Frank Dance proposed the helical model of communication in 1967 to depict communication as a dynamic and non-linear process. The model is shaped like a helix or spiral, beginning with a small starting point that grows gradually larger as it moves upwards in a circular motion. This represents how communication starts slowly within close relationships and expands over time to more complex levels as communicators share more information and commit more to the exchange. Dance's helical model built upon previous circular models by adding the dimension of time, showing communication as a continuous, non-repetitive, and accumulative process that becomes increasingly complex.
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Purcom Report
Frank Dance proposed the helical model of communication in 1967 to depict communication as a dynamic and non-linear process. The model is shaped like a helix or spiral, beginning with a small starting point that grows gradually larger as it moves upwards in a circular motion. This represents how communication starts slowly within close relationships and expands over time to more complex levels as communicators share more information and commit more to the exchange. Dance's helical model built upon previous circular models by adding the dimension of time, showing communication as a continuous, non-repetitive, and accumulative process that becomes increasingly complex.
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DANCE’S HELICAL MODEL
In 1967, Frank Dance has proposed the
communication model called Dance’s Helix Model for a better communication process. The name helical comes from “Helix” which means an object having a three- dimensional shape like that of a wire wound uniformly around a cylinder or cone. He shows communication as a dynamic and non-linear process. Dance’s model emphasized the difficulty of communication. Frank Dance uses the form of a Helix to describe the communication process. He developed this theory based on a simple helix which gets bigger and bigger as it moves or grows. The main characteristics of a helical model of communication is that it is evolutionary. Frank Dance explains the communication process based on this Helix structure and compares it with communication. In the Helix structure, the bottom or starting is very small then it gradually moves upward in a back and forth circular motion which forms the bigger circle in the top and it is still moves further. The whole process takes some time to reach. As like helix, the communication process starts very slowly and defined small circle only. The communicators shared information only with a small portion of themselves to their relationships. Its gradually develops into next level but which will take some time to reach and expanding its boundaries to the next level. Later the communicators commit more and shared more portions by themselves. 1. Linear Models: Early models of communication saw it as a linear process: someone says something and another person receives it. A famous version of a linear model is the Shannon-Weaver model. 2. Circular Models: Osgood and Schramm, however, introduced a cyclical model, whereby communication goes out, but also comes back as feedback. From here on, the cyclical model overshadowed the linear model when thinking about communication. 3. The Helical Model: Dance’s model builds upon the idea that communication happens in a circular process. However, Dance proposed that communication never perfectly repeats itself. When we get information back from someone, we’ll use that new information to say something smarter and in a more informed way next time. Thus, making Dance’s model accommodates for improvements in our communication by creating a time-based third dimension. Now, instead of communication looking like a two dimensional circle, it looks like a three dimensional spring. 5 Features of Dance's Helical Model of Communication Cyclical, Influenced by time and experience, Continuous, Non-Repetitive, and. Accumulative (getting increasingly more complex and 'knowledgeable Example When a child is born the only means of communication for him is crying, he cries for everything like hunger, pain, cold etc… As the child grows the means of communication become wider and broader. He learns to make noises then he learns a language to obtain attention and to fulfil his needs. As a Helix, the process of communication, in this case, started as crying and later it developed into a complex and compound means.