BioConcepts

communicationcommunicatio (lat.); communication (fr.); Kommunikation (ger.)

• 1) The transmission or exchange of information or knowledge between individual organisms.
  category communication

  -55 BC

  praemunitio etiam est ad id, quod adgrediare, et traiectio in alium; communicatio, quae est quasi cum iis ipsis, apud quos dicas, deliberatio; morum ac vitae imitatio vel in personis vel sine illis, magnum quoddam ornamentum orationis et aptum ad animos conciliandos vel maxime, saepe autem etiam ad commovendos [there is also premunition, with regard to what you are going to prove; there is the transference of Wave to another person; there is communication, or consultation as it were, with the audience before whom you are speaking; imitation of manners and character, either with names of persons or without, which is a great ornament to a speech, and adapted to conciliate the feelings even in the utmost degree, and often also to rouse them; transl. by J.S. Watson]

  Cicero (55 BC). De oratore 3, 204.

  95

  A quo schemate non procul abest illa, quae dicitur communicatio, cum aut ipsos adversarios consulimus, ut Domitius Afer pro Cloatilla [This figure is akin to that known as communication, when we actually take our opponents into consultation, as Domitius Afer does in his defence of Cloatilla; transl. by H. Edgeworth Butler 1922]

  Quintilian (95 AD), Institutio oratoria 9, 2, 20; cf. 23; 9, 1, 30.

  1580

  une pleine et entière communication [...] moyen de communication

  Montaigne, M. de (1580). Essais (3 vol., Paris 1998, ed. by A. Tournon): II, 192 (II, 12).

  1753

  L’oreille, quoique peut-être aussi-bien conformée dans l’animal que dans l’homme, lui est cependant beaucoup moins utile par le défaut de la parole, qui dans l’homme est une dépendance du sens de l’ouïe, un organe de communication

  Buffon, G.L.L. (1753). Discours sur la nature des animaux. In: Histoire naturelle, générale et particulière, vol. 4: 31.

  1871

  As all the higher mammals possess vocal organs constructed on the same general plan with ours, and which are used as a means of communication, it was obviously probable, if the power of communication had to be improved, that these same organs would have been still further developed; and this has been effected by the aid of adjoining and well-adapted parts, namely the tongue and lips.

  Darwin, C. (1871). The Descent of Man: 58-9.

  1961

  Was der Tierkommunikation fehlt, ist die für die Sprache wesentliche Fundamentalfähigkeit der reichhaltigen, differenzierten und frei verfügbaren symbolischen Repräsentation von Bewusstseinsinhalten beliebiger Art durch nennende und gegenstandsbezogene Begriffszeichen

  Kainz, F. (1961). Die „Sprache“ der Tiere: 278.

  1964

  Communication between animals involves the giving off by one individual of some chemical or physical signal, that, on being received by another, influences its behaviour

  Frings, H. & Frings, M. (1964). Animal Communication: 3

  1968

  communication among animals involves the transmission of information or some other commodity from one participant to another. That is, it is thought that something is literally made common to both signaler and recipients that would otherwise remain the private possession of the signaler. This idea is closely associated with the notion that communication occurs only when an animal, the signaler, performs some sort of action and by this action generates the signal whose reception by others comprises the information transmission. And, to these ideas is often linked still another – that the signaler performs the act of signal emission with the intention or purpose of transmitting the information the signal is said to carry to the recipient

  Bastian, J. (1968). Psychological perspectives. In: Sebeok, T.A. (ed.). Animal Communications, 572-591: 577

  1968

  In the most general sense, communication includes any stimulus arising from one animal and eliciting a response in another

  Scott, J.P. (1968). Observation. In: Sebeok, T.A. (ed.). Animal Communications, 17-30: 17.

  1970

  Communication is the phenomenon of one organism producing a signal that, when responded to by another organism, confers some advantage (or the statistical probability of it) to the signaler or his group

  Burghardt, G.M. (1970). Defining “communication”. In Johnston Jr, J. W., Moulton, D. G., & Turk, A. (eds.), Communication by Chemical Signals, 5-18: 16.

  1975

  Biological communication is the action on the part of one organism (or cell) that alters the probability pattern of behavior in another organism (or cell) in a fashion adaptive to either one or both of the participants

  Wilson, E.O. (1975). Sociobiology: 176.

  1977

  the behavior of communicating […] is behavior that enables the sharing of information between interacting individuals as they respond to each other

  Smith, W.J. (1977). The Behavior of Communicating. An Ethological Approach: 2.

  1978

  communication is said to occur when an animal, the actor, does something which appears to be the result of selection to influence the sense organs of another animal, the reactor, so that the reactor`s behavior changes to the benefit of the actor

  Dawkins, R. & Krebs, J.R. (1978). Animal signals: information or manipulation. In: Krebs, J.R. & Davies, N.B. (eds.). Behavioural Ecology, 282-309: 283

  1980

  The transmission of a signal or signals between two or more organisms where selection has favoured both the production and reception of the signal(s)

  Lewis, D.B. & Gower, D.M. (1980). Biology of Communication: 1.

  1982

  communication Any action of one organism thatmodifies the behaviour pattern of another organism; the passage of information. 

  Lincoln, R.J., Boxshall, G.A. & Clark, P.F. (1982). A Dictionary of Ecology, Evolution and Systematics: 53.

  2008

  Communication: The completion of corresponding signals and responses. […] Signal: Any act or structure that (i) affects the behaviour of other organisms; (ii) evolved because of those effects; and (iii) which is effective because the effect (the response) has evolved to be affected by the act or structure

  Scott-Phillips, T.C. (2008). Defining biological communication. J. evol. Biol. 21, 387-395: 388.

  2011

  Kommunikation ist das erfolgreiche Signalisieren, d.h. das intentionale (zweckgerichtete) Präsentieren von morphologischen Strukturen oder Verhaltensweisen eines Organismus, das diesem einen direkten oder indirekten Nutzen (Selektionsvorteil) bringt, wenn es durch einen anderen Organismus beantwortet wird, nachdem dieser es sinnlich aufgenommen und physiologisch verarbeitet hat. In einer Kommunikation sind sowohl die Strukturen bzw. Verhaltensweisen des Senders als auch des Empfängers für den Akt der Nachrichtenübertragung angepasst, d.h. dafür selektiert worden.

  Toepfer, G. (2011). Historisches Wörterbuch der Biologie. Geschichte und Theorie der biologischen Grundbegriffe, vol. 2: 244.

• 2) The physical connection between the parts of a body.
  category communication

  1672

  la communication qui est entre le cerveau d’une mère et celui de son enfant

  Malebranche, N. (1672). Recherche de la vérité (Œuvres, vol. 1-2, Paris 1962): I, 234 (II, part I, ch. VII, §I).

  1737

  [Es] dörffte vielleicht einigen noch ein Zweiffel entstehen, ob auch die Nerven, die aus dem Rücken-Marcke kommen, würcklich dadurch bis in das Gehirne gehen, oder wenigsten alle Nerven-Fäserlein vermittelst dieses Marckes mit dem Gehirne Communication haben.

  Wolff, C. (1737). Vernünfftige Gedanken. Von dem Gebrauche der Theile im Menschen, Thieren und Pflantzen (3rd ed.): 76; cf. 1st ed. 1725: 61.

  1827

  le tissu cellulaire […] paraît formé tantôt d’une sorte de flocous extrêmement minces, réunis par une matière visqueuse et semi-fluide; d’autre fois de fibrilles et de lamelles d’une consistance assez grande, mais très-extensibles, entrecroisées en divers sens, et laissant entre elles des lacunces ou cellules de figure irrégulière, de grandeur variable, en communication les unes avec les autres, et contenant du liquide.

  Milne-Edwards, H. (1827). Organisation. In: Dictionnaire classique d’histoire naturelle, vol. 12, 332-344: 335.

  1967

  [hoch integrierte Systeme, in denen] ein Kommunikationssystem zwischen den verschiedenen Molekülen existiert; das bewirkt, daß die Moleküle in jedem Augenblick benachrichtigt werden, was rund um sie vorgeht, und daß sie nicht irgendwie, sondern in äußerst koordinierter Form arbeiten

  Jacob, F. [1967]. [Diskussionsbeitrag in: Leben und Sprechen. Ein Gespräch zwischen François Jacob, Roman Jakobson, Claude Lévy-Strauss und Philippe L’Héritier unter der Leitung von Michel Tréguer] (in: Holenstein, E. (ed.). Roman Jakobson, Semiotik, Ausgewählte Texte, 1919-1982, Frankfurt/M. 1988, 398-423: 400.

  1967

  System der Kommunikation auf allen Stufen der Biologie

  Jacob, F. [1967]. [Diskussionsbeitrag in: Leben und Sprechen. Ein Gespräch zwischen François Jacob, Roman Jakobson, Claude Lévy-Strauss und Philippe L’Héritier unter der Leitung von Michel Tréguer] (in: Holenstein, E. (ed.). Roman Jakobson, Semiotik, Ausgewählte Texte, 1919-1982, Frankfurt/M. 1988, 398-423: 399.