Nonverbal Clues Research Articles

Disabled people get the message: Non-verbal clues to the nature of social work

Abstract The focus of this article is the specific, everyday ways in which people with disabilities experience discrimination and frustration, and the practical measures ranging from the concrete (ramps) to the prcedural (enforced equal opportunities and anti-discriminatory policies) required.

Nonverbal disturbances attributed to the schizophrenic psychoses

The disturbances of expression and reception of nonverbal clues in patients diagnosed as schizophrenic are reviewed. Their functional significance is identified as a series of deficits in encoding and decoding the contextual information as well as nonverbal clues relevant to the encoding and decoding of meaning in discourse. The functional relationship between decoding and encoding defects is explored. A suggestion is made about the relationship between such defects and the development of some delusional ideas.

Learning to listen and speak

Dorothy Grant Hennings Department of Education Kean College of New Jersey Union, New Jersey N ancy Walker, as a diner-operator who extols the virtues of paper towels, is a familiar figure to most American television viewers. Faced with an awkward customer who knocks over a coffee-filled cup, Nancy expertly mops up the mess, simultaneously expressing her displeasure with a grimace but indicating little damage has been done by her matter-of-fact, business-like manner and tone of voice. The customer's initial concern at causing the accident is apparent in his face and body, but he visibly relaxes when he perceives that Nancy is taking the accident in stride. His gestures become more expansive, his frown is replaced by a smile, and his body tensions loosen. In a less familiar TV ad, Paul Lynde plays the role of an irate and complaining bank customer who is determined to think the worst about bank services. He screws up his mouth, pouts, sneers, glares, agitates, points, snarls, walks with an air of disgust, showing clearly with face, body, and voice that he is out to find fault. As he leaves the bank, his face and body show just as clearly that the bank has won this skirmish that Paul Lynde's fault-finding was unwarranted. As these examples suggest, messages conveyed with face, body, and voice are an integral part of television commercials. Ad writers and actors have long known that what is nonverbally oftentimes communicates with greater impact than what is said with words and that nonverbal language is a fundamental component of the communication process. Only in recent years however, has there been widespread realization within the educational community of the significance of nonverbal language in speaking and listening and realization that nonverbal clues can be used as purposefully to create an impression in everyday conversations as they are in the world of advertising. Language arts and English teachers, charged with particular responsibility to help children and youth build and refine oral language skills, are becoming more and more aware that the way people move and hold their bodies, the signals their eyes transmit, the tonal qualities of their voices, the distances they maintain between themselves and others, the speed with which they react, and even the way they handle silence are significant determinants of the effectiveness of oral communication. Teachers are becoming aware, too, that ability to perceive nonverbal clues and to use these to regulate conversation may determine whether people fully comprehend messages heard and whether social interaction proceeds smoothly.

Elementary School Counseling with Unstructured Play Media

The need for utilizing unstructured play media in counseling with elementary school children is discussed. The suggestion is made that through play activities the child learns ways of operating in social situations, tests various roles, and expresses his frustrations and concerns. Limiting the child to verbal expression in counseling is seen as being as inappropriate as limiting an adult to the use of puppets. The elementary school counselor's use of play in counseling is designed to facilitate the expression and communication of the normal child rather than to provide data for analytical purposes. Responses to verbal and nonverbal clues, therefore, include reflection and summarization more often than interpretation. Advantages of unstructured over structured materials are discussed; illustrations show the need children feel for amorphous materials in communicating feelings.