Designed to provide a comprehensive and broadly based introduction to the study of human communication, this book presents the concept of communication as interrelated constituent processes that operate at varying levels of complexity and acquire significance only in the context of larger intrapersonal, interpersonal, or socio-cultural systems of behavior. The first part presents foundations--the frame of reference used in this book and different models of communication. Other parts focus on the intrapersonal system (human information processing and psychological orientation), interpersonal system (verbal interaction, nonverbal interaction, and interpersonal contact), and the sociocultural system (situational geography, communication networks, and communication and social influence). (SH)