ABRAHAM MOLES: BIOGRAPHY AND COMMUNICATION MODEL - CULTURE VOCABULARY - 2024

Abraham Moles was a French electrical and acoustic engineer, as well as a doctor of physics and philosophy. He is widely recognized for the contributions he made to the field of communication, relating his areas of expertise to generate unique concepts in the field of radio and television.

Moles is considered one of the most important theorists of communication. He theorized about the importance of symbols, sounds, and signs in communication, beyond messages. Therefore, he also attached great importance to the role that designers play in communication.

Biography

Abraham André Moles was born in Paris in 1920. He had a childhood like that of any average child, attending primary and secondary studies without any new events.

His first professional title was as an electrical and sound engineer. Then at the University of Grenoble he prepared for a professional degree in Natural Sciences. There he was appointed assistant to the university physics laboratory.

During his time as an assistant, he developed expertise in techniques related to metal, as well as electricity and its related tools. She experimented with various materials, wrote reports of her investigations, and analyzed the results.

In 1947, after the Second World War, he was hired by two major French institutes: the National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS), an institute specialized in the study of acoustics and vibrations located in Marseille; and the French Maritime Research Institute.

During the course of his professional contracts, he decided to study various sociological courses that were dictated at the university where he worked, as well as at Aixa and Sorbonne.

In 1952 he presented his first doctoral thesis, which was based on the study of musical signals and their relationship with phonetics.

In 1954 he presented his second doctoral work, called Scientific Creation, with which he obtained a specialty in philosophy.

Radio and television

Moles was actively involved in the Center for Radio and Television Studies while studying for his two doctorates in France. The Rockefeller Foundation awarded him two scholarships for lack of money, which allowed him to work in the music department of Columbia University.

After presenting his second doctorate in 1954, he moved to Switzerland to direct the Electroacoustics Laboratory, the first directorial position he had in his professional life.

There he had the opportunity to work with Hermann Scherchen, an important German musician responsible for discovering various figures of the time.

Meanwhile, Moles also served as a professor at the University of Stuttgart in Germany. He also taught courses at the universities of Berlin and Utrecht (in the Netherlands). His first permanent teaching position was awarded to him by the University of Ulm in Sweden.

It was in 1966 that he finally moved to Strasbourg, where he also taught university classes in psychology and sociology. In this city she founded the School of Strasbourg, which was recognized as the Institute of Social Psychology in Communication.

The members of this school were all former students of Moles, who now worked at the International Association for the Social Psychology of Communication.

Works and last days

He wrote his most important works after 1970, among which is the so-called Art et ordinateur, a work in which he presented Shannon's theories of aesthetics under his own interpretation.

He continued teaching until the end of his life, and became president of the French Cybernetics Society. He died in Strasbourg on May 22, 1922.

Communication model

Approach

According to Moles' theory, the mass media play a fundamental role in the role of communication.

Their visual, graphic and auditory influence are primary sources for the transmission of information to the masses, which makes them the main information tool today.

Moles defined the communicative process as a social dynamic. In this dynamic, the elementary signs of communication are combined with other more complex ones, which are received and interpreted by each person.

His theory not only derives from traditional Gestalt claims, but also has strong influences on contemporary theories of psychology.

Moles' communication model is based on the fact that communication takes place through two main cycles, each with different durations. The first cycle occurs in the short term, while the second occurs in the long term.

Short term cycle

The short cycle is one that includes the direct messages that are transmitted through the mass media.

It is determined what information is most relevant to transmit and this is broadcast using communication specialists who work in said media to distribute it.

The first cycle is entirely linked to the sociocultural field; those who observe what happens and determine what information to transmit are called observers. Those who transmit the information are called opinion leaders.

For example, when a new video game is gaining popularity, observers can determine what is relevant to report about it in the media. When transmitted, that information completes the cycle in the short term.

Long term cycle

The long cycle arises from the creation of the idea which is then transmitted to society. That is to say, after the creation of the product or event, it goes to the micro-medium and is later sent to the mass media. There it becomes popular and its existence is made known.

That is, when for example a new video game is created, it is originally unknown to the masses. The long process starts from when the game is created until its existence is transmitted to the masses.

References

1. Computational Aesthetics, Azlan Iqbal, (nd). Taken from britannica.com
2. Abraham Moles, Wikipedia in English, January 30, 2018. Taken from wikipedia.org
3. Abraham Moles, Monoskop Organization, December 3, 2017. Taken from monoskop.org
4. The philosopher Abraham Moles affirms that "we live under the rule of signs" and highlights the role of the designer, Juan J. Navarro for El País, October 15, 1987. Taken from elpais.com
5. Information Theory, Wikipedia in English, March 29, 2018. Taken from wikipedia.org
6. Music, Gordon Epperson, (nd). Taken from britannica.com