TITLE:
Toward a Psychology of Communications: Epistemological Foundations, Integrative Paradigms, and the Redefinition of the Communicational Object*
AUTHORS:
David Kiantwadi Pata
KEYWORDS:
Psychology of Communications, Epistemology of CIS, Communication Paradigms, Cognition, Digital Communication
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Access Library Journal,
Vol.13 No.7,
July
23,
2026
ABSTRACT: Communication is today a fragmented scientific object, analyzed through multiple approaches—sociological, semiotic, informational, and technological—but rarely unified around its psychological foundations. This article proposes an epistemological refoundation of Information and Communication Sciences (ICS) through the concept of the Psychology of Communication. Drawing on a narrative synthesis of the literature on foundational paradigms—behaviorist, cognitivist, constructivist, interactionist, systemic, and digital—the study highlights the limitations of fragmented models and argues for an integrative approach centered on the cognitive, affective, social, and symbolic processes that structure communicational acts. The article proposes a renewed ontological definition of the communicational object, conceived as a dynamic psychological system embedded in technical, cultural, and algorithmic devices. This contribution aims to stabilize a unified theoretical framework capable of strengthening the scientific cumulativity of ICS and opening new methodological perspectives, particularly in digital contexts.