______ refers to the process by which the receiver interprets the sender's message.

______ refers to the process by which the receiver interprets the sender's message.

• A. Encoding
• B. Feedback loop
• C. Channel
• D. Decoding

Answer: (D)

Decoding is the process by which the receiver interprets the sender's message. After the sender encodes thoughts into symbols like words, gestures, or visuals, those signs travel through a channel to the receiver. Decoding involves translating those symbols back into meaning, taking into account the listener’s language, experiences, and context. It’s the reverse of encoding, which is how the sender creates the message in the first place. The other parts of the communication flow—encoding (the sender’s creation), the channel (the medium), and the feedback loop (the receiver’s response)—describe how the message moves and how the sender learns about how it was received, but decoding specifically explains how the recipient makes sense of what was sent.

Decoding is the process by which the receiver interprets the sender's message. After the sender encodes thoughts into symbols like words, gestures, or visuals, those signs travel through a channel to the receiver. Decoding involves translating those symbols back into meaning, taking into account the listener’s language, experiences, and context. It’s the reverse of encoding, which is how the sender creates the message in the first place. The other parts of the communication flow—encoding (the sender’s creation), the channel (the medium), and the feedback loop (the receiver’s response)—describe how the message moves and how the sender learns about how it was received, but decoding specifically explains how the recipient makes sense of what was sent.