Decoding discrepant nonverbal cues.

Developed a videotaped test of accuracy in decoding discrepant auditory and visual nonverbal cues (the Nonverbal Discrepancy Test). In three-quarters of the test items, the affect communicated in the audio modality is incongruent with the affect communicated in the video modality. In Study 1, with 41 college students, some Ss saw only the video portion of the test, some heard only the audio portion, and others judged both the audio and the video cues. Intergroup comparisons showed that Ss were more influenced by video cues than by audio cues (video primacy effect). In Study 2, 73 junior high school Ss, 150 high school Ss, and 95 college Ss took the full discrepancy test. In all 3 samples, Ss' judgments of the affects communicated in the discrepancy test were again more influenced by video cues than by audio cues. There was more video primacy for females than for males, for discrepancies involving the face than for discrepancies involving the body, and for discrepancies concerning degree of positivity than for discrepancies concerning degree of dominance. In decoding very discrepant messages, as compared to slightly discrepant ones, Ss adopted a strategy characteristic of judges of deception: They attended relatively more to the audio cues than to the video cues. (36 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Gender effects in decoding nonverbal cues.

Summarizes results of 75 studies that reported accuracy for males and females at decoding nonverbal communication. The following attributes of the studies were coded: year, sample size, age of judges, sex of stimulus person, age of stimulus person, and the medium and channel of communication (e.g., photos of facial expressions, filtered speech). These attributes were examined in relation to 3 outcome indices: direction of effect, effect size (in standard deviation units), and significance level. Results show that more studies found a female advantage than would occur by chance, the average effect was of moderate magnitude and was significantly larger than zero, and more studies reached a conventional level of significance than would be expected by chance. The gender effect for visual-plus-auditory studies was significantly larger than for visual-only and auditory-only studies. The magnitude of the effect did not vary reliably with sample size, age of judges, sex of stimulus person, or age of stimulus person. (60 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Masculinity–femininity and encoding of nonverbal cues.

Three studies examined the within-sex relationship between masculinity–femininity and accuracy of encoding (sending) nonverbal cues. 246 undergraduates performed a variety of encodings tasks, and completed instruments including the Personal Attributes Questionnaire, Perceived Encoding Ability Scale, and Affective Communication Test. Encoding was operationally defined as intentional expression or involuntary "leakage" of affect. Both auditory (standard-content speech or content-filtered speech) and visual (facial expressions) channels were examined. More accurate encoders of intentional cues in both channels scored higher on femininity and lower on masculinity. Auditory leakage was also positively correlated with femininity and negatively correlated with masculinity; facial leakage was not correlated with the masculinity–femininity measures. Because the face is a highly controlled channel, facial leakage may be a relatively poor indicator of encoding ability and insensitive to the individual differences tapped by the masculinity–femininity measures. (23 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Verbal and nonverbal cues in the perception of lying.

Examined the strategies that observers use to see through self-presentations. In Exp I, 5 male actor Ss (undergraduates) lied or told the truth in simulated job interviews. 41 observers were moderately accurate in judging the actors' truthfulness. Actors were consistently good or poor liars, but judges were not consistently good or poor. When actors lied, they gave less plausible, shorter answers with longer latencies. Observers seemed to use the plausibility and latency, as well as an answer's vagueness and consistency and an actor's smiling, postural shifting, and grooming, to determine whether he was lying. Exp II experimentally manipulated the content of an answer and a nonverbal cue. 74 undergraduate observers were more likely to judge a female job applicant as lying when her answers were self-serving. A long hesitation before an answer made observers more suspicious of an already self-serving answer and more certain of the truth of an already forthright one. (37 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Developmental changes in decoding discrepant and nondiscrepant nonverbal cues.

Examined developmental changes in responses to consistent and discrepant video and audio nonverbal cues. A videotaped Nonverbal Discrepancy Test was administered to 121 males and 129 females aged 9–15 yrs. The discrepancy test measured (a) decoding accuracy—the extent to which Ss are able to identify affects (positivity and dominance) from visual (facial and body) cues and audio (content-filtered and random-spliced) cues—and (b) video primacy—the extent to which Ss are more influenced by video (face or body) than by audio cues. Results show that older Ss were more accurate at decoding affects than were younger Ss, particularly dominance–submission cues. Video primacy increased with age for facial cues (but not for body cues) and for cues of positivity (but not for cues of dominance). Relative to males, younger females showed more video primacy and older females showed less video primacy, particularly for cues of dominance–submission. Relative to younger Ss, older Ss showed less video primacy in decoding extremely discrepant audio and video cues than in decoding moderately discrepant ones. The development of nonverbal sensitivity to video and audio cues is discussed. (24 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Sex differences in eavesdropping on nonverbal cues: Developmental changes.

Examined the developmental acquisition of females' superiority in decoding nonverbal cues. Three age groups (121 male and 129 female 9–15 yr olds, 46 male and 63 female high school students, and 32 male and 49 female undergraduates) were examined cross-sectionally, and 24 male and 24 female 11–24 yr olds were examined longitudinally. Decoding of 4 types of nonverbal cues (face, body, tone, and discrepancies), arranged from the most to the least controllable (most "leaky") channel, was examined. ANOVA and the appropriate contrast showed that as age increased, females lost more and more of their advantage for the more leaky or more covert channels but that they gained more and more of their advantage for the less leaky channels. Results of the longitudinal 1-yr study support those of the cross-sectional study—during the year, women lost more and more of their advantage in more leaky channels. Results are consistent with a socialization interpretation—that as females grow older, they may learn to be more nonverbally courteous or accommodating. (25 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Training students to decode verbal and nonverbal cues: Effects on confidence and performance.

Conducted a study to investigate the effectiveness of using previous research findings as a means of teaching students how to interpret verbal and nonverbal behaviors. Students were pretested and then randomly assigned to 1 of 3 conditions: no training, receiving an informational lecture about verbal and nonverbal cues, or receiving practice in identifying relevant cues in videotaped interactions. Results indicated that only the group that received practice significantly improved its ability to correctly interpret verbal and nonverbal behavior. Information alone produced no improvement in performance, but it significantly increased Ss' confidence in the accuracy of their performance. Some interesting gender differences were also uncovered. Although pretest scores indicated that women earned higher accuracy scores than men, men were much more confident that they had performed well. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Eliciting effects of verbal and nonverbal cues on projective test responses.

A verbal reinforcer and 2 nonverbal immediacy cues, eye contact and body lean, were manipulated by an E under far and close conditions of interpersonal distance in a projective testing situation with 80 undergraduates. It was hypothesized that the verbal cue ("good") would be positively reinforcing at both distances but that eye contact and body lean would be reinforcing only in the far condition. As hypothesized, significant increases in the dependent measure, the number of thematic responses, were found for the verbal cue at both interaction ranges. Support for the predicted conditional effect of eye contact was found on the last trial of the testing session. Body lean did not significantly affect the number of thematic responses at either the far or close interaction distance. Implications of the results for the further study of E cues in the projective test situation are discussed. (18 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Sensitivity to syntactic and semantic cues in good and poor comprehenders.

Fourth graders ( N = 48) who were equivalent on word recognition skills, but differed in comprehension ability, read sentences manipulated at the verb position to determine whether sensitivity to syntactic and semantic cues differs between good and poor comprehenders. Data in the form of oral reading errors at the verb position support the hypothesis that poor comprehenders are not affected by the disruptive effect of syntactic and semantic violations, while good comprehenders exhibit an increasing number of errors across semantic and syntactic/semantic violations. (17 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The relationship between displaying and perceiving nonverbal cues of affect: A meta-analysis to solve an old mystery.

The authors address the decades-old mystery of the association between individual differences in the expression and perception of nonverbal cues of affect. Prior theories predicted positive, negative, and zero correlations in performance—given empirical results ranging from r = ?.80 to r = +.64. A meta-analysis of 40 effects showed a positive correlation for nonverbal behaviors elicited as intentional communication displays but zero for spontaneous, naturalistic, or a combination of display types. There was greater variation in the results of studies having round robin designs and analyzed with statistics that do not account for the interdependence of data. The authors discuss implications for theorists to distinguish emotional skills in terms of what people are capable of doing versus what people actually do. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Interviewer perceptions of applicant qualifications: A multivariate field study of demographic characteristics and nonverbal cues.

Eight interviewers' perceptions of 517 applicants (mean age 16.7 yrs) for seasonal employment at a large amusement park were studied by obtaining their ratings of personal style variables, body movements, speech characteristics, and a final judgment on overall qualifications. Analysis of nonverbal clues showed the relative importance of speech characteristics (articulation, proper pauses) and unimportance of personal appearance variables (cleanliness, clothing) when these variables were simultaneously considered. MANOVA and MANCOVA showed a relationship between the race and sex of the applicant, sex of the interviewer, and nonverbal cues. A unique variance for these demographic variables was demonstrated even after education background data and nonverbal cues were controlled. It is concluded that communication skills are primary influences on judgment of qualifications when considered simultaneously with other nonverbal cues and that demographic differences are systematically related to these nonverbal cues and judgments of qualifications. (17 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Relation of nonverbal behavior to client reactions.

Sixteen therapists each saw a volunteer client for a single counseling session. During a videotape review the clients recorded their reactions and the therapists recorded their perceptions of client reactions to each therapist intervention. Client nonverbal behaviors (speech hesitancies, vertical and horizontal head movements, arm movements, leg movements, postural shifts, adaptors, illustrators, and smiles) were examined to determine whether they were consistently associated with client reactions. The results indicated that horizontal head movements were associated with client reports of supported and therapeutic work reactions and were also associated with therapist perceptions of therapeutic work reactions; vertical head movements were associated with client reports of supported reactions; and speech hesitancies were associated with therapist perceptions of therapeutic work reactions. The results are discussed in terms of implications for practice and further research. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Adaptation to aversive maternal control and perception of simultaneously presented evaluative cues: A further test of a developmental model of paranoid behavior.

The adaptive style theory proposes that given a sustained aversive maternal control experience children will come to adopt 1 of 2 perceptual orientations toward evaluative cues. The open-style adapter maintains vigilance to negative evaluative cues, whereas the closed-style adapter defends against negative cues. This postulate, also critical to a narrower model for paranoid development, was tested by exposing 78 male undergraduates to an array of evaluative words, which they were told came from a maternal source. The words were composed of favorable, neutral, and unfavorable adjectives. After a period during which the S could freely scan a display of these words, retention was tested by recognition procedures. As predicted, open-style Ss, considered to be predisposed to paranoid behavior, extracted the most negative meaning, and closed-style Ss were the most defended against negative meaning. This effect held only for cues having a maternal source. (20 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Power of nonverbal cues in counseling interactions: Availability, vividness, or salience?

Tested 3 explanations for the differential impact of verbal and nonverbal cues on perceptions of counselor expertness, attractiveness, and trustworthiness. These explanations involved cue availability (abundance of nonverbal over verbal cues), vividness (concreteness and imagery-provoking nature of nonverbal cues), and salience—vividness (an interaction between the vividness of the cues and the level of arousal of the perceiver). 45 male and 45 female undergraduates were divided into 6 experimental groups to view tapes of counseling interactions. The tapes included 3 expertness tapes representing 3 levels of verbal/nonverbal cues and 3 attractiveness tapes representing the same 3 levels. The independent variables studied were arousal and number of verbal and nonverbal cues. After viewing both an expertness tape and an attractiveness tape, Ss completed an adjective checklist and an instrument designed to measure dimensions of perceived expertness, attractiveness, and trustworthiness. Findings suggest that cue availability is not a compelling explanation for the power of nonverbal communications, that vividness accounts for differential cue effectiveness with certain dependent variables, and that salience is not a prerequisite for the vividness effect to occur. (49 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A simplex of paranoid projection.

The study was designed to test the hypothesis that a Guttman simplex could describe the relations among 8 behaviors commonly employed to describe paranoid projection. 2 correlation tables based on 2 independent samples were tested for the presence of a simplex and a close fit was obtained. A comparison of the simplex rank order of the behaviors and a rank order obtained from 10 clinicians showed the 2 orders to be completely consistent. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Verbal and nonverbal fluency in patients with probable Alzheimer's disease.

Verbal fluency (semantic category naming and letter fluency) and nonverbal fluency (semantic category drawing and design fluency) were measured in mildly and moderately demented patients with probable dementia of the Alzheimer type (pDAT), and related to age at onset, disease duration, and disease severity. Group and individual patient analyses revealed impairments within verbal and nonverbal modalities that were most severe on semantic category fluency tasks. Detailed assessments of errors emphasized the role of compromised semantic memory in pDAT patients' impaired fluency, regardless of the modality of response. Fluency performance was related to dementia severity but not to age of onset or disease duration. It is concluded that deficits on measures of fluency in pDAT are due in large part to semantic memory impairments and that fluency may be useful for following disease progression. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Introverts' and extraverts' responses to nonverbal attending behavior.

Examined the different responses of 52 male undergraduate introverts and extraverts (as determined by the Extraversion scale of the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire) to 2 types of helper nonverbal attending. One half of the Ss viewed a listener intensely attending (leaning forward) and one half viewed the listener in an upright position. Results indicate that (a) introverts rated the listener higher than did extraverts, independent of his posture; (b) the listener in the forward attending posture was viewed by all participants as more attentive; and (c) the extraverts who viewed the listener in the upright position rated him as more threatening than did the introverts in either condition or the extraverts viewing the listener in the forward position. In no case was the listener in the forward attending posture rated more negatively than the listener sitting upright. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Representational boundaries in role portrayals among paranoid and nonparanoid schizophrenic patients.

Studied the boundary properties of self and other representations in 31 normal Ss (mean age 18.8 yrs) and in 18 paranoid (mean age 21.2 yrs), 14 intermediate (mean age 21.9 yrs), and 16 nonparanoid (mean age 22.1 yrs) inpatient schizophrenics, using a dramatic role-playing technique. Role test and Rorschach responses were scored for presence of fluid and rigid boundaries between representations of human characters. Paranoid schizophrenics evidenced higher levels of rigid boundaries, nonparanoid schizophrenics had higher levels of fluid boundaries, and normal Ss showed fewer fluid or rigid boundaries. Rorschach and role test measures of boundary disruption were significantly correlated with each other and with other measures of psychopathology. Findings suggest that the relative balance between fluid and rigid representational boundaries is an effective discriminator of paranoid and nonparanoid subtypes and that the presence of either type of boundary imagery discriminates schizophrenics from normal Ss. (31 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)