Ross Buck

Nonverbal communication of affect in brain-damaged patients.

A slide viewing technique designed to assess spontaneous nonverbal expressiveness was administered to 37 male patients including 8 left hemisphere damaged (aphasic), 10 right hemisphere damaged, 9 Parkinsons disease, and 10 non brain-damaged (control) patients. Patients watched different types of affective slides while their facial/gestural responses were videotaped. Judges watching the video tapes without audio guessed the types of slide being viewed. Results indicated that aphasic patients were equal to or more expressive than controls, while right hemisphere damaged and Parkinsons disease patients were less expressive. The possibility that spontaneous non verbal expressiveness is mediated by the right cerebral hemisphere, with the left hemisphere playing an inhibitory role, was discussed as a tentative explanation.

Emotional Expressivity and Trustworthiness: The Role of Nonverbal Behavior in the Evolution of Cooperation

Previous research has found that high emotional expressivity contributes to interpersonal attraction independently of and on par with the contributions of physical attractiveness. Using an evolutionary perspective, we argue that emotional expressivity can act as a marker for cooperative behavior or trustworthiness. Theoretical and empirical work from social dilemma research pointing to the advantages of having a signal for cooperation is considered, as well as research from the limited number of studies that have looked at expressive behavior within a social exchange context. We also argue that we need to inject nonverbal emotional behavior into the social dilemma paradigm, which has downplayed or ignored its role in the communication processes associated with cooperation. Finally, we offer an outline for testing our theory and expanding the role of nonverbal emotional processes within research on cooperation and social exchange.

The fragility of intergroup relations: Divergent effects of delayed audiovisual feedback in intergroup and intragroup interaction

Intergroup interactions between racial or ethnic majority and minority groups are often stressful for members of both groups; however, the dynamic processes that promote or alleviate tension in intergroup interaction remain poorly understood. Here we identify a behavioral mechanism—response delay—that can uniquely contribute to anxiety and promote disengagement from intergroup contact. Minimally acquainted White, Black, and Latino participants engaged in intergroup or intragroup dyadic conversation either in real time or with a subtle temporal disruption (1-s delay) in audiovisual feedback. Whereas intergroup dyads reported greater anxiety and less interest in contact after engaging in delayed conversation than after engaging in real-time conversation, intragroup dyads reported less anxiety in the delay condition than they did after interacting in real time. These findings have theoretical and practical implications for understanding intergroup communication and social dynamics and for promoting positive intergroup contact.

Emotion and reason in persuasion: Applying the ARI model and the CASC Scale

Abstract Whereas practitioners in advertising and marketing clearly appreciate the importance of affect and emotion, traditional academic approaches to the analysis of persuasion tend to stress rational “central route” or “systematic” processing. However, the notion of two sorts of cognitive process—one rational, the other affective—has gained increasing support. This paper presents a view of the conceptualization and operationalization of the interaction of affect and reason based upon MacLeanss triune theory of the brain, distinguishing reptilian, individualist and prosocial biological emotions, as well as “higher level” social, cognitive and moral emotions. The interactive role of affect and reason in involvement is described by the affect–reason–involvement (ARI) model, and emotions are operationalized by versions of the Communication via Analytic and Syncretic Cognition Scale (CASC Scale) tuned to the requirements of a given area of investigation. Examples of studies analyzing emotional factors in response to common consumer products and condom use/nonuse are presented.

The Dimensionality of the Verbal Aggressiveness Scale

Infante and Wigleys (1986) Verbal Aggressiveness Scale (VAS) is a widely accepted and frequently used measure of trait verbal aggression. Although the scale is almost always scored as if it were unidimensional, previous factor analytic studies provide evidence that it is multidimensional with two distinct factors. The present studies (N = 194 and 177) used confirmatory factor analysis to replicate the two‐factor solution. The two‐factor model was consistent with the data, and provides a better fit to the data than the unidimensional solution. The first factor, comprised of all aggressively worded, nonreflected items, appears to measure verbal aggressiveness as intended whereas the second factor, comprised of all reverse‐scored items (benevolently worded), appears to measure a communication style related to other‐esteem confirmation and supportiveness. Given this interpretation, it is recommended that only the 10 aggressively worded items be scored. Hamilton, Buck, and Chory‐Assad, in an adversarial collaborative discussion, agree that the VAS is bidimensional, but offer an alternative conceptual model. They hold that the two factors reflect selfish individualism and prosocial cooperation.

Media differences in rational and emotional responses to advertising

This study develops and tests hypotheses concerning the relationship of different media to psychological outcomes. Specifically, it is postulated that print media are related to analytic cognition (reason) and electronic media to syncretic cognition (emotion). Two hundred and forty magazine and television advertisements are analyzed both in terms of their attributes and the reactions they evoke. Media differences are found for both emotional and rational responses and the main effects of media, product category and advertising strategy variables are seen to account substantially for the variance in analytic and syncretic cognition. Of special relevance to advertisers is the finding that the choice of media is the best predictor of emotional response among all the variables in the study.

Relative contributions of expressive behavior and contextual information to the judgment of the emotional state of another

This study used a technique for assessing the relative impact of facial-gestural expressions, as opposed to contextual information regarding the elicitor and situation, on the judgment of emotion. In Study 1, 28 undergraduates rated videotapes of spontaneous facial-gestural expressions and separately rated the emotionally loaded color slides that elicited those expressions. The source clarities of the expressions and slides were matched using correlation and distance measures, and 18 expressions and 9 slides were selected. In Study 2, 72 undergraduate receivers were shown systematic pairings of these expressions and slides and rated the emotional state of the expresser, who was supposedly watching that slide under public or private situational conditions. Expressions were found to be more important sources for all emotion judgments. For female receivers slides were relatively more important in the public than in the private situation.

The neuropsychology of communication: Spontaneous and symbolic aspects

Abstract The neuropsychological bases of communication are reviewed, with emphasis upon spontaneous communication as forming an emotional basis for the communication process as a whole, including the linguistic communication process. Evidence presented for emotional preattunements, involving innate knowledge of the ‘meaning’ of the display. The neurological bases for displays are discussed in terms of the Jurgens-Ploog hierarchical model, which is compatible with the Arndt and Janney (1991) distinction of emotional, emotive, and cognitive communication. Cerebral lateralization is discussed — the lateralization both of the temporal limbic system and of the neocortex — with implications for the relationship of language and emotion.

Spontaneous and Symbolic Nonverbal Behavior and the Ontogeny of Communication

Historically, one of the central issues in the study of nonverbal communication has involved the question of whether nonverbal behavior should be regarded as innate or as learned and culturally patterned. Most now recognize that nonverbal behavior involves both innate and learned aspects, with the individual essentially learning how to use a system of communication that has deep evolutionary roots: it is simultaneously a biological phenomenon involving the expression of emotion, and a learned phenomenon analogous to, and interacting with, language.

Social factors in facial display and communication: A reply to Chovil and others

This paper discusses the Chovil (1991) study, questioning the assumption that the notion of facial display as communication is incompatible with that of facial display as “readout” of motivational/emotional response. It is argued that (a) the Chovil paper oversimplifies the view of the competition; (b) social factors can facilitateor inhibit expression depending upon the nature of the emotion being expressed and the expressors personal relationship with the other; and (c) social factors produce strong social emotions, so that any manipulation of “sociality” must also manipulate “emotion.”