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Journalism / Mass Communication QUESTION #6422
Question 1
The concept of 'noise' in communication as defined in Shannon's model has three distinct types. Which of the following CORRECTLY identifies all three types of noise as mentioned in the textbook?
  • Visual noise, Audio noise, and Tactile noise
  • Physical (mechanical/engineering) noise in the channel; Semantic noise arising from differences in meaning and experience; and Psychological noise arising from the encoding and decoding process✔️
  • Technical noise, Cultural noise, and Linguistic noise
  • Primary noise, Secondary noise, and Tertiary noise
Correct Answer Explanation

The textbook discusses noise in the Shannon-Weaver model context and identifies three categories:

  1. Physical (Mechanical/Engineering) Noise: Unexplained variation or random error in the communication channel. Examples: a loud motorbike during conversation, smudges on a printed page, “snow” on a TV set, mist on a car windscreen, a crackling microphone. Shannon was primarily concerned with this type.
  2. Semantic Noise: Arises from differences in meaning — when sender and receiver do not share the same knowledge, cultural background, experience, attitudes, beliefs, or linguistic skills. This is “the very essence of the study of human communication.”
  3. Psychological Noise: The textbook mentions “psychological interference with encoding and decoding” — arising from emotional states, biases, prejudices, or mental conditions that distort how messages are encoded or decoded.

Channel overload — when the channel capacity is exceeded — is also mentioned as a source of distortion distinct from noise per se.