Transmission occurs when information moves from one place in space to another over an interval of time. Transformation happens when an area of matter and/or energy is changed into a new form as the organization of its constituents is modified.

Recognition can be considered a process, or the result of a process, that matches a pattern of information sent from a source with a pattern of information currently present in a destination that receives and processes the pattern.

Coding is the process of transforming information from one representation to another. Matter or energy must either be recognized, or purposefully coded into a new organization of matter or energy to exist as information.

Interpretation is a collection of processes that involve the transmission of information from its point of origin to a receiver that recognizes and decodes the information. Interpretation yields new recognized information that may change or maintain the stability or the current status of the system processing the information.