Which of the following statements are correct ? A. Communication is the…

Concept

Communication is the process in which a sender encodes and transmits a message and a receiver receives and decodes it, so that meaning becomes shared between them. Because human beings are social by nature, communication theorists place the urge to communicate alongside primary biological and emotional needs. Communication is further classified by level, that is by how many people take part and how formal the setting is: intrapersonal (within a single person), interpersonal (between two people in direct, normally face-to-face contact with immediate feedback), group, public (one speaker addressing a large audience in a planned, formal setting) and mass communication.

Applying it to each statement

• Statement A describes communication as the sending and receiving of information, which is the elementary sender-message-receiver definition, so this statement stands.

• Statement B places the need to communicate on a par with the needs to eat, sleep and love, which is the standard textbook position that communication is a primary human need, so this statement stands.

• Statement C describes intrapersonal communication as communication with oneself, and self-talk, thinking and inner dialogue are exactly that level, so this statement stands.

• Statement D adds that interpersonal communication happens between two people without facing each other, but the interpersonal level is defined by direct, normally face-to-face interaction with immediate feedback, so this statement does not stand.

• Statement E places public communication in a more informal and unstructured setting, but a speech, lecture or address delivered to a large audience is planned, formal and structured, so this statement does not stand.

Cross-check

Reading the three levels named in the statements side by side makes both reversals visible.

Only Statements A, B and C survive this test, so the accepted combination is A, B and C only. Every other combination offered here carries Statement D or Statement E, each of which inverts a standard definition.