Course 36:089 Nonverbal communication SPRING 2004
Class
meetings: 9.30-10.45 Tuesdays and Thursdays in 104 EPB.
Course
Instructor: Prof Steve Duck, Daniel and Amy Starch Distinguished Research Chair.
Office:
151-BCSB; Phone: 335-0579; Email: steve-duck@uiowa.edu
Office
hours: Tu Thur 8.30-9.30. There is a sign up sheet outside my door.
Meetings can be arranged outside these times by request.
Although
we think of talking as the basis of communication, we often determine 'what someone
means' by our perception and interpretation of nonverbal communication, such as
posture, eye movements, or tone of voice. Equally when we are trying to
persuade, impress, or deceive someone, we may pay especial attention to our nonverbal
behaviors, such as facial expression or eye movement. This course is designed
as an introduction to theoretical study of such nonverbal communication. Our focus
will be on the major principles and research trends in the area, while also examining
the role of nonverbal communication in communication as a whole.
(1) To gain basic knowledge of primary theoretical concepts
in nonverbal communication (NVC) research, in relation
to visual, auditory, tactile, proxemic, and time and
place codes, and the functions of nonverbal communication.
(2) To develop the ability to analyze
a variety of interactions through application of NVC
(nonverbal communication) concepts.
(3)
To develop an understanding of the role of NVC in the
broader activities of communication in a variety of settings.
1)
M. L. Knapp & J. A. Hall (2002) Nonverbal Communication in Human Interaction
(FIFTH EDITION) Wadsworth.
2)
Supplementary readings as indicated here and during class from time to time.
Course grades will be assigned
on the basis of points accumulated throughout the semester. I do not curve
the scores: what you see is what you get. Standard point cutoffs will be
used to determine final course grades: A = 90% or above; B = 80% or above; C =
70% or above; D = 60 % or above; F = 59% and below. I will use + and - grades
for scores that are within 5 points near these cutoff values. A maximum of 100
points is possible. Point accumulation will be as follows:
Two In-Class Exams: 30 points each
Class presentation: 40 points. [Class presentation points will be awarded by the rest of the class and corrected for your articipation as judged by other members of your group.]
1. Exams: Two in-class exams
will be given. The objective in giving these tests is to keep us clearly focused
on the class material, whether it be readings, films,
or other materials. All material presented (including but not limited to readings,
films, class discussion and lectures) will be included on the tests. The exams
will be multiple-choice.
2. Class presentation: You will work on a group project and present the
results to the class at the end of semester. All members of each group will
assess the contributions that their group members make to the final product and
will give those comments to me privately. The results of this assessment
will be used to weight the points awarded by the rest of the class when the presentation
is delivered.
1. Recording of class notes, and
timely completion of assignments are the responsibility of the student.
2. Exams must be completed by the end of the class period for which they have been assigned. Group presentations are due on the day that will be arranged for each group. No assignments will be accepted after the class period for which it was assigned, and a zero score will be entered for all missed assignments.
3. If you are registered with the
Office of Student Disability Services (3101 Burge Hall, 335-1462) and need to
make special arrangements for any of the assignments or need special seating or
other adjustments, please see me as soon in the semester as possible.
4. If you are dissatisfied with
any aspects of the course please discuss them with me. If, after we have talked,
you feel that your concerns have not been adequately addressed, then contact Randy
Hirokawa, the Department Executive Officer, in BCSB-105 (353-2255). If, after
meeting with the DEO, you still believe that your grievance has not been handled
in a satisfactory manner you should contact the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs
in 120 Schaeffer Hall.
5. If you have questions about
a grade you receive, please express those concerns in writing. The written appeal
should provide your reasons for why the grade is too high/low. After I have reviewed
your appeal and your work, we will meet to discuss your concerns.
You are all responsible adults
who do not need me to be your parent and chase you up to do your work. I
am here to educate you (from the Latin, meaning “to draw out” [your potential])
and it is my job to help you to learn, if you wish to do so.
If
you attend classes then you will learn more than if you don’t. I
do not check attendance because it is up to you, not me, whether you attend class
or not. Class exams and papers will include compulsory questions on material
covered only in lectures in class and if you were there you will know it; if you
weren’t there, you won’t. It’s your choice and the consequences are yours.
Class participation is up to you.
If you have questions or answers and want to have them discussed then please feel
free to offer them. If you just want to sit there, that’s fine with me.
You won't get credit for participating and you won't get penalised for not participating, because voluntary participation
is part of education, not something extra that is worthy of extra reward.
You participate, you learn; you don’t, you don’t. It’s up to you.
Deadlines are meaningful.
If you miss them then you will not score as well as if you meet them. In
the real world when you leave here if you are repeatedly late with a report for
your boss you will be fired. Your boss will not care how much work you put into
the project nor how good YOU think it is nor how much
you need to be rewarded for it. If you are late, you are late.
If it is no good, it is no good, however much you want to argue the point.
Working hard is not a guarantee of a good grade but it is probably a necessary
condition for one. That’s life.
I do not change grades just because
people come to tell me they worked hard, nor because they think that they really
deserved a higher grade or that they need a higher grade to graduate. I
grade what you give me, using my 30 years of expertise as a teacher, and I grade
it on quality and evidence of learning and relevance to the course, not
on your effort alone nor on your need. That, again, is life in the
real world of adulthood that you have already entered.
Tues
20 Jan Introduction to the concepts of Nonverbal Communication (NVC)
I
will introduce ideas such as the Static/Dynamic difference; Encoding and Decoding
issues; concomitant, expressive and regulatory roles of NVC; and the areas of Haptics, Proxemics and Chronemics. There is no prerequired reading for this class.
Thurs
22 Jan: Innate theories of Emotion
Read
Knapp & Hall Chapter 2.
Thurs 29 Jan – No Class meeting
You
will be allocated to groups and being planning out your assignment
Tues
3 Feb: Channels of NVC and the issue of intentionality
Read
Knapp and Hall Chapter 3
Thurs
5 Feb: Space and orientation in space: The environmental setting
Read
Knapp & Hall Chapter 4
Tues
10 Feb: Proxemics
Read
Knapp & Hall Chapter 5
Thurs
12 Feb: Combining space and Eye Contact: Equilibrium Theory
Tues
17 Feb: NVC and visual aesthetics: The body
Read
Knapp & Hall Chapter 6
Thurs
19 Feb: Nonverbal messages from Physical Attractiveness
Tues
24 Feb: Kinesics: Gesture and posture
Read
Knapp & Hall Chapter 7 pages 229-245 only
Thurs
26 Feb: Theories of kinesics
Read
Knapp & Hall Chapter 7 pages 245-262 only
Tues
2 Mar: Haptics
Read
Knapp & Hall Chapter 8
Thurs
4 Mar: Theories of Haptic function
Tues
9 Mar: FIRST IN-CLASS EXAM
Thurs
11 Mar: The face
Tues
Mar 23: Eyes
Read
Knapp & Hall Chapter 10
Thurs
Mar 25: Vocalics and cue mixing
Read
Knapp & Hall Chapter 11
Tues
30 Mar: Chronemics and Theories of NV Synchrony
Read
Knapp & Hall Chapter 4
Tues 13 Apr: Violations, dysfluencies and impression management
Read
Segrin papers announced in previous class
Thurs
15 Apr: Lies, deception, and social influence
Tues
Apr 20: SECOND IN-CLASS EXAM
Thurs
Apr 22 PRESENTATIONS
Tues
27 Apr: PRESENTATIONS
Thurs
29 Apr: PRESENTATIONS
Tues
4 May: PRESENTATIONS
Thurs
6 May: PRESENTATIONS
Exam
week is 10-14 May, but there will be no separate Final Exam for this class
NVC in the
family: Marriage; With children; in the Elderly
NVC at work:
Job interviews; Leadership and credibility; Superior-subordinate interactions
NVC and
intimacy: recognizing couples at different intimacy levels; how NVC
changes as people get to know one another
NVC in mediated
environments: NVC on the TV News; NVC
and computer-mediated-communication; NVC on the telephone;
NVC as part of the use of the mobile phone
NVC and
resistance to persuasion
NVC and
portrayals of attractiveness and attraction the media
Remember
as you prepare your group presentation that this is a theory course and you should
aim to test, develop, or comment on theory as an integral part of your presentation.
The
more you attend to nonverbal communication (NVC) in
everyday life the more you will get from this course. Train yourself to
notice and then observe the NVC (nonverbal
communication) that takes place around you in various contexts. Be on the
look out for material to support or illustrate propositions relevant to nonverbal
communication theory. These propositions will be found in the reading and class
materials that we use. Examples of propositions include statements such as: "We
send nonverbal signals to others whether we intend to or not," “The timing
of speech is an important way to sustain expectancies of normality” “The
layout of office furniture tells us something about the person who works there
or the organization’s attitudes to its employees or customers" “A gesture
may mean something very different to one person than to another" "Maintaining
eye contact is extremely important when listening to others," "We judge
people based on the clothes they wear," and so forth. Keep a
note of examples from your everyday experience that might be useful in evaluating
claims about nonverbal behavior.
Examples
of situations to use for the above
Something
that happened to you
Something
that was reported to you by a friend
A
scene from a TV soap, talk show, or movie (such as “Remains of the Day”, an excellent
source for discussion of NVC and emotion)
Newspaper
or magazine pictures
Information
from a relevant web site
Scene
from a novel, such as “Remains of the Day”
Newspaper
account of a true incident
The
NVC of TV news reporters and talk show hosts
Look for evidence of NVC being used differently in different cultures or groups as well as between men and women.
As
indicated in the syllabus, you will work on a group project and present the results
to the class at the end of semester. Your group project should be on some
aspect of nonverbal communication, which may be (but need not be) taken from the
list of suggestions at the end of the course syllabus that you have been given.
I will gladly give you some starter references for the project if your group cannot
find any for itself. The project should be an original piece of work, one
in which you either review and discuss existing research or one in which you collect
and analyze data (e.g., field observations, measurements of subjects' reactions
to a stimulus, respondents’ answers to survey questions, answers to interviews,
verbal and/(nonverbal messages from print, video, radio, film, etc.). Your job
is to test a hypothesis or else to answer some controversial theoretical question
about nonverbal communication in everyday life. If you decide to gather
data then be sure that you follow the University’s rules about the ethics of research
with human subjects.
There
are two class times when there will be no class meeting as such and the time is
specifically set aside for your groups to meet at a place you decide (it could
be in the classroom if you so choose), but you may also meet at other times that
are convenient to you. Jan 29th will be the class time when you decide on what you want
to work on, why it's worth studying, what has already been done, what you expect
to find out. By April 1st you should be near the end of your
work and be getting ready to present it to the class in a report that will consist
of the following main sections:
1. Statement of problem—This is the introduction to the report and should include
your general research topic and why it represents a subject worth investigating.
2. Review of literature—This section examines previous research on your topic: the
kind of studies that have been done, how they were done (methods) and what they
found (results). Findings should be summarized and evaluated.
3. Statement of questions/hypotheses—In this section you identify and justify the questions and/or
hypotheses you investigated.
4. Method—This is
a description of the methods you used to answer your questions or to test your
hypotheses. If you did an analysis of past literature then that was your
method; if you did any kind of study then describe how it was done.
5.
Results—Present
the results of your work. You can use handouts, tables, graphs, enactments
of scenarios, videos (make sure the equipment is set up and in working order)
or any other creative means to get your point across.
6. Discussion—Interpret your results (i.e.,
what do they mean? are they what you expected based on previous literature? are
they important?). Tell us what it all adds up to and how it informs us about
some aspect of NVC theory.
If you need to make sure you're on the right track or to have periodic feedback on the main sections of your project, please come to see me in office hours or arrange an appointment outside office hours. If you have general questions about any of this then please raise them in class so that everyone hears the same answer, but if you need to come and see me privately then please feel free to do so, as above.
Steve Duck, 151-BCSB
Office hours: Tues. and Thurs 8.30-9.30
Phone: 335-0579
Email: steve-duck@uiowa.edu
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