Non-verbal communication

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  • Created by: 11pyoung
  • Created on: 02-04-16 15:09
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  • Non-verbal communication
    • Verbal communication
      • Communication
        • Passing information from one person to another
      • Paralinguistics
        • Vocal features that accompany speech
      • Tone of voice
        • The way words are spoken to convey emotion
      • Emphasis
        • Giving prominence to some words more than others
      • Intonation
        • Inflection in the voice when speaking
      • Non-verbal communication
        • Conveying messages that do not require the use of words or vocal sounds
      • Conveying messages using words or vocal sounds
      • Argyle, Alkema + Gilmour
        • Different groups of participants  listened to either friendly or hostile messages given in either friendly or hostile tones
          • Hostile in friendly tone/ friendly in hostile tone
        • When asked to interpret messages the tone of voice had about 5 times the effect of the verbal message itself
        • Tone of voice is extremely important in how people interpret verbal messages
        • Evaluation
          • Carried out in artificial conditions
          • In real life people may not focus on how it is said and more on what is said
    • Eye contact
      • Pupil dilation
        • When the pupils in the eyes expand to look large
      • Argyle
        • Pairs of participants were observed having conversations. In half the conversations, one of the participants wore dark glasses so that the other could not receive eye contact
        • When one of the participants wore dark glasses, there were more pauses and interruptions than when dark glasses weren't worn
        • Eye contact is important in ensuring the smooth flow of conversation
        • Evaluation
          • Artificial situation
          • People may have behaved differently
            • Artificial situation
          • Helps us understand what we can do to ensure conversations run smoothly
        • Practical applications
          • Helps us understand why we might be uncomfortable talking to someone who either constantly looks at us or never loos at us at all
      • When two people are looking at each other's eyes at the same time
    • Facial expression
      • Sackheim
        • Pictures of people's faces were cut in half and duplicated. these new faces were shown to participants
        • The majority  of participant aid they preferred the picture of the left half of the face. they said it looked 'warmer'
        • The left side of the face seems to express emotion much more than the right side
        • Evaluation
          • Artificial
          • Other aspects of non-verbal behaviour can give more accurate cues to what a person may be thinking
        • Practical implications
          • If facial expression is inherited, this means it happens instinctively and is more likely to be truthful
    • Posture
      • Body language
        • A general term  to describe aspects  of non-verbal communication
      • The positioning of the body, often regarded as a non-verbal communication signal
      • Postural echo
        • Mirroring another person's body position
      • Confederate
        • An actor or stooge who appears to be a genuine participant
      • Closed posture
        • Positioning the body so that they are folded across the body and/or crossing the legs
      • Open posture
        • Positioning the arms so they are not folded across the body and not crossing the legs
      • McGinley
        • A confederate approached individual in a social setting and had conversations with them In half the meetings the confederates echoed the posture of the person who they were talking to In the other half they did not. The indivuvals were then asked what they thought about the confederate.
        • When postural echo was used, the people liked the confederate and thought they got on well together. when not used  they felt awkward.
        • Postural echo gives an unconscious message of friendliness
        • Evaluation
          • Participants may not have realised that they were part of an experiment
            • Deception
          • Other factors may have affected results
        • Practical implications
          • Councoillors use postural echo in order ot get their clients to open up to them
    • Gestures
      • A form of non-verbal communication in which information is conveyed by either deliberate or unconscious movement of parts of the body
      • Lynn + Mynier
        • While taking orders from customers, waiters/ waitresses were told to  either stand upright or squat down near the customers.
        • When the waiters/waitresses squatted down, larger tips were received compared to when they stood straight
        • The gesture of squatting down near a seated costumer to take an order will have a positive effect on tipping behaviour
        • Evaluation
          • May have been other factors affecting tipping behaviour
          • Shows how gestures can be used to peoples advantage
        • Practical implications
          • Restaurant waiters use this  to gain extra tips
    • Touch
      • A form of non-verbal communication in which information is conveyed by physical contact
      • Fisher, Ryttin+ Heslin
        • Female students were handed books by a librarian. Half the  students were briefly touch on the hand when given a book. The other half weren't
        • When questioned later, the students who were touched had a much more positive attitude towards the library than those who were not touched. many students did not realise that they had been touched.
        • Touch can have an unconscious and positive effect on attitudes
        • Untitled
        • Practical implications
          • Shows us how attitudes in the real world might be manipulated by people who wan to win favour
    • Personal space
      • The distance we keep between ourselves and other people in our everyday lives
      • Sex differences
        • Differences due to being either male or female; these could affect personal space
        • Argyle + Dean
          • One at a time, participants were asked to sit and have a  conversation with another person. Sometimes they were both members of the same sex and sometimes they were members of the opposite sex. The confederate sat at different distances from the participant and continually looked into the participants eyes.
          • The participants tended to break eye  contact with the confederate of the opposite sex at a  greater distance apart  than when the confederate was of the same sex.
          • We prefer to have a greater amount of personal space between ourselves and members of the opposite sex during normal conversation
          • Practical implication
            • Members of the opposite sex may not be aware that they are standing too close for comfort.
      • Individual differences
        • Factors that make one person not the same as another person such as personality or age
        • Willis
          • Willis observed almost 800 individuals in different social situations
          • Those he observed  tended to stand closer to people their own age and further away from people who were either very much older or very much younger
          • Age difference affects how close people will stand to one another
          • Practical implications
            • People might think that , if a person older or younger than themselves stands further away , they are being unfriendly
      • Cultural norms
        • The range of behaviours that members of a particular social group or society can be expected to show
        • Summer
          • Summer observed  groups of white English people  and groups of Arab people in conversation
          • The comfortable conversation distance for the white English people was 1-1.5 m, whereas the comfortable conversation distance for the Arab people was much less than that
          • The use of personal space  in normal conversation varies with culture
          • Practical implications
            • Helps us understand why  people in Arab countries regard Europeans and Americans as unfriendly and untrustworthy
      • Status
        • A person's rank in society
        • Zahn
          • Zahn observed people of equal status approaching each other. He also observed  people of un equal status approaching each other
          • Zahn found that people of lower status did not approach higher-status people with the same degree of closes as those of equal status
          • The use of personal space varies with differences in status when approaching other people
          • Practical implications
            • Implies that it feels more threatening to approach someone of higher status and we show our anxiety by keeping our distance

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