Habits make everyday life manageable, but can also become obstacles and cause problems. The tendency to repeat old patterns of behavior is a common problem for individuals and for society as a whole. Unreflexive habitual actions constitute an important aspect of social reproduction. In this article, two questions are addressed: Why is change so…

Universals in nonverbal behavior represent an important issue in the study of the cross-cultural communication. Perhaps the most well-known research in nonverbal universals was conducted by Paul Ekman, who examined literate and preliterate cultures from various language groups and identified six universal facial expressions: happiness, sadness,…

State-of-the-art examination of lying and deception. Includes motivation, awareness, and consequences; the occasion, time, and nature of deceptive messages; and their detection. (JMF)

Argues that perceived understanding underlies two important dimensions of organizational effectiveness: consideration and initiation of structure. Describes the Perceived Understanding Instrument and explains how it can be used to identify specific verbal and nonverbal communication behaviors that influence organizational effectiveness. (JD)

Nonverbal behavior is an important aspect of the film and is one of the several tools that a director uses to communicate to an audience the characters' feelings and relationships. By adding to this information their own personal responses, viewers often experience strong feelings. With reference to the social psychological research of nonverbal…

Reviews recent research on mother-infant communication that takes into account both the infant's and parent's influences in interactions. Topics discussed include varieties of infant communications, cross-cultural research, the beginnings of communication patterns, assessment of communication effectiveness, and sequelae of differing mother-infant…

Review of literature on gender-linked aspects of nonverbal behavior reveals that the differences in nonverbal behavior are in line with societal expectations calling for women to be reactive and for men to be proactive. Communication between the sexes is discussed in terms of smiling, personal space, touch, and talk. (JMF)

The search for syntactical rules which govern nonverbal communication and cues in humans has often been considered a problem separate from determining semantic rules. Departing from such a traditional approach was accomplished by employing the meaning of various nonverbal channels to study their interrelationship. It was proposed that the…

Assuming that teacher effectiveness and nonverbal communication are interrelated, an analysis of nonverbal communication and teacher assessment of nonverbal action is appropriate. A review of the literature indicates that nonverbal behaviors may be examined by the impressionistic and the quantitative methods. Each of these methods generates…

Demonstrates that young autistic children suffer from deficits in social understanding and symbolic representations of other individuals. Data suggest that the core deficit appears to lie at the intersection of representational abilities and social experiences. (RWB)

An analysis of interpersonal communication research supports the existence of the notion "communicative style," the method or manner by which an individual interacts with others. Scholars concerned with interpersonal behavior acknowledge that individuals develop habitual styles of interactive behavior that tend to produce optimal…