Barnlund’s Transactional Model describes meaning construction through public, private, and behavioral cues whose relevance changes during interaction. It is an explicit 1970 formulation within the transactional family, directing attention to multiple cues while leaving shared understanding and accurate interpretation to be investigated.
- FamilyModel
- Category of its source unitTheories & Explanatory Models
- DomainMeaning & Clarity
What these mean
Editorial orientation · Family
Model
In this series, Model names the editorial family primarily used to understand and explain communication: theories, frameworks, effects, traditions, principles and other conceptual resources. It is an umbrella for a route into the field, not a claim that every included object is a predictive model.
Editorial orientation · Category
Theories & Explanatory Models
Explains how or why a communication process works by relating mechanisms, conditions or variables. Its value is an account that can guide inquiry into what produces an outcome, rather than a name for the outcome alone.