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EYE CONTACT IN COMMUNICATION.   Term Paper ID:18946 Click to get this paper

Essay Subject: A study of some of the discoveries on its function. Discusses its role in revealing personality & presents several experiments. Gives a scientific description of the eye & its function.... More...

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Paper Abstract: A study of some of the discoveries on its function. Discusses its role in revealing personality & presents several experiments. Gives a scientific description of the eye & its function. Paper Introduction: In contemporary sociological and psychological research, it has been estimated that at least 65 percent of communication between people is expressed through nonverbal messages. Within this category, the largest percentage of nonverbal communication occurs visual, or as eye contact in communication. This paper will first present a brief biological overview of the way the human eye works, and will then focus on the visual aspects of nonverbal communication, attempting to analyze the way the eye acts to reveal personality and emotional communication. Scholarly research indicates that there are at least nine components of communication that are expressive in a nonverbal manner, leading to increased difficulties in understanding and explaining communication. These components follow: the human body, in that physical characteristics often convey a message; Text of the Paper: The entire text of the paper is shown below. However, the text is somewhat scrambled. We want to give you as much information as we possibly can about our papers and essays, but we cannot give them away for free. In the text below you will find that while disordered, many of the phrases are essentially intact. From this text you will be able to get a solid sense of the writing style, the concepts addressed, and the sources used in the research paper. Similarly,visual nonverbal behaviors become even more interesting when studied inrelation to children, since children have a more limited use of vocabularyand hence are not as capable of expressing themselves verbally as an adultmight be (Harper, Wiens & Matarazzo, 1978). Thus, sociologically and psychologically,visual nonverbal communication can clearly never be underestimated in itspower to influence, sooth, express, and communicate the wide variety ofactions within the human condition. Incontemporary films, visual messages are paramount in description,emotionality, and the like. Erlbaum. For instance, along with gestures, eye contact functions as a primaryregulator of human social interaction. The human eyeball is capable of free movement in everydirection except laterally. (1988). 8 ). Everywhere humans look there are visual messagesdesigned to entrance, entice, and otherwise affect human behavior. In order forlight to find its way to the retina, it must pass through the vitreoushumor, about four-fifths the total volume of the eye. When people averttheir eyes from ours we not only feel less liked; in return, we like themless (Webbink, 1986, p. 2 ). Within this category, the largestpercentage of nonverbal communication occurs visual, or as eye contact incommunication. Moreover, the visual power of actors andactresses establishes an undiminished link between the pragmatic and thepossible, establishing a greater degree of commonality between audience andperformer than ever before. Throughskillful manipulation of emotions and attitudes, the visual message cansend waves of sadness, joy, desire, hunger, or excitement to an all-to-willing audience (Plegens, 1991, pp. Mahl, G.F. The emotional language of the eyes is also of paramount importance invisual nonverbal communication. One set of experiments shows that attitude can be immediatelyrecognized simply through visual nonverbal communication. Social psychology. Visual nonverbal communication is often the summation of the way thathumans transmit information on both a conscious and subconscious level(Sears, et.al., 1989, p. New York:Harper & Row. Ekman, P., & Friesen, W.V. University Studyin Education, Psychology, and Social Research, No. Eye contacthas also been found to be even more important than the smile when it comesto the mother's response to her infant. Like nonverbal behavior ingeneral, eye contact is one of the most expressive forms of behavior thatserve to regulate human interaction and qualify verbal responses. (1964). Certainly, feelingsof intense love and emotion are often relegated to the eyes. Using a series of standard statistical tests,Baesler and Burgoon (1987) established that most nonverbal behaviors can bemeasured reliably and that the codes that are used to establish certainguidelines within nonverbal research are also statistically reliable. In part, this may bethe result of not only the recognition, but also the popular realizationthat nonverbal behaviors account for a substantial portion of communicationbetween human beings and that they are important indicators of thought,emotion, attitude, and socialization (Burgoon, et.al., 1989). Nonverbal communication. These same studies have found that the eyes play a large part in thefacial expression of emotion. Further, blind infants who lack such exchanges often show damagedobject and human relationships later in life (Webbink, 1986, pp. Plegens, P. Aside from the physiological aspects of human vision, within the pasttwo decades there has been a significant increase in empirical attentionwithin the field of visual nonverbal communication. 19). (Nummennmaa, 1964). Of all the myriad aspects of human nonverbalcommunication, perhaps it is the visual that is perceived in a regularfashion, and the variable that acts in congruence and alone to make humancommunication more effective. Explorations in nonverbal and vocal behavior.Hillsdale: L. One study found that certain complexemotions (e.g. Six muscles, fourstraight and two oblique, are connected to the eyeball and allow itsmovement. Journal of Nonverbal Behavior, 11,(3),18 -19 . This, ofcourse, has strong implications for the therapist, researcher, and layperson alike (Mahl, 1987). Generally speaking, however, whether or not one likes another personwho makes eye contact depends on whether the interaction is positive ornegative, threatening or comfortable, limited or extended, or intimate orprofessional. (1989). pleasure, surprise, and anger) can be perceived only throughreading the eyes. Scholars and lay readers alike oftenascribe wide ranges of emotions and states of being to the eyes, and infolklore, certain physical properties of the eyes have been traditionallyassociated with emotions and character trains. Webbink, P. Similar studies show than many blind individualshave a less developed emotional sense than sighted persons. The energy is then transported to the brain viathe optic nerve, where the energy then becomes meaning and allows the restof the body to react to visual stimuli (Webbink, 1986, pp. Certainly, it is much easier to gauge the sincerity of aspeaker while watching the speech or conversation than it is to simply"hear" the words. Between thecornea and the lens is the usually pigmented iris, acting as a window shaderesponding automatically to the amount of available light. The main aspect appeared to be the waythe eyes themselves were opened, while the direction and movement of thegaze followed. Asuspensory ligament holds the lens in place behind the iris, attached tociliary muscle which, when contracted, pulls on the ligament, which in turnpulls the lens, thus causing the elastic lens to flatten. Sears, D.O., et.al. 46-52). Perceptual and Motor Skills, 18, 119-158. 174-7). Eye contact is an important nonverbalmechanism by which conduct and informational exchange between speaker andlistener occurs in conversation. (1987). It has social, religious, andpolitical significance. These emotions, in fact, were recognized by raters whoobserved photographs of the eyes. 9. In the field of social psychology, studieson visual nonverbal communication are extremely important since they helpdefine the distinction between personal-expressive and standardcommunicative actions in the entire process of communication. Additionally, studies haveshown that children's visual expressivity is often more powerful anddominant than their verbal behavior, in part because of limited vocabularydevelopment and a lack of some of the repressive socialization regardingnonverbal behaviors that adults express (Neill, 1989, pp. Regulation refers to the manner inwhich humans communicate smoothly. Trimboli, A., & Walker, M.B. Educational Research 31, 261-265. This is not apermanent fixture, however, although it often takes a blind person longerto develop the emotional tools necessary to accurately judge sincerity andexpression simply through aural communication (Ekman & Friesen, 1969). 2 ). Nummennmaa, T. Another study (Thompkins & McCarter,1964) concluded that excitement and interest are conveyed by eyes whichlook at and follow the observed with eyebrows down. Finally, lightreaches the retina, where the actual transformation of light energy intonerve energy takes place. New York: Springer.----------------------- 11 22). In fact, although a vast array of meanings have been attributed toeye language over the ages, recent studies have shown that people do sharemany common beliefs about the significance of certain eye behaviors."There is also a large amount of agreement between how receivers interpretgaze and how senders actually feel, or what they intend to communicate(although accuracy of perception does vary)" (Webbink, 1986, p. (1986). Ames: Iowa State U P. Even in popular culture, the power of the eyes is almost dominant inthe contemporary world. Englewood Cliffs:Prentice-Hall. Journal of Nonverbal Behavior, 11(4), 2 5-233. The human visual system consists of the five parts of the eyeballs;the muscles which move the eyeballs within rounded skill cavities,otherwise known as the orbits; the protective eyelids; the optic nerve,which connects the eyes to the brain; and the brain, which perceives thevisual images and decides the response the body will make to visualinformation. Thompkins, S.S., & McCarter, R. EnglewoodCliffs: Prentice-Hall. Several studiesfound that those with more positive attitudes toward another had more eyecontact with that person. The power of the eyes. 261-5). Likewise, advertising and the visual messagesit sends proves just how effective visual communication can be. Light enters theeye through the cornea and then passes through a pocket of salty liquid,the aqueous humor, which nourishes the cornea and the lens. Another situational factor which might influence a responseto eye contact is the nature of one's last experience with visual behavior,and complex situational and mediating cognitive factors must surely betaken into account when identifying the "meaning" of eye contact (Burgoon,et.al., 1989). What and where are theprimary effects? Scholarly research indicates that there are at least nine componentsof communication that are expressive in a nonverbal manner, leading toincreased difficulties in understanding and explaining communication.These components follow: the human body, in that physical characteristicsoften convey a message; kinesics, the language of body position andmovement; paralanguage, those voice qualities and characteristics thataccompany spoken words; silence; tacesics and stroking, the language oftouch and its substitutes; proxemics, the way that humans use space tocommunicate; chronemics, time in both its cultural and physiologicaldimensions; color; and, considered to be one of the most dominant forms ofnonverbal communication, the eyes, their contract and use (Vargas, 1986,pp. There is a further issue involving the types and quantity of visualnonverbal camouflage (naturally occurring messages that are consistent) andthe way that camouflage may bias the messages given in communication.However, recent research indicated that the nonverbal dominance (e.g.nonverbal behavior taking precedence over verbal behavior) effect waspresent when the level of camouflage was low and disappeared when the levelwas high. Also observed were thefollowing emotions expressed by the eyes and surrounding muscles: joy isconveyed by smiling eyes with circular wrinkles; distress is conveyed bytears and arched eyebrows; fear, by eyes which are frozen open; shame, byeyes looking down; and anger, by narrowing eyes (Webbink, 1986, p. Within the eyeball, the electromagnetic radiation (light) istransformed by photosensitive receptor cells into energy to which the braincan respond. Violence goes mainstream. Measurement and reliabilityof nonverbal behavior. A little more than half the eyeball resides within the bonycavity of the orbit - well protected from outside force. New York: J. Burgoon, J.K., et.al. This leads one to believe that even in the systematic study ofnonverbal communication, there must be some limitations and guidelines tofollow in the methodological determinant of the problem of visualcommunication (Trimboli & Walker, 1987). Newsweek, 13, 46-52. Nonverbal dominance in thecommunication of affect: A myth? Neill, S.R. Indeed,eye contact is a "language of relationships, helping to define whointeracts, how they interact, and what they communicate" (Webbink, 1986, p.13). (1978). Apparently, when humans like someone,they are motivated to look into his/her eyes more often and often perceivethe gaze of others as an indication of their [feelings]. The language of the face. Finally, in both contemporary and primitive societies, the literatureis rife with examples of visual imagery. Louder than words. Nonverbalcommunication: The state of the art. Humans can look upward easily, whereas mostanimals need to use the neck and lift the head to do so. It has even been suggested that thispatterning function of nonverbal behavior is crucial to the outcome of mostsocial interactions (Ekman & Friesen, 1969). 1 -11). (1991). Several experiments reported thatmothers felt estranged from their infants until about 4 weeks of age, atwhich time the babies acquired the ability to maintain true eye-to-eyecontact. 96-8). In another study, interviewees gave the mostunfavorable reactions to nongazing interviewers, rating them as leastattractive, giving them the shortest answers, and sitting farthest fromthem during a debriefing session. (1987). Slightlyconvex in front and markedly so behind, the lens focuses light on theretina, which lies on the back and sides of the eye's inner walls. Scholarly studies havenoted that, although the eyes are more set in place than most other partsof the face, they are particularly adapted for emotional activity becauseof their capacity for intricate expression: "Many variations are possiblewith the movement of the eyeball, secretion of the lacrimal glands, andchanges in the contours and surfaces of musculature surrounding the eyes"(Webbink, 1986, p. When an experimenter interviewed two subjectsthe one who received the most looks from the experimenter felt that theexperimenter liked him/her. Wiley. References Baesler, E.J., & Burgoon, J.K. Harper, R.G., Wiens, A.N., & Matarazzo, J.D. (1964). Specifically dealing with visual nonverbal communication, within thetotal communication system embodied in human social interaction, eyebehavior constitutes a communication subsystem. In contemporary sociological and psychological research, it has beenestimated that at least 65 percent of communication between people isexpressed through nonverbal messages. (1989). (1975). (1987). Unmasking the face. One of the first presumptions that must be explained about visualnonverbal communication is the methodological basis for its quantitativeand qualitative measurement. Vargas, M.F. This paper will first present a brief biological overviewof the way the human eye works, and will then focus on the visual aspectsof nonverbal communication, attempting to analyze the way the eye acts toreveal personality and emotional communication. (1986). Once throughthe pupil, light rays move through the soft, crystalline lens. Children's reported responses to teachers' andnonteachers' nonverbal communication. Additionally, eye contact has been found to be one of the mostintimate of all the nonverbal communicative behaviors. If this paper is not what you are looking for, you can search again: Search for: or Click here to request an essay written just for you.