Pyschology Communication

Term 3

Communication

Sending or receiving information between people (or animals)

Verbal communication

Using words and sounds as a way of communicating thoughts and feelings

Non-verbal communication

Exchanging information without words

Functions of Animal Communication

Survival, reproduction, territory, food

Examples of animal communication

Pouting; physical gestures such as touching, licking, grooming; alarm calls

Examples of how animals use communication for food

They can use certain chemicals such as pheromones which will show the way towards a food source for the rest of the members of the species

Which one is more ambiguous, human communication or animal communication?

Animal communication

What is body language?

Body language is the way that attitudes and feelings are communicated through movements such as facial expression, gestures and posture.

Closed posture

Crossing your arms and legs away from someone, sitting in a hunched forward position, showing the backs of your hands and clenching your fists are all signs of closed posture. This may give the impression of boredom, hostility or detachment.

Open posture

Open posture portrays friendliness and positivity. In an open position, your feet are spread wide, and the palms of your hands are facing outward, arms or legs are not crossed. It implies a person is listening.

Postural echo

People who are getting on way and are in agreement with each other copy or mirror each other’s body language

McGinley et al (1975) Study on body language: describe

McGinley et al (1975) used a female confederate to discuss her views on numerous topics ranging from whether to tip waiters and whether to the use of nuclear weapons. Participants were asked their views on these topics before and after viewing the discussion. They found that participants were more likely to change their opinion if the woman had an open posture.

Why might research into body language be unethical?

Usually, participants are unaware that they are taking part in the experiment and the researcher has therefore not gained consent or permission, and the participant has been involved in a study without their will.

This directly conflicts the BPS as some participants may not want to be a part of such investigation due to several reasons. For example, some might have phobias, some might not like being physically touched.

Fischer et al (1976) study: describe

Fisher et al (1976) used a confederate to hand female participants books in a library and either: a) lightly touch their hands or b) not touch the participant directly in any way. They found that, when questioned afterwards, the participants spoke much more positively about the librarian when they had lightly touched their hand

Why do body language studies fail to control extreneous variables?

Body language studies often struggle to control extraneous variables due to the complexity of human behavior and the difficulty of isolating factors. Examples: participant age, familiarity with the confederate, cultural background.

The role (functions) of eye contact in communication

Eye contact has a number of roles in communication such as regulating the flow of conversation, signalling attraction and expressing emotion.  

A research description about eye contact

Researchers gave participants pictures of faces showing the emotions: joy, anger, fear and sadness. Some of the pictures showed a direct gaze whilst others showed participants looking away (averted gaze). Participants judged anger and joy to be most intense when there was a direct gaze and fear and sadness when there was an averted gaze.

This supports the idea that we use eye contact differently depending on the emotion we want to convey.

What is personal space?

Personal space is the distance we keep between our bodies and other bodies.

Factors that influence personal space

Culture, gender, status

How does culture affect/influence personal space?

There are cultural norms for personal space and these differ between cultures. This usually becomes obvious when people from different cultures interact. Sommer (1969) observed groups of British and Arab people in conversation and found that English people preferred more personal space than Arab men. A further study found that Arab men perceive English men in a better light when they stand closer. This suggests preferences for personal space differ from culture to culture.

Culture definition

The beliefs, customs, social norms and expectations that surround us

Gender definition

A person’s sense of masculinity or femininity including attitudes, characteristics, and behaviours

How does gender influence one’s personal space?

Men tend to prefer more personal space when interacting with other men while women are more tolerant to smaller social distances. (1971)

Byrne found that when talking to friends, mer prefer to sit opposite each other whilst wome sit next to each other showing they are more comfortable with less personal space. (1975)

Further research found women feel more anxious if their personal space is invaded from the side while men feel threatened if it is invaded from the front.

A STUDY THAT CONTRADICTS THE STUDY ABOUT ARAB PEOPLE HAVING LESS PERSONAL SPACE THAN ENGLISH

Sorokowska et al (2017) 9000 people in over 42 countries  - asked to indicate on a drawing where they would prefer people to stand in a conversation - stranger, acquaintance or friend. 

Large cultural differences found - Saudia Arabia - 125cm for strangers and 95cm for friends and England - 100cm for strangers and 55cm for friends. 

How does status influence one’s personal space?

People tend to stay closer (have a closer.smaller personal space) with people who have the same/similar status as them. Zahn (1991) found that people who have equal/similar status maintain a closer distance than those with unequal status. He found that, in an observation of 45 workers, those with lower social status do not approach those of higher social status as closely as they did those who were of a similar societal rank.

This shows that status can have a significant effect on personal space.

Darwin’s evolutionary theory summary

Suggested that species change and adapt over time in response to their environment in order to increase the likelihood of survival. He proposed this happened through natural selection with genes for characteristics that improve the chance of survival or reproduction passed on to the next generation. He suggested that non-verbal communication had evolved in humans and animals as a way of expressing emotions and animals and humans may share certain behaviours because we share mutual ancestors. (Some nonverbal behavior are adaptive. Serviceable habit was once an adaptive however we have changed it, in a way which our ancestors didn't use it)

Weakness of Darwin’s theory

Cannot explain why there are cultural differences in non-verbal behaviour.

Strengths (2) of Darwin’s theory

Supported by neonatal research, supported by research into sensory deprived individuals.

Yuki (2007) Study on emotions summary description

The study aimed to explore cultural differences in emotional states interpretation between Japanese and American students using an independent group design. Participants were presented with emoticons ranging from happy to neutral, and their happiness levels were rated using a 9-point likert scale.

Weaknesses of Yuki’s study (2)

Generalisability, Validity (artificial)

A strength of Yuki’s study

Ethics

Piaget’s theory

Thought comes before language

What are schemas?

Schemas are mental frameworks, beliefs or expectations about objects, people and situations that we develop through experience.

What did Piaget argue about words that were spoken before a schema of them had been developed?

Piaget acknowledged the fact that children can learn words relatively young without any understanding of what those words mean but he argued that in these situations the child merely acts as a parrot - repeating words they don't understand.

Egocentric meaning

They believe that they are the main and center ones. 

Piaget’s opposing theory

Sapir-Whorf (language comes before thought)

Strengths and weaknesses of Piaget’s theory

Strength:
Supporting evidence: evidence have shown that young children often place two words together to mean to different things e.g. 'Mummy car' to mean a car owned by mummy.

This shows that they understand possession and that people own belongings.

This shows that children start using language once they understand schemas

Weakness:

Schemas are unique to every individual and cannot be scientifically measured. (lacks scientific rigour)

Opposing theory (Sapir-Whorf)

The theory and idea of the Sapir-Whorf theory

Theory – language comes before thought

Idea – people cannot think about the things that they do not know the language for/of refers to the proposal that the particular language one speaks influences the way one thinks about reality.

Now, who was Whorf?

Whorf wasn't a psychologist, he was a fire prevention engineer, he was an enthusiastic linguist.

Linguistic determinism

This is a strong argument, stating that we will not think about things which we do not have words for. 

Linguistic relativism

This is a weaker version of the argument which states that although language does influence the way we think, it does not mean that we won't think about things that we do not have words for. 

Weakness of Sapir-Whorf

this study is that the examples they provide does not connect or prove that language comes before thought. You knowing several words for a specific object does not necessarily prove that language comes before thought  

Evidence from research into the Inuit tribe may have exaggerated linguistic differences between cultures

Bee dance

The honey bees communicated where sources of pollen were using a sequence of movements or a 'dance'.

If the food way less than 100m away the bees performed 'The round dance', moving around in a circle.

If the food was further than 100m away then the bees would using 'the waggle dance' where the bee moves round in a figure of eight, waggling as it goes through the middle section. The direction of this waggle indicates where the pollen is. The speed of the waggle dance indicates how far away it is. Slow dance = further away.