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March 3rd
INTRODUCTION
The communicative act: the communicative act is defined as the smallest part of communication that can be studied and broken down into three components: source, message and recipient. It is important also to take into account the context (either explicit or implicit). This is the basis to study birth communication and persuasion.
The power and specificity of non verbal communication: non verbal communication is effective in transmitting attitudes and emotions. It can be expressed in two main ways: posture and facial expression.
Persuasive communication: the language of persuasion is important for the success of campaigns. The aim is to make the audience do or believe something.
Heuristics: simplify way of reasoning. When we have to make decisions in situations of information overload we are inclined to simplify our reasoning. In some cases, this may lead to negative behaviors. This is exploited by companies in order to persuade the audience.
March 25
COMPONENTS AND FUNCTIONS OF COMMUNICATION
DEFINITION OF COMMUNICATION
=> Communication is defined by two basic characteristics:
- Communication is a Process : It means that communication has to be considered as a complex exchange involving several subjects in a series of events/stages. The focus of the analysis is not addressed to every single communicative act detached from the context but rather direction may be directed towards the intention between the speakers (people participating in the communicative process). Communication should always be studied within a context. N.B. Communication is a process which involves several actors, it is an exchange and it has to be studied within a context.
- Communication is Intentional : According to some scholars, there is communication when there is intention however more recent studies and other scholars argue that intentionality is not a discriminatory element between when there is communication and when there is no communication.
Since there is no such thing as no behavior, we cannot not behave. Even when behavior is salient. We are still communicating. Therefore, there is no such thing as non communication. Every behavior is communication. You cannot not communicate. It means that communication is not necessarily linked to intention. All scholars that belonged to the Palo Alto group agree with this. Communication does not need to be intentional to be defined as communication.
Human communication can be described as ‘’ a process of message exchanges in a social environment, involving cognitive activities, emotional states and behavioral outcomes .’’ (Geiger and Bradac 1996, Blackwell Encyclopedia)
- process of message exchanges
- complex process involving many individuals, important to keep in mind is that this process must be considered into a context
- process of message exchanges → idea of exchange is important > world communication = put in common, so very dynamic
- always to consider the social environment
- involves cognitive attitudes → cognitive dimension
- also emotional state > play important role in communication, both the source and receiver
- behaviors and actions > what people do, what decisions they take and so on
This definition considers communication as a process of message exchanges and it is an exchange of cognitive activities, emotional states and behavioral outcomes. These Are the three dimensions usually studied by psychologists. The social environment is another crucial element we should take into account. While addressing communication we should always take into account the context in which communication takes place.
- some steps: perception stage (audience receive sounds, some visual signs, like gestures, the signals have to arrive); recognition (recognize the signs, based on the knowledge of common code like same language); interpretation (continuous destruction and reconstruction trying to make sense, also based on previous experiences of the receiver)
- Individual differences > based on expectations of the person we are communicating with
- misunderstanding occur when people do not share the same knowledge, system of meanings, background
It refers to the process of reception, interpretation and store into our memory. It is the second moment of communication and it is the reception of the message. It requires a certain level of effort to understand the content of the message. It can be break down into three: perception, recognition and interpretation. We first perceive the message, then we recognize signs. This is based on the knowledge of a common code. The sender and receiver have to share a common code. Lastly, we interpret the message. It is the continuous reconstruction of the message. We interpret the meaning. However, individuals may interpret the same message in different ways. Expectations can play a role in this. We may have certain expectations also due to attitudes (whether positive or negatives). Also personality is relevant. People with high self esteem may protect themselves towards certain informations, on the on the other hand, individuals with a lower self esteem may weigh more negative information. We may also make some decoding mistakes. This occurs when the two individuals do not share the same system of meanings.
Channel > means through which the message passes through
- medium that makes the transmission of message possible
- verbal (words) and nonverbal channel (posture, voice) > can be also named as the digital channel (verbal) and analog channel (non verbal)
- important to distinguish between : capacity (amount of info a channel can transmit in and immediacy (speed in which a message passes, non verbal often allow for greater immediacy
- verbal has higher capacity that non verbal
We refer to the difference between the verbal channel and non-verbal channel. The verbal channel refers to words while the non-verbal one refers to body language. The non- verbal one is often more complex and articulated. It is the physical medium that makes the transmission of the message possible. Channels have different features: capacity and immediacy. Capacity is the amount of information the channel can transmit over a specific unit of time. For example, the verbal channel has a big capacity. The nonverbal channel has a lower capacity. Immediacy is the speed in which information is passed on. Both the verbal and non verbal channels are very much interconnected. Therefore we should not consider them separately.
Background or Context > spatial and temporal context / physical or non context in which the people are communicating, also take into account the psychological dimension of the context
- different dimension of context
- 1 spatial and temporal context > contingent
- spatial > ask whether source and receiver communicate in the same place or in other cases in different places
- temporal dimension> ask if it is a real time communication or do people communicate at different times. First case defined as synchronous communication, differently in the second case defined as asynchronous communication
- psychological dimension > refer to the background of speakers to the experiences and values of who is communicating. There is an explicit level but there is also an implicit level which is very important which passes both through verbal and nonverbal (sign related level and then subtle meaning)
When we address the context, we need to address different dimensions: time and space. The first thing to analyze is the place. Do the sender and the receiver are in the same place? Secondly, the time. Is it real time communication or do they communicate at different times? The psychological context and level of communication is also relevant. Psychological context is the experience and values of the communicator. We can distinguish the context into explicit and implicit. The explicit context is everything that has to do with the signs we are communicating, and also non verbal communication. The implicit context refers to the set of broader meaning to which both the sender and receiver can refer to. This occurs when we use jokes. In the pragmatic context I can communicate with the other person if the explicit and implicit context match. The source may use implicit communication: to avoid and manage conflict, to detect lies, to respect social norms and to criticize using apparently an ironic tone.
a lot of debate when it was proposed > idea of comm is a unidirectional process
INTERACTIVE COMMUNICATION
The message can go from sender to receiver when there is an overlap between the fields of experience, the backgrounds > if the backgrounds are matching the message can be reached
A more elaborated model which is built on the mathematical model designed by Shannon and Weaver is the following. Communication is seen as a more dynamic mechanism. Here we have to add two new elements. In order for communication to be effective there must be an area of overlap between the field of experience of the sender and the one of the receiver. Only in this phase does the message get through. If this overlap is missing the message does not pass. The message is then transformed into a feedback which goes back to the source.
This is called the feedback loop. It is very important because it gives circularity to the process. It allows to decode the message and encode the message again on the basis of the feedback. Interactive communication
- same components > receiver, sender,message, feedback
- Two important fields > fields of experience of the sender and of the receiver
- Fields of experience > background of the two people communicating ◦ Then they overlap > then the message can be reached ◦ If i don’t do so > the message can’t get to the other part
PRAGMATIC APPROACH - THE IMPORTANCE OF CONTEXT
= the understanding of an expression/communication takes place on the basis of background assumptions about the context in which it is pronounced. Interactions between: Linguistic knowledge and Encyclopedic knowledge
idea of context > key concept
- the understand of message takes place on the basis of background
- to have an effective communication it is important to make the linguistic knowledge of the two must be the same, share common these
- the literal meaning associated to signs
- according to Palo Alto
- but not enough> the linguistic knowledge must interact and with encyclopedic knowledge which allows us to make inference and deductions > we also have to understand each other in terms of deduction
- eg; husband and wife in car >
There must be an interaction between the linguistic knowledge which is the knowledge of the meanings we should associate to science and the encyclopedic knowledge. It is a sort of contextualization knowledge that allows us to make deduction and to refer to a much reacher meaning. It is the implicit meaning we exchange while communicating. Beyond the linguistic moment there is a second level also known as the unspoken level of communication.
EXPLICIT AND IMPLICIT COMMUNICATION
- double blind theory> that can be a deep inconsistency between ea level of explicit speech and nonverbal
- when we have a close relationship between people who are emotionally connected it can be that there is a continuous inconsistency between implicit and explicit
Every communicative act involves the interlocutors exchanging:
a literal meaning (or direct, literal purpose ): explicit content conveyed by the signals used (words, gestures, postures…) an indirect meaning (or implicit, overlying purpose) : implicit content that can be inferred from the literal meaning taking into account contextual knowledge.
- Disconfirmation > one neither confirms ("you are right") nor rejects ("you are wrong") the communication but denies identity and role of the speaker ("you do not exist") (e.g., punitive silence, indifference). Violation of 2 axioms, in this case this happens when the person when communication to the other, he or she denies the identity or role of speakers bc when communicating a content we also communicate a relationship (es: partner denies the identity of the other, such as with silence, message could be ‘you don't exist’ > gender violence)
- Punctuation problems > violation of 3rd axioms; one of the individual reads comm by constantly blaming the other (other people don’t like me and so continuously behaving in a way in which is confirming the same attitude) comes when people reads communication not in a proper way
- Decoding errors > the analog message (NV) is misinterpreted (e.g., mistaking anxiety for lies). Regards the verbal and nonverbal channels, sometimes they can be inconsistent with each other, especially the nonverbal level can be misunderstood (person is asked for something and he or she is anxious but maybe it is because she is telling the truth but the other thinks is lying)
- Symmetric escalation and rigid complementary >chronic competitiveness (communicative war) and hardening to one-up and one-down positions (identity/competence denial). The symmetry of relationship can become a sort of war; in some case it can be so rigid that people cannot escape from the role
ANALYSIS OF COMMUNICATIVE SITUATIONS Components of the communicative act can be studied by focusing on various points:
- Source and receiver
- Context or background (co-presence / synchrony and social roles)
- Channel (verbal or non-verbal)
- Encoding and decoding (communicators’ skills)
Steps:
- Identify the source and the receiver
- We can reason and analyze aspect of the context and background (are they communities in the same place? Are they communication in real time or not?)
- We can reason about the features of the channel (is it verbal or non-verbal?)
- Lastly, how these features affect the encoding and decoding step?
COMMUNICATIVE SITUATIONS
- phone call > are the individuals in the same place? Most of the time no. Do they communicate at the same time? Yes. What are the feature of the channel? It is verbal since we do not see each other (facial, eye contact, posture, gestures...) still there is one non verbal presence which is conveyed by the voice. The voice convey different signals (tone of voice, silence, pauses, speed, volume, ... ).
- chat room > is there co-presence? Usually no. Is it synchronous? It can be both (mostly asynchronous). What about encoding and decoding? We can take more time, we can write the message differently, read it several times, ... an advantage may be that shy people can better express themselves. This aspect may overcome in a synchronous communication. What about the channel? Non verbal is mostly missing (it is a bit different for voice messages but still it is not the same of phone
conversation). This can be described as a very poor type of communication as most of the features are missing.
- job interview > N.B. Social roles and contexts matter here. Both individuals determine the encoding and decoding moment (what they say, how they say it, gestures, postures, ... ). The recruiter is mainly related to the encoding process.
- sign language conversation > what is interesting here is the channel. It is only non verbal. This tells us how powerful the non verbal language can be powerful as it can completely replace the verbal language.
- television debate > source politicians and receiver is the audience.
- group decisions
FUNCTIONS OF COMMUNICATION What are the basic functions of communication?
- Referential function > Communication first serves to convey a meaning. The referential is the core function of communication because the source and receiver share the same semantic system of meaning. In order to have referential communication, it is necessary that the sender and receiver charge the same meanings.
- Expressive (or Interpersonal) Function
- identity / personality
- emotions and attitudes
- roles Communication also serves to express oneself. It means that when we communicate we are also expressing ourselves and our personal features (identity, personality,...). All our communicative choices (lexical) can provide info about who we are, our personality,... Secondly, communication serves for expressing emotions. One main purpose of non-verbal communication is to express emotions. The non-verbal channel is very important in relation to expressive function. Moreover, communication may describe roles (being dominant, insubordinate,...). The three features highlight the fact that communicating means expressing something else. 3. Regulation / Control Function > Control the environment. Communicating means to achieve goals.
- Interactions’ coordination Function > It serves to coordinate our conversations and interactions with others. There are. A number of both verbal and non-verbal cues speakers use when they want to regulate the interaction. We all learn how to deal with them during our experience.
COMMUNICATIVE COMPETENCE = the ability to be effectively use communicative behaviors in a given context
It is defined as the ability to effectively use communicative behaviors in a given context. Context is very relevant. It is the result of the pragmatic approach. Communicating effectively means to regulate our behaviors and actions taking into account the context in which we are communicating.
- Syntactic competence : producing formally correct sentences and understanding them according to grammatical rules
Example: second debate in 2016 between Trump and Clinton
- first time gender confrontation
- non verbal comm> both in a particular format (two podiums) people could see all their movements
- Trump relies a lot on his body and his physical dominance > aggressive style
- Clinton in this occupation her strategy was mainly focused on enhancing her perceived competency (woman, first lady, often called cold woman) VIDEO Clinton smiles a lot > when doesn’t know what to do > to appear more confident Trump uses a lot of his physical dominance and expansive posture (where he uses a lot of space) while she has a different strategy> very close to the public to try to establish contact with people and make the audience understand that she is involved in people’s problems.
VIDEO 2020 campaign Trump and BIden
- during pandemic > affected a lot (one was postponed bc Trump got covid); no audience, no hand-shake… First debate and very particular Very heated debate, insulted each other, bad debate because it was impossible to understand anything.
Summary of debates: Debate between Trump and Clinton: ● Non verbal elements: space taking, speaking with arms, crossing arms or legs, pointing gestures (point with fingers another person which denotes an aggressive style), smile...
Debate between Trump and Biden: ● The moderator is sitting down while the two politicians are up and also in a higher position. This is the reason why he did not manage to calm down both Trump and Biden. Moreover, Biden talks directly to the camera and therefore directly to American citizens. He also uses a lower tone of voice to connect on a more empathetic dimension. (Similarly Harris)
Also face is something which is very important → Picture of Putin
Non verbal communication is so important > to what extent does it matter?
different elements One of the most important research, Mehrabian one of the first to study it Line of research called→
Speech rarely occurs in isolation from non verbal cues. Non verbal communication was first studied in the 30s by Albert Mehrabian. He conducted several experiments where people were presented with some neutral sentences and he asked them to associate these sentences with some face. People relied on non verbal cues for the 55% of the whole communication. 38% Reid on voice and tone, and only 7% on spoken words. Only 7% were not biased by non-verbal features. The main aim was to quantify the amount of communication conveyed by non verbal features.
Non verbal communication is 7.5 times more powerful than verbal communication in the expression of interpersonal attitudes.
Some recent studies argue that while individuals express their opinions on candidates in twitter posts, they rely much more on candidates’ nonverbal behavior, rather than on their speeches.
to quantify the weight of non verbal communication> he presented people with some neutral sentences, and then asked to associate the sentences with some faces on the pictures (positive or negative emotions) then asked how the speaker was expressing himself Results: people relied on non verbal clues for the 55%; 38% the voice while only 7% referred to the verbal
Starting from this, he developed the idea that only the 7% of the communication can be extracted from the words, while the majority from the body language (most important)
- non verbal communication has higher role compared to verbal communication
Another psychologist Argyle> some researchers following this line (to quantify) to what extent the non verbal communication dimension counts. Some people were instructed to tell something about their experiences, in different ways. IN one condition used non verbal communication consistent with the tone (ex. some positive> use non verbal comm related such as smiling), In another condition asked to do it with an incongruent (opposite) Results: people relied much more on the non verbal when there was the ambiguity condition Non verbal communication is 7.5 times more powerful than verbal communication in the expression of interpersonal attitudes.
FUNCTIONS OF NVC
- Communicating attitudes > (affection, intimacy, dominance, status): it helps us to determine interpersonal relationships in terms of both subordination and affiliation. It is a relational language, through our body we convey different meanings.sort of relational language and it helps a lot to define interpersonal relationships (intimacy, power, dominance, status, affection)
- Communicating emotions > a lot of non verbal clues are used (happiness, fear, anger) non verbal cues can communicate emotions. There are specific non verbal codes which include facial expressions and gestures which play a role in expressing emotions.
- Complementing and reinforcing speech > we may complement and even replace speech. Verbal and non verbal communication are strictly connected and
- Vocal activities → intonations, speed of speaking, use of resonance and volume. Called also nonverbal vocalisations, they can have a meaning even if they don’t regard words directly, they enrich the meaning of speech. it includes all the features of the voice such as intonation, pauses, speed, volume, resonance,... these are all features of our voice which do not concern the verbal part but still they convey emotions, meaning and they are able to communicate different things.
- Proximity → refers to the management of distances as well as to the use of postures. It refers to both management of social distance, posture (sometimes posture is included in kinesics) and tactics (the use of touch -> hand shake).
- Visual code → images, illustration, visual language, signs. the communication that comes from sign and graphical choices that can have meanings.
The interconnection of one code and another produces meaningful outcomes.
KINESICS - Facial expression → Face: the most important channel of nonverbal communication, defines a lot who we are. Anatomy of face→ some areas that can be broken down in some groups
- intentional vs. unintentional expressions →
March 17
KINESICS > Facial expression
Facial expressions are particularly important to express emotions > much research about how the face expresses emotions. The human face is used to communicate a variety of messages. Face is also the location of several different nerves. We have lots of muscles which produce different expressions. For instance, the zigomatic ones are important and they allow us to smile. It is a complex anatomic structure. One of the most important non verbal functions is the expression of the face.
Brain sciences > important in emotions, they are involved in the recognition of emotion and also in the production
- If some structures are damaged, there are problems in both recognition and expression of emotions
Researchers focused their attention on specific expressions and they found out there is consistency among cultures. The expressions of some emotions are the same across cultures. Expressions can be distinguished into intentional and unintentional. Our brain activities work differently according to the type of expressions. Difference between intentional and unintentional expressions
- It has been shown that face uncles can be activated in two ways
- Intentional and unintentional expressions have two different pathways
- A big part of our emotions is out of our control, and face expressions is part of it
There are some famous studies conducted by Elkann and Friesen in the 70s. They compared facial expressions of people coming from western countries and people coming from more isolated countries. These studies concluded that facial expressions conveyed by people in Guinea (they did not have contact with other societies) are the same of the ones from western countries. They then developed the neuro-cultural theory that assumes that there is an interaction between cultures and basic facial expressions. Some emotions and facial expressions of emotions are the same across cultures and they are also shaped by the culture individuals belong to.
Evolutionary origin of the expression of emotions →Facial expressions associated with basic emotions show high cross cultural recognition (see Darwin and Ekman studies)
- Darwin > interested in the development of face expressions and emotions
- In evolution there was a sort of genetics of face expressions that aimed at survival, evolution and so on > some primates have our same facial expressions
- There’s are some universal ways of expressing emotions
Ekman > he studies nonverbal behavior and face expression
- He studied people in Papua New Guinea and compared the way in which they encoded and decoded emotions with western people
- He found a lot of similarities > universal ways of expressing emotions
- This common base is then shaped by the different cultures
- From him some coding and decoding systems have been developed
- Facial expressions associated with basic emotions show high cross cultural recognition
(Two famous coding systems of facial expressions:) Systems of description and coding of emotion expression:
- FAST (Facial Affect Scoring Technique ) (Ekman, Friesen and Tomkins, 1971) → divides the face into three main areas, one upper, one middle and one lower. It identifies some typical positions for each area of the face (e.g. eyebrows, mouth) - Ex. 8 positions for eyebrows, 17 positions for eyes - The system identifies some typical position of face muscles within each area.
Some basic movements of the face > combined together they can form all the ways we express emotion → This was a more simplified version
- FACS (FacialActionCodingScheme ) (Ekman and Friesen , 1978; 1982) → standardized coding system aimed at distinguishing all possible visible anatomically based facial movements. It identifies a system of action units (AUs) or fundamental movements of individual or group muscles. FACS is based on the classification of 46 basic Action Units - This is a more developed version - The system also identifies a number of action units (AU). They are the basic movements of individual group muscles. There are 46 action units. All facial expressions can be traced back to these 46 action units
‣ First to provide a common definition and common names for facial movements
individuals. They are innate as they are the same. Furthermore, he argues that each emotion can be conceived as a family where we can find different nuances that correspond to the verbal labels we used to define emotions (we have different graduation of the same emotions and therefore they have to be considered as families).
◦For example > emotions common to all humans, and innate in babies ◦These should be considered “families” of emotions
- We were all born with the same Genetti’s program regarding emotions, then put culture can shape them
FACE SIGNALS (Ekman, 1982)
- Static signals
- Slow/SLow changing signals
- Rapid signals
- emotional messages
- emblems
- punctuation of conversation
- micro-expressions
Static signals → are permanent facial signals such as our bone structure and face color. They are stable for a long period of time. They usually do not directly convey emotions but they provide a sort of canvas where emotions are expressed.
- ex. skin tone, bones, shape of the eyes and so on
Slow/slo changing signals → clues that gradually change over time; wrinkles, skin textures, shape of the face and so on > this does not show the emotions, but can affect the overall person's facial expression.
Rapid signals → the ones studied by Erkman, these express emotions. There are some muscles which produce very quick changes on our face and these rapid movements involve all the facial movements people make while expressing emotions. Many facial cues of emotions are dynamic and change very quickly. They can be divided into:
- Emotional messages (usually intentionally displayed) > (movement of the face that convey emotions which are intentionally expressed)
- Emblems > signals that are similar or equivalent to a word or a sentence, these can be understood in the same culture. They can have different meanings in different cultures.
- Punctuation of a conversation > (all signal that have the same function of punctuation. It gives rhythm to the speech) very studied way to use our face, very very rapid movements of the face, discovered only when researchers slowed down videos.
- Micro-expression → (these expressions last a very short period of time. Elkann discovered these micro-expressions and he argued that they can provide cues on what people feel. They can reveal the real emotion people feel in a specific situation).
Micro-expressions study: the patient was a 40 years old woman (hospitalized for depression) who tried to kill herself more than twice before being hospitalized. Doctors during the sessions claimed she was no longer depressed and she was feeling better. She used to
smile a lot and be enthusiastic. Fortunately, before leaving the hospital she confessed she was lying. Elkann decided to analyze the video recording and he noticed some expressions of deep sadness on her face. In the recordings they noticed some very very quick expressions of deep desperation and deep sadness > they lasted less than a second. These reveal feelings of people because these are little moments in which we express our real emotions (tells whether a person is being honest). These expressions were very rapid and were visible only in slow motion. He argues that patient faces often showed a number of rapidly changing emotions.
Kato Kaelin argues that micro-expressions occur when people try to hide the real emotions they are feeling. They also occur when someone is totally unaware of what he/she is feeling. Micro-expressions are the result of either conscious suppression (intentional) or unconscious repression (unintentional). They look exactly the same. Usually, the context in which they occur will make clear if it is either generated by repression or suppression.
KINESICS - FACIAL EXPRESSION Deception detection (tell if we were lying) The line of research starting from micro-expressions has also brought to identifying some signs/ signals about deception.
Elkann proposed some possible signs of the deception beside micro-expressions:
- Stifled expressions → spontaneous expressions then covered by controlled expressions. Sometimes when people control their feelings their real emotion can be covered by another facial expression. These are covered expressions. The result is something dis-articulated. The expression is covered intentionally.
- Traces due to lack of inhibition of less controllable muscles → not all facial muscles are easily controllable > some we control better and others not. Result > disjoined expression. In some cases, our face could not appear in a coherent way. Even here, the outcome will be dis-articulated. The resulting expression will not correspond to the real expression.
- Execution time → spontaneous expressions are short (less than 10 min), if they last longer probably they are modulated
- Placement in the flow of discourse → ex. anger, first in the expressions, then in the voice; if it’s the contrary, then probably it’s fake. Usually the face displays meanings before we express ourselves with words. If the opposite happens, the expression is probably fake because the placement in relation to the speech is not consistent with the flow of the speech. They are very quick.
- Asymmetry → our brains are laterized, they spontaneous expressions of emotions are more accentuated in the left side of the brain. Intentional control affects the right side of the face. It reflects the fact that our brain is divided into two (right and left side) and the ability to control emotions is located in the left side. For this reason, people are more able to control emotions in the right side of their body and face. The result is that when emotions are intentional and controlled, the emotion appears on the face in an asymmetrical way (more pronounced on the left side).
Display rules Another kind of classification of Ekman > when analyzing deception detection he said that this happens not only when we lie, but also when we adapt out behavior to the situation.
