The Power of Non-Verbal Communication: Predicting Job Performance by Means of Thin Slices of Non-Verbal Behaviour

2005 ◽  
Vol 35 (2) ◽  
pp. 362-383 ◽  
Author(s):  
Deléne Visser ◽  
John D. L. Matthews
Keyword(s):  
Job Performance ◽  
Selection Method ◽  
Verbal Communication ◽  
Effect Sizes ◽  
Call Centre ◽  
Thin Slice ◽  
Video Recordings ◽  
Verbal Behaviour ◽  
Audio Channel ◽  
Thin Slices

The purpose of the study was to investigate whether ratings of brief exposures to ‘non-verbal’ and ‘non-verbal plus verbal’ behaviour could successfully predict on-the-job performance in a call centre. A panel often judges who were exposed to 30-second silent video recordings of 29 call centre operators carrying out their jobs were asked to rate the non-verbal behaviour of the operators on several dimensions. Two weeks later they were asked to repeat their judgments with the audio channel included. The judgments were correlated with management ratings and customer ratings of the operators' performance. The correlations varied between 0.31 and 0.46, representing medium to large effect sizes. The inclusion of the verbal channel did not significantly improve the accuracy of the thin-slice judgments of non-verbal behaviour. The implications of using ratings of non-verbal behaviour as a selection method were discussed.

scholarly journals Simulated patient and role play methodologies for communication skills and empathy training of undergraduate medical students

2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Cristina Bagacean ◽  
Ianis Cousin ◽  
Anne-Helene Ubertini ◽  
Mohamed El Yacoubi El Idrissi ◽  
Anne Bordron ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Medical Students ◽  
Communication Skills ◽  
Role Play ◽  
Skills Training ◽  
Verbal Communication ◽  
Simulated Patient ◽  
Background Information ◽  
Undergraduate Medical Students ◽  
Verbal Behaviour ◽  
Verbal Messages

Abstract Background Verbal and non-verbal communication, as well as empathy are central to patient-doctor interactions and have been associated with patients’ satisfaction. Non-verbal communication tends to override verbal messages. The aim of this study was to analyze how medical students use verbal and non-verbal communication using two different educational approaches, student role play (SRP) and actor simulated patient (ASP), and whether the non-verbal behaviour is different in the two different poses. Methods Three raters evaluated 20 students playing the doctor role, 10 in the SRP group and 10 in the ASP group. The videos were analyzed with the Calgary-Cambridge Referenced Observation Guide (CCG) and, for a more accurate evaluation of non-verbal communication, we also evaluated signs of nervousness, and posture. Empathy was rated with the CARE questionnaire. Independent Mann Whitney U tests and Qhi square tests were performed for statistical analysis. Results From the 6 main tasks of the CCG score, we obtained higher scores in the ASP group for the task ‘Gathering information’ (p = 0.0008). Concerning the 17 descriptors of the CCG, the ASP group obtained significantly better scores for ‘Exploration of the patients’ problems to discover the biomedical perspective’ (p = 0.007), ‘Exploration of the patients’ problems to discover background information and context’ (p = 0.0004) and for ‘Closing the session – Forward planning’ (p = 0.02). With respect to non-verbal behaviour items, nervousness was significantly higher in the ASP group compared to the SRP group (p < 0.0001). Concerning empathy, no differences were found between the SRP and ASP groups. Conclusions Medical students displayed differentiated verbal and non-verbal communication behaviour during the two communication skills training methodologies. These results show that both methodologies have certain advantages and that more explicit non-verbal communication training might be necessary in order to raise students’ awareness for this type of communication and increase doctor-patient interaction effectiveness.

Training from an Organizational Psychology Perspective

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kurt Kraiger
Keyword(s):  
Job Performance ◽  
Learning Outcomes ◽  
Effect Sizes ◽  
Motivation To Learn ◽  
Safe Environment ◽  
Effective Training ◽  
Training Content ◽  
Psychology Perspective ◽  
Instructional Aids ◽  
And Training

Training is the systematic processes initiated by the organization that facilitate relatively permanent changes in the knowledge, skills, or affect/attitudes of organizational members. Cumulative meta-analytic evidence indicates that training is effective, producing, on average, moderate effect sizes. Training is most effective when designed so that trainees are active and encouraged to self-regulate during training, and when it is well-structured and requires effort on the part of trainees. Additional characteristics of effective training are: The purpose, objectives, and intended outcomes of training are clearly communicated to trainees; the training content is meaningful, and training assignments, examples, and exercises are relevant to the job; trainees are provided with instructional aids that can help them organize, learn, and recall training content; opportunities for practice in a safe environment are provided; feedback is provided by trainers, observers, peers, or the task itself; and training enables learners to observe and interact with others. In addition, effective training requires a prior needs assessment to ensure the relevance of training content and provides conditions to optimize trainees’ motivation to learn. After training, care should be taken to provide opportunities for trainees to implement trained skills, and organizational and social support should be in place to optimize transfer. Finally, it is important that all training be evaluated to ensure learning outcomes are met and that training results in increased job performance and/or organizational effectiveness.

Accounting for activity development through perspectives in an inbound call centre

2017 ◽  
Vol 29 (6) ◽  
pp. 428-446 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria Ianeva ◽  
Jacqueline Vacherand-Revel ◽  
Christian Licoppe
Keyword(s):  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Ethnographic Study ◽  
Insurance Companies ◽  
Call Centre ◽  
Cultural Resources ◽  
Situated Action ◽  
Relational Context ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Video Recordings ◽  
Health Insurance Companies

Purpose This paper aims to address the methodological and conceptual challenges arising from the use of activity theory as a theoretical framework in empirical studies of work. Design/methodology/approach To grasp the relationship between situated action and activity development, the authors build upon the concept of perspective and suggest that perspectives are grounded on salient configurations, which are both emergent in situ and collectively elaborated cultural resources. Empirical evidence for these theoretical considerations is provided through a two-year ethnographic study of the organizational change and collective activity at an inbound call centre for a number of mutual health insurance companies. This research used several data collection techniques such as ethnographic observation, video recordings and interviews. Findings The presented results highlight that seemingly unskilled routine practices such as opening and sorting the mail rely upon a complex set of informational resources that only have “value” and meaning in a broader relational context, that of the activity. Originality/value The originality of this paper is the use of salient configurations as a basis for the operationalization of the notion of perspective and open new avenues of thought (and action) on situated work practices as embedded within activities.

scholarly journals The Expression of Success: Are Thin-Slices of Pre-performance Nonverbal Behavior Prior to Throwing Darts Predictive of Performance in Professional Darts?

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Philip Furley ◽  
Daniel Memmert
Keyword(s):  
Nonverbal Behavior ◽  
Motor Performance ◽  
Stimulus Material ◽  
Nonverbal Cues ◽  
Subsequent Performance ◽  
Video Recordings ◽  
Thin Slices ◽  
Short Video ◽  
Perceptual Motor Performance ◽  
Valid Information

Abstract The present research attempted to test how skilled people are at predicting perceptual-motor performance of professional darts players based on short observations of pre-performance nonverbal behavior. In four thin-slices experiments (total N = 490) we randomly sampled stimulus material from the 2017 World Championships of Darts showing short video recordings of the players immediately before throwing darts. Participants were asked to estimate the points scored for the respective throws. Results across four experiments, all of which were successfully replicated in direct replication attempts, supported the hypothesis that pre-performance nonverbal behavior of professional darts players gives valid information to observers about subsequent performance tendencies. The present research is the first to show that highly skilled individuals seem to display nonverbal cues that observers can pick up to draw inferences about how these individuals are likely to perform.

scholarly journals Capturing Behavior in Small Doses: A Review of Comparative Research in Evaluating Thin Slices for Behavioral Measurement

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nora A. Murphy ◽  
Judith A. Hall
Keyword(s):  
Comparative Research ◽  
Reliability And Validity ◽  
Social Constructs ◽  
Judgment Accuracy ◽  
Thin Slice ◽  
Decision Factors ◽  
Behavioral Coding ◽  
Behavioral Measurement ◽  
Thin Slices ◽  
Slice Method

Thin slices are used across a wide array of research domains to observe, measure, and predict human behavior. This article reviews the thin-slice method as a measurement technique and summarizes current comparative thin-slice research regarding the reliability and validity of thin slices to represent behavior or social constructs. We outline decision factors in using thin-slice behavioral coding and detail three avenues of thin-slice comparative research: (1) assessing whether thin slices can adequately approximate the total of the recorded behavior or be interchangeable with each other (representativeness); (2) assessing how well thin slices can predict variables that are different from the behavior measured in the slice (predictive validity), and (3) assessing how interpersonal judgment accuracy can depend on the length of the slice (accuracy-length validity). The aim of the review is to provide information researchers may use when designing and evaluating thin-slice behavioral measurement.

scholarly journals Gender, power, and non-verbal communication

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marianne Schmid Mast ◽  
Valérie Carrard ◽  
Judith A. Hall
Keyword(s):  
Palliative Care ◽  
Power Distribution ◽  
Verbal Communication ◽  
Positive Outcomes ◽  
Medical Encounter ◽  
Verbal Behaviour ◽  
Effective Care ◽  
Gender Power ◽  
Gender And Power

In the study of communication between patients and providers, non-verbal behaviours have often been overlooked. Patients’ non-verbal communication is essential for effective care, and providers’ non-verbal behaviour has been shown to significantly influence medical encounter outcomes. Non-verbal behaviours relative to the power distribution between patients and providers have been shown to greatly impact outcomes with more provider dominance being linked to less positive outcomes. Additionally, gender of both the patients and the providers affect which non-verbal behaviours are shown, and how they are perceived and evaluated. In the present chapter, we discuss the effects of non-verbal communication on how medical encounters unfold in light of the gender and power distribution among provider and patient, the implications of these findings for oncological and palliative care are discussed.

Thin-Slice Measurement of Personal Wisdom Among Chinese

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hark Huang ◽  
Haotian Zhang ◽  
Xing Fan ◽  
Zhe Feng ◽  
Chao S. Hu
Keyword(s):  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Reliability And Validity ◽  
Strongly Correlated ◽  
Job Interviews ◽  
Peer Ratings ◽  
Thin Slice ◽  
Personnel Assessment ◽  
Video Recordings ◽  
Personal Wisdom ◽  
Efficient Measure

Objective: This study aims to develop an objective and efficient measure of personal wisdom (i.e., excellence in both virtue and talents) for personnel assessment in practical contexts (e.g., elections, job interviews), testing the reliability and validity of a novel paradigm— the thin-slice measurement of personal wisdom— with a Chinese sample.Method: Participants consisted of 60 Chinese undergraduate students, aged 18 to 21 (M = 20.42, SD = 0.61) who rated each other on their personal wisdom, then were video recorded on how they would act in difficult friendship situations. The video-recordings and their transcripts were assessed by raters as measures of personal wisdom. Two years later, faculty members of the participants were recruited to report on the participants’ wisdom.Results: Inter-rater reliability was acceptable for all these measurements. Moreover, Pearson correlations among these measurements were all significantly positive. Specifically, the thin-slice video-based measurement of personal wisdom could predict both the peer-ratings and the faculty-ratings of wisdom. Finally, peer-ratings of wisdom were more strongly correlated with the video-based than the transcript-based thin-slice measurement. Conclusions: Thin-slice measurements of personal wisdom, especially the economic one based on videos (&lt; 6 minutes), were preliminarily validated.

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