identical models like (2), (3) i (4), only instead of m the models contain n, and instead of Vj the models contain Pj, so the following model is produced (9):

The amount of information considered motivating equals I(Xm) (mobit moSh), and the following model is used for calculation (l0):

(10)

TECHNOLOGIES OF COMMUNICATION

Auditive technology of communication is the oldest form of human communication developed paralely with the development of human communities.Characteristics of auditive technologies include: oral communication, myths, rituals and the tribal communities.In the era of auditive technology, the pre-historical man had lived in harmony with the environment. He had used his senses to get closer to the aspects of the environment.Auditive media is the determining factor concerning the cognitive and moral values.

Visual technology of communication appeared with the first written / painted signs and with the press, the new characteristics of communication appeared.Visual technology / communication deals with abstract reasoning and individualism.The need for standardization comes with visual technologies. Languages are formalized and defined in terms of grammatical and ortographic rules. The written word decreases the need for direct interpersonal relations in the exchange of ideas. The „world of words“ is separated from the „world of actions“. The environment is understood by visual means.

Electronic technology of communication exists over 150years (invention of the telegraph) and strongly influenced ‚business‘ and market.Stronger influence and application came with the invention and use of computers.Electronic technology and communication is based on audio –visual media like television, simultaneous action of senses and active research. Informatic society of the audio – visual media and interactive communication with the use of computers brings us back to Mc Luhan‘s point of view, back to the creative, active and research-like relation towards the environment, because all senses are activated in communication.

PRIMARY INFORMATION BARRIERS

There are numerous barriers in communication and the following ones are selected as the primary information barriers.

1. perceptive
2. psychological
3. social
4. cultural
5. semantic
6. media-like
7. physical

Perceptive information barriers include subjective qualities and dispositions for communication. Each subject of the process of communication interprets the events in terms of his/her own psychological, cultural and social status.In reality, two persons never feel or describe things in identical way.

Psychological information barriers appear in

communication and are based on characteristicsof the communicators.One word or one event may have different meaning for different subjects in communication.