Visual Communication & Social Interaction John Short, Ederyn Williams, Bruce Christie

Dr. Ederyn Williams After doing his MA (Natural Sciences) at Cambridge, and his D.Phil in Psychology at Oxford, he spent seven years as a researcher at University College London, Cambridge University and Johns Hopkins. He then joined British Telecom, where he spent 13 years managing new businesses in software, cable television, online data retrieval and telephone information services. In 1991 he became Managing Director of University of Leeds Innovations Ltd, which grew to a £7 million company with 30 associate and spin-off companies under his management. He joined the University of Warwick in April 2000, to found Warwick Ventures.

Citation John Short, Ederyn Williams and Bruce Christie, "Visual Communication and Social Interaction", The Social Psychology of Telecommunications, 1976, London: John Wiley & Sons, pp John Short, Ederyn Williams and Bruce Christie, "Visual Communication and Social Interaction", Readings in Groupware and Computer-Supported Cooperative Work: Assisting in Human-Human Collaboration, R.M. Baecker (Ed.), 1993, San Mateo, CA: Morgan Kaufmann, pp (Republication of book chapter.)

Role of “Medium” in Communication Process Physically present Audio contact: increases distance and reduces eye-contact Visual feedback

Functions of Non-Verbal Cues (Argyle) 1. Integrational aspects: regulates the interaction process Mutual Attention & Responsiveness Channel Control Feedback 2. Informational: passage of information Illustrations Emblems Interpersonal Attitude

Principal Role of the Visual Channel The provision of feedback on interpersonal attitudes: Distance: attitudes, selective attention, disposition of speaker Orientation: side by side vs. opposite With telephone & video links, proximity becomes blurred Physical Appearance

Principal Role of the Visual Channel Posture: source of information about personality & mood Facial Expressions: elaborate or modify the total message Eye Gaze

Information conveyed by visual non- verbal channels Signals that the communicator does not want to express verbally e.g. boredom, out of time Unconscious communication: head nods, smiles

Multi-Channel Communication Bisensory perception task: improves the chances of detecting difficult stimuli e.g. insincerity Substitution between signals: voice volume, verbal pauses e.g. ‘um’, ‘ah’

Discussion How much does affective interaction play a role in communicating effective cognitive information?