______ occurs when there is a discrepancy between encoding and decoding a message.

• A. Encoding
• B. Feedback
• C. Noise
• D. Message

Answer: (C)

The concept here is interference during the communication process. Noise is anything that distorts or interrupts the signal as it travels from sender to receiver. Because of noise, what the receiver decodes may not match what the sender encoded, producing a discrepancy between intended meaning and understood meaning. Noise can be physical, like static on a phone line; semantic, like unclear jargon or ambiguous language; or psychological, like preconceptions that color interpretation.

Encoding refers to turning thoughts into a message, so it doesn’t describe the mismatch itself. Feedback is the receiver’s response after decoding, which happens after the initial reception. The message is the content being sent, not the disruptor.