Do tests of nonverbal decoding ability measure sensitivity to nonverbal cues?

Compared to efficient decoders (who excel on tests of nonverbal decoding ability), inefficient decoders may (1) use a restricted repertoire of nonverbal cues; (2) use the same repertoire but be less sensitive to the cues; or (3) be more sensitive to cues of high informative utility and less sensitive to cues of lesser utility. Subjects were asked to identify romantic heterosexual couples in photographs. Potential cues were generated by think aloud protocols (Study 1); their presence and informative utility were determined through ratings (Study 2). Study 3 estimated cues' influence on “couple” decisions. Decisions were affected by all the informative cues (“proximity,” “contact,” and “context”) with efficient decoders being more sensitive to “proximity” than inefficient decoders. However, inefficient decoders weremore sensitive than efficient decoders to uninformative cues suggesting couples' similarity. Hence, the present test does not measure sensitivity (Hypotheses 1 and 2) but measures sensitivity-tuning (Hypothesis 3).     

Verbal and nonverbal cues as mediators of deception ability

In an extension of previous research on individual differences in deception ability, 35 undergraduate subjects were administered standardized measures of social skills and public self-consciousness and their attitudes on a variety of sociopolitical attitudes were measured. Later, subjects were videotaped while giving pro-attitudinal (truthful) and counter-attitudinal (deceptive) presentations to a videocamera. Videotaped presentations were content analyzed for various verbal and nonverbal cues, and were shown to untrained judges who rated each on a scale of truthfulness/believability. Results of structural modeling analyses indicated that socially skilled subjects were judged as believable regardless of whether they were truth-telling or deceiving. Individuals high in public self-consciousness were less successful deceivers. Most importantly, these relationships were mediated by certain behavioral cues, particularly cues of verbal fluency, which were consistently associated with judgments of truthfulness. These results have both theoretical and methodological implications for future deception research.This research was supported by intramural grants from California State University, Fullerton (CSUF) Foundation to the first author. The authors would like to thank Barbara Throckmorton, Maria Hale, Barbara Choco, Scott Johnson, Lee Salinas, and Monica Turner for assistance in data collection and coding. Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to: Ronald E. Riggio, Department of Psychology, California State University, Fullerton, CA 92634.Ronald E. Riggio, Ph.D. is an Associate Professor of Psychology at California State University, Fullerton. His research interests include the study of individual differences in communication skills and research on deception. Requests for reprints should be sent to Dr. Riggio at: Department of Psychology, Calif. State University, Fullerton, CA 92634. Joan Tucker, M.A. received her Masters degree at California State University, Fullerton. She is currently a graduate student at the University of California, Riverside, conducting research on nonverbal communication. Keith F. Widaman, Ph.D. is an Associate Professor of Psychology at the University of California, Riverside and has contributed to research on the development of human abilities and on a range of quantitative topics.     

Similarities between friends on service,activism, and awareness of inequities in an adolescent social network

This brief report characterizes the tendency of adolescent friends to be similar on civic behaviors and critical consciousness. Using two waves of network data from a high school that serves primarily low-income Latiné youth (2019, N = 519; 2020, N = 521), the present study examined homophily on service, activism, and awareness of inequities. The results of Exponential Random Graph Models indicated that adolescents tended to be friends with peers who had similar service behavior and awareness of inequities, but not activism. The findings suggest that schools could foster civic engagement by providing infrastructure that encourages civic interactions between peers. The current study highlights the potential that social network analysis holds for generating novel insights into the relational underpinnings of youth civic engagement.     

Sensitivity to nonverbal cues as a function of social competence

The hypothesis that sensitivity to nonverbal messages is an important component of social compentence was tested employing 24 female subjects. It was predicted that subjects low in social competence would experience a high level of anxiety in a social interaction and that this would interfere with their ability to attend to the nonverbal behaviors of others. Subjects were given the task of interviewing a confederate. They were instructed to change the interview topic if the questioning appeared to produce discomfort in their partner. The confederate displayed a series of nonverbal cues indicating mounting tension while responding to certain questions. Two measures of sensitivity to the cues were obtained: (1) how quickly the subject changed the interview topic in response to the cues and (2) how many nonverbal cues the subject reported observing. The findings indicated that low-competence subjects reported having observed as many of the nonverbal messages as the high-competence subjects but failed to respond to them. An explanation for this is offered based on information gathered during a postexperimental interview. No difference was found between groups for level of anxiety experienced during the interaction. This is discussed in terms of the experimental design employed, which may have served to reduce anxiety in the subjects.This study was conducted by the first author as part of the requirements for the master's degree at the University of Connecticut. The authors wish to express their appreciation to Suzanne Weiss, who served as the confederate and assisted in the analysis of the data.     

The developmental priority of the evaluative dimension in perceptions of nonverbal cues

Researchers who have attempted to map the basic structure of broad psychological domains (such as interpersonal behavior) have invariably pointed to the importance of the evaluative dimension. It was predicted that sensitivity to such a salient dimension would develop prior to sensitivity to other important but apparently weaker dimensions, such as dominance-submissiveness. The predicted developmental trend was supported in a study of nonverbal decoding. When judging pairs of emotional cues communicated by the face or body and by the tone of voice, younger subjects, compared to older ones, were more likely to notice discrepancies in the degree of expressed positivity than in the degree of expressed dominance.     

Nonverbal cues to deception among intimates,friends, and strangers

Buller and Burgoon (in press) propose that deceivers attempt to encode strategically nonverbal cues which indicate nonimmediacy and project a positive image. At the same time, deceivers leak arousal and negative affect via their nonverbal display. This experiment tested these predictions, while examining the influence of relational history on deception cues and the stability of deception cues within deceptive conversations. The nonverbal behavior of 130 strangers, friends, and intimates was measured. Results indicated that deceivers signalled nonimmediacy, arousal, and negative affect, but they did not appear to project a positive image. Deception cues were mediated by relational history and showed considerable temporal variation. Strangers leaked more arousal and negative affect than friends and intimates. Further, deceivers, particularly deceiving friends and intimates, seemed to monitor and control their nonverbal behavior during deception by suppressing arousal and negative affect cues and moderating nonimmediate behavior.     

Nonverbal decoding skill and attention to nonverbal cues: A research note

A measure of differential preference for attending to three channels of nonverbal communication was developed, with which scores for differential attention to face, body, and voice tone were generated for 17 college subjects. These scores were correlated with subjects' nonverbal decoding accuracy in the same three channels as measured by a standard test of decoding nonverbal cues. Significant positive relationships between channel preference and accuracy were found for the two video channels; no relationship was found for the audio channel.This research was conducted while both authors held National Science Foundation Graduate Fellowships at Harvard University. They wish to thank Robert Rosenthal for advice, Peter L. Rogers for technical assistance and Myron Wish for valuable criticisms of an earlier draft.     

Children's understanding of the interpersonal consequences of dissemblance of nonverbal emotional-expressive behavior

Eighty-five children in three age groups (6–7, 10–11, and 13–14 years) participated in an interview study in which their beliefs were elicited about how others are likely to react when one presents an emotional front. They also responded to questions about (a) their preference for adults versus peers as targets of genuine emotional expressiveness, (b) expected outcomes for children who either almost never reveal their feelings or who almost always do, and (c) how they construct a balance for themselves between when to reveal their real feelings and when not to. Age and sex differences were found for some social contexts and not for others. The oldest girls stood out on a number of comparisons as a unique group: They were more likely to believe that dissembled expressions would be taken at face value in a couple of social contexts, they were more likely to prefer peers as the recipients of genuine emotional-expressive displays, and they gave more complex reasoning about how to achieve a balance between dissemblance and expression of genuine feelings. The data are discussed from the standpoint of how naive theories of emotion are used by children to make sense of their social relations.I would like to express my appreciation to the children and staff of Rohnert Park School District for participating in this investigation. I also want to thank Jane Weiskopf for her help in interviewing the children and Michael Crowley for his undertaking of the statistical analyses.     

The influence of nonverbal cues associated with looking behavior on young children's mentalistic attributions

The ability of children to use looking behavior as a cue to guide their mentalistic attributions was assessed. In Experiment 1 video displays were presented in which a protagonist faced one of two potential goals, half of the time standing equidistant from both targets and in the remaining trials standing closer to the target not being faced. Preschoolers consistently based their inferences of another's attention and goal on the direction in which the protagonist was facing. However, in Experiments 2 and 3 preschoolers experienced difficulty in correctly inferring an actor's desired goal when the protagonist's body was oriented in a direction opposite of where she was looking. Under these conditions, only young elementary school children consistently inferred that the protagonist's goal was the target being looked at (Experiment 2). The results from these three studies suggest that an important development occurring in childhood is the ability to consistently distinguish gaze from body orientation when inferring the goals of another. The implications of this development for children's understanding of the mind are discussed.     

Familiarity effects in nonverbal understanding: Recognizing our own facial expressions and our friends'

In this study we explored how individuals' private expressions are interpreted by the self, same-sex friends, and strangers. Videotapes were made of participants as they watched pleasant, unpleasant, and unusual slides. Approximately a year later, the tapes were shown to the participant, a same-sex friend, another participant, and the other participant's friend. Judges were able to read the facial expressions at levels of accuracy that were significantly greater than chance. They were no better at reading familiar targets (themselves or their friends) than unfamiliar ones (strangers), with only one exception (men were better at recognizing the reactions of familiar targets than unfamiliar targets viewing pleasant slides). In their abilities to understand nonverbal cues, female friends showed resemblances to each other on all accuracy measures (pleasant/unpleasant/unusual X familiar/unfamiliar). Male friends resembled each other only in their understanding of the reactions of unfamiliar men viewing unpleasant slides.This research was supported in part by an NSF grant and an NIMH Research Scientist Development Award to the second author. We thank Charles Frohman and Laura Yamhure for their help with this research.     

On the difference between verbal and nonverbal behavior

Language theorists have often proposed lists of the defining properties of language. This account reviews some of these and offers as an alternative a three-item list consisting of instructional control, equivalence classes, and autoclitic processes.

     

A test of equilibrium theory: Effects of topic intimacy and proximity on verbal and nonverbal behavior in pairs of friends and strangers

This experiment examined verbal and nonverbal behavior by pairs of female friends and strangers as they discussed either intimate or nonintimate topics at face-to-face distances of approximately 2.5 or 4.5 feet. On the basis of equilibrium theory and Altman and Taylor's (1973) theory about interpersonal exchange, strangers were expected to react to intimate topics or close proximity or both with discomfort and decreased affiliative behavior (facial regard, gesturing, speech). Friends were expected to show increased affiliative behavior. Results indicated that both strangers and friends showed signs of discomfort and low levels of affiliative behavior while discussing intimate topics, i.e.compensation. Discomfort with intimate topics and compensation decreased over time, indicatingadaptation. This finding suggests that compensation for intimate topics may occur only during the initial phases of an encounter.     

中学生异性交往问题浅析

绝大多数中学生都和异性有过交往,都有异性朋友.中学生在异性交往的过程中,要注意避免不敢交往和过密交往两个误区.老师和家长要正确引导.     

Nonverbal cues employed in discriminating between disabled persons and actors

Undergraduate subjects were seen to accurately discriminate between simulating actors and genuinely disabled males confined to wheelchairs. Judgments were based on skill in manipulating the wheelchair, poorer muscular development of the disabled, and on appearance of clothing. Implications for research on the disabled employing actors was discussed.This study was supported by a grant from the York University Faculty of Arts awarded to the first two authors. The project was performed as the third author's Honours thesis. The authors wish to thank all participants for their cooperation and assistance in making this research possible. The authors also wish to thank Gail Kenyon, Coordinator of the Centre for Handicapped Students who helped recruit participants for the videotaping and to Lucie Cantrell, Executive Officer of the York University Counselling and Development Centre who arranged for the use of the Centre's facilities and equipment.     

Individual differences in the nonverbal communication of affect: The diagnostic analysis of nonverbal accuracy scale

The Diagnostic Analysis of Nonverbal Accuracy (DANVA) was designed to measure individual differences in the accurate sending and receiving of nonverbal social information. The DANVA consists of four receptive and three expressive subtests that measure nonverbal processing accuracy in children from 6 to 10 years of age. Four propositions were offered to guide the gathering of construct validity data for the DANVA. In support of the propositions, researchers found that DANVA accuracy scores increased with age, were internally consistent and reliable over time, and snowed significant relationships with indices of personal and social adjustment and academic achievement but were not related to IQ. Evidence for construct validity was stronger for receptive, as compared to expressive, subtests. Future research should include additional populations of subjects and study of the impact of intensity of emotion being sent or received.     

Disliking friends of friends in schools: How positive and negative ties can co-occur in large numbers

Current network scholarship does not explain why negative and positive ties both frequently occur in large numbers in some settings, such as schools. In the present paper, I argue that this can happen when people disproportionately send negative ties to socially close individuals (‘friends of friends’). I propose a new theory—‘intensity theory’—which argues that disliking ties disproportionately occur between friends of friends in ‘intense foci’. Intense foci are settings that concentrate social relations, and in which other people are difficult to avoid. I draw on a mixed-methods case study of a boarding school and several strands of literature to substantiate the theory. In so doing, I offer a new mechanism for the initial appearance of disliking ties, propose a contextual approach to balance theory and networks in general, and suggest a more complex view of the link between positive and negative ties.     

'Instruments', 'employees', 'companions', 'social assets': understanding relationships between persons with disabilities and their assistants in japan

In Japan, as in other advanced industrial societies, user-helper relationships shaped by the Independent Living Movement have gradually been taking root. In this study, we interviewed 31 Center for Independent Living (CIL) consumers in Japan in order to explore the nature of the relationship between persons with disabilities influenced by IL ideals and their assistants. Interviews revealed three significant dimensions to the relationship—one functional, one interpersonal and one collective. The functional dimension of the relationship was expressed in a characterization of assistants as 'instruments', the interpersonal dimension in their characterization as 'employees' (a task-orientated aspect) and 'companions' (a socio-emotional aspect), and the collective dimension in the characterization of assistants as 'social assets'—individuals without disabilities who understand the ideals and demands of independent living. Participant responses also form the basis of our discussion of theoretical and practical implications for the building of user-helper relationships based within a user-centred agency in the context of Japanese medical and social services.     

Models of reactions to changes in nonverbal immediacy

This paper examined the similarities and differences among several models of nonverbal exchange. In that context, an experiment was conducted to test one specific explanation — the violations of expectations model. Immediacy and reward level (manipulated in terms of friend or stranger pairs) were factorially combined in dyads. A broad range of behavioral, arousal, and impression measures were taken. In general, the results of the experiment showed a dominant pattern of reciprocity to increased immediacy, especially on various evaluative measures. In contrast, compensatory responses were much less common in response to increased immediacy and when they occurred were primarily found on measures related to sensory stimulation and comfort. Although these results provided some limited support for the violations of expectations model, the same results were also consistent with some predictions from alternate models.