ABSTRACT
A second perspective on communication emerged with the growth of the electronic age. According to Burr, Day, and Bahr (1993): "the process of sending and receiving electronic messages became a useful metaphor for describing partners' communication. Instead of volume (i.e., amount), partners were instructed to pay attention to the clarity of the message. Messages needed to be 'encoded,' 'transmitted,' and 'decoded' without any 'distortion'" (p. 231). In this perspective, terms and metaphors used to describe couple communication parallel those used to describe how radio and television signals are sent and received. Researchers and clinicians view communication as falling along a continuum from clear to distorted. "Clear communication refers to the clear and successful exchange of information between partners. It includes the necessity of 'checking out' communication in order to clarify meaning or intention. In contrast, the lack of clear communication refers to vague or confusing exchanges of information and the inability to 'check out' meaning" (Barnhill, 1979, p . 98) . These experts believe that dissatisfied partners demonstrate significant skill deficits in sending and receiving messages while satisfied partners more accurately receive and interpret their partner's messages and clearly express their own.
