Sunday, April 26, 2009

Video Part 1

Question and Answer

Question and Answer
with Tiffany Rathfon, Senior Communication Major at Youngstown State University.



1) Would you say non-verbals or verbal communication is more important in a conversation? Please explain.

Answer: Well, we've all heard the phrase, "actions speak louder than words," and after taking so many years of communication and being able to apply it in the real world, I would agree, non-verbals indicate what the person is really saying. After all, no-one things it's weird when they see a person speak just with their hands (sign language), but isn't it odd to see someone who doesn't use any non-verbals at all?

2) Explain one situation where someone's non-verbals made you question what they were saying?

Answer: I really love Fox's new tv show, "Lie to Me," which is all about the use of non-verbals to indicate lying. Recently, I had made mix drinks at my sisters and left the bottles at her house because I didn't want to be carrying open bottles over state lines. Well, when I went back the bottles were empty! When I asked her what happened she looked me straight in the eye and blamed it on one of her boyfriends friends. I knew she was lying, because when someone is trying to recall information, they look upward and toward the right. After listening, I told her she owed me a bottle of Stoli Raz and she knew she was busted, she had used it all.



3) In your opinion, what are the most significant or obvious non-verbals a person can give you?

Answer: Hand signals are always the most obvious, especially regulators. Things such as "stop," rolling the hands to indicate, "get a move on it," or even pointing left or right on a bike....Those are all pretty obvious.


4) Do you try to censor your non-verbals? Why or why not?

Answer: No. In high school, on debate team we were taught about our "box," this little invisible space to stay within when using our hand movements. I think it got drilled in pretty well. Non-verbals are so subconscious, it would just take too much work to censor them.

Thursday, April 23, 2009

Answers for training exercise

1. reinforcement

2. contradiction

3. accentuation

4. reinforcement

5. substitution

6. accentuation

7. substitution

8. regulation

9. contradiction

10. regulation

Questions for You

After watching the posted videos and reading the definition of the concept, you should be a pro! Listed below are some questions to enhance your knowledge on the concept of the five functions...give it a try! The questions are in the post above (in orange).


1. A girl is walking through the park and sees someone she knows-so she says “hello” and waves at the person. What function of non-verbal communication did the girl use?


2. If someone asks you how your day was and it didn’t go very well, but you say “oh it was great…” while using a function of non-verbal communicaton to negate the message, which function are you employing?



3. When we tell stories about something and we are excited about the verbal message we are sending, our eyes widen and we usually talk faster and louder than normal. Which function of non-verbal communication is at work here?



4. What function refers to the amount of redundancy non-verbal communicaton adds to the verbal message?



5. Which function refers to the use of a non-verbal cue instead of using a verbal message?


6. Which function uses non-verbal cues to intensify the verbal message?



7. A football player is on the bench in the middle of the game, he is focused on watching his team members but he catch’s his parents sitting in the stands out of the corner of his eye. The player turns his head to look over, and waves to his parents, but doesn’t say “hi” because he doesn’t want to break the team’s concentration. What function would this be an example of?


8. Which function of non-verbal communication refers to the turn taking cues of conversational order?


9. Which function of non-verbal communication are we most likely using when we use sarcasm?



10. When a teacher is talking and asks a question then extends her hand in your direction, signaling that it’s your turn to talk, which function of non-verbal communication is at work?


The 5 Functions of Non-Verbal Communication

There are five functions of non-verbal communication: reinforcement, contradiction, substitution, accentuation, and regulation. All of these functions help the person sending a message and the person receiving the message my making the substance of the communication more understandable.

Reinforcement- “the amount of redundancy nonverbal communication adds to the verbal message” for example if you say “Hi” or “Bye” you will probably wave your hand also, and if you say you’re hungry you might rub your stomach. If something tastes bad you would express your dislike accompanied with a disgusted look on your face.

Substitution- “using a nonverbal action or cue instead of speaking” for example instead of actually saying “hi” or “bye” you might just wave a hand at someone. When we are not able to speak to a person we use a nonverbal cue.


Contradiction- “the use of a nonverbal message to negate the verbal message” for example if you ask how someone is and they say “good” but they roll their eyes or look down at the floor and shrug their shoulders, you know they are actually not good and they have just negated the verbal message they were sending.


Accentuation- the use of nonverbal cues to intensify the verbal message” for example if you speak louder and quickly you are adding intensity to the verbal message. We can tell when a person is excited because they usually speak loud and their eyes widen, making the message more clear.

Regulation- the turn taking cues of conversational order” for example we use hand signals to indicate that we are done talking and it is someone else’s turn to talk. We also use nonverbal signals like looking at the other person as if to say “what do you think about that” without actually speaking the words.

**information taken from "The Modern Communicator" by Daniel Oneil and Adam Earnhardt

Introduction of Team Members

Hi, We are group 4 from Adam Earnheardt's Computer Mediated Communication. Our blog is dedicated to discussing the five functions of non-verbal communication. Our group members include:

Jamie Fabian

Jr Hodge

Courtney Downing

Chelsea Pennington


If anyone wishes to get in contact with our group, the contact information is listed below.

Group 4-Functions of Non-verbal Communication
email- crpennington@student.ysu.edu
*our individual group members are also on facebook