NONVERBAL COMMUNICATION: A CULTURAL PERSPECTIVE November 26, 1997 NONVERBAL COMMUNICATION CHANNELS a. Proxemics -- Use of space. The amount of closeness between speakers, the arrangement and use of space in cities, homes, offices. Architecture and Interior Design. People have an invisible space around them which is their own. Size differs by culture. b. Haptics -- Touch The amount of contact or non-contact between people as they speak. c. Kinesics -- Body Movement of head, eyes, shoulders, lips, eyebrows, neck, legs, arms, fingers. Also posture, stance, walking. Part of Kinesics is Gestures--Can be specific to a culture, class, family, or individual. William Condon's research shows us that speech and gestures are totally synchronized: speech calls the tune and gestures follow. Types of Gestures: Emblems: gestures consciously or unconsciously used by members of a society in addition to or instead of words. They have a fixed, accepted meaning. Illustrators: less standardized; they elaborate or comment on the content of accompanying speech. ---- Types of illustrators: Batons: stress a word or phrase Ideographs: movements which indicate the direction of thought Spatial movements: show the spatial relationships, positions of two objects Rhythmic movements: show the pacing of a event Pictographs: movements drawing pictures in the air Affect Displays: show emotions Regulators: filler words like "um" which indicate that the person wants to keep talking. All used to enhance comprehension of speech and to reveal information about the speaker's attitudes and emotions. Use illustrators less when we are tired, apathetic, in a subordinate or formal relationship, or are having a difficult time conveying our message to the listener. Everyone has had the experience of talking with their hands. d. Monochronism/Polychronism --The time organization of interpersonal relationships (one at a time, or many at a time). e. Facial Expression -- What does it mean? What is it used to express? f. Eye contact -- Degree, frequency: staring, quick glances, none, etc. g. Sound -- drum signals, smoke signals, factory whistles, police sirens h. Laughter/Play -- What causes laughter? By whom? How do children play? How do people entertain themselves? i. Greetings/Farewells -- How are they done? Brief? With warmth, or formality? j. Paralanguage -- Tone of voice, intensity, pitch, extent (drawl and clipping) speech rate, inflections, timing and pauses k. Frankness -- Are messages straightforward? Curt? Rude? Reticent? Honest? l. Time -- Punctuality, and attitude toward it. Past-, present-, or future-orientation? m. Privacy -- Do people need it? Shows how they approach forming relationships. n. Use of Silence -- What does it mean? Respect? Ignorance? o. Appearance -- Projection of how we feel and how we want to be seen by others. Clothing, jewelry, cosmetics (powder, lipstick, tattoos) p. Art and Rhetorical forms -- wedding dances, political parades q. Smell--body odors, perfume, incense r. Color symbolism s. Taste -- symbolism of food, the communicative function of the tea ceremony, smoking, chewing gum t. Thermal influences -- sensitivity to heat, influence of temperature on communication. u. Symbols -- universally recognized images     This page was created on November 11, 1997 by Paula Dosch-Haworth for "Art, Culture and Virtual Mobility," a Distance Learning course at the University of Art and Design, Helsinki, Finland.