Conversational remembering.

A survey on generative nonverbal facial behavior for highly realistic embodied agents

Fidgeting and first impressions: The impact of nonverbal cues on personality perception.

ABSTRACT This case study addresses claims about nonverbal behaviors promoted, until relatively recently, by the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE), an anti-fraud training organization representing over 90,000 practitioners globally. We assess whether those claims are (in)consistent with research findings, examine the potential adverse consequences of quietly moving away from pseudoscientific practices, propose strategies for how organizations should address individuals they previously trained with unfounded and debunked claims, and how to stay up to date with best practices in the future. We conclude by encouraging organizations to remain vigilant in seeking evidence of the effectiveness of their current practices and to apply critical thinking when adopting new training and programs.

The aim of this study is to analyze verbal and non-verbal communication in an English as a Foreign Language (EFL) classroom by using the Sinclair and Coulthard (1975) model of classroom discourse. Although many studies have examined verbal interaction in EFL classrooms, few have discussed how verbal and non-verbal communication work together to support effective learning. To fill this gap, this research focuses on identifying the types and frequency of verbal and non-verbal communication used by the teacher and students during classroom interaction. This study used a descriptive qualitative method. The data were taken from an 80-minute video recording of an eleventh-grade English class at MAS Darul Quran. The recording was transcribed and analyzed based on Sinclair and Coulthard’s framework, which includes three main levels: Exchange (Informing, Directive, Question–Answer), Move (Initiation, Response, Feedback), and Act (Questioning, Explaining, Agreeing, Refusing, Revising, Appraising). The findings show that the classroom interaction was mainly teacher-centered. The teacher dominated the talk through Initiation moves, mostly in the form of questions, explanations, and instructions, while students gave short and simple responses. Feedback was used less often and mostly as short praise or confirmation. The teacher also used various non-verbal behaviors such as gestures, eye contact, movement, and changes in voice tone to direct attention and motivate students. The results suggest that combining verbal and non-verbal strategies can create a more interactive and engaging classroom atmosphere that supports student participation and understanding.

IntroductionThe emergency department (ED) is a setting where communication occurs often and with potential consequences for patient care. In this study we sought to determine nurse and physician perspectives on the nature and implications of effective and ineffective communication in the ED.MethodsWe used a mixed-methods design, including an online survey followed by in-person focus groups with emergency nurses (EN) and emergency physicians (EP). Participants were recruited through email listserves to emergency staff at four hospitals. We integrated quantitative survey results with focus-group themes.ResultsA total of 115 eligible ENs and EPs completed the initial questionnaire (50% response rate from ENs, 65% response rate from EPs). Responses from nurses and physicians were similar; both noted that poor communication is frequent, adversely affects patient care and ED function, affects trust, particularly between individuals, and that non-verbal communication behaviors affect team communication. In the focus groups (consisting of 18 EPs and 17 ENs), six themes emerged: 1) Situations, built physical environment, and medium of communications all impact quality of communication; 2) core elements of desired professional communication include respect and attention, often conveyed through non-verbal behaviors; 3) poor communication begets poor communication and influences interpersonal relationships; 4) effective communication is seen as fundamental to patient care but also has impacts beyond patient care; 5) clinician gender and gender dyads influence communication dynamics; and 6) participants were able to identify learning activities and techniques for effective communication.ConclusionEmergency nurses and physicians across four EDs described failures of communication as both frequent and significant to patient care. This study identified characteristics of effective communication, complex factors influencing communication, and emphasized the whole-team impact of communication quality.

The study explores the semiotics of facial expressions and body movements as key components in evaluating a person’s emotional state. Emphasizing the communicative function of the body, the research examines how mimics, gestures, posture, gaze behavior, and other nonverbal cues serve as significant markers of internal psychological processes. Through the lens of nonverbal semiotics—including kinesics, proxemics, and prosodic features—the paper analyzes how emotional information is encoded, transmitted, and interpreted across different communicative contexts. The present study aims to create a linguistic portrait of human non-verbal behavior (facial expressions, gestures, body movements, postures, gait, timbre and intonation of speech, as well as spatial characteristics of communication).

Measuring empathy in OSCEs: A comparison of student, standardized patient, and observer rating tools

We examined the effect of a shared storybook reading intervention on the language and communication skills of three male children aged between 61 and 69 months with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). We used a multiple-baseline across participants single case research design. The dependent variables were children’s verbal and non-verbal communicative behaviors (responding to and initiating communication). The independent variables were the use of three natural communication teaching strategies (modeling, mand-model, and time delay). We found that verbal and nonverbal response rates and initiation frequencies improved with use of modeling, mand-model, and time delay strategies. Additionally, the children maintained these skills 2 to 3 weeks after the intervention sessions had ended. Social validity data were collected through interviews with parents and focused on the families’ goals and expectations for the intervention, the procedures of the intervention, and the outcomes obtained at the end of the intervention. Parents expressed high satisfaction regarding the intervention outcomes.

The goal of this review was to identify and summarize technology-assisted methods that assess nonverbal behaviors known to influence the quality of the therapeutic alliance between health care providers and patients in clinical, research, and/or educational settings. Strong therapeutic alliances in health care provider-patient relationships contribute to positive patient outcomes. Previous studies have shown that nonverbal behaviors from providers, such as tone of voice, facial expression, eye contact, and physical positioning, help build strong therapeutic relationships. Technological advances have created opportunities to automate detection and feedback about nonverbal behaviors in clinical interactions without the intervention of highly trained instructors. Automated detection and feedback will increase opportunities to develop better nonverbal communication, which is expected to improve the quality of the therapeutic alliance. Participants were current or aspiring health care providers who routinely would be expected to have patient encounters in clinical, educational, or research settings. Interactions could include actual patient interactions, model patients, virtual patients, or simulated patients. Included studies involved technology-assisted methods to collect and/or analyze at least 1 nonverbal behavior. This review included qualitative and quantitative studies and review articles. PubMed, Embase, CINAHL, ERIC, Scopus, and Google Scholar were searched for published and unpublished literature in English between 2010 and 2023. Two reviewers independently completed title and abstract screening, full-text review, and data extraction. Any conflicts that arose were resolved by a third reviewer. Extraction was completed by 2 reviewers. Twenty-five sources were included. The most frequently measured behaviors included gaze frequency or duration on the patient's face (52% of studies) and facial expression (48%), with 24% of studies measuring social touch or speech patterns, 20% measuring posture and gestures, 12% measuring proximity to patient, 8% measuring synchrony, and 4% measuring voice. Technologies for data collection included audio or video recordings and other technologies such as eye-tracking glasses or multi-functional headsets, used alone or integrated into augmented reality or virtual reality systems. Challenges associated with analyzing data included recognition of patients' and providers' voices, facial features, and body parts, and classifying body posture and movement as well as facial expression and movements. Studies used commercial, open source, or customized software to meet each challenge. Many incorporated machine learning or algorithms associated with artificial intelligence, which required significant training data. Technology-assisted methods for analyzing voice and social touch were limited, whereas there were several available analysis techniques for analyzing synchrony, gestures, posture, and proximity to patients. The use of technology in collection and analysis of provider-patient interactions to enhance nonverbal behaviors and communication skills is rapidly developing, with multiple options for the collection and analysis of nonverbal behaviors. Future efforts should focus on technology-assisted methods to analyze voice and social touch and should transparently report contributing factors and training data for machine learning models or AI-associated algorithms. Development of systems will require significant testing to ensure accessibility to the intended audience and broadly accurate and meaningful nonverbal behaviors. OSF (https://osf.io/kedmf).

Using the example of Stephen King's short story “Crouch End”, the article examines verbal and non-verbal means (their linguistic representation), reflecting the state of altered consciousness in the text. An analysis of the heroine’s behavior based on the work showed the following typical signs of altered states of consciousness: changes in thinking and speech, the appearance of a non-standard perception of oneself and the world around her, the appearance of deep feelings and emotions, loss of self-control, and increased imagery of perception of what is happening. Lexical units with negative semantics of anxiety and terror (fear, terror) are distinguished as verbal means. At the linguistic level, the altered states of consciousness in the story is expressed through verbal nominations, such as words and idioms with the meaning of fear and the technique of parcel. Altered states of consciousness is also reflected through the use of non-verbal language categories. Among them are controlled non-verbal communications: phonetic, tactile, proximal, pantomimic, miremic. Linguistic categories of psychophysiological reactions, such as trembling and stupor, play a special role in describing a stressful state. The article concludes that the state of altered consciousness in the main character of S. King’s short story “Crouch End” is represented by both verbal means and linguistic representation of controlled and uncontrolled types of non-verbal behavior.

This paper is entitled A Cognitive–Pragmatic Analysis of Behaviour Strategies Used in a Selected English TV Talk Show: A Case Study of Piers Morgan. Behaviour strategies play a central role in shaping the interaction within the talk show; therefore, the researchers adopt Bruno Bara’s Behaviour Games model to examine these strategies from a cognitive–pragmatic perspective. The study sets out several key objectives. First, to investigate whether all elements of behaviour strategies are employed throughout the conversation. Second, to explore how nonverbal behaviour—such as laughter and applause—function cognitively in maintaining conversational dynamics. Third, to conduct a comprehensive analysis of the cognitive behavioural strategies exhibited by the guest. A qualitative approach was employed to guide the research process. Following the analysis of the selected English TV talk show, the researchers concluded that all components of behaviour strategies were present during the interaction. Nonverbal behaviour, particularly laughter and applause, play significant cognitive and pragmatic roles in sustaining the flow and rhythm of the conversation. Applause, in particular, serves as a form of social feedback, conveying appreciation, acceptance, or approval. The significance of this study lies in its novel application of Bruno Bara’s Behaviour Games model, grounded in his theory Cognitive Pragmatics: The Mental States of Communication. To date, this framework has not been applied to a cognitively pragmatic analysis of English-language talk shows, marking this research as a unique contribution to the field.

Abstract This study investigates the pragmatic functions of custom WhatsApp stickers, with a particular focus on those integrating images and text. Building on prior research, the study develops a classification scheme that highlights three core dimensions: the sender’s intention, the sticker-centred act of communication, and the audience’s interpretation of its meaning. The analysis is based on a corpus of 598 user-generated stickers from Spanish WhatsApp conversations, comprising 496 multimodal and 102 text-only stickers. The analysis reveals that stickers predominantly serve to clarify or emphasise the sender’s intention (56.9%), including self-representation, social status, group identity, and humour. A second set of functions is related to the sticker’s role in the act of communication (24.67%), such as substituting text, conveying emotion, and mimicking nonverbal behaviour. Lastly, stickers play a part in audience inference (18.41%), helping to soften, challenge, or elucidate messages, thereby enhancing overall message clarity.

Six dimensions associated with socialization and affected in Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) are analyzed through a systematic review using the PRISMA methodology of 33 studies from the last five years. Deficits in sensory perception and emotion, social cognition, central coherence, theory of mind, intersubjectivity and executive functions are explored. These areas are related to the difficulties in socioemotional reciprocity, nonverbal behaviors, and interpersonal relationships noted in the DSM-5-TR. The findings confirm that impairments in these dimensions impact social adaptation. Given the heterogeneity of ASD and childhood neuroplasticity, the need for early, individualized, and comprehensive interventions, involving the family and school and using play to promote social development and autonomy, is emphasized.

This study examines the emotional dynamics of the main character in Dwi Nur Rahmawati's Leiden and analyzes how these emotions can inform literature teaching within the Merdeka Curriculum. Employing a descriptive mixed-methods design, the research integrates qualitative literary psychology analysis with quantitative frequency mapping. Data were collected through systematic reading, identification of emotional expressions, structured recording, and coding of 76 emotional quotations from the novel. Analysis followed Miles, Huberman, and Saldaña's interactive model to classify emotion types, examine narrative contexts, identify patterns, and interpret pedagogical relevance. The findings revealed three significant patterns. First, sadness emerged as the dominant emotion (18.4%), followed by love and fear (14.5% each) and guilt (11.8%), indicating the protagonist's psychological vulnerability characteristic of adolescent development. Second, nonverbal behavior (39.5%) and author narration (35.5%) appeared more frequently than dialogue (25%), demonstrating a "show, don't tell" characterization strategy requiring inferential reading. Third, complex emotions appeared in 10.5% of instances, exclusively through author narration, reflecting psychological nuance demanding higher-order interpretation. These emotional patterns are pedagogically relevant because they mirror adolescents' socioemotional experiences and provide opportunities for developing empathy, emotional literacy, and analytical reading skills. The findings demonstrate that emotional analysis can serve as a foundation for designing character-oriented literature activities aligned with Phase F learning outcomes in the Merdeka Curriculum. The study contributes empirical support for integrating literary psychology into Indonesian literature classrooms through structured emotional mapping and offers practical guidance for teachers seeking to enhance students' character formation and critical comprehension within curriculum frameworks emphasizing competency-based, analytical, and reflective learning.

Disentangling teacher and lesson variance and their relations to supportive learning environments: A machine learning assessment of teacher nonverbal behavior.

Abstract Interview performance depends on a candidate’s technical skills, communication clarity, emotional stability, and nonverbal behavior. However, most existing practice platforms use static question sets and ignore real-time emotional or behavioral cues. We present an emotion-aware AI interview practice system that dynamically adapts to the user’s facial expressions, speech clarity, hesitation patterns, and attention cues. Our system integrates MediaPipe face landmark analysis, Whisper/Vosk speech transcription, and open-source large language models (e.g. Mistral [5]) for question generation. Unlike heavy deep models, we use lightweight, rule-based multimodal fusion to enable real-time responsiveness on ordinary hardware. A multi-phase user study shows that participants experienced significant gains in self-awareness, confidence, and communication skills. This work offers a practical, inclusive, and explainable framework for AI-assisted interview training (extended version with in-depth methodology, analysis, and future work). Index Terms— Emotion Detection; Adaptive Interviews; Speech Recognition; Multimodal Learning; Behavioural Feedback; Large Language Models; Communication Skills; Affective Computing; Interview Training Systems.

This study investigates the non-verbal communication methods and their effects in Chinese entertainment news programs, focusing on how hosts enhance program appeal and persuasiveness through facial expression management, body movements, spatial distance, and clothing styles. It further examines how these non-verbal elements complement spoken Mandarin communication to improve the overall effectiveness of program delivery and influence audience perception. This study employs a qualitative multiple-case analysis design, integrating literature analysis with in-depth case studies. First, relevant broadcasting and non-verbal communication theories were reviewed to establish a conceptual foundation. Subsequently, representative Chinese entertainment news programs were selected for case studies, analyzing hosts’ non-verbal behaviors—including facial expressions, postures, space utilization, and clothing styles—across different communication contexts. The theoretical insights were then integrated with practical observations to develop a systematic non-verbal communication strategy for entertainment news hosting. The results reveal that appropriate non-verbal expressions significantly reduce the psychological distance between hosts and audiences, enhance program affinity, and strengthen emotional engagement. Techniques such as smiling, maintaining eye contact, using expressive gestures, adopting confident standing postures, controlling spatial distance, and selecting suitable clothing styles were found to create a synergistic effect with verbal expression. This synergy shapes program atmosphere, reinforces emotional communication, and enhances persuasiveness, ultimately meeting audience expectations for authenticity and interaction. Non-verbal communication is a critical component of effective hosting in Chinese entertainment news programs. Its integration with verbal expression not only improves audience perception but also increases the persuasive power and appeal of program delivery. The study recommends that systematic training in Mandarin non-verbal communication be incorporated into broadcasting and hosting art education. Training modules should focus on expression management, body language control, and image design, ensuring the organic integration of non-verbal skills with verbal communication to enhance hosts’ media literacy and audience engagement.

Abstract This multi-study investigation is focused on the debated issue of the educational benefits of lecturers’ nonverbal expressive behavior in online teaching. Six samples (N = 1465) were employed in three controlled experiments. Teachers’ nonverbal (NV) expressiveness led to more positive evaluations of both the teacher and the lecture. More importantly, it also contributed systematically to higher learning achievements, leading to a stable ad hoc ceiling effect. These strong effects have been systematically replicated in various samples and synthesized using meta-analysis. Achievements in the non-expressive condition showed wide variation, reflecting the differential motivational characteristics of the various samples. In two additional sub-studies, we examined the educational significance of teachers’ NV expressiveness (beyond effect magnitudes and meta-analyses) by investigating external motivators (incentives for excellent performance and framing the teacher’s high-prestige status). Both motivators boosted performance to the same ad hoc ceiling level. Educational implications for teaching in higher education, as well as the limitations of the research, were discussed.

Investigating the role of physician communication behaviors on the use of telehealth visits by older Black Americans with chronic conditions.