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A music performance is an exciting environment for studying joint action and nonverbal communication. This thesis utilized music ensemble performances to study nonverbal communication occurring from two different perspectives. We examined bi-directional communication between co-performers and uni-directional communication of the musicians to the participants. The first paper (Chapter 2) used statistical measures (i.e., Granger causality analysis) to quantify head movements as a measure of joint action during a musical performance. We observed a change in direction and magnitude of information flow between co-performers based on the availability of visual and auditory cues. We wanted to extend this line of research to see how audience perception of the performances may change due to the auditory and visual manipulations of the performers. The second paper (Chapter 3) examines participant ratings of expression, cohesion, and general liking of the performance when presented with audio-visual, audio-only, and visual-only stimuli. These ratings not only show which sensory modality allows for the highest sensitivity to performer manipulations, but also provide insight into how musicians change their performances to communicate to the audience. My aim was to create a cohesive examination of co-performer communication and observer perception of musical performances. / Thesis / Master of Science (MSc)

In today's worlds of industry and academia, teamwork is becoming more and more prevalent and is becoming more and more desirable when addressing certain tasks. Intensified and growing competition in the global marketplace is forcing businesses to produce better products, thereby, requiring the input and expertise of various people with diverse backgrounds. Organizations have adopted a team approach in response to the technological advances that contribute to the complexity of many tasks in the workplace making it difficult for employees to work independently (Mathieu, Heffner, Goodwin, Salas, Cannon-Bowers, 2000). The purpose of this research is to investigate the communication patterns of disciplinarily heterogeneous student design teams at the university level. A quasi-experimental design, specifically a non-equivalent control group design was used for this study. This study has two research questions: 1) what is the process that leads to convergence of a team-based mental model among disciplinarily heterogeneous team members? and 2) what are the factors associated with convergence that lead to effective disciplinarily heterogeneous teams? The results will allow the formation of guidelines that will assist such students in improving their effectiveness by allowing the convergence of the team members onto the same mental model(s). It must be noted that data collection for the experimental teams continued after the tragic events that occurred at Virginia Tech on April 16, 2007. The results for this study were variable. Through examination of the fluctuation of the reliability scores across the three times it was administered, as well as the Pearson-Product Moment comparison, the Group Behavior Inventory is not the best instrument to use in an academic setting for student teams. The disciplinarily homogeneous teams disagreed more and the disciplinarily heterogeneous teams agreed more in terms of body language, while disciplinarily heterogeneous disagreed more through verbal utterances of sighs and pauses; however none of these differences were statistically significant. Certain agreement and disagreement indicators were significantly negatively correlated. Therefore, the corroboration of the Group Behavior Inventory constructs can only be applied to a specific disagreement indicator. / Master of Science

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As of 2007, approximately 2 to 3 million children and adolescents in the United States had been identified as deaf or hard of hearing. These children are affected by all of the same health issues as hearing children, but are presented with an added challenge of communication with hearing nurses who are not always prepared with ways to understand and communicate with them. As a result, deaf and hard of hearing children are at a greater risk for misguided treatment of health disorders, especially the undertreatment of pain. It is imperative that nurses understand ways to best interpret nonverbal communication from these children and to effectively respond to these children nonverbally. Current research has neglected discovering and discussing ways to improve communication with deaf, hard of hearing and nonverbal children, focusing instead on improving verbal communication between nurses and parents, thereby leaving children as passive participants in their own health care. The results of this integrated literature review present simple and effective strategies nurses can implement into daily practice to facilitate communication nonverbally with deaf and hard of hearing children. The use of appropriate technology and assessment tools, better understanding and enhanced use of facial expressions, eye gaze, touch, presence, and personal space were examined. The writing of this review is an effort to encourage nurses and nursing educators to integrate culturally competent care of deaf and hard of hearing children into everyday nursing practice and into a nursing educational curriculum.

The following study had been developed to demonstrate language behavior in subjects that matched or demonstrated deficient language behavior like Sarah's (Premack, 1971). Two autistic children were selected as subjects. These two subjects demonstrated that children who could not normally fulfill the language behavior requirement of selecting specific words, letters, or colored stones, and arranging them in some good temporal sequence, could in fact be taught to do just that activity. In this manner, language deficient candidates more severely damaged than the subjects used by Premack in his study on language difficulties in persons who were "brain damaged,'" could be taught the parameters of syntax and semantics on a non-vocal level, and thereby fulfill the criterion for language behavior, namely that of arranging specific symbols in good temporal sequence.

Anthony Chan Yuk Cheung. / Theses (M.Ed.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong. / Bibliography: leaves [57]-60.

Thesis (M.A. (Linguistics)) --University of Limpopo, 2011 / Xitsonga is one of the eleven official languages in South Africa. It is spoken mainly in three provinces, Gauteng, Limpopo and Mpumalanga, while English is a global language. Whenever two languages meet, challenges are evident in terms of communication. The study aim to analyse the impact of nonverbal communication in both English and Xitsonga cultures. Nonverbal communication accounts for 60 to 70 per cent of what people communicate. Furthermore, the study deals with the role of nonverbal communication as it shapes the perceptions of both the receivers and communicators’ personality. Categories of nonverbal communication have been investigated by exploring different intercultural dimensions which include nonverbal immediacy and non-immediacy behaviours, power, authority and status, power distance, responsiveness, high-context and low-context communication, individualistic or collectivistic cultures. In addition, the study explores facial expressions which, among others, include expression of emotions; the types of emotions; paralanguage; and factors that influence facial expressions; cultural display rules, eye contact and gaze. Also, the study gives attention to Facial paralanguage and facial reflexes. It has been discovered in the study that although English and Xitsonga cultures are related in some nonverbal communication aspects, there are other aspects that are culturally bound. The latter aspects require a serious scrutiny lest miscommunication and misinterpretation occur. In other words, culture cannot be taken for granted when it comes to nonverbal communication cues. Cultural display rules dictate responsiveness, attitudes, and perspectives of communicators’ perceptions.

The use of multimodal communication by one moderately mentally retarded, nonphysically impaired teenage girl was investigated. Eighty minutes of language samples were transcribed, coded, and analysed for modes of communication, communicative intent, discourse function, and context of conversation. It was found that six different modes of communication, and various combinations of these modes, were used throughout the samples. A strong relationship between mode of communication and communicative Intent was found. Furthermore, the context of conversation influenced the mode of communication. No strong relationship was found, however, between discourse function and mode of communication. Implications of this research for a theory of multimodal communication in the nonverbal, as well as suggestions for clinical intervention with this population, are discussed. / Medicine, Faculty of / Audiology and Speech Sciences, School of / Graduate

Communication can be divied into two broad areas namely, the verbal and nonverbal levels. While attention has been paid to nonverbal communication in the literature, few studies address the nonverbal communication that takes place in the natural setting of a therapeutic session. The present study provides such a naturalistic study, where the verbal content of actual therapy sessions are integrated with the nonverbal content to yield a holistic view of the session. An ecosystemic epistemology is adopted in this study, and represents a move away from more traditional approaches to nonverbal behaviour which are largely confined to a positivistic framework of thought and design. Symlog Interaction Scoring is employed as a practical method of assisting observers in distinguishing nonverbal behaviours, which are usually perceived unconsciously, and lifting them into consciousness, allowing this infonnation to be integrated with the meanings and hypotheses generated during therapy. By deliberately including descriptions of nonverbal behaviour, the descriptions of therapy were broadened, thereby providing a more holistic approach to therapy. / Psychology / M.A. (Clinical Psychology)