NVC WORKBOOK

NAT 5 PSYCHOLOGY

Name _____________________________

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For the topic of non-verbal communication (NVC), candidates must be able to:

describe types of NVC, which must include the functions of: — eye contact — facial expression — body language

describe and explain the contribution of nature and nurture to NVC, which must include: — personal space Version 2.0 7 — cultural differences — universal types of NVC — gender differences — status differences

describe the main aims, method/procedure and results of a study relating to: — nature in NVC — nurture in NVC

explain one strength and one weakness of the studies used

Non-Verbal Communication

Non-verbal communication is when we communicate without using language.

Often, we are unaware that we are communicating in this way.This is a type of social behaviour. Social Behaviour can be the result of the influences of both nature and nurture.

Social psychology is particularly interested in the role of nurture. This includes the influence of others on our behaviour, the time and place in which we live (our culture) and the social rules and values by which we live our lives.

Paralanguage

Paralanguage is not about what you say but the way that you say it. Paralanguage consists of vocal features that accompany speech, (how loud, slow, fast, quiet etc)

We use paralanguage to give extra meaning to what we are saying. Think about the last time you said “sorry” to

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someone (or they said “sorry” to you). The person you were speaking to could probably judge whether you meant it or not based on your paralanguage.Paralanguage gives important non-verbal cues about the meaning and emotion behind what someone is saying.

This is why emails, texts and Facebook messages are often misunderstood – how often have you got a text message from a friend and wondered exactly what they mean? Think again about the word “sorry” – have you ever had a text from someone saying sorry and wondered if they really meant it?

Written messages have no NVC cues - this is also why some people use emoticons in these types of message.

Complete the following table to show your understanding of some aspects of NVC. The first one has been completed for you.

Emotion/Attitude How might the person’s face look?

Describe their bodily posture.

Happiness Mouth turned upwards at corners, cheeks raised, eyes slightly narrowed, wrinkle lines on skin around eyes.

Probably head lifted or maybe thrown back a little -body relaxed with shoulders back eyes looking at source of enjoyment.

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Sadness

Anger

Fear

Disgust

Surprise

Key Concepts – Body Language – Gestures, Posture and Facial Expressions

Task! – Write a definition under each of these three key concepts. Give some examples of each

Gestures:

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Posture:

Facial Expression:

Cultural Differences

Cultural ExplanationsThroughout the history of humans they have migrated (moved around) the world. As some groups drifted apart and new groups came together, these groups developed their own ways of doing things. These ways are what we call CULTURE – this is not the same as country. It has been found that the more isolated a group becomes from other groups, the bigger their differences became. This also happened with NVC. Many features of NVC

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are universal (such as the universal facial expressions) but some are different from culture to culture. So – what means one thing here might mean something completely different in another culture.

Explain three cultural differences in non-verbal communication are, give examples of differences in NVC in countries.

1.

2.

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THE EVOLUTIONARY THEORY

Task! - To recap the principles of The Evolutionary Theory, answer the questions below.

1. Who developed the Evolutionary Theory and what are the principles of this Theory?

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

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………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

2. Give two examples of behaviours that humans have evolved to do?

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

The Evolutionary Theory of Non-Verbal CommunicationThe idea that our behavior has evolved over time and that our behaviors are

instinctive (so natural, we are born with them).

• The Evolutionary Theory of NVC suggests we do not learn non-verbal communication. This theory claims all NVC is natural – just human nature.

They also claim that all NVC has a biological link.

• Humans are governed by __________________

• Humans naturally want to _________________

• Over time humans evolve and pass on behaviours that promote

___________________ and _________________

• Evolutionary theory therefore argues that our gestures and expressions are

used for survival and reproductive purposes.

FUNCTIONS OF NON-VERBAL COMMUNICATION

Task! – Complete the table below by providing examples of behaviours that support the functions of NVC

Examples of NVC:

Warding off possible enemies

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Reducing conflict or threats

Allowing people to cooperate so that they can survive

Allowing people to flirt with each other

Making a person appealing to the opposite sex

Help people communicate when in a relationship

Non-Verbal Communication – Core Study (CS) – Yuki et al (2007)Task! –

Complete the summary table below on Yuki et al’s study.

Aim:

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Sample:

Procedure:

Findings:

Task! –

Below are three limitations of Yuki et al’s study. Complete the table below by explaining why these limitations are weaknesses, giving as much detail as you can.

Criticism Explain in more detail why this is a weakness of the study…

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“They only tested the NVC of students.”

“They used emoticon faces in the study and not real, human faces.”

“The rating scale was very fixed and didn’t allow the students to give more explanation for their answers if they

wanted to.”

Non-Verbal Communication – Core Study – Friesen and Ekman (1971)

Task! - Complete the summary table below on the Ekman and Friesen

Aim:

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Sample:

Procedure:

Findings:

UNIVERSAL FACIAL EXPRESSIONS

Before the 1960s it was believed that around the world a smile could mean happy in one country and angry in another. What problems might this cause?

Paul Ekman – Psychologist

Paul Ekman is an American psychologist who is a pioneer in the study of emotions and their relation to facial expressions. He has created an "atlas of emotions" with more than ten thousand facial expressions and has gained a reputation as "the best human lie detector in the world".

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Eckman & Frisen (1969) had photographs of white Americans each with different facial expressions which he showed to participants from five different countries: Chile, Argentina, Brazil, USA and Japan.In all five countries he found that the people attached the same emotion to the same facial expression. Over the next few years he carried out the same research in 21 more countries with the same results. He said that his results showed that all humans share common facial expressions no matter where they live – they are culturally universal. The universal facial expressions identified by Ekman were –

Happiness Sadness Anger Fear Surprise Disgust Interest

There was some argument about Ekman and Friesen’s interpretation of their results because all the cultures they compared had access to similar mass media portrayals of facial expressions.

EvaluationStrengths

South Fore people had never seen TV and had very limited contact with Caucasian people before so could not have identified expressions in either of these ways.

A large sample was used. Supports previous research by Ekman and others. Is further supported by research which has been conducted on blind and

sighted children who show the same facial expressions.Weaknesses

Not a lab experiment so harder to control extraneous variables. Other research does not support this e.g. Smith & Bond (1993) argued that

very few emotions are really universal and Matsumoto (1989) found that Japanese people struggled to identify negative emotions. This may have been because of cultural differences – it is less acceptable to display negative emotions in Japan than in other cultures.

Ey e Contact

DID YOU KNOW?When two people are having a conversation, they look at the other person twice as much when they are listening as when they are talking. Each look usually lasts 3 to 7 seconds. Eye contact usually lasts 1 to 3 seconds.

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Eye movements in conversation usually happen automatically. We are almost unaware that they are happening and yet eye movements have very important functions.We use them in several ways: To show interest – if we look at someone when they are talking to us

this indicates that we are interested in what they are saying. When we see the other person has finished speaking, we know that is our cue for us to speak.

To show dominance – think about staring someone down. To show attraction – when we look at someone we like, our pupils

dilate (get larger). It also makes us look more attractive. Lying – some people find it very difficult to maintain eye contact while

lying. On the other hand, skilled liars make very definite eye contact while lying.

Task – Complete the summary test on the study by Hess (1963)

Aim:

Sample:

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Procedure:

Findings:

Example Question.

Q1. Describe how the Evolutionary Theory explains non-verbal communication. (4 marks)

Q2.

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Explain one limitation of Yuki et al’s study (2 marks)

Q3. Describe the procedure used in Yuki et al (2007) study into cross-cultural differences in interpreting facial expressions. (3 marks)

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