In this chapter, we introduced you to the communication process. We presented our definition of communication and reviewed the intentionality debate as a point of controversy in the communication field. In addition, we identified three prevailing models of communication: the linear model, the interactional model, and the transactional model. We also explored the dark side of the communication process. Finally, we discussed ethics and its relationship to communication theory.

You now have an understanding of the communication process and some sense of how complex it can be. As you read about the many theories in this book, you will be able to view communication from a variety of perspectives. You will also gain valuable information that will help you understand human behavior and give you a new way to think about our society. We continue this examination in Chapter 2 when we present a brief overview of the communication field and the significant contexts in which communication takes place.