1. NON-VERBAL COMMUNICATION
G C S E P S Y C H O L O G Y

2. Words and more than words
“I can’t do this.”
Say this phrase in as many different ways as you can.
Did you try emphasising different words?
Which ones?
Did you try using different tones of voice?
Did you use pauses, facial expressions or body language?
Well done!

3. Minor things of major importance
When communicating in person we may notice how a person looks, their posture, how loud they are speaking, the hand gestures they may be using, their facial expressions, the amount of eye contact they are making, how close they are standing to us, etc.
Research evidence has suggested that words actually provide 7% of the information communicated, while the person’s face gives us 55% and their tone of voices offers 38%.

4. Non-verbal communication
It is the term used to describe literally how we communicate without using words.
It serves a number of social purposes:
To signal emotional states – placing your arm around somebody’s shoulders to show concern.
To signal attitudes - standing with your arms folded to show that you disagree or that you are cross.
To help speech – by using tone or volume to emphasise meaning.
In place of speech – using gestures such as a sigh (“oh, for goodness’ sake”) or a shrug of the shoulders (“I don’t know”).

5. When words fail, so can hands
Is non-verbal communication standardised?
Or does it vary between…
friends and acquaintances?
men and women?
old and young?
different cultural groups?
Hence, it is impossible to provide a non-verbal dictionary as accurate and precise as a normal one.

6. Body-language
Body-language is a general term for any non-verbal signals using parts of our body.
E.g. posture, hand gestures, proxemics, touch.
POSTURE: It involves the whole body and is a good signal of general attitude. One stands with one’s legs apart and arms folded to show annoyance or aggression. A way of showing defeat or resignation is to slouch forward, with head bowed and arms hanging by one’s sides.

7. Body-language
P O S T U R E

8. Body-language
HAND GESTURES: They are actions made with our hands and arms. We may turn our palm upwards to signal “I haven’t a clue”, we may show a fist to signal hostility or we may hold a hand up in front of another person with the palm toward their face to signal “stop”.
PROXEMICS: (how close we stand to someone)
We all need our personal space, but the distance we stand from another person can vary according to the relationship we have with them.

9. Body-language
HAND GESTURES PROXEMICS

10. Body-language
TOUCH: Touch can be used to show concern by putting a hand on someone’s arm. The arm of someone with high status, placed around the shoulders of someone of lower status, may signal inclusion.

11. Can you identify the body language signals?

12. Facial expressions
They are probably the most important part of non-verbal communication, especially as we tend to look at the face of the person we are communicating with.
Human faces have more than 40 different muscles, so they are very mobile and can produce a vast variety of facial expressions.
There are six facial expressions identified
by all cultures:
Happiness Surprise Fear
Sadness Anger Disgust

13. Facial expressions
Many facial expressions are universal, but some depend on the cultural context.
E.g. we quickly raise and then lower our eyebrows when we recognise somebody from a distance and cannot speak to them. In Japan, however, it is considered indecent!
Some facial expressions can also be used deceptively – smiling, for example. One may smile because one is happy, but one can also smile out of embarrassment. Or sarcastically.

15. Let’s discuss how successful
this
chart
is.

16. Social learning theory & non-verbal communication
How does one learn non-verbal behaviours?
Darwin claimed that some of them are innate: fear or pleasure or anger. But what about arms akimbo? Or thumbs up?
Social learning theory (remember Bandura and the Bobo doll?) suggests that we observe people around us and imitate their behaviour – including any non-verbal behaviour patterns.

17. Social learning theory & non-verbal communication
Baby behaviour: have you ever poked your tongue out at a baby? Very often they will poke their own tongue at you. Studies have indicated that very young babies can imitate the facial expressions they see, so one could claim that children are almost pre-programmed to imitate non-verbal behaviours.
As children we have all at first learned from our parents or guardians, perhaps from siblings, and later on from other children. Seeing, imitating and learning any kind of behaviour can be reinforced or punished. (Remember operant conditioning?)

18. Reinforcement and punishment
POSITIVE REINFORCEMENT. Imagine: if your teacher gives you £5 each time you complete your homework (i.e. a reward), you will be more likely to repeat this behavior in the future, thus strengthening the behavior of completing your homework.
NEGATIVE REINFORCEMENT. Imagine: if you do not complete your homework, you give your teacher £5. You will complete your homework to avoid paying £5, thus strengthening the behavior of completing your homework.

19. Reinforcement and punishment
PUNISHMENT. Imagine: if a child does not follow directions or acts inappropriately, the teacher reprimands them in front of their classmates (OR they are removed from a class they particularly enjoy).
Remember: reinforcement is aimed at increasing the future frequency of some desired behaviour, whereas punishment at decreasing the future frequency of some undesired behaviour.

20. Cultural variations in non-verbal communication
There are many cultural variations in non-verbal communication. (Is this an indication that non-verbal communication is innate or learned?)
E.g. The categories of proxemics (intimate-personal-social-public distance) can vary significantly.
Non-contact cultures (e.g. Asian) prefer to have little or no contact, so are comfortable with a personal space of 4m and over.
Low-contact cultures (e.g. northern European) favour little physical contact, so prefer 1m-4m of personal space.
High-contact cultures (e.g. Mediterranean) are quite comfortable with lots of physical contact, so prefer a space of just over 1m.

21. Cultural variations in non-verbal communication
Some more variations:
Non-verbal behaviour
Cultural variations
Arms
Some cultures (e.g. Italians) use arms freely to gesticulate. Other cultures (e.g. Japanese) consider it impolite.
Facial expressions
They are usual in North America and Europe, but in Asian cultures it is common for people to try to remain expressionless, as they consider it rude to express emotion in public.
Thumbs-up
Although in Europe it is used to communicate “OK” or “Good job”, it is considered an insult in some Middle Eastern countries and West Africa.

22. Criticisms of the social learning theory
Some of our non-verbal behaviours seem to be spontaneous, while some are under our cognitive control. (looking tearful or afraid)
Sometimes our non-verbal behaviour is not reinforced, but we still go on doing it. (angry slam)
There are occasions when we might try to behave in one way, but our non-verbal behaviour communicates something different. (fear, lying)
Sometimes people learn non-verbal behaviours by direct instruction rather than observation. (stop slouching!)

23. Alternative theory: evolutionary approach
Even though there are many cultural variations of non-verbal behaviours, some are demonstrated across all cultures.
Evolutionary theory suggests that we inherit behaviours and traits that have the function of helping us survive, hence allowing us to pass our genes down to the next generation.
In 1872 Darwin claimed that facial expressions can convey some fundamental emotions, understood by all humans. E.g. smiling shows lack of hostility.

24. Alternative theory: evolutionary approach
In 1971 a study provided evidence to show that the six main emotional expressions (anger, happiness, fear, sadness, surprise, disgust) are universally understood.

25. Alternative theory: evolutionary approach
Survival:
Animals show their aggression by baring their teeth or growling, but they rarely fight to the death. They show their hostility through non-verbal behaviours. Humans may act in a similar way by staring at a potential opponent, clenching their jaws and flaring their nostrils. This is usually enough to ward off an enemy so that both survive.

26. Core study: Yuki et al. (2007)
NOT TOO HAPPY 

27. Core study: Yuki et al. (2007)
Facial expressions are our main way of showing how we feel, so it is important that we can interpret other people’s facial expressions.
Recent research has shown that people from different cultures interpret facial expressions in a different way.
AIM: To investigate how American and Japanese participants interpreted the happy/sad emoticons; to see how American and Japanese participants interpreted the combinations of eyes and mouths taken from the happy and sad faces of real individuals.

28. Core study: Yuki et al. (2007)
PROCEDURE:
Task1 – the participants were asked to rate some emoticons on a scale from very sad (1) to very happy (9).
Task2 – the participants were shown faces on a screen and were asked to rate them (using the same scale from task1).

29. Core study: Yuki et al. (2007)

30. Core study: Yuki et al. (2007)
RESULTS:
Task1 – Japanese participants rated the happy-eye emoticons more happy than Americans. Americans rated the happy-mouth emoticons more happy than the Japanese.
Task2 – The results indicated that the Japanese participants focused more on the eyes when asked to judge facial expressions, whereas the American participants focused more on the mouth.

31. Core study: Yuki et al. (2007)
CONCLUSION: The Japanese participants used eyes as a major cue to judge emotions, while the American participants based their judgements on the mouth. The emoticons that combined contradicting emotions (e.g. happy eyes & sad mouth) provide the strongest support.
LIMITATIONS:
Ecological validity: The first part of the study used emoticons, which differ from human faces. The second part used real photographs that had been broken into parts and reassembled. Using whole faces would have provided a more realistic study.

32. Core study: Yuki et al. (2007)
LIMITATIONS:
Rating scales: The participants were given a limited choice for their answers (happy or sad). Had they been given the option, perhaps they would have gone for different answers, such as confused or annoyed. Thus, the way the data was collected may have affected the results.
Reliable results: The participants were shown 60 faces during task2. They may have lost interest toward the end and their responses could thus be regarded as unreliable.

33. Applications of research
SOCIAL SKILLS TRAINING
Some children with autism find it impossible to learn and understand non-verbal communication. They often misread social cues and may be unaware of how others feel, since they cannot read their body language (or they misinterpret it). E.g. they may stand too close to someone or provide hardly any eye contact.
Evidence to support that social skills can be learned comes from the way some autistic children are supported in learning appropriate behaviour. Teachers are provided as non-verbal behaviour role-models and children imitate these behaviours even though they may not understand why they are suitable.

34. Applications of research
MANAGING CONFLICT
THROUGH BODY LANGUAGE
How might you feel in the following situations?
A person stands in front of you with their chest puffed out and their arms folded, legs slightly apart, staring at you with a fixed gaze.
A person starts to shout at you, pointing their index finger at you and staring into your eyes.
A person starts to try to explain something to you in a loud and hostile voice while banging their fist down on the table in front of them.

35. Applications of research
MANAGING CONFLICT
THROUGH BODY LANGUAGE
Intimidation and hostility (verbal as well as non-verbal) most often bring out two options in people: staying and fighting or walking away (aka fight or flight).
Both options usually rule out listening calmly to what is being said, because the feelings of anxiety they generate are obstacles to communication and compromise.
Thus, when one wishes his interlocutor to be willing to listen (e.g. when voicing a complaint or disagreement), then the appropriate body language should be used:
Neutral facial expression, maybe a smile, calm voice, maintaining polite social distance, etc.