Visual Communication Through Body Movement

Nonverbal behaviour plays an important role in journalism because of its heavy reliance on visual forms of communication. In the first section of this chapter, academic research on nonverbal behaviour is discussed in terms of the following topics: the communication of emotion and interpersonal relationships, the synchronization of nonverbal behaviour and speech, deception detection, and communications skills training. The second section focusses on the use of visuals and nonverbal behaviour in two specific journalistic contexts: print journalism and the television news. Illustrative examples are discussed, based on the impact of photographs of the Vietnam War and the dead Syrian boy Aylan Kurdi; celebrity photographs are also considered. There follows an analysis of the television news, focussed primarily on recent changes in audiovisual editing techniques, and this is illustrated by a case study—an analysis of audiovisual news coverage of the British parliamentary expenses scandal of 2009.

ROMANTIC MEDIA DISCOURSE: GENDER PREFERENCES FOR TOUCHING BEHAVIOUR

The purpose is to analyze the influence of gender on touching behaviour in a mixed dyad within romantic media discourse. The comparative study demonstrates new insights into gender-neutral and gender-specific touch cues initiated by strangers in face-to-face romantic encounters. Methods. A hybrid approach (inductive and deductive) to thematic analysis was used to interpret codes of nonverbal immediacy cues. The thematic analysis covered six stages of the coding process resulted in deriving a codebook. Qualitative interactive sociolinguistic and quantitative analyses, as well as a method of statistical evaluation of hypotheses (Pearson’s chi-square test), were used to reveal the statistical evidence for touch cues functioning.Results. The sample consisted of 24 groups of touching behaviour, which included 557 feminine and 302 masculine touch cues. The identified nonverbal cues were grouped according to the focus of the object: self-focused (eight groups) and other person focused (sixteen groups). According to the results of the study, the expected gender differences were partially supported, considering the extent of the effect size. Gender-neutral touching behaviour includes eleven groups: four groups of self-focused (clothes straightening, holding hands in front of one’s body, hair grooming, holding hands behind one’s back) and seven groups of other person focused (hugs, hand-in-hand, handshake, kiss on the cheek, clap, dancing, arm link). Thirteen groups of touching behaviour were found to be gender-specific: four self-focused (clap – initiated only by men; hand(s) on the heart, face covering, lower lip biting – initiated only by women) and nine other person focused (hand kiss, lifting up a woman, selfie – initiated only by men; conversely, caress, kiss on lips, couple rubbing noses, shoulder massage, feeding a partner with one’s fingers, jumping into partner’s arms – initiated only by women).Conclusions. Comparative analysis of touching behaviour revealed that women tended to communicate the immediacy through hand-in-hand (φ = 0.35), hair grooming (φ = 0.28), hugs (φ = 0.23), holding hands in front of one’s body (φ = 0.18), pat (φ = 0.12), hand(s) on the heart, and face covering; while men were predisposed to use clothes straightening (φ = 0.1) and hand kiss; handshake and kiss on the cheek were initiated similarly by both genders. The obtained data are a prerequisite for further analysis of nonverbal behaviour initiated by opposite-sex strangers in the contemporary media dating context.Key words: nonverbal communication, face-to-face encounters, initiating romantic relationship, media context, dating culture, reality dating show, interpersonal interaction. Мета. Метою статті є аналіз впливу ґендеру на тактильну поведінку у змішаній діаді в рамках сучасного романтичного медіадискурсу на етапі ініціації романтичних відносин. Порівняльне дослідження демонструє нові уявлення про ґендерно-нейтральні і ґендерно-специфічні такесичні засоби комунікації, ініційовані комунікантами під час романтичного знайомства. Методи дослідження. Гібридний підхід (індуктивний і дедуктивний) до тематичного аналізу було застосовано для інтерпретації кодів невербальних засобів комунікації. Тематичний аналіз охоплював шість етапів кодування, за результатами якого було розроблено кодову книгу. Якісний інтерактивний соціолінгвістичний і кількісний аналіз, а також метод статистичної оцінки гіпотез (критерій хі-квадрат Пірсона) використовувались з метою розкриття статистичних закономірностей функціо-нування такесичних засобів комунікації. Результати. Вибірка дослідження становила 24 групи тактильної поведінки, до яких увійшли 557 зразків фемінних і 302 зразки маскулінних такесичних засобів комунікації. Виявлені засоби комунікації було згруповано відповідно до фокусу об’єкта на самоорієнтовані (8 груп) і контакто-орієнтовані (16 груп). За результатами дослідження очікувані ґендерні від-мінності були частково підтримані з урахуванням показника вагомості впливу. До ґендерно-нейтральних віднесено 11 груп такесичних засобів комунікації: 4 групи самоорієнтованих (розправляння одягу, тримання рук спереду, гра з волоссям, тримання рук за спиною) і 7 груп контакто-орієнтованих (інтимні обійми, рука в руці, рукостискання, поцілунок у щоку, обійми з поплескуванням, танець, тримання під руку). До ґендерно-специфічних віднесено 13 груп такесичних засобів комунікації: 4 групи самоорієнтованих (плескання в долоні – ініційовано лише чоловіками; рука на серці, закриття руками обличчя, покусування нижньої губи – ініційовано лише жінками) і 9 груп контакто-орієнтованих (поцілунок руки, здіймання жінки на руки, селфі – ініційовано лише чоловіками; ласка, поцілунок у губи, пестощі носами, масаж плечей, годування партнера з рук, стрибки на руки партнеру – ініційовано лише жінками).Висновки. Порівняльний аналіз встановив, що жінки надають перевагу руці в руці (φ = 0,35), грі з волоссям (φ = 0,28), інтимним обіймам (φ = 0,23), триманню рук спереду (φ = 0,18), обіймам з поплескуванням (φ = 0,12), руці на серці і закрит-тю руками обличчя; чоловіки надають перевагу розправлянню одягу (φ = 0,1) і поцілунку руки; тотожними є рукостискання і поцілунок у щоку. Отримані дані є передумовою для подальшого аналізу невербальних засобів комунікації, ініційованих під час первинної міжособистісної інтеракції в рамках романтичного медіадискурсу. Ключові слова:невербальна комунікація, знайомство віч-на-віч, ініціація романтичних відносин, медіапростір, дейтинг культура, реаліті дейтинг-шоу, міжособистісна інтеракція.

Indifferent or Enthusiastic? Virtual Audiences Animation and Perception in Virtual Reality

In this paper, we present a virtual audience simulation system for Virtual Reality (VR). The system implements an audience perception model controlling the nonverbal behaviors of virtual spectators, such as facial expressions or postures. Groups of virtual spectators are animated by a set of nonverbal behavior rules representing a particular audience attitude (e.g., indifferent or enthusiastic). Each rule specifies a nonverbal behavior category: posture, head movement, facial expression and gaze direction as well as three parameters: type, frequency and proportion. In a first user-study, we asked participants to pretend to be a speaker in VR and then create sets of nonverbal behaviour parameters to simulate different attitudes. Participants manipulated the nonverbal behaviours of single virtual spectator to match a specific levels of engagement and opinion toward them. In a second user-study, we used these parameters to design different types of virtual audiences with our nonverbal behavior rules and evaluated their perceptions. Our results demonstrate our system’s ability to create virtual audiences with three types of different perceived attitudes: indifferent, critical, enthusiastic. The analysis of the results also lead to a set of recommendations and guidelines regarding attitudes and expressions for future design of audiences for VR therapy and training applications.

Learners’ Perceptions of the Influence of Teachers’ Nonverbal Communication on Their Aspirations to Pursue STEM Courses

This paper reports the results of a study that investigated secondary school learners’ perceptions of the influence of their science and mathematics teachers’ nonverbal communication on their aspirations to pursue Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) related courses in institutions of higher learning. The study further investigated if there were gender differences in learners’ perceptions. The nonverbal aspects of communication focused on were teachers’ actions in class and their dressing and grooming. A sample of 465 form three secondary school learners was selected using stratified simple random sampling technique, out of whom 221 were female while 244 were male from Nakuru County, Kenya. Data was collected using a secondary school learner’s questionnaire. The reliability of the questionnaire was estimated using Cronbach alpha and yielded a coefficient of 0.88. The findings show that learners’ perceived their teachers’ nonverbal communication moderately influences their aspirations to pursue STEM. However, the perception on the influence of maintaining eye contact when asking and responding to questions and being always clean and neat were high. Therefore, science and mathematics teacher education programs should enhance pre and in service teacher awareness of the effect of their nonverbal behaviour on their learners. The Teachers Service Commission which is the national teacher regulator and employer in Kenya should ensure that the policy guidelines on teachers’ dressing and grooming are straightforwardly interpreted by all teachers and properly enforced.

Learners’ Perceptions of the Influence of Teachers’ Nonverbal Communication on Their Aspirations to Pursue STEM Courses

This paper reports the results of a study that investigated secondary school learners’ perceptions of the influence of their science and mathematics teachers’ nonverbal communication on their aspirations to pursue Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) related courses in institutions of higher learning. The study further investigated if there were gender differences in learners’ perceptions. The nonverbal aspects of communication focused on were teachers’ actions in class and their dressing and grooming. A sample of 465 form three secondary school learners was selected using stratified simple random sampling technique, out of whom 221 were female while 244 were male from Nakuru County, Kenya. Data was collected using a secondary school learner’s questionnaire. The reliability of the questionnaire was estimated using Cronbach alpha and yielded a coefficient of 0.88. The findings show that learners’ perceived their teachers’ nonverbal communication moderately influences their aspirations to pursue STEM. However, the perception on the influence of maintaining eye contact when asking and responding to questions and being always clean and neat were high. Therefore, science and mathematics teacher education programs should enhance pre and in service teacher awareness of the effect of their nonverbal behaviour on their learners. The Teachers Service Commission which is the national teacher regulator and employer in Kenya should ensure that the policy guidelines on teachers’ dressing and grooming are straightforwardly interpreted by all teachers and properly enforced.

Learners’ Perceptions of the Influence of Teachers’ Nonverbal Communication on Their Aspirations to Pursue STEM Courses

This paper reports the results of a study that investigated secondary school learners’ perceptions of the influence of their science and mathematics teachers’ nonverbal communication on their aspirations to pursue Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) related courses in institutions of higher learning. The study further investigated if there were gender differences in learners’ perceptions. The nonverbal aspects of communication focused on were teachers’ actions in class and their dressing and grooming. A sample of 465 form three secondary school learners was selected using stratified simple random sampling technique, out of whom 221 were female while 244 were male from Nakuru County, Kenya. Data was collected using a secondary school learner’s questionnaire. The reliability of the questionnaire was estimated using Cronbach alpha and yielded a coefficient of 0.88. The findings show that learners’ perceived their teachers’ nonverbal communication moderately influences their aspirations to pursue STEM. However, the perception on the influence of maintaining eye contact when asking and responding to questions and being always clean and neat were high. Therefore, science and mathematics teacher education programs should enhance pre and in service teacher awareness of the effect of their nonverbal behaviour on their learners. The Teachers Service Commission which is the national teacher regulator and employer in Kenya should ensure that the policy guidelines on teachers’ dressing and grooming are straightforwardly interpreted by all teachers and properly enforced.

Religious Expressions as Situation Bound Rituals in Iraqi Computer-Mediated Communication

This study aims at exploring the linguistic habits of Iraqi Arab speakers and the situations wherein Iraqis invoke religion and the lexicon of Allah in their daily online communication. Throughout this work, it was sought to answer the question whether the religious belief of Iraqis is reflected in online chats Iraqi by involving situation-bound rituals in their CMC and the functions these expressions fulfil in this communication. Although computer-mediated communication lacks nonverbal behaviour and prosodic features support the speakers’ polite intention, many researchers assert that there are many resources whereby individuals can resort to in demonstrating their solidarity. The Methods is based on examining synchronic messages exchanged on WhatsApp and Viber in four groups with the participation of 99 participants in total whose age ranged from 15 to 70 years old, with different educational qualifications and religious orientations. Social distance between the participants varied from intimate to neutral, and large. Likewise, social rank ranged from equal footing to low-high relationships and high-low relationships. The setting involved different occasions such as congratulations, greetings, farewell, thanking, offering condolences as well as receiving bad news. The findings of this research have shown that Iraqi Arabic speakers incline to enhance the politeness of their message by involving religious vocabularies that take mostly the form of supplication. Besides, the religious lexicon stands as a form of etiquette that promotes the speakers’ and the addressee’s faces. FIt is hoped that this work would lead to further studies related to religious expressions across computer mediated communication.p

A liar and a copycat: nonverbal coordination increases with lie difficulty

Studies of the nonverbal correlates of deception tend to examine liars' behaviours as independent from the behaviour of the interviewer, ignoring joint action. To address this gap, experiment 1 examined the effect of telling a truth and easy, difficult and very difficult lies on nonverbal coordination. Nonverbal coordination was measured automatically by applying a dynamic time warping algorithm to motion-capture data. In experiment 2, interviewees also received instructions that influenced the attention they paid to either the nonverbal or verbal behaviour of the interviewer. Results from both experiments found that interviewer–interviewee nonverbal coordination increased with lie difficulty. This increase was not influenced by the degree to which interviewees paid attention to their nonverbal behaviour, nor by the degree of interviewer's suspicion. Our findings are consistent with the broader proposition that people rely on automated processes such as mimicry when under cognitive load.