Verbal Cues Research Articles

Obstetrics and gynecology applicant perceptions of residency program culture with virtual interviews: a qualitative analysis of social media posts

BackgroundIn the United States, Obstetrics and Gynecology residency interviews are instrumental in assessing the compatibility between medical student applicants and residency programs during the match process. Applicant perceptions of Obstetrics and Gynecology residency culture are a key component in determining how they rank residency programs. In 2020, residency interviews transitioned to a virtual format, and little is known about how applicants evaluated program culture during this first round of universal virtual interviews. Medical students in the United States commonly use Reddit, a popular social media platform, to discuss residency programs and share interview experiences. We explored Obstetrics and Gynecology applicants’ considerations regarding residency program culture during the first universal virtual interview season in 2020–2021 by analyzing posts on a Google spreadsheet accessed through Reddit.MethodsIn 2022, we imported 731 posts from the “2020-21 OB GYN Residency Applicant Spreadsheet” Google spreadsheet posted to the 2020–2021 Residency Interview Spreadsheet megathread on the r/medicalschool subreddit to NVivo 12(QSR International, Burlington, MA), a qualitative analysis software program. Three investigators used qualitative inductive techniques to code and identify themes.ResultsApplicants used visual, verbal and behavioral cues during virtual Obstetrics and Gynecology residency interviews to understand three components of the workplace culture: prioritization of diversity, equity and inclusion, social environment, and resident workload.ConclusionsObstetrics and Gynecology residency programs convey information about their culture during virtual interviews through the behavior, appearances and responses of residents and interviewers to applicant questions. To ensure they accurately represent their culture to applicants, programs should consider educating residents and faculty around the implications of interview-day conduct.

Influence of different verbal cue types on countermovement jump performance in youth female athletes

Although external (EXT) verbal cues have been shown to improve jump performance, limited research has been conducted in youth athletes. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate how different EXT verbal cue types influenced countermovement jump (CMJ) performance in youth athletes. Ten young trained female athletes (16.80 ± 0.60 years) performed the CMJ using four different EXT verbal cues including external-distal (DIST), external-proximal (PROX), analogy (ANA) and holistic (HOL) as well as a neutral cue (CON). Jump height, reactive strength index modified (RSIMOD), countermovement depth, jump time and force-time measures from eccentric and concentric CMJ subphases were measured. No significant differences between cue types were found for RSIMOD. ANA resulted in significantly higher jump height compared to CON ( g = 0.37). PROX significantly increased jump time ( g = 0.60), concentric time ( g = 0.47) and braking time ( g = 0.52), as well as significantly decreasing eccentric braking mean force ( g = 0.43) and eccentric braking rate of force development ( g = 0.59) compared to CON. Countermovement depth significantly increased when using PROX ( g = 0.60), HOL ( g = 0.46) and ANA ( g = 0.51) compared to CON. These results suggest that compared to a neutral cue, EXT verbal cues result in similar CMJ performance in trained youth athletes. However, PROX verbal cues appear to result in reduced performance in many CMJ force-time measures.

Effects of Verbal and Tactile Cues on Gluteal Force Production and Broad Jump Distance.

Verbal and tactile cues can increase muscle activity, force production, and kinematics. Several studies demonstrate the effects of verbal and tactile cues on upper extremity muscles, while relatively few examined lower extremity muscles, specifically the gluteals. Studies that observed changes in gluteal function from verbal and tactile cues examined muscle activity via electromyography rather than force production or functional activities such as jumping. The purpose of this study was to measure the effects of verbal and tactile cues on gluteal force production and broad jump distance. Cross-Sectional cohort. Gluteus maximus force production and broad jump distance were tested in forty-two healthy male and female university students at baseline and after verbal and tactile cues given in random order. Gluteus maximus force was measured using handheld dynamometry and reported in kilograms. Verbal cues included "push, push, push" before both tests. The examiner provided tactile cues to the gluteus maximus before force production testing, and the participant provided tactile cues to both gluteus maximus muscles before performing the broad jump. Performance on the broad jump was measured in centimeters. Descriptive statistics and test-retest reliability via Pearson correlation coefficients were calculated, differences in performance between sexes were analyzed with an independent t-test, and changes in force production and jump distance from baseline were analyzed using a one-way ANOVA. Mean gluteus maximus force production following verbal cues significantly increased (p = 0.000) by 13.48% (3.83 kg) compared to the control condition, while gluteal force production following the tactile cues was not significantly different. Broad jump distance following the verbal cues significantly increased (p = 0.000) 3.99% (7.71 cm) compared to the control condition and significantly increased (p = 0.000) by 2.95% (5.71 cm) following the tactile cues. There were no significant differences in performances between males and females. The test-retest reliability of all measurements was 0.97-0.99. Verbal cues significantly increased gluteus maximus force production and broad jump distance. Tactile cues significantly increased broad jump distance but had no significant effect on gluteus maximus force. These results have implications for clinical testing and athletic performance when gluteus maximus force and jump distance are concerned. 3.

Is there anybody out there? Educator perception of student social presence and engagement in the zoomosphere

ABSTRACT Since COVID-19 lockdowns in many countries shifted face-to-face teaching to online delivery, online student engagement has been centre stage in educational research. However, the educators’ perception of student engagement in synchronous online classes has received less attention. This study explored the transition to synchronous online teaching experienced by educators in an enabling (access) course in an Australian university a year after the shift to online learning. The study gathered the participants’ perceptions of student social presence and engagement and their impact on teaching and self-confidence. Data were drawn from two focus groups with enabling educators who had been teaching via Zoom since March 2020. The findings offer accounts of the participants’ experiences in transitioning their teaching online and identifying student engagement in online classes. While the functionality of the Zoom platform enabled successful teaching, it also allowed students to manage their online presence by turning off their video cameras and microphones. In the absence of verbal and non-verbal cues, the participants found it challenging to gauge student engagement and ascertain the effectiveness of their teaching, which impacted their confidence. The findings suggest a need to reconceptualise student engagement in synchronous online learning, which may involve reassessing the typical reliance on student social presence.

Expectancy and attention bias to spiders: Dissecting anticipation and allocation processes using ERPs.

The current registered report focused on the temporal dynamics of the relationship between expectancy and attention toward threat, to better understand the mechanisms underlying the prioritization of threat detection over expectancy. In the current event-related potentials experiment, a-priori expectancy was manipulated, and attention bias was measured, using a well-validated paradigm. A visual search array was presented, with one of two targets: spiders (threatening) or birds (neutral). A verbal cue stating the likelihood of encountering a target preceded the array, creating congruent and incongruent trials. Following cue presentation, preparatory processes were examined using the contingent negative variation (CNV) component. Following target presentation, two components were measured: early posterior negativity (EPN) and late positive potential (LPP), reflecting early and late stages of natural selective attention toward emotional stimuli, respectively. Behaviorally, spiders were found faster than birds, and congruency effects emerged for both targets. For the CNV, a non-significant trend of more negative amplitudes following spider cues emerged. As expected, EPN and LPP amplitudes were larger for spider targets compared to bird targets. Data-driven, exploratory, topographical analyses revealed different patterns of activation for bird cues compared to spider cues. Furthermore, 400-500 ms post-target, a congruency effect was revealed only for bird targets. Together, these results demonstrate that while expectancy for spider appearance is evident in differential neural preparation, the actual appearance of spider target overrides this expectancy effect and only in later stages of processing does the cueing effect come again into play.

Dancing without seeing: The influence of vision on movement sequence learning and motor imagery in dance

ABSTRACT Dance is commonly taught through model observation, aided by verbal and gestural cues. Trained dancers are also capable of learning dance movements from verbal instructions in the absence of a visual model, using elaborate multimodal movement representations in long-term memory acquired through training. The role of vision in this situation remains unclear. To investigate the influence of vision on dance sequence learning from verbal instruction, we conducted an online study with 76 professional-level dancers. Participants filmed themselves while learning and subsequently recalling and reproducing a dance phrase from spoken verbal instructions presented as pre-recorded audio. They were randomly assigned to one of two conditions: closing their eyes and wearing a blindfold or keeping their eyes open during learning. As a measure of learning success, recall performance was evaluated with quantitative movement criteria. Motor imagery during learning and recall was assessed via self-report questionnaires. Results showed no differences between the two conditions in recall performance or motor imagery; however, external and kinaesthetic motor imagery quality and quantity showed large to medium positive correlations with recall performance. The findings suggest that vision may not be crucial for successful learning of movement sequences from verbal instructions alone. Motor imagery, however, could be a powerful tool in dance learning as it may enhance memory for movement sequences. Further research should focus on the use of imagery (especially dynamic imagery) in dance during different phases of movement learning and recall under varying sensory and task-based (artistic) conditions.

Recall of Autobiographical Memories Following Odor vs Verbal Cues Among Adults With Major Depressive Disorder

Major depressive disorder (MDD) is associated with deficits in autobiographical memory (AM) recall, which is thought to stem from disruptions in effortful recall. Understanding whether these deficits are mitigated when recall is stimulated more directly, such as by odor cues, could inform therapeutic interventions for MDD. To evaluate whether deficits in specific AM recall in MDD are mitigated when odor cues vs word cues are used to prompt memory. This cross-sectional study assessed recall of specific AMs in response to both odor cues and word cues (in a randomized, counterbalanced order) in a repeated measures design. Data were collected between September 2021 and November 2022. The study took place at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine in Pennsylvania and included adults with a primary diagnosis of MDD, according to the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview. Data were analyzed from January to June 2023. The primary outcome measure was the percentage of specific AMs recalled in response to odor-cued memories vs word-cued memories. Additional outcome measures included ratings of arousal, vividness, repetition, and recall response time for odor-cued memories vs word-cued memories. Thirty-two adults (mean [SD] age, 30.0 [10.1] years; 26 [81.3%] female; 6 [18.8%] male) with a primary diagnosis of MDD completed the study. Participants recalled more specific AMs for odor cues than word cues (mean [SD], 68.4% [20.4%] vs 52.1% [23.3%]; Cohen d, 0.78; P < .001). Additionally, odor-cued recall was rated more arousing (mean [SD], 3.0 [0.8] vs 2.6 [0.7]; Cohen d, 1.28; P < .001) and vivid (mean [SD], 3.3 [0.7] vs 3.0 [0.7]; Cohen d, 0.67; P < .001), and was slower than word-cued recall (mean [SD], 14.5 [3.6] vs 8.9 [3.4] seconds; Cohen d, 1.18; P < .001). When compared with the population mean for word cues in healthy controls (80%), participants recalled fewer specific memories in response to words (Cohen d, 1.18; P < .001), supporting the presence of overgenerality. Notably, the percentage of specific memories recalled in response to odor cues did not differ from the healthy control population mean (Cohen d, 0.26; P = .15). In this cross-sectional study, adults with MDD recalled more specific AMs in response to odor cues compared with word cues. This study suggests that AM deficits may only be observed when verbal cues are used and provides a potential new method for increasing specific AM recall in patients with MDD.

User Engagement on Facebook: Examining the Role of Visual and Verbal Politeness Cues

ABSTRACT Nonprofit organizations have eagerly embraced Facebook as a strategic tool to reach large audiences and promote their advocacy. While there are numerous means to motivate users to engage with Facebook posts, previous studies have indicated that the use of politeness strategies may be particularly effective in increasing the number of likes, comments, and shares. A great deal of research has focused on the role of verbal politeness cues (e.g. indirect requests); however, little is known about visual politeness cues. To address this gap, we identify a set of features through which images convey politeness: i.e. direct gaze, frontal angles, eye- and high-level angles, and close-up shots. The results of a content analysis of 1,379 Facebook posts by U.S. health charities support the relevance of politeness cues, suggesting that user engagement is significantly higher when posts include indirect verbal requests and photos depicting people who gaze into the camera, who are positioned parallel to the viewer, and who are portrayed from above or at eye level. Unexpected findings are obtained for close-up shots. The paper concludes by discussing theoretical and practical implications for organizational social media communication.

Ultrasound Biofeedback Increases Abdominal Muscle Activation in Golfers With a History of Low Back Pain.

To compare activation ratios of the transverse abdominis (TrA) during an abdominal draw-in maneuver (ADIM) and abdominal obliques during a golf swing, with and without ultrasound biofeedback, and to determine intrarater reliability of these ultrasound thickness measures. Single-session crossover study. Laboratory. Sixteen adult golfers with 2 or more episodes of low back pain (LBP) in the past year. Verbal cueing alone and verbal cueing with ultrasound biofeedback. Bilateral TrA activation ratios were calculated during an ADIM with and without ultrasound biofeedback. Activation ratios of the abdominal obliques were calculated bilaterally during golf swings with and without ultrasound biofeedback. Intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs) were calculated for average thickness across all muscles and conditions for the nonbiofeedback trials. Transverse abdominis activation ratios were significantly higher when ultrasound biofeedback was provided bilaterally ( P < 0.001). Abdominal oblique activation ratios during the golf swing were also significantly higher with ultrasound biofeedback for the lead ( P = 0.014) and trail ( P < 0.001) sides. Intraclass correlation coefficient values ranged from 0.92 to 0.97 ( P < 0.001). Ultrasound biofeedback can increase activation ratios of the TrA during a supine ADIM in adult golfers with a history of LBP. Postswing ultrasound biofeedback increases activation of the abdominal obliques during a golf swing in golfers with a history of LBP. Ultrasound thickness measures of the TrA and obliques have excellent intrarater reliability.

Humorous but hateful

Abstract The paper explores the interplay of impoliteness, ethnic/religious humor and multimodality in online contexts. The argument advanced in the paper is that anti-Muslim memes are instantiations of ethno-religious humor that creatively incorporate linguistic impoliteness and visual dysphemism in manners that potentially propagate Islamophobia online. The analysis of a specialized corpus of memes suggests that multimodal impoliteness in these memes is mainly triggered by marked implicitness, reinforced by visual reference to targets. The humor-generating incongruity in these memes is often based on the anomalous juxtaposition of verbal and visual cues expressing ethnic and religious stereotypes, in ways that make the values expressed in these stereotypes easily acceptable. Such multimodal impoliteness creatively incorporates entertainment with emotional coercion, aiming at like-minded participants in the potential presence of targets. This constitutes a form of plausibly deniable incitement, meant to instigate attitude change and intimidate the victims, which consequently blurs the conceptual distinction between jocular abuse, impoliteness and hate speech.

Optimizing AI Social Chatbots for Relational Outcomes: The Effects of Profile Design, Communication Strategies, and Message Framing

With more corporations incorporating artificial intelligence (AI) tools like social chatbots into their public communication practices, we explore optimal chatbot designs for organization-public relational outcomes. Our 2 × 2 × 2 factorial web experiment with eight custom-designed chatbots showed that communication strategies (verbal and non-verbal social cues such as emoji, memes, filler words, and response delay) had a significant impact (Cohen’s d = 0.536, standardized coefficient β = 0.438) on chatbot social conversation, the central antecedent to the investigated relational outcomes such as trust in business. Furthermore, the effect of chatbot social conversation is partially mediated by perceived organizational listening, highlighting the importance of listening and its related theories and practices in automated business communication.

Facial Movement Recognition Using CNN-BiLSTM in Vowel for Bahasa Indonesia

Speaking is a multimodal phenomenon that has both verbal and non-verbal cues. One of the non-verbal cues in speaking is the facial movement of the subject, which can be used to find the letter being spoken by the subject. Previous research has been done to prove that lip movement can translate to vowels for Bahasa Indonesia, but detecting the whole facial movement is yet to be covered. This research aimed to establish a CNN-BiLSTM model that can learn spoken vowels by reading the subject's facial movements. The CNN-BiLSTM model yielded a 98.66% validation accuracy, with over 94% accuracy for all five vowels. The model is also capable of recognizing whether the subject is currently silent or speaking a vowel with 98.07% accuracy.

To Nod or Not to Nod: How Does Interviewer Nonverbal Behavior Affect Rapport Perceptions and Recall in Truth Tellers and Lie Tellers?

Researchers have often claimed that the interviewer’s nonverbal behavior such as nodding facilitates rapport building, the number of recalled details, and verbal veracity cues. However, there is no experiment to-date that isolated the effects of nodding in information gathering interviews. We thus examined the effects of interviewer’s nodding behavior on rapport perceptions and on the number and accuracy of total details provided by truth tellers and lie tellers. Participants (N = 150) watched a video recording and then reported it truthfully or falsely to an interviewer. The interviewer showed demeanor that was either supportive with nodding, supportive without nodding, or neutral. Truth tellers reported more total details than lie tellers and these effects were similar across demeanor conditions. No significant effects emerged for rapport perceptions and accuracy of total details. These results suggest that the interviewer’s nodding behavior does not affect rapport perceptions and details provided by truth tellers and lie tellers.

Beware, Not Everyone Lies the Same Way! Investigating the Effects of Interviewees’ Profiles and Lie Content on Verbal Cues

Research shows that lying is a common behaviour, and that verbal cues can be effective for lie detection. However, deception detection is not straightforward as there are several factors at play, such as interpersonal differences and the content of the lie. Consequently, the effectiveness of available cues for deception detection can vary significantly. In a pre-registered study involving 80 participants (a priori sample size analyses were conducted), we instructed participants to either tell the truth or lie about an autobiographical event and an opinion. The participants also completed questionnaires on personality traits and cognitive tasks, resulting in two participant clusters. Surprisingly, when analysing verbal behaviour, truthfulness, cluster memberships, and their interactions were not found to be significant. Only lie content affected verbal cues. Additional, non-pre-registered analyses revealed that liars displayed more micro-expressions than truth tellers, but only when describing their memories and when focusing on the latency time between the investigator’s question and the interviewee’s answer. The results were interpreted in terms of the experimental design, which encouraged only short answers from the interviewees, leaving limited room for verbal content to be effective.

The influence of state anxiety on event construction and elaboration during episodic future thinking

AbstractEpisodic future thinking (EFT) is a fundamental cognitive capacity that enables individuals to mentally simulate and prepare for possible future events. This capacity involves two distinct phases: construction and elaboration. How state anxiety affects the event construction and elaboration in EFT remains unclear. Therefore, the present study aims to address this issue by adopting a verbal cueing paradigm, taking into account familiarity and emotional valence. To induce state anxiety, our study employed a mental arithmetic task coupled with immediate feedback and the investigator’s supervision. Cue words were associated with either high-familiar or low-familiar future events, as well as different emotional valences (positive, neutral or negative). In the cueing task, each participant was required to construct a specific episodic event and then elaborate on it based on the provided cues. Subsequently, subjective ratings of the imagined event were collected after each imagination. The results revealed that individuals experiencing state anxiety took longer to elaborate events compared to the control group. Notably, there were asymmetric results in high- and low-familiarity conditions when considering cue words with different emotional valence. Overall, this study suggests that the influence of state anxiety on EFT is constrained to the elaboration phase and does not extend to the construction phase.

Unveiling the Language of Expression: Decoding Verbal and Non-verbal Cues in English Literature

This qualitative content analysis decodes the complex interplay of verbal and non-verbal cues in Mohsin Hamid's Exit West. Focused on characters Saeed and Nadia, the study reveals nuanced power dynamics and challenges to traditional gendered communication norms. Examining instances of conformity and resistance to gendered communication ideals, the analysis sheds light on emotional intelligence and societal negotiation. The study not only enhances understanding of character dynamics but contributes to broader discussions in literary, cultural, and gender studies. Additionally, this research invites further exploration into the evolving nature of communication in contemporary literature.

Suicide-related cognitions and emotional bias performance in a community sample

BackgroundSuicide is theorized to be connected to social interactions and feelings of belongingness. Those with suicide-related cognitions (SRCs) demonstrate attentional bias toward negative or suicide-related words, which can lead to increased feelings of rejection or alienation. As social interactions employ both verbal and nonverbal cues, there exists a gap in understanding how perception of emotional expressions can contribute to the development or exacerbation of suicidal ideation. MethodsThe current sample (N = 114, 60.5 % female, 74.6 % white) completed the Suicide Cognitions Scale-Revised (SCS-R) and Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) to assess SRCs and depression severity. The Emotional Bias Task (EBT) was used to assess emotional response latency. ResultsMultiple regression analyses on EBT results showed that endorsement of SRCs and depression severity were not associated with any particular emotional response bias. However, presence of SRCs showed an association with longer latencies to identify ambiguous emotional expressions, even when controlling for depressive symptoms and age LimitationsMeasures were self-completed online. Relative homogeneity of the sample and cross-sectional design limits interpretation of the results. ConclusionsThose with more severe SRCs take longer to recognize positive, nonverbal cues. Irregular processing of positive emotional stimuli combined with bias toward negative verbal cues could worsen feelings of rejection or alienation in social interactions, therefore increasing risk of developing SI. This suggests that interventions focusing on allocation of attentional resources to process positive social cues may be beneficial for those with SRCs to reduce severity and risk of suicide.

Ideologies Celebrities Represent in Television Advertisement in Kenya: A Case of Downy Lavender

This study focuses on the ideologies that celebrities convey in television advertisement in Kenya. Celebrity endorsements have become pervasive mode of communication in advertising. The idea is intended to shape consumer perceptions on purchasing decisions. Assessing the effectiveness of existing regulatory frameworks in ensuring responsible portrayal of ideologies by celebrities in television advertisement, is crucial for promoting ethical advertising practices. The study therefore analyzes the modes of signification (visual and verbal cues) to uncover the underlying messages communicated through the portrayal of Lulu Hassan (news anchor) in the advertisement of Downy Lavender. By adopting a multimodal discourse analysis approach, the study investigates the linguistic and visual strategies employed to construct celebrity personas to convey specific ideologies. The study examines how the celebrity is depicted in the advertisement and the messages the celebrity endorses to influence consumer attitude and behavior. The findings reveal that the celebrity is represented in the television advertisement of Downy lavender, to highlight themes such as luxury, sophistication, freshness, and trustworthiness. These depicts the ideologies of gender norms, attitude towards luxury, beauty standards, social status and aspirations for advancement. These findings contribute to understanding the complex dynamics of advertising in Kenya’s media landscape, using celebrities. The findings are intended to provide valuable insights to advertisers on creating content for advertisement.

Differential Effects of Verbal Coaching Cues and Analogies on Sprint Performance in Youth Male Soccer Players Across Grass and Indoor Surfaces

There is a limited body of research concerning the impact of different attentional foci on the performance or retention of fundamental motor skills in young individuals. Additionally, the influence of verbal cues on sprint performance across various surfaces, such as grass and indoor basketball courts, remains understudied. Therefore, the primary objective of this study was to assess the effectiveness of Internal Cues (IC), External Cues (EC), and analogies with a directional component (ADC) on sprint performance among youth soccer players on different surfaces (grass vs. indoor basketball court). Seventy participants, aged 12.3±0.5 years, with a maturity offset of -0.9±0.5 years, were recruited for this investigation. Multiple 20-meter sprint tests were conducted on both grass and indoor basketball courts using different coaching cues: a control/neutral cue, an internal cue, an external cue, and analogies (away and toward). The analyses did not reveal significant differences (p ≥ 0.05) between cue types for both sprinting on grass and indoor surfaces. However, in post-hoc analyses for indoor sprints, significant distinctions were noted between ECs and ICs, favoring ECs (p &lt; 0.01), as well as between "away" ADC and IC, favoring the "away" ADC (p &lt; 0.01). Similar significant differences were observed for grass sprints, with ECs and "away" ADCs showing superiority over ICs (p &lt; 0.01). In conclusion, the study did not find evidence supporting specific instructional types' positive impact on youth's sprint performance on both grass and indoor surfaces. Notwithstanding, ECs and ADCs seemed to be more effective coaching strategies for improving sprinting performance in youth soccer players. Additionally, motivating young soccer players to give their maximum effort seemed to be a beneficial cueing method for enhancing sprint ability on different surfaces.

Rapport Building in community settings

Establishing good rapport and interpersonal relationship is crucial aspect for public health researcher to embark upon authentic information and concerns of local community that later might have a bigger public health impact in policy making. Despite of its importance, researchers often fail to favourably present themselves in front of participants. The active listening, maintaining eye contact, self disclosure, tuning in, sharing expectations and intentions, non verbal cues, persistent contact and being empathetic are some of the most common techniques of rapport building discussed in literatures. Despite the fact that they have been proved to be beneficial, they do not provide clarity on “what, when, or where”. As a result, this article suggests a step-by-step approach that a researcher might use when conducting community-based research.