# Communication Theory/Nonverbal Communication

Scholars in this field usually use a strict sense of the term
\"verbal\", meaning \"of or concerned with words,\" and do not use
\"verbal communication\" as a synonym for oral or spoken communication.
Thus, sign languages and
writing are generally understood as forms of
verbal communication, as both make use of words --- although like
speech, both may contain paralinguistic elements and often occur
alongside nonverbal messages. Nonverbal communication can occur through
any sensory
channel "wikilink") ---
sight, sound,
smell,
touch or
taste. Nonverbal communication is also
distinguished from unconscious
communication, which may be
verbal or non-verbal.

## Voluntary

This is less commonly discussed because it seems unproblematic, refers
to movement, gestures and poses intentionally made by the person:
smiling, moving hands, imitating actions, and generally making movements
with full or partial intention of making them and a realisation of what
they communicate. It can apply to many types of soundless communication,
for example, formalized gestures.

## Involuntary

This applies to involuntary movements that may give observers cues about
what one is really thinking or feeling. The ability to interpret such
movements may itself be unconscious, at least for untrained observers.

Many elements of involuntary body language can easily be understood, and
tested, simply by knowing about them. For example, the tendency for
people to raise their eyebrows as one approaches them fact-to-face is
usually indicative of esteem. If you walk down the street and encounter
someone you do not know then the chances are that neither of you will
raise your eyebrows. If you recognize each other, however, even if you
do not greet each another, then eyebrows will likely raise and lower. Of
particular interest here in a work context is that if one is not rated
highly by the other person then that person will not raise their
eyebrows, even though one is
recognised.1.

It is widely believed that involuntary body language is the most
accurate way into a person\'s subconscious. In principle, if people do
not realize what they are doing or why they are doing it, it should be
possible for a trained observer to understand more of what they are
thinking or feeling than they intend - or even more than they realize
themselves. Interrogators, customs examiners, and others who have to
seek information that people do not necessarily want to give have always
relied on explicit or implicit hypotheses about body language. However,
this is a field that is fraught with risk of error, and it has also been
plagued with plausible but superficial or just plain erroneous popular
psychology: just because someone has
their legs crossed toward you, it does not mean that they want to have
sex with you; it could just mean that they are comfortable with you, but
it could also be how they always sit regardless of where you are.
Furthermore, it is not possible to tell reliably whether body language
has been emitted voluntarily or involuntarily, so to rely too heavily on
it is to run the risk of being bluffed.

Research conducted by Paul Ekman at the end
of the 20th Century resolved an old debate about how facial
expressions vary between cultures. He
was interested in whether, for instance smiling,
was a universal phenomenon, or whether there are cultures in which its
expression varies. Ekman found that there were several fundamental sets
of involuntary facial muscle movements relating to the experience of a
corresponding set of emotions: grief, anger, fear, enjoyment and
disgust. He also indicates that, whilst the furrowing of the eyebrows
when experiencing grief is difficult to perform
voluntarily, such expressions can be learnt through practice. Ekman\'s
ideas are described and photographically illustrated in his book
*Emotions
Revealed*2.

The use of video recording has led to important discoveries in the
interpretation of micro-expressions,
facial movements which last a few milliseconds. In particular, it is
claimed that one can detect whether a person is lying by interpreting
micro-expressions correctly. Oliver Sacks,
in his paper *The President\'s Speech*, indicated how people who are
unable to understand speech because of brain damage are nevertheless
able to assess sincerity accurately. He even suggests that such
abilities in interpreting human behavior may be shared by animals such
as domestic dogs.

A recent empirical study of people\'s ability to detect whether another
was lying established that some people can detect dishonesty
consistently reliably. This study showed that certain convicts, American
secret service agents and a Buddhist monk were better at detecting lying
in others than most people, and it is postulated that this ability is
learned by becoming observant of particular facial micro-expressions.

Body language is a product of both genetic and environmental influences.
Blind children will smile and laugh even though
they have never seen a smile. The ethologist
Iraneus Eibl-Eibesfeldt claimed
that a number of basic elements of body language were universal across
cultures and must therefore be fixed action
patterns under
instinctive control. Some forms of human body
language show continuities with communicative gestures of other
apes, though often with changes in meaning - the
human smile, for example, seems to be related to the open-mouthed threat
response seen in most other primates. More
refined gestures, which vary between cultures (for example the gestures
to indicate \"yes\" and \"no\"), must obviously be learned or modified
through learning, usually by unconscious observation of the environment.

## Reference

Argyle, M. (1975). Bodily communication.
New York: International Universities Press.

