Interest in communication has been stimulated by advances in and technology, which, by their nature, have called attention to humans as communicating creatures. Among the first and most dramatic examples of the inventions resulting from technological ingenuity were the telegraph and telephone, followed by others like wireless radio and telephoto devices. The development of popular newspapers and periodicals, broadcasting, motion pictures, and television led to institutional and cultural innovations that permitted efficient and rapid communication between a few individuals and large populations; these media have been responsible for the rise and social power of the new phenomenon of . (See also ; ; .)Since roughly 1920 the growth and apparent influence of communications technology have attracted the attention of many specialists who have attempted to isolate communication as a specific facet of their particular interest. , in their studies of behaviour and mind, have evolved concepts of communication useful to their investigations as well as to certain forms of therapy. Social scientists have identified various forms of communication by which myths, styles of living, mores, and traditions are passed either from generation to generation or from one segment of society to another. Political scientists and economists have recognized that communication of many types lies at the heart of the regularities in the social order. Under the impetus of new technology—particularly high-speed computers—mathematicians and engineers have tried to quantify and measure components of communicated information and to develop methods for translating various types of messages into quantities or amounts amenable to both their procedures and instruments. Numerous and differently phrased questions have been posed by artists, architects, artisans, writers, and others concerning the overall influences of various types of communication. Many researchers, working within the relevant concerns of their disciplines, have also sought possible theories or laws of to explain the ways in which human dispositions are affected by certain kinds of communication under certain circumstances, and the reasons for the change., There are many forms of communication, including human linguistic communication using sounds, sign language, and writing as well as animals exchanging information and attempts to communicate with intelligent extraterrestrial life. Communication is commonly defined as the transmission of information., Communication, the exchange of meanings between individuals through a common system of symbols. This article treats the functions, types, and psychology of communication..