History of Nonverbal Communication PDF

History of Nonverbal communication Sharmin Ahmed Introduction Our interpersonal effectiveness depends on more than words. Nonverbal messages add to or detract from our words. In effect, we become the message, with our nonverbal cues announcing our state of mind, expectat...

History of Nonverbal communication Sharmin Ahmed Introduction Our interpersonal effectiveness depends on more than words. Nonverbal messages add to or detract from our words. In effect, we become the message, with our nonverbal cues announcing our state of mind, expectations, and sense of self. Our entire beings chatter incessantly, revealing what we really feel and think. Definition Nonverbal communication is expressed through nonlinguistic means. It is the actions or attributes of humans, including their appearance, use of objects, sound, time, smell, and space, that have socially shared significance and stimulate meaning in others. It includes visual/kinesic cues such as facial expressions, eye movements, gestures, and body orientation; vocal/paralinguistic cues such as volume, pitch, rate, and inflection The term nonverbal communication was introduced in 1956 by psychiatrist Jurgen Ruesch and author Weldon Kees in the book "Nonverbal Communication: Notes on the Visual Perception of Human Relations."  proxemic cues such as space and distance olfactory or smell cues; cues provided via artefactual communication and appearance; cues sent via color; chronemic or time cues. nonverbal cues carry approximately two-thirds of a message’s communicative value. Even when used independently of words, as long as an observer derives meaning from them, nonverbal messages speak volumes. Of course, the amount of information conveyed varies according to their clarity, and how receptive and perceptive the receiver is. THE FUNCTIONS OF NONVERBAL COMMUNICATION 1. Nonverbal cues can contradict or negate verbal messages. When this happens what is said and what is done are at odds. 2. Nonverbal cues can emphasize or underscore a verbal message. 3. Nonverbal cues can regulate or control person-to-person interaction. Using nonverbal cues, we establish the rules of order or “turn-taking” during talk. With eye contact, gestures, and voice we control who should speak next and thus direct the flow of verbal exchanges. The regulatory skills of others influence our judgments of them. 4. Nonverbal cues can reinforce or complement a verbal message. 5. Nonverbal cues can substitute for or take the place of spoken words. History Humanity was challenged but flourished over centuries on Earth. Be it environmental, social, economical and psychological obstacles, our ancestors cemented themselves as advanced creatures – existing through survival of the fittest; cultural establishment, industrial revolution and globalization of today. These accomplishments are not merely due to our intelligence or adaptivity but also our inherent skill for effective interpersonal and social communication. Our ancestors developed, adopted and utilized non-verbal communication as their “shared” language system for the very need of survival and socialization before the maturity of their complex vocal apparatus Biological evolution Biological evolution refers to anatomical and physical changes to the body that give rise to various cognitive functions. Firstly, we will be sharing with you these changes as Homo Habilis gradually evolve to Sapiens. Brain Size : When biological evolution is involved, the most prominent change would be the brain size. Within the Hominids family, gradual increase in brain size had been observed since the days of Great Apes to that of Homo Genus. This change had been an ongoing and consistent process in through the stages of the Homo series, particularly from Homo Habilis to Erectus to Sapiens. Three factors have been found to be correlated with the increase in brain size. Factor 1. Brain Lobes Expansion of brain lobes and change in brain organization are evident with the emergence of Homo habilis, including modest expansion of the frontal and parietal lobes along the stages of the Homo Genus evolution. The frontal lobe is the part of the brain that manages important cognitive skills in humans such as emotional expression, problem solving, memory, language, judgment, and sexual behavior. It is often referred to as the ‘control panel’ of humans’ personality and our ability to communicate. As the homos progressively possess a larger frontal lobe, executive human functions get increasingly prominent; emergence of speech production and ideologies to solve problems such as creating hunting tools are examples of how the homos are potentially becoming more human-like. On the other hand, the parietal lobe is vital for sensory perception and integration, primarily with the visual system. With an increasing parietal lobe, the homos’ ability of visual perception gets better over the various stages from Habilis to Sapiens. They learn to make use of their eyesights for survival purposes, such as interpreting their surrounding environment using light in the visible spectrum reflected by the objects to catch sight of possible predators. Factor 2. Brain Volume & Gyri The Great Apes whom humans share a common ancestor with, consist of Chimpanzees, Orangutans and Gorillas that have an average brain volume which ranges from 400 to 500 cm3. On the other hand, the average brain volume of the Homo Genus is approximately 1,000 cm3. If we look at it independently, brain volumes of Homo Habilis, Homo Erectus and Homo Sapiens are 640 cm3 , 900 cm3 and 1,300cm3 respectively. It can be seen that as hominids progress and evolve into humans (sapiens), their brains get increasingly bigger. Apart from the change in volume, increase in brain gyri contributes to the overall growth in size as well. A gyrus refers to the raised surface of the brain as a result of brain folding activities. Due to the expansion of the frontal and parietal lobes, brain foldings increase and result in more brain gyri which eventually lead to a wider neocortex surface. The neocortex is known as the ‘thinking brain’; executive functions include rationality, sensory perception, generation of motor commands and in humans, language. Hence, the potential for speech production may have arose as early as the Homos days. Factor 3. Brain-Body Ratio The homos evolve and become more human-like over the stages from Habilis to Sapiens, both body and brain sizes have had gradual increases. However, this phenomenon cannot assumably account for the higher mental capability of the homos over the years of evolution. The relationship of the brain to body ratio is not linear, which means that having a big body may not necessarily correlate to having a big brain, and vice-versa. Moreover, having a bigger brain has not been scientifically proven to be smarter. Hence, although Homo Sapiens have a greater brain-body ratio as compared to Homo Habilis and Erectus, it may be possible that the latter have had a higher Intellectual Quotient (IQ) back in the days. Body Structure Body structure consists of many anatomies but in this section, emphasis will be placed only on three main areas. This is because the biological and physical evolution of these parts eventually give rise to evident features that are significant to non-verbal communications. Spine: The lumbar curve forms part of the spine and is an uniquely human feature. Non-human primates such as Gorillas, Orangutans and Chimpanzees do not have this spinal part. Its development started in the homo days and became a significant feature later that contributes greatly to the phenomenon of bipedalism (how living organisms are able to walk and operate on two legs). After the growth of the lumbar curve in homos, bipedalism did not take place immediately as it was in the form of a C-shaped spine. It was only over time that this C-shaped curve progressively undergo a decrease in degree of forward bending which eventually establishes a permanent S-shaped curvature, something that all of us have today.  Feet: Archaeologists have found that the feet of Homo Habilis are similar to that of ours. Over time as Habilis evolved into Erectus and finally to Sapiens, their feet went through changes in length, size and serving purposes. The feet length gets increasingly longer while the heels become larger in size as the homos turn more human-like. This change allowed for better support and balance as the weights of these homos get increasingly heavier along the timeline of evolution. This probably explains why the homos were able to run and chase after preys later in the days after bipedalism was established. Also, toe adduction allowed the big toe to move progressively nearer to the other toes and eventually be in line with one another.  Hands: the hands of homos evolved physically to allow for more general uses. Back when homos were more distant from human-like, hands were primarily used for specific reasons such as fruits and tools grabbing. Fingers were stiff and fixated as the bones were bent in a slightly forward curve. Flexibility of the hands increased and the possible uses of them varied greatly over time, from specific functions mentioned earlier to general ones (i.e. whatever humans can do with their hands now). Actions such as thumbs up, counting with fingers and pointing are made possible given the evolution of the hands. Also, both the palm size and length of fingers increased as the homos become more human-like. Enlarged hands are more muscular and provide higher energy level to serve survival purposes such as creating stone tools to prepare food or defend against enemies. Emergence of all these changes complemented the phenomenon of bipedalism; maximizing the effective usage of the hands for other purposes while operating on two limbs. Facial Changes Comparing within the Hominids family, the face is probably the most distinctive difference. Even within the Homo Genus family, facial changes have been prominent across the various stages of evolution particularly changes in the Jaw, Facial Hair and Nose. The changes in these areas are more evident and explained for by archaeologists as compared to areas like the ear, depth of eyes and etc.  Jaw: From Habilis to Erectus and eventually Sapiens, the size of the jaw and teeth had decreased greatly. Although facially habilis did not show high resemblance to humans, he definitely looked pretty different to non- human primates. Known as the handy-man, habilis is popular for his tools-making expertise. He may have made good use of tools to prepare softer food, resulting in a reduction of jaw bone size over the long term due to the decrease in usage of oral muscles. The progressively smaller jaw caused the oral cavity to decrease in size, potentially allowing speech production in humans later on as a smaller cavity allows for better muscular control. With more control, air flow that arises from the lungs can be constricted in the oral space to produce sounds. Hence, speech being a uniquely human feature, is likely to have developed as a result of the biological changes in the jaws of homos. Not only that, mouths got increasingly less rounded, growing away from the uniquely primate feature. Faces turned increasingly gracile over the years with elongated foreheads and chins becoming more prominent on the face.