Language, thought and communication Flashcards
What is communication?
Passing information from one person (or animal) to another.
What is language?
A system of communication used by a specific group of people.
What has research found about animals?
Research has found that animals use communication.
What has the research on communication revealed about language in animals?
Although research has found that animals use communication, they do not use language like humans do.
What are animals unable to do?
They are unable to use complex thought.
What is thought?
The mental activity of thinking, which involves reasoning and considering, and that produces ideas and opinions.
What conclusion has been drawn from the fact that animals use communication but do not use language?
This may mean that these two skills are somehow connected.
What are the two different ideas regarding the relationship between language and thought that we need to know?
- Piaget’s theory.
- Sapir-Whorf hypothesis.
How did Piaget help us in understanding how humans develop cognitively?
He believed that cognitive development leads to the growth of language. This means that we can only use language at a level that matches our cognitive development.
What are the four stages, according to Piaget’s theory, that children develop language in?
- Sensorimotor.
- Preoperational.
- Concrete operational.
- Formal operational.
What are features of the sensorimotor stage?
In the sensorimotor stage, babies are discovering what their bodies can do, and this includes the ability to make sounds. Babies then learn to copy the sounds they hear others making.
What are features of the preoperational stage?
Children are egocentric and focused on themselves. They use language to voice their internal thoughts, rather than to communicate with other people.
What are features of the concrete operational stage?
The ability to use language has developed a lot but it is only used to talk about actual, concrete things.
What are features of the formal operational stage?
Language can be used to talk about abstract, theoretical ideas.
What did Piaget believe about the concept of these stages?
Piaget believed that while all children move through these stages, some people do not get to the formal operational stage.
What is an advantage of Piaget’s theory?
Piaget did many of his observations on his own. When the participants in his research were his own children, they were unlikely to realise that they were being observed. This means that their behaviour was probably natural.
What are disadvantages of Piaget’s theory?
- His research would be more reliable if he had carried out his observations with another researcher, so that they could compare the results afterwards to check if they were similar and had inter-observer reliability.
- When Piaget’s participants were his own children, hey may have allowed his personal biases to affect his judgement. This lack of objectivity would affect the validity of his findings.
- Because Piaget’s sample was very small, and much of his research was based on observing his own children, his findings cannot be generalised because they cannot be said to apply to all children.
What is other research to support other theories about language and thought?
Sapir-Whorf hypothesis.
What was the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis developed on?
It was developed from the ideas of Edward Sapir and Benjamin Whorf.
What does the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis state?
The hypothesis states that our thoughts and behaviours are affected and formed by the language that we speak.
Due to this hypothesis, what is said about language and culture?
This means that cultures with different languages and vocabulary will also have different ways of thinking and understanding things.
What is culture?
A group of people who share similar customs, beliefs, and behaviour.
What will language therefore lead us to do?
- Lead us to focus on certain ways of seeing and understanding things.
- Make some ways of thinking easier and more likely than others.
- Lead to memory bias, where the ability to recall or retrieve certain information is increased or decreased.
How did Sapir and Whorf provide evidence for their ideas?
By studying indigenous (native) languages. Whorf compared Native American languages with English. He used the Hopi’s use of different types of words for time and the Eskimo’s large number of words for snow to support his claim.
What does the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis suggest about language?
It suggests that the language we speak may lead us to focus on certain ways of seeing and understanding things.
What is observed even within the same language?
Even within the same language, there are cultural and generational differences in the way words tare understood.
What is an example of the differences in the way that words are understood?
Phones and cameras are very different now compares with those in previous generations, and this will affect how people will think of them.
What does the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis suggest about thinking?
It also suggests that some ways of thinking are easier and more common than others.
What is an example of finding a certain way of thinking easier and more common than others?
You are probably more familiar with recent meanings for ‘orange’ and ‘cloud’ than those from an older generation. this makes it more likely that descriptions of these words will have been affected by the connections that now link the meanings of the words.
What are disadvantages of the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis?
- Eskimos have about the same number of words for snow as English speakers do and Whorf had never even met anyone from the Hopi tribe.
- Books and instruction manuals can be translated into a completely different language without developing a whole new meaning for the reader.
- People who grew up without a language, or who lose the ability to speak (such as stroke victims) are still able to think.
What is also some support for the Sapir-Whorf theory?
- Variation in recognition of colours.
- Variation in recall of events.
What does the Sapir-Whorf theory hypothesis suggest about the variation in recognition of others?
It suggests that the language we speak can lead us to focus on certain ways of seeing things and make some ways of thinking more likely than others.
What is an example of how our language affects us (North Americans)?
Many languages do not have separate words for blue and green. The Tarahumara, Native Americans from north-western Mexico, have one word for both. Researchers found that English speakers perceived bigger differences between shades of blues and greens than Tarahumara speakers did.
What is an example of how our language affects us (Russians)?
The Russian language has different words for lighter blues and darker blues. Researchers found that Russian speakers were quicker than English speakers to recognise the difference between two shades of blue when one was perceived as lighter and one was perceived as darker.
What does the Sapir-Whorf theory hypothesis suggest about the variation in the recall of events?
The Sapir-Whorf hypothesis suggests that our ability to recall certain information is affected by the language we speak.
What is an example of how our recall of events vary?
Researchers studied how English speakers and Spanish speakers described intended and accidental actions. Participants were asked about things like seeing someone accidentally bump into and knock a vase to the floor.
What did participants say when the action was intended?
All the participants identified the person doing it.
What did the participants say when the action was accidental?
The English speakers identified the person more often than the Spanish speakers did.
Therefore, what was found in terms of accidental and intended actions along with their identification?
When the participants’ recall of the intended actions was tested, the English speakers and Spanish speakers both recalled the people involved. However, the English speakers had much better recall of who was involved in the accidental actions.
How are animal and human communication different?
Although animals do not use language to communicate as humans do, they do use vocalisation (communication with sound) in a variety of forms, from the singing of birds and chirping of insects to the growling of lions and other big cats.
How are animal and human communication similar?
Many of the messages being conveyed by these vocalisations are similar to those humans might communicate - expressing interest in a mate, showing alarm, or letting others know that they need to back off. Research has also found many similarities between human non-verbal communication and that used by some animals, especially primates. Similarities include the use of facial expressions to show emotion, using body posture to show dominance and submission, and the use of touch for bonding and reassurance.
What is posture?
The positioning of the body, often regarded as a non-verbal communication signal.
What is touch?
A form of non-verbal communication in which information is conveyed by physical contact between people.
What is a feature of animal communication in relation to human communication?
Even though research has found animal communication to be more complex and elaborate than it might first appear, animals use communication for far fewer purposes than humans.
What are the main reasons that animals communicate with one another?
- Survival.
- Reproduction.
- Territory.
- Food.
What are we referring to when we say survival?
Animal use of communication is linked in a variety of ways to survival. Animals call to their young who have wondered off, they use alarm calls threat signals (such as bared teeth, making fur stand up to look bigger, and growling) to warn others to back off.
What are we referring to when we say reproduction?
Displays involving colour are used by a number of species (such as peacocks) to attract a mate and ensure reproduction, and ultimately survival. Other animals use colour to frighten or warn off predators.
What are we referring to when we say food?
Researchers studying rhesus monkeys found that when they made unbroken eye contact with them, the monkeys would start to behave aggressively. They concluded that the monkeys use eye contact to show their dominance and that they became aggressive because they saw the researchers’ behaviour as threatening.
What is territory?
An area defended by an animal or group of animals against others.
What are we referring to when we say territory?
Karl von Frisch discovered that bees tell each other where to find food using dance-like movements. Ants communicate with each other using different chemical smells called pheromones. Pheromones can be used for a variety of messages, including the location of food.
What is the aim of Von Frisch’s bee study?
To investigate how bees communicate the location of a food source to each other.
What is the study design of Von Frisch’s bee study?
A field experiment carried out in the real-life environment of the participants (the bees in this case). The researcher still manipulates the independent variable, but there is limited control of extraneous variables.
What is the method of Von Frisch’s bee study?
Food sources for a hive of bees were created by placing glass containers of sugar-water at different locations.
A hive with glass sides was used so that the bee’s behaviour could be easily observed.
When the bees visited the containers of sugar-water to feed, they were marked with tiny spots of different coloured paints. This made the bees easy to identify when they returned to the hive.
The researcher observed and recorded the movements that the bees made when they returned to the hive after collecting the food.
What are the results of Von Frisch’s bee study?
The bees were observed making different movements that seemed to depend on how far away the food source was from the hive.
When the food source was no further than 100 metres from the hive, the bees did a round dance by turning rapidly in circles to the right and then the left.
When the sugar-water was moved further away, the bees performed a tail-wagging or waggle dance. The bees moved forward in a straight line, wagging their abdomens from side to side, before turning in a circle towards the left. This was followed by the bees moving straight forward again before turning in a circle towards the right. This pattern was then repeated a number of times.
What was the conclusion of Von Frisch’s bee study?
Von Frisch concluded that bees use a variety of different movements to communicate to each other the distance and the direction of food sources.
What are some advantages of Von Frisch’s bee study?
- Von Frisch’s research was some of the earliest into animal communication and encouraged others to carry out research in this area of study.
- Other researchers have repeated this study and found the same results. This consistency allows us to be more certain that the results are trustworthy and that the original study was reliable.
What are some disadvantages of Von Frisch’s bee study?
- Gathering sugar-water from glass containers is not natural, everyday behaviour for bees. Therefore, it can be argued that the study lacks ecological validity. However, when researchers put the sugar solution on flowers instead, the bees acted in the same way.
- Bees do not generally live in glass hives and this may also have affected their natural behaviour. However, research that has used wooden hives and other methods (such as video cameras) to observe the bees, has had the same results.
- Other researchers have suggested that in order for bees to find food, they also use cognitive maps based on their memory of landmarks.
How have the ideas of human and animal communication having different properties come about?
A linguist looking at the differences between animal communication and human languages developed the idea of language having certain properties.
What are these properties known as?
These properties are known as the design features of lanuage.
What are design features of a language?
Productivity and displacement are two design features of language.
What is observed to have been said about design features?
All communication has some design features, but only human language is believed to have all of them.
What is productivity?
Productivity is the ability to create an unlimited number of different messages.
What does productivity allow in terms of language?
It allows language to be used creatively and is not found in animal communication.
What did Von Frisch find out about productivity?
Although Von Frisch found that bees could vary the messages conveyed by their dancing, there are limits to what they can say.
How do we know that there are limits in bee communication in terms of their productivity?
They do not appear to have movements that mean up or down.
What is displacement?
Displacement is the ability to communicate about things that are not present or events that will happen in the future. It allows language to be used for planning ahead and discussing future events.
Is displacement seen in animals?
Although displacement is rarely seen in animal communication, Von Frisch’s research provides one example of when it is. Bees demonstrate displacement by communicating about a food source that is some distance from the hive where they are dancing.
Are planning behaviours communicated ideas?
No.
How do we know that planning behaviours are likely not communicated ideas?
Planning behaviours in animals, such as squirrels storing nuts for winter, are likely to be instinctive or innate, rather than communicated ideas
Who is Koko?
Koko is a female gorilla who has been taught sign language. She is believed to understand around one thousand signs and two thousand spoken words.
What has Koko’s trainer reported in terms of signing?
Koko can create new signs when she does not know an existing one.
How do we know that Koko can create new signs when she does not know existing ones?
For example, Koko put together the signs for finger and bracelet to refer to a ring.
What does this action of being able to create new signs show about language for Koko?
This would suggest that she has the ability to use language productively.
What are some disadvantages of the design features of a language?
- It is hard to know for sure which properties or design features are only used by humans because more is being learned about animal communication all the time.
- Although research, such as that with Koko, suggests some animals can use properties of communication generally only used by humans, this is not naturally occurring behaviour. These animals may be simply imitating humans.
- There are also ethical issues around keeping wild animals in captivity and training them to behave in ways that are not natural.
How can people communicate?
There are many ways in which people communicate; the list is almost endless.
However, what kind of communication are we referring to now?
In this section we are focusing on ways in which we communicate without the use of technology.
What is verbal communication?
Conveying messages using words.
What is an example of verbal communication?
- Talking to someone.
- Reading a letter.
What is an example of non-verbal communication?
Conveying messages without the use of words.
What are the characteristics of non-verbal communication?
This includes aspects of speech (aside from the words themselves) that help to communicate meaning, such as the tone, pitch or volume of someone’s voice. It also includes visual cues such as eye contact and body language.
What is eye contact?
When two people in conversation are looking at each other’s eyes at the same time.
What is body language?
A general term to describe aspects of non-verbal communication.
What are the forms of non-verbal communication that we use?
- Eye contact.
- Touch.
- Posture.
How is eye contact important?
We are often unaware of what our eyes are doing when we are a having a conversation and yet eye movements have very important functions.
What is one way in which we use eye-contact?
We use eye-contact to signal turn-taking in a conversation.
How do we know that it signals turn-taking in a conversation?
When someone is about to finish speaking, they give the other person a prolonged look. So, when we cannot see someone’s eyes, we are unsure when their turn to speak is finishing and ours is starting.
How did researchers investigate eye-contact which signals turn-taking in a conversation?
Researchers carried out an experiment into the effects of interrupting eye contact.
How did researchers carried out an experiment into the effects of interrupting eye contact?
Pairs of participants were observed having conversations. In some conversations, one participant wore dark glasses.
What were the results found when a participant wore dark glasses?
The results showed that there were more pauses and interruptions when dark glasses were worn. This shows that one function of eye contact is regulating the smooth flow of conversation.
What is another function of eye contact?
Pupil dilation has also been found to express emotion. Dilation is when the pupils expand and look larger. In one research study, when young men were shown two pictures of the same girl and asked to comment on which was more attractive, the majority chose the girl whose picture had been altered to look more dilated. The pupils of the participants were also found to dilate when they looked at the altered photo.
What has research found out about how we look at people?
Research has also found that people prefer those who look at them more frequently. This may be because we interpret a high level of looking as a signal of attraction.
How do humans use posture?
To communicate non-verbally.
What is closed posture?
Positioning the arms so that they are folded across the body and/or crossing the legs.
What could a closed posture indicate?
Psychologists say that this could indicate rejection, disagreement, or feeling threatened.
What is open posture?
Positioning the arms so that they are not folded across the body, and not crossing the legs.
What could an open posture indicate?
This may indicate approval or acceptance.
What has research found in terms of posture?
Research has found that the posture that someone adopts will make a difference to how much they are liked.
In terms of how much you are liked, how would you be perceived displaying an open posture?
If you have an open posture, you are more likely to be seen as friendly and attractive.
In terms of how much you are liked, how would you be perceived displaying a closed posture?
Having a closed posture means you are more likely to be seen as unfriendly and less attractive.
When do people adopt each other’s posture?
People who are getting on well together tend to adopt each other’s posture when they are having a conversation.
What is postural echo?
Mirroring another person’s body position.
What are the features of postural echo?
Research has found that postural echo gives an unconscious message of friendliness and people are liked more when they use it.
How do humans use touch?
To communicate non-verbally.
What emotions does touch evoke?
It is a very powerful signal that can produce unconscious emotional reactions.
What is said about culture and touch?
There are huge cultural differences in the amount of touch that is permitted between individuals.
What is an example of how touch differs in cultures?
British society seems to be more restricted than other Western societies in its use of touch when communicating.
How did psychologists study the effect of touch on attitudes?
By asking a librarian to very briefly touch the hand of some students as they returned their books.
What were the results found from the study on the effect of touch on attitudes?
Even though the students were not aware that they had been touched, they were found to have a much more positive attitude towards the library and the librarian than those who had not been touched.
What is said about touch and getting people to agree?
Research has found that when you briefly touch other people, they are more likely to agree to your request.
How was this relationship between touch and agreeing researched?
Researchers studying this persuasive effect, found that when a man touches women’s arms for a second while asking them for a dance, two-thirds agreed to dance with him. When the same man did not use touch, his success rate halved.
What is an advantage of this study method?
Because the participants do not realise the true nature of the confederate’s role and are unaware that they are helping the experimenter, the participants are being deceived. Therefore, the use of confederates in psychological research can be seen as unethical.
What is a disadvantage of this study method?
However, because the participants are not aware, they are less likely to change their behaviour. This allows researchers to study the natural behaviour of people. This means that the results can be said to be ecologically valid because they give an accurate account of real-life behaviour.
What is personal space?
It is the physical distance we prefer to keep between ourselves and other people in order to feel comfortable.
What kind of communication is personal space?
After eye contact, personal space is perhaps the second most important non-verbal communication signal that we use.
What does research suggest for the differences of personal space?
Research suggests that there are a number of gender differences in personal space.
What is gender?
The psychological state of being male or female, often distinguished by social behaviours and cultural roles.
What are the differences in the amount of personal space between genders?
Men tend to have a bigger personal space than women, and both genders prefer to have a greater amount of space between themselves and members of the opposite sex.
What are the differences in the way in which we are positioned when close to other people in terms of gender?
Women prefer to sit beside their friends and men prefer to sit opposite them.
Which gender usually invades the other gender’s personal space?
Women’s personal space is more often invaded by men than the other way around.
When do men feel uncomfortable about the invasion of their personal space?
Men feel more uncomfortable when their personal space is invaded from the front.
When do women feel uncomfortable about the invasion of their personal space?
Women feel more uncomfortable when their personal space is invaded from the side.
What other factors that have been found to affect personal space?
- Age.
- Personality type.
- Status.
- Cultural norms.
How does age affect one’s personal space?
People tend to sit or stand nearer to each other if they are a similar age.
How does personality type affect one’s personal space?
Introverts have a larger personal space than extroverts.
What is status?
A person’s rank or position within society.
How does status affect one’s personal space?
Researchers have found that people of lower status stand closer to people of equal status than to people of a higher status.
What is said about how freely those of a higher status feel about their personal space?
Other research has found that people of higher status feel freer than people of lower status, to choose how close they get to someone.
What are cultural norms?
The range of behaviours that members of a particular social group or society can be expected to show.
How did researchers study the effect that cultural norms have on personal space?
Groups of white English people and groups of Arab people were observed having conversations.
What were the results of the research done on Groups of white English people and groups of Arab people?
The results showed that the comfortable conversation distance for the white English people was 1-1.5 meters, whereas the comfortable conversation distance for the Arab people was much less than that.
What is an evaluation of the different factors that affect our personal space?
- The research looked at in this topic studied the effect of individual factors.
- However, it is more likely that a combination of factors will affect our personal space in real-life situations.
- There are many other factors that may also affect personal space, such as how much we like the other person, or how well we know them.
- With so many factors having a potential effect, it is very difficult to design research in which it is definitely only the independent variable that is affecting the dependent variable.
- Cultural and social norms (for example those around gender roles) may change over time and this can result in research findings into social behaviours becoming less valid.
How is non-verbal behaviour explained?
- One key idea is natural selection.
- The second key idea is known as ‘survival of the fittest’.
What is natural selection?
For an organism to evolve successfully, survival and reproduction are essential. Genetic characteristics that increase an organism’s chance of surviving and successfully reproducing are more likely to be passed on to successive generations.
What is survival of the fittest?
Successful adaptive organisms that have made the best changes in order to fit their situation and environment, are the ones most likely to survive and reproduce.
What is adaptive?
Being able to change in order to fit different situations and environments.
What is Darwin’s evolutionary theory of non-verbal communication?
In his book, the Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals, Darwin suggested several principles for the evolution of non-verbal communication that expresses emotions.
What is one of the principles?
One of these principles is serviceable associated habits. A serviceable behaviour is one that has a purpose. For example, humans may have used biting as an early form of self-defence. In the same way that many animals do, they may have exposed their teeth as a threat signal.
When does a serviceable associated habit happen?
A serviceable associated habit happens when we have a similar experience, but now the behaviour does not have the same purpose. The behaviour is now a habit associated with feeling a certain way or certain situations. This may be why people expose their teeth when they have an angry facial expression.
What is an example of a serviceable associated habit?
This may be why people expose their teeth when they have an angry facial expression.
What does Darwin say about the principle of actions?
Darwin also suggested the principle of actions due to the constitution of the nervous system. This simply means that some forms of non-verbal communication are caused by our nervous system.
What is an example of this involuntary response from the nervous system?
Dilated pupils and an open mouth are part of a frightened facial expression, but they are also some of the effects of adrenaline being released into our bodies by our nervous system during the fight or flight response.
What are some examples of facial expressions that could help with our survival?
- Pupil dilation.
- Open mouth.
How would pupil dilation aid our survival?
Pupil dilation increases visual information, potentially allowing us to see the best way to avoid danger.
How would an open mouth aid our survival?
An open mouth increases oxygen supply, allowing us to move away from a threat much faster.
What is an alternate reason for pupil dilation aiding our survival, in terms of reproduction?
Pupil dilation also happens when we are attracted to someone. It also makes us more attractive to other people. We also interpret a high level of looking as a signal of attraction. These are examples of non-verbal communication that could help with reproduction.
What are some advantages of Darwin’s evolutionary theory of non-verbal communication?
Research evidence supports Darwin’s theory. Medical evidence supports the idea that the function of our nervous system causes certain actions, such as pupil dilation. Other research into neonates also suggests that some non-verbal behaviours are innate and biologically determined (genetics).
What are some disadvantages of Darwin’s evolutionary theory of non-verbal communication?
- A criticism is that non-verbal behaviours can also easily be explained by learning through observation rather than genetics. Social learning theory believes behaviours are learned through the observation and replication of other people.
- It is possible that behaviours may be both innate and learned. When we are born we have the ability to cry and laugh but we can also learn to control them and use them in a way that fits in with social and cultural norms.
- Some behaviours however may serve no purpose in reproduction or survival such as the use of gestures.
What does innate mean?
Inborn or inherited - that is, not learned.
What is learned?
Abilities or characteristics gained through experience.
Is non-verbal behaviour innate?
Darwin believed that facial expressions are the same in all cultures and are therefore innate and not learned.
What is some evidence to back up the fact that Darwin says that non-verbal behaviour is innate?
Some research also suggests that expressions of anger, disgust, fear, happiness, sadness, and surprise are recognised by most cultures throughout the world.
What is an experiment that supports the notion that non-verbal behaviour is innate?
An experiment filmed people in Papa New Guinea telling a story using non-verbal communication. The film was then shown to American college students, who were able to accurately identify the emotions being shown.
What does Darwin’s theory that emotional expressions are genetic or innate suggest?
It suggests that they should be found in neonates. The younger a baby is when they make these expressions, the less likely it is that they have learned them by observing others.
What is a neonate?
A newborn infant of less than 4 weeks of age.
What has research shown about neonates?
That neonates use a pre-cry expression that suggests sadness, as well as smiles and facial expressions that show disgust, pain, and surprise.
What does the information that we receive through our senses help us to do?
The information we receive through our different senses help us to learn.
What happens if non-verbal behaviours are learned in terms of senses?
If non-verbal behaviours are learned, people who are sensory deprived should not be able to use them in the same way.
What is sensory deprived?
Receiving little or no sensory stimuli, such as light or sound.
What has research said about babies and non-verbal behaviours being innate?
Research has shown that babies who are born blind have smiling behaviours that are similar to that found in babies with normal vision.
How did researchers look in to the facial expressions that blind and sighted people make?
Researchers used 4800 photographs of sighted and blind athletes to compare the facial expressions they made at significant moments.
What did researchers find from this research involving blind and sighted athletes?
They found that both the sighted and the blind athletes expressed their emotions in similar ways.
Whats an example of how blind and sighted athletes express their emotions in similar ways?
For example, 85% of silver medallists produced social smiles during the medal ceremony.
What is a social smile?
A true smile causes the eyes to narrow and the cheeks to rise, but a social smile only uses the mouth muscles.
What does the expression of a social smile by the silver medallists mean?
This suggests that the silver medallists were not truly happy to come in second and they had learned to give a social smile in this situation.
Is non-verbal behaviour learned?
While research does seem to suggest that some non-verbal behaviour is innate, there is also evidence that some is at least partly learned.
What does culture have to do with non-verbal behaviour being learned?
Cultural differences are learned by observing and copying those around us. Yuki’s study of emoticons suggests that the way we understand facial expressions is partly affected by culture.
What is the link between non-verbal communication and speech?
They are closely linked.
How do we know that non-verbal communication and speech are linked?
This is seen in the way eye contact is used to help a conversation flow smoothly. This non-verbal behaviour is learned at the same time as we learn to use language, and both are learned through social interactions.
What other factors support the fact that non-verbal communication is a learned behaviour?
Historical and generational changes in the use of non-verbal communication help to support the argument that it is a learned behaviour.
What is the aim of Yuki’s emoticon study?
To investigate if culture affects how facial cues are used when understanding other people’s emotions.
What is the study design of Yuki’s emoticon study?
A questionnaire with standard questions for all the participants and a rating scale of 1 - 9. Participants were American and Japanese students.
What is the method of Yuki’s emoticon study?
Yuki showed participants emoticons with six different combinations of eyes and mouths. The eyes and mouths were happy, neutral, or sad. Participants were asked to rate how happy they thought each face was.
What were the results of Yuki’s emoticon study?
The Japanese students gave the highest ratings to the faces with happy eyes and the lowest ratings to the faces with sad eyes. The American students gave the highest ratings to the faces with happy mouths and the lowest ratings to the faces with sad mouths. The results suggest that Japanese and American people give more weight to different parts of the face when interpreting another person’s emotions. The Japanese focus more on the eyes, while Americans focus more on the mouth. This may lead to a difference in their understanding of facial expressions.
What was the conclusion of Yuki’s emoticon study?
Yuki concluded that people learn their own culture’s norms for the expression and interpretation of emotions. Yuki suggested that the results may be related to how openly a culture expresses emotion. Research has shown that the eyes muscles are not as easy to control as those around the mouth.
Therefore, the eyes might be seen as the most truthful facial cue in cultures that try to limit their outward emotional expression (such as Japan). But the mouth may be seen as the best guide in a culture where open emotional expression is normal (such as the USA).
Why is Yuki’s emoticon study important?
Yuki’s study provides support for the theory that non-verbal behaviour is learned.
What were the disadvantages of Yuki’s emoticon study?
- Yuki used emoticons instead of real faces. Interpreting the emotion shown by emoticons is not a natural, everyday behaviour. Therefore, it can be argued that the study lacks ecological validity. However, when researchers used photos instead, the results were the same.
- The participants were aware that they were taking part in a piece of research, so they may not have given true responses. One reason for this is demand characteristics. The researchers may have given subtle clues to the participants about the answers they were expected to give.
This would make the research less reliable. - The sample is limited because all the participants were students. This means that the findings are not representative of younger or older people.
- The study only looked at happy and sad expressions and not at any other emotions. Therefore, the findings cannot be generalised to facial expressions of all emotions.
What was the support for Yuki’s findings?
Yuki carried out a second study using photographs. He used computer software to create faces with different combinations of happy and sad eyes and mouths. The results were the same as in the previous study with emoticons.
