Communicative Taboos in Modern Business Etiquette

The article examines the features of communicative taboos in business etiquette. The taboo system has protected core values for centuries and has been an unwritten social code. Taboo reflects the foundations of morality, spiritual culture, features of thinking and worldview of individuals and ethnocultural communities. The spheres and nature of taboos are a reflection of the times and cultures of the people and are clearly manifested in the process of intercultural communication. Violation of the most severe taboos can lead to termination of contact. The study found that in the process of intercultural communication, given the similarity of most taboo topics, the degree of categoricalness of their use is different, or the circumstances under which certain topics can be raised are different. In order to comply with the verbal rules of business etiquette valid in one's own or in other cultures and ethnic groups and at the same time ideologically express the necessary meaning, promoting friendly intercultural communication, it is necessary to use a number of ways not to break taboos related to language units. etc. In the case of nonverbal taboos, mutual misunderstanding and non-perception in the process of nonverbal communication usually occurs because a somatic object is used to nonverbally express a certain meaning or perform a certain movement, which cannot be used from the point of view of another culture.

International non-verbal business etiquette of the XXI century: semiotic aspect

The purpose of the article is to identify the features of non-verbal etiquette signs in the context of international business etiquette of the XXI century. Methodology. The method of cultural analysis was applied (to identify the features of the representation of culture by means of intercultural communication in the context of business etiquette); method of structural, functional and system analysis (to identify the features of international business etiquette as a multi-component system); semiotic method (for the study of non-verbal international business etiquette as a complex sign system), etc. Scientific novelty. Business etiquette in the context of international communicative competence is investigated; analyzed an important component of international business etiquette - non-verbal etiquette as a complex system that functions in the global socio-cultural space and consists of non-verbal etiquette signs, relations between them, and non-verbal rules of international etiquette; the non-verbal international business etiquette is considered in a semiotic aspect. Conclusions. International business etiquette is a dynamic system, some aspects of which are constantly changing with the development of international business and globalization. However, despite the fact that cultural differences in business communication in the context of globalization trends in the world socio-cultural space are minimized, certain delicate aspects remain in force, which must be taken into account in intercultural communication. The study revealed that the rules of non-verbal international business etiquette and its semiotic system have remained unchanged for many centuries and are largely due to the specifics of national cultural codes. Intercultural skills are essential to achieve effective and productive international negotiations. Facial expressions, gestures, and other non-verbal cues characteristic of a particular culture are an important part of the international non-verbal business etiquette of the 21st century.

Rule-governed behavior: An ongoing RFT-based operant analysis

Rule-governed behavior is broadly defined as verbal antecedent stimuli that specify dependence relations between stimuli and events. Since its conception, this definition has supported a relatively rich program of research within the experimental analysis of behavior. Specifically, researchers have sought to explore the extent to which verbal rules are involved in operant behavior, both in the basic and applied domains. However, some have highlighted the need for a more complete understanding of what “specification” means in the context of rule-following and behavior analysis. The current article aims to present an operant account of what it means to understand and follow verbal rules, drawing largely on stimulus equivalence, and focusing in particular on a relational frame theory (RFT) perspective. To this end, we provide an overview of an RFT-based operant account of rule-following as it currently stands, and outline a recent program of experimental research that has utilized this approach to explore the complexities involved in rule-following in the face of competing reinforcement contingencies, a phenomenon typically linked to human psychological suffering. Implications for going forward in developing a more complete operant account of rule-governed behavior in both the basic and applied domains are considered.

Transient and Sustained Control Mechanisms Supporting Novel Instructed Behavior

The success of humans in novel environments is partially supported by our ability to implement new task procedures via instructions. This complex skill has been associated with the activity of control-related brain areas. Current models link fronto-parietal and cingulo-opercular networks with transient and sustained modes of cognitive control, based on observations during repetitive task settings or rest. The current study extends this dual model to novel instructed tasks. We employed a mixed design and an instruction-following task to extract phasic and tonic brain signals associated with the encoding and implementation of novel verbal rules. We also performed a representation similarity analysis to capture consistency in task-set encoding within trial epochs. Our findings show that both networks are involved while following novel instructions: transiently, during the implementation of the instruction, and in a sustained fashion, across novel trials blocks. Moreover, the multivariate results showed that task representations in the cingulo-opercular network were more stable than in the fronto-parietal one. Our data extend the dual model of cognitive control to novel demanding situations, highlighting the high flexibility of control-related regions in adopting different temporal profiles.

Prior Verbal Description of Novel Stimuli Improves the Learning of Information Integration Categories but not Rule-Described Categories

A prominent theory of category learning assumes that people rely on two parallel and competing systems that make use of either the abstraction of verbal rules (explicit system) or the gradual association of the category exemplars with the appropriate response (implicit system). Because the explicit system relies on verbal processing, we hypothesized that priming the verbal system by asking participants to provide a verbal description of some of the stimuli prior to classification would enhance the learning of rule-described categories but would have no effect on the learning of information integration categories. Our results failed to confirm the hypothesis, and we observed the opposite pattern: prior verbal description enhanced learning of the information integration categories but not the rule-described categories. Our data and subsequent modelling suggest that participants in both categories tended to rely on a rule-based strategy, but participants were quicker to abandon that strategy when they had prior exposure to the stimuli.

Transient and sustained control mechanisms supporting novel instructed behavior

The success of humans in novel environments is partially supported by our ability to implement new task procedures via instructions. This complex skill has been associated with the activity of control-related brain areas. Current models link fronto-parietal and a cingulo-opercular networks with transient and sustained modes of cognitive control, based on observations during repetitive task settings or rest (Dosenbach et al. 2008). The current study extends this dual model to novel instructed tasks. We employed a mixed design and an instruction-following task to extract phasic and tonic brain signals associated with the encoding and implementation of novel verbal rules. We also performed a representation similarity analysis to capture consistency in task-set encoding within trial epochs. Our findings show that both networks are involved while following novel instructions: transiently, during the implementation of the instruction, and in a sustained fashion, across novel trials blocks. Moreover, the multivariate results showed that task representations in the cingulo-opercular network were more stable than in the fronto-parietal one. Our data extend the dual model of cognitive control to novel demanding situations, highlighting the high flexibility of control-related regions in adopting different temporal profiles.

Everyday Interactions of Old Believers with Adherents of Different Faiths: Current Prohibitions and Prescriptions in Texts and Practices

The article analyzes verbal rules regulating everyday communication of the Old Believers with adherents of new-style Orthodoxy (often called Nikonians) and Jews as well as the way these rules are being put into practice. The author pays attention to personal interpretations of motivating prescriptions and explanations of the necessity to violate the norms in different situations. The empirical basis of the research includes interviews recorded in 2010–2017 in the communities of the Old Believers in the Republic of Moldova, including Transnistria. Field materials demonstrate that a lot of instructions only function in the form of knowledge about the rules, not necessarily followed by real practice. At the same time communities constantly elaborate ways of mitigating the rules, eliminating the consequences of their violation up to changing the rules, adapting them to the sociocultural context.