AGNOSIA

**[AGNOSIA]{#AGNOSIA}**

*Neuro term*. **1.** The inability to recognize a coin, key, or other
object merely by its feel, e.g., when held in the hand. **2.** The
inability to recognize a door, e.g., by the sound of its slamming or
from its photograph alone. **3.** In agnosia, while perception itself
(i.e., feeling a coin\'s shape or hearing a door slam) is normal,
recognition of objects is not.

*Usage*: Studies of agnosia reveal how the brain processes nonverbal
gestures, objects, and sensations apart from
**[speech](speech1.htm){tppabs="http://members.aol.com/doder1/speech1.htm"
target="_top"}** or
**[words](word1.htm){tppabs="http://members.aol.com/doder1/word1.htm"
target="_top"}**. Though very vocal, human beings still spend a great
deal of their lives in **[Nonverbal
World](http://members.aol.com/nonverbal2/nvworld.htm){target="_top"}**.

*Neuro-notes*. **1.** Inability to recognize a coin by the sound of its
dropping suggests problems with the *auditory association areas* of the
temporal lobe. **2.** Inability to recognize a coin held in the hand
suggests problems with the *tactile association areas* of the parietal
lobe. **3.** Inability to recognize a coin by its photograph suggests
problems with the *visual association areas* of the occipital lobe.
These nonverbal brain modules exist independently of the cortical
modules used to recognize and produce speech sounds.

See also
**[APRAXIA](http://members.aol.com/nonverbal2/apraxia.htm){target="_top"}**.

Copyright 1998, 1999, 2000 (David B. Givens/[**Center for Nonverbal
Studies**](http://members.aol.com/nonverbal2/index.htm){target="_top"})


AKINESIA

**[AKINESIA]{#AKINESIA}**

*Neuro term*. **1.** Difficulty *beginning* or *maintaining* a body
motion. **2.** Symptoms include: **a.** slowed voluntary movements;
**b.** difficulty in reaching for objects; **c.** inability to perform
repetitive, simultaneous, or sequential body movements; **d.** immobile,
expressionless, or masked face; **e.** loss of normal \"restless\" body
movements while sitting; **f.** loss of arm swinging while walking;
**g.** shuffling gait; and **h.** diminished finger dexterity.

*Usage*: Akinesia points to a variety of *neurological problems*
(including, e.g., Parkinson\'s disease and brain damage associated with
strokes). Akinesic behaviors affect an individual\'s normal nonverbal
response, and may be (especially in older people) misconstrued as mood
signs expressing emotions and feelings.

See also
**[APRAXIA](http://members.aol.com/nonverbal2/apraxia.htm){target="_top"}**.

Copyright 1998, 1999, 2000 (David B. Givens/[**Center for Nonverbal
Studies**](http://members.aol.com/nonverbal2/index.htm){target="_top"})


ANIMAL SIGN

**ANIMAL SIGN**

![Altamira Cave Art](animal.jpg){border="0"
tppabs="http://members.aol.com/doder1/objects/animal.jpg" height="55%"
width="25%"}\
\
*Animals are . . . the visible phantoms of our souls*. \--Victor Hugo\
\
*Cats and monkeys, monkeys and cats\--all human life is there*. \--Henry
James (*The Madonna of the Future*)\
\
*Many primatologists have experienced a profound change in their
attitude towards anthropoid apes after making [**eye
contact**](http://members.aol.com/nonverbal3/eyecon.htm){target="_top"}
with one for the first time. The spark across the species barrier is
never forgotten*. \--Frans De Waal (Waal and Lanting 1997:1)\

***[Signal](http://members.aol.com/nonverbal2/signal.htm){target="_top"}***.
A message emitted by the nonverbal behavior, cries, markings, body
movements, or shapes of an organism of the kingdom Animalia (see
**[EFFERENT
CUE](efferen1.htm){tppabs="http://members.aol.com/doder1/efferen1.htm"
target="_top"}**).

*Usage*: Animals provide an endless source of inspiration for artists,
philosophers, photographers, and cinematographers. They are a major
source of companionship, entertainment, symbolism, and food for all
human beings.

*Word origin*. The word *animal* comes from the ancient Indo-European
root *ane-*, derivatives of which include *anima*, *equanimity*, and
*unanimous*.

*Anthropology I*. There is a curious ambivalence between *Homo sapiens*
and all other species. On the one hand, we find compelling similarities
between ourselves and beasts. Yet on the other, a cultural universal of
human thought is the postulate that people and animals are fundamentally
un-alike. Between the human and the animal lies an immense chasm.

*Anthropology II*. We find animals spiritually, intellectually, and
morally inferior to ourselves. Greek philosophers despised beasts for
their lack of reason. Today\'s Christians deny animals a soul, yet
portray the Holy Ghost as a winged member of the Columbidae family
(i.e., as a dove). Hindus believe all creatures are divine, but see
hoofed animals of the Bovidae family (i.e., sacred cattle) as more
divine than others. Muslims picture all animals as being lower than
humans. Buddhists think animals, as well as humans, are ultimately
unreal.

*Anthropology III*. We attribute animal characteristics to ourselves.
Zoomorphism is a popular theme of greeting cards, e.g., which liken
friends and family members to cuddly kittens, bunnies, and bears. The
Zuni Indians of New Mexico compare strong-willed men to black bears
(Cushing 1883).

*Anthropology IV*. The earliest animal art\--naturalistic renderings of
deer, horses, and bulls\--appears in the archaeological record ca.
30,000 years ago in western Europe. The Upper Paleolithic cave paintings
of Cro Magnon man reveal that hunter-gatherers incorporated animals into
their thought processes and rituals at least 30 millennia ago.

*Anthropology V*. We purchase an estimated 500,000 plastic pink flamingo
ornaments for our lawns each year (Conn and Silverman 1991:42).\
\
*Beauty*. While we overestimate the number of useful and attractive
birds, butterflies, and mammals on earth, we underestimate the much
larger population of unlovely insects, spiders, bats, bacteria, and
worms (May 1992:42).\
\
*Cats*. The first commercial software designed for nonhuman animals may
be a video game called \"CyberPounce.\" In Cyberpounce, virtual flies,
fish, and mice entice the paw-batting instincts of house cats, who
\"hunt\" for the video images on a screen. \"He \[CyberPounce creator,
Matt Wolf\] learned that cats can recognize activity on a television
screen or computer monitor, but most programming designed for humans
doesn\'t titillate them. Cats fixate on an object\'s color and movement
patterns rather than its shape, he said\" (Krane2001:A6).\
\
***[Courtship](court1.htm){tppabs="http://members.aol.com/doder1/court1.htm"
target="_top"}***. Courting couples of the 17th century carried flea
boxes, in which they collected the bodies of the dead arthropods they
had picked off each other\'s skin (Dean 1982).\
\
*Dislike*. According to the Nature Conservancy, our least-liked mammal
is the rat (Anonymous 1990).\
\
*Dogs*. We design exotic **[consumer
products](consprod.htm){tppabs="http://members.aol.com/nonverbal2/consprod.htm"
target="_top"}** for *Canis familiaris*. A 25-ounce bottle of Mon Chien,
e.g., contains water and ground-beef flavoring (for dogs who may turn up
their noses at drinking from *Homo sapiens\'s* toilet). At Fido\'s Fast
Food, a converted Fotomat drive-through in Toledo, Ohio, dogs may dine
on
**[crunchy](http://members.aol.com/nonverbal2/crunch.htm){target="_top"}**
\"cheeseburgers\" and peanut-butter bagels (Anonymous (1992C).\
\
***[Fear](http://members.aol.com/nonverbal2/fear.htm){target="_top"}***.
We fear wild animals more than \"safer\" domestic breeds. Yet while
millions are afraid of sharks, e.g., only six people in the U.S. have
been killed by sharks since 1988 (Conn and Silverman 1991:197). We fear
dogs less, even though half of all U.S. children will be bitten by a dog
by age 12 (Rovner 1992). (***N.B.***: Each year shying horses kill and
wound more humans than all wild animals combined.)

*Gorillas*. We are fascinated by \"humanlike\" mannerisms of gorillas
(*Gorilla gorilla*). Gorilla groupies, e.g., sit for hours patiently
watching lowland gorillas (*G. g. berengei*) at the National Zoo in
Washington, D.C. As one man remarked, watching gorillas \"is the
happiest thing I\'ve done with my spare time\" (Mundy 1992). The peak
experience of a gorilla groupie is sharing **[eye
contact](http://members.aol.com/nonverbal3/eyecon.htm){target="_top"}**
with the apes.\
\
***[Media](http://members.aol.com/nonverbal3/eyecon.htm){target="_top"}***.
**1.** The first TV star was not a human being but a doll-sized replica
of Felix the Cat, used in the 1920s as a test pattern (Marschall
1986:13). **2.** \"Body hair is a remnant of our primeval animal self
and, in evolutionary history, our human bodies are slowly losing their
hair as we move away from the animal realm where we were open to
nature\" (Camille Paglia quoted in the *Washington Post* \[Folliard
1995:E5\]).

*Size*. As large-bodied animals ourselves (i.e., as *megafauna*), we
consider much smaller creatures unworthy of humane treatment. The U.S.
Animal Welfare Act of 1971, e.g., does not apply to laboratory rats,
mice, or birds (Anonymous 1992D). As animals with backbones, we
discriminate against much smaller invertebrates. Few high-school teams,
e.g., choose insects as mascots, despite the fact that insects outweigh
all of earth\'s vertebrates combined, nine-to-one (Holden 1989:754).\
\
***[Speech](speech1.htm){tppabs="http://members.aol.com/doder1/speech1.htm"
target="_top"}***. In the U.S., 90% of pet owners speak to their dogs,
cats, and birds (Wolkomir 1984). (***N.B.***: According a study at Utah
State University, 73% think their pets talk back \[Wolkomir 1984\].)\
\
*Neuro-notes*. According to PET imaging studies, animal picture
identification activates both the right and left occipital region
(specifically, right and left lingual gyrus and left fusiform gyrus
\[Perani et al. 1999\]).
([**Artifact**](http://members.aol.com/nonverbal3/artifact.htm){target="_top"}
picture identification, on the other hand, activates only the left brain
hemisphere \[Perani et al. 1999\].)

See also **[TREE
SIGN](tree1.htm){tppabs="http://members.aol.com/doder1/tree1.htm"
target="_top"}**, [***WWW.Petsmart.com***](http://www.petsmart.com/).

Copyright **©** 1998 - 2001 (David B. Givens/**[Center for Nonverbal
Studies](http://members.aol.com/nonverbal2/index.htm){target="_top"}**)\
Detail of photo (copyright Magín Berenguer)


ARM-SWING

**[ARM-SWING]{#ARM-SWING}**

*Like she\'s carrying invisible suitcases*. \--Elaine (describing a
woman who walked without swinging her arms; *Seinfeld*, April 14, 1999)

![Arm-Swing](B18027.jpg){border="0"
tppabs="http://members.aol.com/nonverbal3/objects/B18027.jpg"
height="35%" width="25%"}\
\
***[Body
movement](bodymov1.htm){tppabs="http://members.aol.com/doder1/bodymov1.htm"
target="_top"}***. To move the upper limbs back and forth rhythmically
with the legs while
**[walking](walk1.htm){tppabs="http://members.aol.com/doder1/walk1.htm"
target="_top"}**.

*Usage*: As a *counterweight*, the arm-swing helps balance our upright
body while walking, jogging, and running. In
***[dances](dance1.htm){tppabs="http://members.aol.com/doder1/dance1.htm"
target="_top"}***, such as the locomotion, swim, and twist, vigorous
arm-swinging gyrations express inner feelings and moods in time to
music\'s rock-\'n-roll beat.

*Observation*. Restless, back-and-forth motions of the arms above a
**[conference
table](table.htm){tppabs="http://members.aol.com/doder1/table.htm"
target="_top"}**, e.g., may reveal an unconscious wish to \"walk away\"
from meetings or discussion groups.

*Evolution*. Spinal-cord
**[paleocircuits](http://members.aol.com/nonverbal2/paleo.htm){target="_top"}**
which govern the rhythmic, alternating movements of arm-swinging evolved
(in tandem with those of the legs) for *locomotion*. The act of swinging
the arms while walking\--and of pumping them while running\--is an
evolutionary holdover from earlier days, when the arms (used as
forelimbs) participated with the legs in *quadrupedal* locomotion.

*Infancy*. At three months of age, we use our forearms and hands to
raise our bodies off the floor in preparation for *crawling*. As babies,
we find moving pleasurable for its own sake (Chase and Rubin 1979:153),
and begin advancing one limb at a time\--*on all fours*\--between the
6th and 9th months of life. In a gait typical of quadrupeds, *our arms
reach alternately forward* as the opposite hind limb crawls forward on
the knee. (***N.B.***: Adults make surprisingly good quadrupeds, as
well. In 1988, e.g., a man crawled 28.5 miles around a level track
without stopping, to prove it could be done \[McFarlan 1991:199\]. From
1984-85, a man crawled 870 miles to please a Hindu goddess \[McFarlan
1991:199\].)

*Neuro-notes*. Paleocircuits for arm-swinging originated in the
**[aquatic
brain](http://members.aol.com/nonverbal2/aquatic.htm){target="_top"}**.
Today, arm-swinging is still mediated by the **[basal
ganglia](http://members.aol.com/nonverbal2/basal.htm){target="_top"}**.
Like walking itself, our vestigial arm movements are unconscious and out
of awareness. Motionless arms (and a shuffling gait), meanwhile, are
symptomatic of shortages of the neurotransmitter, *dopamine*, in the
basal ganglia (as in *Parkinson\'s disease*).

See also
**[HANDS-ON-HIPS](http://members.aol.com/nonverbal2/handhips.htm){target="_top"}**,
**[REPTILIAN
BRAIN](reptile.htm){tppabs="http://members.aol.com/nonverbal3/reptile.htm"
target="_top"}**.

Copyright **©** 1998 - 2001 (David B. Givens/[**Center for Nonverbal
Studies**](http://members.aol.com/nonverbal2/index.htm){target="_top"})


ART CUE

**ART CUE**

[![Visually Elegant](art.jpg){border="0"
tppabs="http://members.aol.com/doder1/objects/art.jpg" height="50%"
width="25%"}](http://members.aol.com/nonverbal2/tensemou.htm){target="_top"}\
\
**I have always tried to render inner feelings through the
[**mobility**](bodymov1.htm){tppabs="http://members.aol.com/doder1/bodymov1.htm"
target="_top"} of the muscles* . . . \--Auguste Rodin\
\
More often than not, \[people\] expect a painting to speak to them in
terms other than visual, preferably in
[**words**](word1.htm){tppabs="http://members.aol.com/doder1/word1.htm"
target="_top"}, whereas when a painting or a sculpture needs to be
supplemented and explained by words it means either that it has not
fulfilled its function or that the public is deprived of vision*.
\--Naum Gabo

*Aesthetic signal*. **1.** An aromatic, auditory, tactile, taste,
vestibular, or visual sign designed by human beings to affect the sense
of beauty. **2.** Arrangements, combinations, contrasts, rhythms, or
sequences of signs, designed as an
[**emotional**](http://members.aol.com/nonverbal2/emotion.htm){target="_top"}
language with which to bespeak elegance, grace, intensity, refinement,
and truth.

*Usage*: \"I shall thus define the general function of art as a search
for the constant, lasting, essential, and enduring features of objects,
surfaces,
[**faces**](http://members.aol.com/nonverbal2/face.htm){target="_top"},
situations, and so on, which allows us not only to acquire knowledge
about the particular object, or face, or condition represented on the
canvas but to generalize, based on that, about many other objects and
thus acquire knowledge about a wide category of objects or faces\" (Zeki
1998:71).\
\
*Anthropology I*. \"All art then is utilitarian: the scepter, symbol of
royal power, the bishop\'s crook, the love song, the patriotic anthem,
the statue in which the power of the gods is cast in material form, the
fresco that reminds churchgoers of the horrors of Hell, all undeniably
meet a practical necessity\" (Leroi-Gourhan 1964:364).\
\
*Anthropology II*. In Upper Paleolithic sculpture and cave art: \"Women,
[**bisons, aurochs,
horses**](animal1.htm){tppabs="http://members.aol.com/doder1/animal1.htm"
target="_top"}, are all executed according to the same convention
whereby identifying attributes are attached to a central nucleus of the
body. The result is that the head and limbs are often merely hinted at
and, at best, are out of scale with the mass of the body\"
(Leroi-Gourhan 1993 \[1964\]:376).\
\
***[Aromatic](http://members.aol.com/nonverbal2/aromacue.htm){target="_top"}**
art*. \"On the deck \[of Cleopatra\'s barge\] would have stood a huge
incense burner piled high with kyphi\--the most expensive scented
offering known to the Egyptians compounded from the roots of *Acorus*
and *Andropogon* together with oils of cassia, cinnamon, peppermint,
pistacia and *Convolvulus*, juniper, acacia, henna and cyprus; the whole
mixture macerated in wine and added to honey, resins and myrrh.
According to Plutarch it was made of \'those things which delight most
in the night\' adding that it also lulled one to sleep and brightened
the dreams\" (Stoddart 1990:142).

*Cuisine*. *A dessert course without cheese is like a beautiful woman
with only one eye*. \--Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin (quoted in McGee
1990:271)\
\
*Form constants*. **1.** \"What \[Heinrich\] Klüver \[i.e., his
hallucenogenic \'form constants\'\] showed was that there are a limited
number of perceptual frameworks that appear to be built into the nervous
system and that are probably part of our genetic endowment\" (Cytowic
1993:125). **2.** \"Klüver . . . identified four types of constant
hallucinogenic images: (1) gratings and honeycombs, (2) cobwebs, (3)
tunnels and cones, and (4) spirals\" (Cytowic 1993:125). **3.** \"In
addition to form, there are also color and movement constants, such as
pulsation, flicker, drift, rotation, and perspectives of advance-recede
relative to the viewer\" (Cytowic 1993:125). **4.** \"Form constants can
be found in many natural phenomena, from subjective experiences to works
of art, including craft work and cave paintings of primitive cultures\"
(Cytowic 1993:125).\
\
*Golden section*. Human beings are most aesthetically pleased when a
straight line is divided not in half (i.e., not in two equal segments),
but rather, when the right-hand segment measures 62% of the left-hand
segment (Young 1978).\
\
*Likes*. **1.** As human beings, we may be genetically predisposed to
like bright
[**colors**](http://members.aol.com/nonverbal3/color.htm){target="_top"},
glitter, and sunshine; soft, tinkling, and rhythmic
[**sounds**](auditor1.htm){tppabs="http://members.aol.com/doder1/auditor1.htm"
target="_top"}; sweet, fruity, and nutty
[**tastes**](http://members.aol.com/nonverbal3/taste.htm){target="_top"};
and
[**touching**](touch1.htm){tppabs="http://members.aol.com/doder1/touch1.htm"
target="_top"} what is soft, smooth, and dry (Thorndike 1940). **2.** We
like star-shaped better than blocky, rectangular-shaped polygons (Young
1978). **3.** Visually, we prefer \"unified variety\" in a picture,
rather than seeing too much or too little variety (Young 1978).\
\
*Mobiles*. \"Until Calder invented his mobiles, the generation of motion
depended upon machines, and machines did not seem beautiful or desirable
works of art to everyone, not even to the cynical Duchamp\" (Zeki
1998:71).\
\
*Neanderthal art*. Among the few artistic
[**artifacts**](http://members.aol.com/nonverbal3/artifact.htm){target="_top"}
fabricated by *Homo sapiens neanderthalensis* are **a.** an engraved
fossil from Tata, Hungary, with lines scratched in the shape of a cross;
and **b.** a carved and polished mammoth\'s molar tooth, also from Tata
(Scarre 1993:48).\
\
*Plato*. The Greek philosopher Plato reasoned that, as a medium of
communication, art was removed from reality and therefore could not
communicate knowledge or truth (Flew 1979:6).\
\
*Prehistory I*. **1.** The oldest human rock engravings, consisting of
designs etched into stones in southern Australia, date back ca. 45,000
years ago (Scarre 1993). Known as *Panaramitee petroglyphs*, the
engravings depict \". . . mazes, circles, dots, and arcs\" (Scarre
1993:47; see above, *Form constants*). **2.** One of the oldest human
decorations, consisting of zigzag \"V\" markings engraved in a bone from
a cave at Bacho Kiro in central Bulgaria, appear to be deliberately
incised rather than merely accidental (Scarre 1993:47).\
\
*Prehistory II*. \"Picturing by drawing or painting on flat-surfaced
sign vehicles (walls, ceilings, animal skins, sides of containers, clay
tablets, etc. \[see
[**SIGN**](http://members.aol.com/nonverbal2/sign.htm){target="_top"},
*Usage II*\]) increased in quantity and sophistication with the arrival
of urbanism and the full-time artist and scribe (ca. 6,000 B.P. \[before
present\]). The painted signs themselves not only improved but became
increasingly prolific, standardized, and
[**information**](http://members.aol.com/nonverbal2/info.htm){target="_top"}-laden,
and began to carry more of a narrative force than the pre-urban
decorations. Egyptian funerary art (from 3,000 B.P.), for example,
details complex social, political, and agricultural activities in
graphic picturing sequences\--scenes easily understood by the modern
viewer. Another example is the Minoan fresco from Akrotiri (ca. 3,500
B.P.), 16 inches high and more than 20 feet long, which depicts an
intricate naval battle sequenced horizontally in a flowing narrative
order\" (Givens 1982:162).

*Neuro-notes I*: \"Artists, without their being aware of it, have
accurately described the function of the brain through their definition
of art. Just as artists select from varied visual information for their
representation of reality, so does the brain discriminate from varied
stimuli to produce insight\" (Zeki 1998:71).

*Neuro-notes II*: \"To be able to activate a cell in the visual brain,
one must not only stimulate in the correct place (i.e., stimulate the
receptive field) but also stimulate the receptive field with the correct
visual stimulus, because cells in the visual brain are remarkably fussy
about the kind of visual stimulus to which they will respond\" (Zeki
1998:71).

See also
**[MUSIC](music11.htm){tppabs="http://members.aol.com/doder1/music11.htm"
target="_top"}**.

Copyright 2000 (David B. Givens/[**Center for Nonverbal
Studies**](http://members.aol.com/nonverbal2/index.htm){target="_top"})\
Detail of photograph of the 1884-86 sculpture, *The Burghers of Calais*,
by Auguste Rodin (copyright 1994 by Benedikt Taschen Verlag GmbH)


AUDITORY CUE

**AUDITORY CUE**

![Drum Signals](auditory.jpg){border="0"
tppabs="http://members.aol.com/doder1/objects/auditory.jpg" height="60%"
width="25%"}\
\
*The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness*. \--Old Testament,
*Isaiah*, XL, 3\

*Sound
**[signal](http://members.aol.com/nonverbal2/signal.htm){target="_top"}***.
**1.** An *incoming*
**[sign](http://members.aol.com/nonverbal2/sign.htm){target="_top"}**
received through the ears, causing the brain to hear. **2.** An
*outgoing* sign produced by the vibration of physical objects (e.g.,
drum heads, reeds, and strings) or body parts (e.g., the hands in
*clapping*, and the larynx in
***[speaking](speech1.htm){tppabs="http://members.aol.com/doder1/speech1.htm"
target="_top"}***).

*Usage I*: Like **[touch
cues](touch1.htm){tppabs="http://members.aol.com/doder1/touch1.htm"
target="_top"}**, auditory cues are psychologically \"real\" (i.e.,
*tangible*) to human beings. Because hearing evolved as a specialized
form of touch, sounds share some properties of tactile signals.
(***N.B.***: The telephone company\'s commercial jingle, \"Reach out and
touch someone,\" carries more than a figurative ring of truth.)

*Usage II*: Auditory cues may be used **a.** linguistically (in speech),
as well as **b.**
**[emotionally](http://members.aol.com/nonverbal2/emotion.htm){target="_top"}**
(to transmit
**[information](http://members.aol.com/nonverbal2/info.htm){target="_top"}**
about attitudes, feelings, and moods; see **[TONE OF
VOICE](http://members.aol.com/nonverbal2/tone.htm){target="_top"}**).\
\
*[**Courtship**](court1.htm){tppabs="http://members.aol.com/doder1/court1.htm"
target="_top"}*. In the speaking phase of courtship, auditory cues play
a tactile role as they pave the way toward touching itself (see **[LOVE
SIGNALS
III](http://members.aol.com/nonverbal2/lovesig3.htm){target="_top"}**).

*Biology*. *Big-seeming* auditory cues (e.g., deep or loud cries)
suggest\--and may substitute for\--physical size itself (see
**[LOOM](loom1.htm){tppabs="http://members.aol.com/doder1/loom1.htm"
target="_top"}**). Like the bullfrog\'s croaking, a man\'s deep voice
may suggest greater size, authority, and strength.

*Anatomy*. Auditory cues are received, as vibrations, by specialized
hair cells in the inner ear\'s *cochlea*. There, the vibrations are
transformed (as electrical signals) in the auditory nerve, which links
to auditory modules of the midbrain (i.e., the inferior colliculi) and
the forebrain (e.g., the primary auditory cortex).

*Evolution I*. **1.** \"The visceral skeleton (splanchnocranium) of
vertebrates consists of a series of cartilages or bones arising in the
embryonic visceral
(**[pharyngeal](http://members.aol.com/nonverbal2/pharynx.htm){target="_top"}**)
arches\" (Kent 1969:155). **2.** \"In lung-breathing tetrapods the
visceral skeleton has been modified for transmission of sound (malleus,
incus, and stapes), for attachment of the muscles of the modified
tongue, and for support of the larynx (cricoid, thyroid, and arytenoid
cartilages)\" (Kent 1969:162).\
\
*Evolution II*. \"When the first amphibia left the Silurian seas two or
three hundred million years ago, with their heads resting on the ground,
they relied entirely on bone conduction of vibration for hearing. The
vibrations in the earth were transmitted from the bones of their lower
jaws to the bone surrounding the inner ear. In order to hear, they
probably kept their lower jaws touching the ground\" (Nathan 1988:34).\
\
*Psychology*. Our aversion to sudden loud noises may be innate
(Thorndike 1940).\
\
*Right brain, left brain*. Regarding auditory signals, the right-brain
hemisphere is superior to the left when dealing with music, metaphorical
and figurative speech, sequences of verbalized events, verbal stress and
intonation patterns, and human non-speech sounds. The left-brain
hemisphere is superior in processing spoken words, numbers, and nonsense
syllables. (See [**HUMAN
BRAIN**](http://members.aol.com/nonverbal3/human.htm){target="_top"},
*Right brain, left brain*.)\
\
*Neuro-notes I*. The **[amphibian
brain\'s](http://members.aol.com/nonverbal2/amphibia.htm){target="_top"}**
inferior colliculi receive auditory cues from the lateral lemniscus and
control such auditory reflexes as flinching in response, e.g., to a
karate master\'s yell (see **[STARTLE
REFLEX](startle1.htm){tppabs="http://members.aol.com/doder1/startle1.htm"
target="_top"}**). Postural reflexes to loud sounds are triggered by the
inferior and superior colliculi, through brain-stem-cervical cord
interneurons to anterior horn motor neurons that are linked to spinal
nerves in charge of muscle spindles.

*Neuro-notes II*. As in the visual neocortex, modules of auditory
neocortex in the temporal lobe have specialized functions, e.g., to
decode information about the frequency, intensity, and timing of
sounds.\
\
*Neuro-notes III*. Movement of sounds is detected **a.** by dorsal
premotor regions of the frontal eye fields, **b.** ventral premotor
regions of primate areas for multimodal spatial analysis and motor
planning, and **c.** right superior and inferior parietal cortex
(Griffiths et al. 2000).

See also
**[CRY](http://members.aol.com/nonverbal3/cry.htm){target="_top"}**,
**[LAUGH](http://members.aol.com/nonverbal3/laugh.htm){target="_top"}**.

Copyright **©** 1998 - 2001 (David B. Givens/**[Center for Nonverbal
Studies](http://members.aol.com/nonverbal2/index.htm){target="_top"}**)\
Detail of photo by Dennis Stock (copyright Magnum)


AUTISM

**AUTISM**

![Without Expression](autism.jpg){border="0"
tppabs="http://members.aol.com/doder1/objects/autism.jpg" height="40%"
width="25%"}\
\
*People talk to each other with their eyes, don\'t they? What are they
saying?* \--Asperger\'s syndrome subject (quoted in Carter 1998:141)\
\
\
*Communications disorder*. **1.** A related family of conditions, from
producing repetitive body movements to showing a special gift for
drawing, music, or math, marked by a lack of empathy and an extreme
inability to send and receive normal
[**nonverbal**](nvcom.htm){tppabs="http://members.aol.com/nonverbal2/nvcom.htm"
target="_top"} cues. **2.** An autistic person may fail to use socially
normal patterns of [**eye
contact**](http://members.aol.com/nonverbal3/eyecon.htm){target="_top"},
[**facial
expressions**](http://members.aol.com/nonverbal3/facialx.htm){target="_top"},
and
[**gestures**](http://members.aol.com/nonverbal2/gesture.htm){target="_top"},
and may be unable to use normal
[**speech**](speech1.htm){tppabs="http://members.aol.com/doder1/speech1.htm"
target="_top"}. **3.** An autistic individual may also display an
intense interest in arranging, organizing, or hoarding a restricted
range of physical
**[objects](http://members.aol.com/nonverbal2/object.htm){target="_top"}**.

*Usage*: When kept from handling a favored object, an autistic person
may yell, become aggressive, or engage in property destruction. \". . .
more than anything, autism is a defect of communication\--an inability
to share feelings, beliefs and knowledge with other people\" (Carter
1998:141).\
\
*Asperger\'s Syndrome*. Like autism, AS includes problems in social
behavior, along with abnormal responses to the environment. Unlike
autism, however, cognitive and communicative skills may be relatively
normal, and verbal skills are strong. AS individuals show an unusually
restricted interest in specific artifacts, objects, or life forms, such
as bus schedules, videotape cassettes, and frogs.

*Behavior*. \"Their language skills are often limited, and they find it
difficult to initiate or sustain conversations. They also frequently
exhibit an intense preoccupation with a single subject, activity or
gesture\" (Rodier 2000:56).\
\
*Embryology*. In the first 20 to 24 days of gestation, a defect in the
gene *HOXA1* may be responsible **a.** for the physical appearance of
the mouth, lower jaw, and ears, and **b.** for the brain stem anomalies
(see below, *Neuro-note*) of autism (Rodier 2000:59).

*Physical appearance*. **1.** Autistic children produce few facial
expressions, though they may exhibit
**[jaw-droop](http://members.aol.com/nonverbal3/droop.htm){target="_top"}**.
**2.** People with autism \". . . have often been described not only as
normal in appearance but as unusually attractive \[perhaps due to a
diminutive lower jaw and chin; see [**Facial
Beauty**](http://members.aol.com/nonverbal3/beauty1.htm){target="_top"}\].
They are certainly normal in stature, with normal-to-large heads\"
(Rodier 2000:60). **3.** \"The corners of his mouth are low compared
with the center of his upper lip, and the top of his ears flop over
\[and are \'lower than normal\' with \'an almost square shape\'\] . .
.\" (Rodier 2000:59).\
\
*Psychiatry*. \"a) marked impairments in the use of multiple nonverbal
behaviors such as eye-to-eye gaze, facial expression, body posture, and
gestures to regulate social interaction\" (diagnostic criteria for
299.00 AUTISTIC DISORDER, *DSM IV*).

*Neuro-note*. In an autistic person, the brain stem is shorter, the
facial nucleus is smaller, and the superior olive (an auditory relay
station) may be missing entirely (Rodier 2000:58).

See also **[NONVERBAL LEARNING
DISORDER](nld1.htm){tppabs="http://members.aol.com/doder1/nld1.htm"
target="_top"}**.

Copyright **©** 1998 - 2001 (David B. Givens/**[Center for Nonverbal
Studies](http://members.aol.com/nonverbal2/index.htm){target="_top"}**)\
Detail of photo by Justine Parsons (copyright 2000 by *Scientific
American*)


BALANCE CUE

**BALANCE CUE**

*![Fun Hog](funhog.jpg){border="0"
tppabs="http://members.aol.com/doder1/objects/funhog.jpg" height="50%"
width="25%"}\
\
Equilibrium
**[signal](http://members.aol.com/nonverbal2/signal.htm){target="_top"}***.
An **[incoming
**s**](http://members.aol.com/nonverbal2/afferent.htm){target="_top"}**[**ign**](http://members.aol.com/nonverbal2/afferent.htm){target="_top"}
received when the body\'s head is suddenly accelerated, decelerated, or
tilted.

*Usage*: Though we instinctively keep our head stabilized, we enjoy
accelerating, dropping, and spinning it as well, e.g., in such sports as
auto racing, skiing, sky diving, and surfing. Stimulation of motion
sensors in our inner ear is not only pleasurable, but diverts attention
away from today\'s concerns and tomorrow\'s fretful worries. In part,
this is because older centers of the brain\'s **[basal
ganglia](http://members.aol.com/nonverbal2/basal.htm){target="_top"}**
and cerebellum are engaged, in which there is no tomorrow, but only the
present moment in time.\
\
*Anatomy*. Stimulating *accelerometers* of the inner ear diverts our
attention from anxiety and apprehension about the future. The inner
ear\'s utricle and saccule are sensitive to *linear acceleration* and to
*gravity*, while its three semicircular canals are sensitive to
*angular* and *rotational acceleration*. Rotation upsets the normal
circulation of fluid in the ear\'s balance loops to make us feel dizzy
(Pool 1987:69).\
\
***[Consumer
products](consprod.htm){tppabs="http://members.aol.com/nonverbal2/consprod.htm"
target="_top"}*** *I*. **1.** We consider the illusion of speed
thrilling, and find roller coasters (which only kill one or two people a
year in the U.S. \[Poundstone 1990:124\]) scarier than automobiles
(which kill 50,000 a year \[Wright 1990:263\]). The fastest roller
coaster in the world (which is in Gurnee, Illinois) averages only one
mile faster than 65 mph, the speed limit of some interstate highways.
(***N.B.***: The average adult coaster has a top speed of only 38 mph
\[Poundstone 1990:126\].) **2.** We scream loudest in the initial
plunge, which triggers our innate fear-of-falling reflex, and grasp the
bar in front of us tightly with a **[power
grip](power1.htm){tppabs="http://members.aol.com/doder1/power1.htm"
target="_top"}**. We enjoy Magic Mountain\'s Viper, in Santa Clarita,
California, which, from its highest point 188 feet above the earth,
carries our head upside-down seven times at speeds up to 70 mph
(McFarlan 1990:92).

*Consumer products II*. To maximize our fear of falling, we may take our
head aboard Magic Mountain\'s FreeFall ride, where we may
[**wait**](wait1.htm){tppabs="http://members.aol.com/doder1/wait1.htm"
target="_top"} in line for up to 45 minutes, to drop it for 2.5 seconds
90 feet straight down a steel track (Poundstone 1990:131-32).\
\
*Consumer products III*. After rocking for 70 minutes in rocking chairs,
nursing home patients diagnosed with dementia showed up to a one-third
reduction in signs of anxiety and depression. According to University of
Rochester geriatric nursing researcher, Nancy Watson, \"You could see
immediately by their faces that they were enjoying themselves.\"\
\
*Courtship*. Not only do we rock babies from side to side, but also the
adults whom we love, as well (see [**LOVE SIGNALS
IV**](http://members.aol.com/nonverbal2/lovesig4.htm){target="_top"},
*Hugging*).\
\
*Freewheeling*. Our enjoyment of free body movements through space may
be innate (Thorndike 1940).

See also **[AROMA
CUE](http://members.aol.com/nonverbal2/aromacue.htm){target="_top"}**,
**[COLOR
CUE](http://members.aol.com/nonverbal3/color.htm){target="_top"}**,
**[EMOTION
CUE](http://members.aol.com/nonverbal3/color.htm){target="_top"}**,
**[HEARING
CUE](auditor1.htm){tppabs="http://members.aol.com/doder1/auditor1.htm"
target="_top"}**, **[TASTE
CUE](http://members.aol.com/nonverbal3/taste.htm){target="_top"}**.

Copyright **©** 1998 - 2001 (David B. Givens/**[Center for Nonverbal
Studies](http://members.aol.com/nonverbal2/index.htm){target="_top"}**)\
Detail of photo in *U.S. News & World Report* (August 23, 1999, p. 16;
copyright by Hewlet Packard)

\


BEND-AWAY

**BEND-AWAY**

![Slip-Slidin\' Away ](bendaway.jpg){border="0"
tppabs="http://members.aol.com/doder1/objects/bendaway.jpg" height="35%"
width="20%"}\
\
***[Posture](posture1.htm){tppabs="http://members.aol.com/doder1/posture1.htm"
target="_top"}***. To contract the muscles of the primitive **[body
wall](bodywal3.htm){tppabs="http://members.aol.com/doder1/bodywal3.htm"
target="_top"}**, causing the spinal column to curve or rotate sideward,
away from standard **[anatomical
position](http://members.aol.com/nonverbal2/anatompo.htm){target="_top"}**
(see
**[BODY-BEND](bend1.htm){tppabs="http://members.aol.com/doder1/bend1.htm"
target="_top"}**).

*Usage*: Psychiatrists and anthropologists have long known that the
postures of our upper body reflect social attitudes and key emotional
states (Bateson and Mead 1942, Richmond et al. 1991). *Bending away* and
other gross postural shifts often reveal negative feelings (Mehrabian
1974).

*Anatomy*. Flexing the spinal column sideward to increase the physical
distance between two people can be seen at meetings around a
**[conference
table](table.htm){tppabs="http://members.aol.com/doder1/table.htm"
target="_top"}**. Lateral flexion (bending) and rotation (twisting)
movements of the spine are made by contracting the deep muscles of the
back (e.g.,the *erector spinae* and *transversospinalis*), which
influence our most basic body postures.

*Evolution*. Among the oldest body movements were those for
*locomotion*. Muscles of the body wall contracted to produce rhythmic
*sideward bending* motions. The earliest, oscillatory swimming
movements, which took animals toward food and mates, and away from harm,
were wired into
**[paleocircuits](http://members.aol.com/nonverbal2/paleo.htm){target="_top"}**
of the **[aquatic brain & spinal
cord](http://members.aol.com/nonverbal2/aquatic.htm){target="_top"}**.
Thus, bending away from a disliked person at a table is not unlike
swimming away in the sea.

See also **[ANGULAR
DISTANCE](http://members.aol.com/nonverbal2/angular.htm){target="_top"}**,
**[BODY-SHIFT](shift1.htm){tppabs="http://members.aol.com/doder1/shift1.htm"
target="_top"}**.

Copyright 1999, 2000 (David B. Givens/**[Center for Nonverbal
Studies](http://members.aol.com/nonverbal2/index.htm){target="_top"}**)\
Detail of photo by Alfred Eisenstaedt (Copyright *Life*)


BITE

**BITE**

***[\
Body
movement](bodymov1.htm){tppabs="http://members.aol.com/doder1/bodymov1.htm"
target="_top"}***. The act of closing one\'s jaws tightly to cut, grip,
grasp, or tear with the teeth, as in **a.** eating a **[Big
Mac](http://members.aol.com/nonverbal2/bigmac.htm){target="_top"}®**
sandwich, **b.** clenching the jaws in frustration and anger, or **c.**
inflicting pain.

*Usage*: Our animal nature shows clearly in the eagerness with which we
may bite our enemies. In New York City, e.g., ca. 1,500 human beings
report having been bitten by other humans each year (Conn and Silverman
1991:86). (***N.B.***: This is five times greater than the reported
figure for rat bites \[Wurman 1989:177\].) In 1981, in Norfolk,
Virginia, a traveling salesman was convicted of attacking a woman and
biting off her nose.\
\
*Anatomy*. The muscles of mastication are the *masseter* and
*temporalis* (which close the mouth); and the *lateral* and *medial
pterygoids* and *anterior belly of the digastric* (which open the
mouth).

*Biology*. **1.** \"As soon as a young mouse has its teeth, it will turn
around and try to bite anything which pinches its tail\" (Scott 1975:7).
**2.** \"Don\'t assume your dog won\'t bite. The most common statement
from dog owners after a carrier has been bitten is, \'He\'s/She\'s never
bitten anyone before!\'\" (flyer distributed in 2000 by the U.S. Post
Office).\
\
*Evolution*. Along with their role in chewing and eating, our remote
ancestors\' jaws, jaw muscles, and teeth played a defensive role: the
face was used as a weapon (as is dramatically the case today, e.g., in
crocodiles, gorillas, and grizzly bears).\
\
***[Media](http://members.aol.com/nonverbal3/media.htm){target="_top"}***.
**1.** In their televised June 28, 1997 boxing rematch, challenger Mike
Tyson committed a major foul by biting off a one-inch piece of Evander
Holyfield's ear and spitting it onto the floor of the ring. Two points
were deducted from his score, but in the third round Tyson tried to bite
Holyfield's other ear and was disqualified from the competition. **2.**
On June 9, 2001, *San Francisco Chronicle* executive editor Phil
Bronstein (husband of actress Sharon Stone) was attacked and bitten on
the foot at the Los Angeles Zoo by a Komodo dragon. \"A zookeeper had
asked Bronstein \[who was on a private tour because he \". . . had
always wanted to see a Komodo dragon up close.\"\] to remove his
[**white tennis
shoes**](sneaker.htm){tppabs="http://members.aol.com/nonverbal3/sneaker.htm"
target="_top"} to keep the 5-foot-long reptile from mistaking them for
the white rats it is fed, Bronstein told the *Chronicle*\" (Anonymous
2001G:A2).

*Neuro-notes*. The muscles of biting are innervated by mandibular
branches of the trigeminal nerve (cranial V, an emotionally sensitive
[**special visceral
nerve**](viscera1.htm){tppabs="http://members.aol.com/doder1/viscera1.htm"
target="_top"}). Acting through the trigeminal\'s motor nucleus,
emotional stimuli associated , e.g., with
**[anger](http://members.aol.com/nonverbal2/anger.htm){target="_top"}**,
may cause the jaw muscles to contract in uncontrollable biting
movements.

Antonym:
**[JAW-DROOP](http://members.aol.com/nonverbal3/droop.htm){target="_top"}**.

Copyright **©** 1998 - 2001 (David B. Givens/**[Center for Nonverbal
Studies](http://members.aol.com/nonverbal2/index.htm){target="_top"}**)


BLUSHING

**[FACIAL FLUSHING\
\
![A Flush](blush.jpg){border="0"
tppabs="http://members.aol.com/nonverbal3/objects/blush.jpg"
height="50%" width="25%"}]{#FACIAL FLUSHING}**

*A flush stole over Miss Sutherland\'s face, and she picked nervously at
the fringe of her jacket*. \--Arthur Conan Doyle (\"A Case of
Identity\")\
\
*Note whether she changes color while you are giving her my message* . .
. \--Don Quixote to Sancho Panza (Cervantes 1605:566)\
\
***[Emotion](http://members.aol.com/nonverbal2/emotion.htm){target="_top"}**
cue*. Becoming red or rosy in the
**[face](http://members.aol.com/nonverbal2/face.htm){target="_top"}**
from physical exercise, embarrassment, shyness,
**[anger](http://members.aol.com/nonverbal2/anger.htm){target="_top"}**,
or shame.

*Usage*: Facial flushing or *blushing* is elicited by social stimuli,
e.g., as one **a.** becomes the focus of attention in a group, **b.** is
asked to speak in public, or **c.** experiences **[stranger
anxiety](strange1.htm){tppabs="http://members.aol.com/doder1/strange1.htm"
target="_top"}**. Suddenly the face, ears, and neck (and in extreme
cases, the entire upper chest) redden, causing further embarrassment
still.\
\
*Anatomy*. Blushing is caused by sudden arousal of the *sympathetic
nervous system*, which dilates the small blood vessels of the face and
body (see
[**FIGHT-OR-FLIGHT**](fight.htm){tppabs="http://members.aol.com/nonverbal3/fight.htm"
target="_top"}).\
\
*Ethology*. \"Flushing, contrary to popular belief, is never seen in a
purely aggressive individual; it is a sign of actual or possible
defeat\" (Brannigan and Humphries 1969:407).\
\
*Medicine*. Some people blush uncontrollably in almost any social
situation, and suffer such embarrassment that they undergo surgery to
interrupt sympathetic nervous supply to their faces. In a *thorascopic
sympathicotomy*, an incision is made through the arm pit into the
thoracic cavity to sever a sympathetic nerve located close to the spine.
(***N.B.***: Embarrassing **[sweaty
palms](sweaty1.htm){tppabs="http://members.aol.com/doder1/sweaty1.htm"
target="_top"}** may be controlled the same way.)

*Observation*. One of the first signs of anger is an uncontrollable
*reddening of the ears*.

***RESEARCH REPORTS***: **1.** \"In most cases the face, ears and neck
are the sole parts which redden; but many persons, whilst blushing
intensely, feel that their whole bodies grow hot and tingle. . .\"
(Darwin 1872:312). **2.** The *red face* (accompanied by overhand
beating and screaming) has been observed in nursery school children who
were motivated to attack but did not actually do so (i.e., they seemed
\"defeated\"; Blurton Jones 1967:355). **3.** \"\[Michael\] Lewis
suggests that embarrassment is first seen between the ages of two and
two and a half\" (Ekman 1998:311). **4.** \"There is general agreement
among contemporary researchers that attention to the self is the cause
of blushing\" (Ekman 1998:324).

See also
**[EYE-BLINK](http://members.aol.com/nonverbal2/eyeblink.htm){target="_top"}**,
**[FLASHBULB
EYES](http://members.aol.com/nonverbal2/flashbul.htm){target="_top"}**.

Copyright 1999, 2000 (David B. Givens/[**Center for Nonverbal
Studies**](http://members.aol.com/nonverbal2/index.htm){target="_top"})\
Detail of portrait *Mr. S. Vaughan* (copyright 1845 by Sheldon Peck)


BODY ADORNMENT

**BODY ADORNMENT**

*A sweet disorder in the dress\
Kindles in clothes a wantonness*. \--Herrick, *Delight in Disorder*

![Leg Wrappings](adorn.jpg){border="0"
tppabs="http://members.aol.com/doder1/objects/adorn.jpg" height="35%"
width="25%"}\
\
After its invention some 9,000 years ago: *Cloth would soon become an
essential part of society, as clothing and as adornment expressing
self-awareness and communicating variations in social rank. For good
reason, poets and anthropologists alike have employed cloth as a
metaphor for society, something woven of many threads into a social
fabric that is ever in danger of unraveling or being torn*. \--John
Noble Wilford (1993:C1)\
\
*Clothing should always move with your body. Fashion is an extension of
body language. A new garment creates a new posture\--and a new
attitude\--in its wearer*. \--Véronique Vienne (1997:160)\
\
\
*Wearable
[**sign**](http://members.aol.com/nonverbal2/sign.htm){target="_top"}*.
**1.** The act of decorating the human frame to accent its grace,
strength, beauty, and presence, or to mask its less attractive features
and traits. **2.** Visually distinctive patterns of body piercing,
dress, scarification, and tattoos worn to express a personal or a social
(e.g., an ethnic, military, or national) identity.

*Usage*: **1.** What we place upon our bodies (e.g.,
**[clothing](http://members.aol.com/nonverbal2/armshow.htm){target="_top"}**,
**[footwear](http://members.aol.com/nonverbal3/footwear.htm){target="_top"}**,
**[hats](http://members.aol.com/nonverbal2/hat.htm){target="_top"}**,
makeup, and tatoos) adds color, contrast, shape, size, and texture to
our primate form. Each day, myriad
**[messages](http://members.aol.com/nonverbal2/message.htm){target="_top"}**
of adornment broadcast personal
**[information](http://members.aol.com/nonverbal2/info.htm){target="_top"}**\--in
a *continuous* way (i.e., as \"frozen\" gestures)\--about our ethnicity,
status, affiliation, and moods. **2.** We may use clothing cues as
**a.** uniforms (or \"clothing signs\"), **b.** fashion statements
(\"clothing symbols\"), **c.** membership badges (\"tie-signs\"), **d.**
social-affiliation signs (\"tie symbols\"), **e.** personality signs
(\"personal dress,\" e.g., the bow tie), and **f.**
socio-political-economic signs (\"contemporary fashion\"), according to
a typology developed by SUNY Fashion Institute of Technology professor,
Ruth P. Rubinstein (1994). **3.** \"Social rank . . . has probably
always been encoded through symbols in the material, design, color, and
embellishment of the clothing\" (Barber 1994:150).\
\
*Anatomy*. Before pants, skirts, and shoes, there was the unadorned
primate body itself: eyes, teeth, skin, hair, and nails, along with
shapes formed of muscle, fat, and bone. Before adornment, the
**[nonverbal
brain](http://members.aol.com/nonverbal2/nvbrain.htm){target="_top"}**
expressed feelings and attitudes through **[body
movements](bodymov1.htm){tppabs="http://members.aol.com/doder1/bodymov1.htm"
target="_top"}**,
**[postures](posture1.htm){tppabs="http://members.aol.com/doder1/posture1.htm"
target="_top"}**, and **[facial
cues](http://members.aol.com/nonverbal3/facialx.htm){target="_top"}**.
But with the advent of clothing and shoes the body\'s nonverbal
vocabulary grew, as shoulders \"widened,\" ankles \"thinned,\" and feet
stood up on tiptoes (see **[HIGH
HEEL](http://members.aol.com/nonverbal3/highheel.htm){target="_top"}**).
As \"optical illusions,\" stripes, colors, buttons, and bows accented or
concealed natural signs, and drew attention to favored\--while diverting
eyes from less favored\--body parts.\
\
*Bylaw*. \"We recognize the essential wholesomeness of the human body
and that life is enhanced by the naturalness of social nudity.\"
\--American Association of Nude Recreation bylaws\
\
*Law*. The nonverbal power of clothing may be revealed by its absence.
\"The United States Supreme Court holds that strip clubs whose exotic
dancers wear G-strings and pasties won\'t lure as many drunks and
criminals to the neighborhood as clubs that permit the last stitch of
clothing to be dropped\" (Auster 2000:16).\
\
***[Media](http://members.aol.com/nonverbal3/media.htm){target="_top"}***.
**1.** According to the *New York Times*, the discovery by James
Adovasio (Mercyhurst College) and Olga Soffer (University of Illinois at
Urbana) of ancient weaving embedded in fired clay pushes the date of
humankind\'s earliest cloth back to 27,000 years ago (Fowler 1995).
**2.** *Forget that old hippie saying, you are what you eat. In the
modern world, you are what you wear*. \--Suzy Gershman
(*Spokesman-Review*, Webster 2000).\
\
*Prehistory*. Early evidence for personal ornamentation consists of a
European stone pendant with decorative grooves, and a tapered neck
around which to tie a thong (Scarre 1993:43).\
\
*Fur*. As primates, we are also mammals for whom a dense matte of fur is
an evolutionary birthright. Anthropologists do not know when or why
humans lost their body hair, but it is clear that clothing originated as
a *fur substitute* to cover the skin and genitalia. (***N.B.***: That we
see nude bodies in the workplace on but the rarest of occasions
testifies to the power of clothing today. Once fashion appeared in
**[Nonverbal
World](http://members.aol.com/nonverbal2/nvworld.htm){target="_top"}**,
it never went out of style.)\
\
*Beads*. If a bear-skin robe made the body
**[loom](loom1.htm){tppabs="http://members.aol.com/doder1/loom1.htm"
target="_top"}** large, decorating the garment with beads attracted
greater notice still. The elaborate beadwork of a man\'s fur clothing
found at a 23,000 year old hunter\'s burial ground in Sungir, Russia,
remained long after the furs themselves had rotted away (Lambert 1987).
As fashion media, however, leather and beads could go just so far. Only
after fabric replaced fur did clothing became truly expressive.

*Leather*. Full body dress originated in Africa or Eurasia to protect
the body and keep it warm. The first clothes were made of prepared
*animal hides*. Stone scraping tools from Neanderthal sites in Europe
provide indirect evidence for hide preparation, suggesting that
cold-weather clothing could be at least 200,000 years old (Lambert
1987).

*Flounce & weave*. The earliest domesticated sheep, from Zawi Chemi
Shanidar, Iraq, suggest that *wool clothing* originated 10,500 years ago
(Wenke 1990). Unwoven skirts and shawls made of flounces of tufted wool
or flax were worn by the ancient Sumerians 5,000 years ago
(Rowland-Warne 1992), although one of the earliest known *textiles*\--a
linen-knit bag from Israel (found in Nahal Hemar cave)\--is thought to
be 8,500 years old (Barber 1994).\
\
*Fiber & fabric*. More recently, the invention of the flying shuttle
(1733), the spinning jenny (1764), and the 19th century power-loom made
cotton fabrics available in ever greater quantities, as **[consumer
products](consprod.htm){tppabs="http://members.aol.com/nonverbal2/consprod.htm"
target="_top"}**. Mass produced clothing first appeared in 1851 with the
invention of the sewing machine, and increased in production with the
use of *synthetic fibers* (e.g., Orlon in 1952). As the adornment medium
became subject to greater control, the diversity and number of clothing
cues burgeoned (see **[MESSAGING
FEATURE](http://members.aol.com/nonverbal2/messafea.htm){target="_top"}**).
(***N.B.***: In 1993 a Lands\' End® Mesh Knit shirt contained *4.3
miles* of 18 singles cotton yarn \[Anonymous 1993\].)\
\
*Tattoo signals*. \"\[U.S.\] Teenagers with tattoos are more likely than
their peers to drink too much, have sex too early, get into fights and
engage in other risky behavior, a University of Rochester study shows\"
(Anonymous 2001E).\
\
*The color purple*. With fabrics came dyes, and the ability to signal
social status with ***[color
cues](http://members.aol.com/nonverbal3/color.htm){target="_top"}***. In
ancient Rome, e.g., only the emperor was allowed to wear a robe dyed
*royal purple* (Barber 1994:150).\
\

------------------------------------------------------------------------

***E-Commentary***: \"I\'ve called you before on other feature stories
and you\'ve been very helpful. Currently, I\'m doing a story on teen
fashion. I\'m looking at what\'s going to be the prevailing trend for
spring/summer (it\'s lots of loud color). I have a question: What, in
general, are teens trying to accomplish with the fashion and sense of
style they cultivate?\" \--J.W., *Sun Chronicle*, Attleboro, MA (3/17/00
11:57:54 AM Pacific Standard Time)\

------------------------------------------------------------------------

*Neuro-note*. To the very visual **[primate
brain](http://members.aol.com/nonverbal3/primate.htm){target="_top"}**,
fashion statements are \"real\" because, neurologically, \"seeing is
believing.\"

See also
[**ARM-SHOW**](http://members.aol.com/nonverbal2/armshow.htm){target="_top"},
[**BLUE
JEANS**](http://members.aol.com/nonverbal2/bluejean.htm){target="_top"},
[**BUSINESS
SUIT**](http://members.aol.com/nonverbal2/busisuit.htm){target="_top"},
**[HAIR
CUE](http://members.aol.com/nonverbal2/haircue.htm){target="_top"}**,
[**NECKWEAR**](http://members.aol.com/nonverbal2/neckwear.htm){target="_top"},
[***WWW.Bananarepublic.com***](http://www.bananarepublic.com/).

Copyright **©** 1998 - 2001 (David B. Givens/[**Center for Nonverbal
Studies**](http://members.aol.com/nonverbal2/index.htm){target="_top"})\
Detail of photo (copyright Warner Bros., Inc.)\

\


BODY ALIGNMENT

**BODY ALIGNMENT**

![Showing Her Allegiance](align.jpg){border="0"
tppabs="http://members.aol.com/doder1/objects/align.jpg" height="45%"
width="25%"}\
\
***[Posture](posture1.htm){tppabs="http://members.aol.com/doder1/posture1.htm"
target="_top"}***. The degree of orientation between a speaker\'s torso
and that of a listener (e.g., *facing* or *angled away*), as measured in
the *coronal plane* (which divides the body into front and back; see
**[ANGULAR
DISTANCE](http://members.aol.com/nonverbal2/angular.htm){target="_top"}**).

*Usage*: We show agreement, liking, and loyalty by aligning the upper
body with that, e.g., of our boss. It is often possible to identify the
most powerful (i.e., highest status) person seated at a **[conference
table](table.htm){tppabs="http://members.aol.com/doder1/table.htm"
target="_top"}** by the relative number of torsos aimed in his or her
direction. While the less influential may glance freely about, and turn
their heads toward colleagues as they speak, their torsos remain loyally
oriented to the individual they most respect.\
\
*World politics*. \"At summit, when \[Ronald\] Reagan and \[Mikhail\]
Gorbachev faced each other with similar postures, they were likely to be
in agreement, or close to agreement\" (Blum 1988:6-6).

***RESEARCH REPORTS***: **1.** Direct torso alignment in the
*face-to-face body orientation* presents a formal, businesslike posture
(Scheflen 1964). **2.** Aiming the upper body conveys greater feelings
of liking (i.e., of
***[immediacy](http://members.aol.com/nonverbal3/immediat.htm){target="_top"}***)
than when the body is angled away (Mehrabian 1969). **3.**
*Lean-forward* suggests friendliness (Mehrabian 1974), while
*lean-backward* expresses a more negative pose (Mehrabian 1969). **4.**
A non-aligned, *parallel orientation* discloses neutral or passive moods
which may grade into disliking or disagreement (Scheflen 1964, Richmond
et al. 1991).

**[Courtship](court1.htm){tppabs="http://members.aol.com/doder1/court1.htm"
target="_top"}**. Women (and men) unthinkingly \"aim\" their upper
bodies at partners they like\--even while angling their faces and eyes
away. *Squaring-up* with the shoulders is a nonverbal invitation to
**[speak](speech1.htm){tppabs="http://members.aol.com/doder1/speech1.htm"
target="_top"}**.

See also
**[CUT-OFF](cutoff1.htm){tppabs="http://members.aol.com/doder1/cutoff1.htm"
target="_top"}**.

Copyright 1999, 2000 (David B. Givens/**[Center for Nonverbal
Studies](http://members.aol.com/nonverbal2/index.htm){target="_top"}**)\
Detail of photo by Fritz Neugass (copyright Fritz Neugass)


BODY DYSMORPHIC DISORDER

**BODY DYSMORPHIC DISORDER**

***[Nonverbal](nvcom.htm){tppabs="http://members.aol.com/nonverbal2/nvcom.htm"
target="_top"}*** *disability*. **1.** An obsessive preoccupation with
perceived bodily defects. **2.** Repetitive behaviors in response to
this preoccupation.

*Neuro-notes*. Clomipramine, a serotonin reuptake inhibitor, may better
reduce symptoms of body dysmorphic disorder (which is likely related to
obsessive-compulsive disorder) than might desipramine, a selective
norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor, according to a report in the November
1999 issue of the *Archives of General Psychiatry*.

See also **[NONVERBAL LEARNING
DISORDER](nld1.htm){tppabs="http://members.aol.com/doder1/nld1.htm"
target="_top"}**.

Copyright 1998, 1999, 2000 (David B. Givens/**[Center for Nonverbal
Studies](http://members.aol.com/nonverbal2/index.htm){target="_top"}**)


BODY LANGUAGE

**BODY LANGUAGE**

![Dust Jacket](bodylang.jpg){border="0"
tppabs="http://members.aol.com/doder1/objects/bodylang.jpg" height="35%"
width="25%"}\
\
*Does his body say that he\'s an easy man **[to
beat](http://members.aol.com/nonverbal2/submit.htm){target="_top"}**?
Does her body say that she\'s a
**[phoney](deceive.htm){tppabs="http://members.aol.com/nonverbal3/deceive.htm"
target="_top"}**?* \--Book jacket of *Body Language* (1970)\

*Anatomical
**[signs](http://members.aol.com/nonverbal2/sign.htm){target="_top"}***.
**1.** \"The bodily gestures, postures, and facial expressions by which
a person communicates
**[nonverbally](nvcom.htm){tppabs="http://members.aol.com/nonverbal2/nvcom.htm"
target="_top"}** with others\" (Soukhanov 1992:211). **2.** \"Body
language and
**[kinesics](kinesic1.htm){tppabs="http://members.aol.com/doder1/kinesic1.htm"
target="_top"}** are based on the behavioral patterns of nonverbal
communication, but kinesics is still so new as a science that its
authorities can be counted on the fingers of one hand\" (Fast 1970:9).

*Usage*: \"Body language,\" the lay term for \"nonverbal
communication,\" was popularized in 1970 with the publication of *Body
Language* by Julius Fast. Though college textbooks (e.g., Burgoon et al.
1989) omit references to the book and its author, Julius Fast\--more
than any academic\--brought public attention to the expressive force of
gestures and body-motion cues.

*The negative*. On the downside, Fast oversold body language to the
public by suggesting (on the book\'s dust cover) that kinesic cues could
be used to tell if one was \"loose\" (i.e., too sexually receptive),
\"hung-up,\" \"lonely,\" or \"a manipulator.\" And, despite Fast\'s
repeated warnings to use caution when interpreting body-language,
**[arm-crossing](http://members.aol.com/nonverbal2/armcross.htm){target="_top"}**,
leg-crossing, and other nonverbal signs came to be overly meaningful
signals in popular magazine and newspaper articles (i.e., as negative,
defensive \"barriers\" to rapport).

*The positive*. On the upside, body language has entered the lexicon as
a phrase with which to label a key channel of human communication apart
from spoken and printed words. *Body Language* has gone through dozens
of printings, and is still available in bookstores today. Moreover,
thanks to research completed during the 1990-2000 Decade of the Brain,
many of the nonverbal signs and cues Fast wrote about in 1970 now have
meanings backed by neuroscience (see, e.g., **[NONVERBAL
BRAIN](http://members.aol.com/nonverbal2/nvbrain.htm){target="_top"}**).

*The promise*. \"The science of kinesics has added a new dimension to
human understanding. BODY LANGUAGE can make you a more perceptive human
being, and it may influence your approach to every relationship in which
you are involved\" (dust jacket of *Body Language*, by Julius Fast).

***[Media](http://members.aol.com/nonverbal3/media.htm){target="_top"}***.
\"The dynamic personality \[i.e., the body language\] of Humphrey Bogart
dominates the whole picture, and his playing in the leading role is a
fine example of the value of dramatic under-emphasis and intelligent
modulations in voice and expression\" (*Today\'s Cinema* review of 1947
movie, *Dead Reckoning* \[Columbia; cited in Frank 1982:49\]).\
\

------------------------------------------------------------------------

***E-Commentary***: \"I am writing to you from the British Broadcasting
Corporation, in England. We are developing an idea for a television
documentary on body language\--how to read it, and how to modify your
own body language in order to control the impression you give other
people. We are particularly interested in how public figures and
celebrities are increasingly aware of the importance of their own body
language in preserving a positive public image.\
\
\"Our proposed documentary will be for Discovery Channel USA, and will
feature a well known British zoologist-turned-presenter with an
expertise in body language. We are looking for contributors with an
expertise in reading body language. I would very much like to know more
about your research and the Center for Nonverbal Studies.\" Susie
Painter (4/2/01 9:59:44 AM Pacific Daylight Time)\

------------------------------------------------------------------------

\
See also **[BODY
MOVEMENT](bodymov1.htm){tppabs="http://members.aol.com/doder1/bodymov1.htm"
target="_top"}**.

Copyright**©** 1998 - 2001 (David B. Givens/**[Center for Nonverbal
Studies](http://members.aol.com/nonverbal2/index.htm){target="_top"}**)\
Illustration detail from *Body Language* (1970; 4^th^ printing)

\
\


BODY MOVEMENT

**BODY MOVEMENT**

![Tumbling Torsos](bodymove.jpg){border="0"
tppabs="http://members.aol.com/doder1/objects/bodymove.jpg" height="50%"
width="25%"}\
\
*I have always tried to render inner feelings through the mobility of
the muscles* . . . \--Auguste Rodin\
\
*As an actor, Jimmy was tremendously sensitive, what they used to call
an instrument. You could see through his feelings. His body was very
graphic; it was almost writhing in pain sometimes. He was very twisted,
almost like a cripple or a spastic of some kind*. \--Elia Kazan,
commenting on actor James Dean (Dalton 1984:53)

*Concept*. Any of several changes in the physical location, place, or
position of the material parts of the human form (e.g., of the
**[eyelids](http://members.aol.com/nonverbal2/blink.htm){target="_top"}**,
**[hands](http://members.aol.com/nonverbal2/hands.htm){target="_top"}**,
or
**[shoulders](http://members.aol.com/nonverbal2/shoulder.htm){target="_top"}**).

*Usage*: The **[nonverbal
brain](http://members.aol.com/nonverbal2/nvbrain.htm){target="_top"}**
expresses itself through diverse motions of our body parts (see, e.g.,
**[BODY
LANGUAGE](bodylan1.htm){tppabs="http://members.aol.com/doder1/bodylan1.htm"
target="_top"}**,
**[GESTURE](http://members.aol.com/nonverbal2/gesture.htm){target="_top"}**).
That body movement is central to our expressiveness is reflected in the
ancient Indo-European root, **meue-** (\"mobile\"), for the English
**[word](word1.htm){tppabs="http://members.aol.com/doder1/word1.htm"
target="_top"}**,
***[emotion](http://members.aol.com/nonverbal2/emotion.htm){target="_top"}***.\
\
***[Media](http://members.aol.com/nonverbal3/media.htm){target="_top"}***.
In movies of the 1950s, such as *Monkey Business* (1952) and *Jailhouse
Rock* (1957), motions of the pelvic girdles of Marilyn Monroe and Elvis
Presley, respectively, had a powerful influence on American popular
culture.\
\
*Anatomy*. Our body consists of a jointed skeleton moved by *muscles*.
Muscles also move our internal organs, the areas of skin around our
[**face**](http://members.aol.com/nonverbal2/face.htm){target="_top"}
and neck, and our bodily hairs. (When we are frightened, e.g., stiff,
tiny muscles stand our hairs on end.) The nonverbal brain gives voice to
all its feelings, moods, and concepts through the contraction of
muscles: *without muscles to move its parts, our body would be nearly
silent*.

*Anthropology*. Stricken with a progressive spinal-cord illness, the
late anthropologist, Robert F. Murphy described his personal journey
into paralysis in his last book, *The Body Silent*. As he lost muscle
control, Murphy noticed \"curious shifts and nuances\" in his social
world (e.g., students \". . . often would touch my arm or shoulder
lightly when taking leave of me, something they never did in my walking
days, and I found this pleasant\" \[Murphy 1987:126\]).\
\
***RESEARCH REPORT***: \"A nonverbal act is defined as a movement within
any single body area (head, face, shoulders, hands, or feet) or across
multiple body areas, which has visual integrity and is visually distinct
from another act\" (Ekman and Friesen 1968:193-94).\
\
*Salesmanship*. \"Your walk, entering and exiting, should be brisk and
businesslike, yes. But once you are in position, slow your arms and legs
down\" (Delmar 1984:48).\
\

------------------------------------------------------------------------

***E-Commentary***: \"I am searching for the piece of influential advice
that will help one of my employees to communicate in a positive way
nonverbally. Her boredom and impatience are so evident. She *shifts in
her seat*, rolls her eyes, and sighs during meetings. It is disturbing
to her co-workers and bad for morale. I have explained to her it is not
appropriate. She replies she can\'t hide the way she feels. On the other
hand, she wants to keep her job. So what can I do to get through to her
before she loses her job?\" \--T., USA (4/17/00 8:40:04 PM Pacific
Daylight Time)\

------------------------------------------------------------------------

\
*Neuro-notes*. Many nonverbal signals arise from ancient patterns of
muscle contraction laid down hundreds of millions of years ago in
**[paleocircuits](http://members.aol.com/nonverbal2/paleo.htm){target="_top"}**
of the spinal cord, brain stem, and forebrain.

See also **[FACIAL
EXPRESSION](http://members.aol.com/nonverbal3/facialx.htm){target="_top"}**,
[**INTENTION
CUE**](intent1.htm){tppabs="http://members.aol.com/doder1/intent1.htm"},
**[POSTURE](posture1.htm){tppabs="http://members.aol.com/doder1/posture1.htm"
target="_top"}**.

Copyright 1999, 2000 (David B. Givens/**[Center for Nonverbal
Studies](http://members.aol.com/nonverbal2/index.htm){target="_top"}**)\
Detail of photo by Heinz Kluetmeier (Soviet gymnasts; copyright 1980 by
Heinz Kluetmeier)


BODY WALL

**BODY WALL**

![Body Wall and Nerves](bodywall.jpg){border="0"
tppabs="http://members.aol.com/doder1/objects/bodywall.jpg" height="35%"
width="25%"}\
\
*Ancient body part*. **1.** Nonverbally, an expressive unit consisting
of the head and trunk (without the face, shoulders, arms, hands, legs,
or feet). **2.** Those muscles connecting the skull, spine, and ribs.
**3.** The \"primal body,\" resembling the primordial *feeding tube*,
from which the human form evolved ca. 500 m.y.a.

*Usage*: Movements and postures of the body wall (see, e.g.,
**[BODY-BEND](bend1.htm){tppabs="http://members.aol.com/doder1/bend1.htm"
target="_top"}**,
**[BODY-SHIFT](shift1.htm){tppabs="http://members.aol.com/doder1/shift1.htm"
target="_top"}**, and
**[BOW](bow1.htm){tppabs="http://members.aol.com/doder1/bow1.htm"
target="_top"}**) are **a.** more basic, **b.** more trustworthy as
**[cues](http://members.aol.com/nonverbal2/cue.htm){target="_top"}**,
and **c.** less subject to conscious manipulation or control than are
other body movements (e.g., of the fingers, hands, legs, and feet) and
postures. The muscles, nerves, and movements of the body wall resemble
those of the first vertebrates ever to swim in **[Nonverbal
World](http://members.aol.com/nonverbal2/nvworld.htm){target="_top"}**,
the jawless fishes (see **[AQUATIC BRAIN & SPINAL
CORD](http://members.aol.com/nonverbal2/aquatic.htm){target="_top"}**).\
\
*Anatomy*. On the basis of function (rather than mere convention),
anatomists divide the human skeleton into *primary* and *secondary
elements* (Horne 1995). The basic distinction between an *axial* (i.e.,
skull, spine, and ribs) and *appendicular* (i.e., pectoral and pelvic
girdles, and limbs) skeleton is reflected in our nonverbal
communication, as well. As expressive cues, movements of the body wall
are more fundamental as mood signs than are our hand, arm, and leg
motions.

*Evolution*. Before faces and limbs, there was the body wall. Its
skeletal muscles were designed to move the body from one place to
another. Sinuous waves of contraction bent the body wall, producing the
swimming motions that took animals **a.** toward food and mates, and
**b.** away from enemies. Undulations moved from the head to the tail,
and laterally from *side-to-side*. (***N.B.***: The ancient body wall
bent the backbone *forward* \[ventral flexion\], and *backward* \[dorsal
flexion\] as well \[Kent 1969\].)

*Observation*. In a business meeting (where feelings run high), the most
truthful gestures come not from the limbs but from the torso. Isolating
on unconscious *locomotion* movements (i.e., on sideward, forward, and
backward *bending* motions), as bodies unwittingly align, approach,
avoid, or repel one another, reveals where colleagues truly \"stand\"
around the [**conference
table**](table.htm){tppabs="http://members.aol.com/doder1/table.htm"
target="_top"}. From the jawless fishes of Ordovician seas to the
predatory sharks of Wall Street, messages of the body wall are much the
same.

***RESEARCH REPORTS***. **1.** *Epaxial muscles*, which extend from the
base of the head to the tip of the tail, dorsal to the transverse
processes, include the *longissimus*, *iliocostalis*, and
*transversospinalis* groups, and the intervertebral muscles. \"Epaxial
muscles in tetrapods perform the same primary function as in
fishes\--side-to-side and dorsoventral flexion of the vertebral column\"
(Kent 1969:218). (Epaxial muscles also help to move the head.) **2.**
Regarding *hypaxial muscles*: \". . . in the majority of tetrapods the
muscles of the body wall are used chiefly to compress the viscera and to
operate the ribs for respiration\" (Kent 1969:220).

See also
**[PALEOCIRCUIT](http://members.aol.com/nonverbal2/paleo.htm){target="_top"}**.

Copyright 1999, 2000 (David B. Givens/**[Center for Nonverbal
Studies](http://members.aol.com/nonverbal2/index.htm){target="_top"}**)


BODY-BEND

**BODY-BEND**

![Bent Spine](bend.jpg){border="0"
tppabs="http://members.aol.com/doder1/objects/bend.jpg" height="35%"
width="30%"}\
\
***[Posture](posture1.htm){tppabs="http://members.aol.com/doder1/posture1.htm"
target="_top"}***. To contract muscles of the primitive **[body
wall](bodywal3.htm){tppabs="http://members.aol.com/doder1/bodywal3.htm"
target="_top"}**, causing the spinal column to tip forward, sideward, or
backward from standard **[anatomical
position](http://members.aol.com/nonverbal2/anatompo.htm){target="_top"}**.

*Usage*: As expressive
**[cues](http://members.aol.com/nonverbal2/cue.htm){target="_top"}**,
body-bend (i.e., axial-skeleton) postures are more fundamental as mood
signs than are leg and arm (i.e., appendicular) postures. Bending the
spinal column away from the person seated beside oneself at a
**[conference
table](table.htm){tppabs="http://members.aol.com/doder1/table.htm"
target="_top"}**, e.g., is a reliable\--and wholly unconscious\--sign of
*disagreement*, *disliking*, or *shyness*. (See **[BODY
SHIFT](shift1.htm){tppabs="http://members.aol.com/doder1/shift1.htm"
target="_top"}**.)\
\
*Anatomy*. Bending motions of the head and trunk are neurologically
\"simple\" as signs. Unaffected, unintended, and unconscious, they are
among the most reliable indicators of mood.
***[Bowing](bow1.htm){tppabs="http://members.aol.com/doder1/bow1.htm"
target="_top"}***, for instance\--flexing the spinal column forward
(*ventrally*)\--is a protective response which also shows
**[submissiveness](http://members.aol.com/nonverbal2/submit.htm){target="_top"}**
and lowered social status. (***N.B.***: Even without a formal tradition
of bowing \[e.g., such as that of the Japanese\] we may still tip our
head and bend our spinal column forward when entering a superior\'s
office doorway. *Rearing*, on the other hand\--extending the spine
backward \[*dorsally*\]\--conveys arrogance and disdain \[see
**[HEAD-TILT-BACK](headbac1.htm){tppabs="http://members.aol.com/doder1/headbac1.htm"
target="_top"}**\].)\
\
*Culture*. In southern Italy, the *buttocks thrust*\--in which the
stiffened (extended) upper body bends forward and the buttocks thrust
backward, toward another person\--is a sign of \"obscene disdain\"
(Morris 1994:16). According to Morris, \"This simple gesture is
essentially an excretory insult, with the message \'I defecate on
you\'\" (1994:16).\
\
*Evolution*. Our body began as a simple tube, with a mouth at the front
end to take in food, and a vent at the rear to eliminate waste products.
Among the oldest body movements were those for *locomotion*. Muscles of
the body wall contracted to produce rhythmic *sideward bending* motions.
These oscillatory swimming movements took animals toward food or mates,
and away from harm.

*Neuro-notes*. The first side-to-side oscillations were wired into
**[paleocircuits](http://members.aol.com/nonverbal2/paleo.htm){target="_top"}**
of the **[aquatic brain & spinal
cord](http://members.aol.com/nonverbal2/aquatic.htm){target="_top"}**.
They appeared as *alternating movements* of the body\'s right and left
sides. Extremely primitive, the same spinal circuits enable us to
**[walk](walk1.htm){tppabs="http://members.aol.com/doder1/walk1.htm"
target="_top"}**, swim, and
**[dance](dance1.htm){tppabs="http://members.aol.com/doder1/dance1.htm"
target="_top"}** today.

See also **[ANGULAR
DISTANCE](http://members.aol.com/nonverbal2/angular.htm){target="_top"}**.

Copyright 1999, 2000 (David B. Givens/**[Center for Nonverbal
Studies](http://members.aol.com/nonverbal2/index.htm){target="_top"}**)\
Detail of drawing (Peck 1951:32; copyright Oxford University Press)


BODY-SHIFT

**BODY-SHIFT**

![Aversive Shift](shift.jpg){border="0"
tppabs="http://members.aol.com/doder1/objects/shift.jpg" height="46%"
width="20%"}\
\
***[Postural](posture1.htm){tppabs="http://members.aol.com/doder1/posture1.htm"
target="_top"}*** *cue*. A slight or substantial change in body
position, e.g., **a.** shifting one\'s weight in a chair, or **b.**
angling one\'s torso to a new direction at a **[conference
table](table.htm){tppabs="http://members.aol.com/doder1/table.htm"
target="_top"}** (see **[ANGULAR
DISTANCE](http://members.aol.com/nonverbal2/angdis.htm){target="_top"}**).

*Usage*: A sudden body-shift may telegraph an unspoken feeling, mood, or
opinion, and thus offer a **[probing
point](http://members.aol.com/nonverbal2/probe.htm){target="_top"}**.\
\
*Salesmanship*. *One signal of a prospect\'s skepticism*: \"A sudden
shift in posture\" (Delmar 1984:46).

***RESEARCH REPORTS***: **1.** \"Slight postural shifts and the
direction of visual focus are \[in monkeys\] two extremely subtle
movements that communicate a potentially changing emotional state and an
awareness of surrounding activity or tension\" (Dolhinow 1972:231).
**2.** \"Gross changes in body position, such as shifting in the chair,
may show negative feelings toward the person one is talking to\"
(Mehrabian 1974:90).

*Neuro-notes*. Because they are supplied by *segmental spinal nerves*
directly\--rather than by the more elaborate *nerve plexuses* which
govern limb movements\--trunk-bending and body-shifting represent a
simpler, more straightforward venue for the expression of emotion. This
is because, unlike our arm\'s tangled brachial-nerve plexus (an
intricate, evolutionary add-on designed to coordinate the arm\'s
dexterity and movement), our segmental spinal nerves have retained their
more primitive role in the control of posture. Thus, governed by
**[paleocircuits](http://members.aol.com/nonverbal2/paleo.htm){target="_top"}**
of the **[basal
ganglia](http://members.aol.com/nonverbal2/basal.htm){target="_top"}**
and brain stem, gross body-shifts may reveal anger, disagreement, and
disliking more directly.

See also
**[BODY-BEND](bend1.htm){tppabs="http://members.aol.com/doder1/bend1.htm"
target="_top"}**, **[BODY
WALL](bodywal3.htm){tppabs="http://members.aol.com/doder1/bodywal3.htm"
target="_top"}**.

Copyright 1999, 2000 (David B. Givens/**[Center for Nonverbal
Studies](http://members.aol.com/nonverbal2/index.htm){target="_top"}**)\
Detail of photo by Otto Hagel (copyright *Fortune*)


BOOT

**BOOT**

*Boots\--boots\--boots\--boots\--movin\' up and down again!* \--Kipling,
*Boots*

***![Cool Boots](B43976.jpg){border="0"
tppabs="http://members.aol.com/nonverbal3/objects/B43976.jpg"
height="35%" width="25%"}\
\
**I had a driving interest in footwear and the artistic possibilities of
making boots. A saddle is a saddle, you just see brown leather. But
boots . . . you see red, yellow, fuchsia, and chartreuse*. \--D.W.
Frommer, bootmaker (Hadley 1993; see [**COLOR
CUE**](http://members.aol.com/nonverbal3/color.htm){target="_top"})\
\
***[Clothing
cue](adorn.htm){tppabs="http://members.aol.com/doder1/adorn.htm"
target="_top"}***. **1.** A usually heavy, protective covering for the
**[foot](feet.htm){tppabs="http://members.aol.com/nonverbal3/feet.htm"
target="_top"}**, made of leather, rubber, or
**[vinyl](http://members.aol.com/nonverbal2/vinyl.htm){target="_top"}**.
**2.** A conspicuous
**[sign](http://members.aol.com/nonverbal2/sign.htm){target="_top"}** of
authority and power designed to accent the foot\'s ability to stomp.

*Usage*: Nonverbally, boots suggest strength by adding **a.** *stature*
(i.e., increasing a wearer\'s vertical height; see
**[LOOM](loom1.htm){tppabs="http://members.aol.com/doder1/loom1.htm"
target="_top"}**) and **b.** *stability* (i.e., giving steadiness to
stance; see **[ANTIGRAVITY
SIGN](antigrav.htm){tppabs="http://members.aol.com/nonverbal3/antigrav.htm"
target="_top"}**).\
\
*Anatomy*. Boots give us a more powerful gait and commanding stance. The
boot-shaft\'s snug contact with pressure-sensitive *Pacinian corpuscles*
of the lower leg provides tactile reassurance, while supporting the long
tendons that drop into our feet from muscles above. Boots also stabilize
the ankle joint. By adapting to the physical needs of our feet (and to
the psychic needs of our [**reptilian
brain**](reptile.htm){tppabs="http://members.aol.com/nonverbal3/reptile.htm"
target="_top"}) Doc Martens® helped young men and women of the 1990s
feel secure on the streets.

*Cowboy boots*. Fashion trainer John Molloy found that women consider
men in cowboy boots more attractive than men in ordinary shoes.
(***N.B.***: Standing on tiptoes shifts the body\'s center of gravity
forward, causing cowboy-boot wearers to compensate by leaning forward as
well. This makes the human derrière\--already prominent by primate
standards\--protrude an additional 25% \[see **[HIGH
HEEL](http://members.aol.com/nonverbal3/highheel.htm){target="_top"}**\]).
Originally adapted from the moderately high *Cuban heel*, American
cowboy boots add ca. two inches to standing height. (***N.B.***: A
man\'s business shoe has only a 1/2-to-3/4 inch upper base of
polyethylene, and a 1/2 inch layer of rubber attached below, called a
*heel lift*, which works as a shock absorber.)

*Evolution*. Boots evolved from leather sandals, as straps grew longer
and thicker to support a human\'s congenitally weak ankles. Sandals
reaching above the ankle (the oldest status symbol for feet yet
discovered) were worn exclusively by Roman army officers. Gradually, the
leather pieces widened until they enclosed the entire foot.

*Media*. By popularizing thick, buckled *motorcycle boots*, Marlon
Brando (*The Wild One* 1954) and Peter Fonda (*Easy Rider* 1969)
furthered the role of footwear as a fashion statement designed to
figuratively \"stomp\" the establishment\'s powers-that-be.

*Psychology*. Blind-and-deaf-born children stamp their feet in anger
(Eibl-Eibesfeldt 1971:12).\
\
*Stamping*. \"In man, stamping the feet in anger seems also to be a
ritualized attack movement\" (Eibl-Eibesfeldt 1970:96).

See also **[BLUE
JEANS](http://members.aol.com/nonverbal2/bluejean.htm){target="_top"}**,
**[GOOSE-STEP](http://members.aol.com/nonverbal2/goose.htm){target="_top"}**,
**[LEG
WEAR](legwear1.htm){tppabs="http://members.aol.com/doder1/legwear1.htm"
target="_top"}**, **[MEN\'S
SHOES](mens.htm){tppabs="http://members.aol.com/nonverbal3/mens.htm"
target="_top"}**.

Copyright **©** 1998 - 2001 (David B. Givens/[**Center for Nonverbal
Studies**](http://members.aol.com/nonverbal2/index.htm){target="_top"})


BOW

**BOW\
\
![Polite Bow](bow.jpg){border="0"
tppabs="http://members.aol.com/doder1/objects/bow.jpg" height="35%"
width="25%"}**

If you come up too quickly, it won\'t seem like you are really
apologizing. \--Yamagishi (Sugawara 1996)\
\
***[Posture](posture1.htm){tppabs="http://members.aol.com/doder1/posture1.htm"
target="_top"}***. To bend, curl, or curve the upper body and head
forward.

*Usage*: Around the world, people bow **a.** to greet, **b.** to defer,
**c.** to show courtesy, and **d.** to pray. In some cultures the bow is
a formal gesture, as in Japan, e.g., where people are judged by their
bows. A casual hello to Japanese colleagues is a quick bend to a
15-degree angle; a respectful greeting to customers or superiors is a
30-degree bow; a formal apology involves a quick bend to a 45-degree
angle, held to a count of three, with a slow return to upright posture.\
\
*Anatomy*. Bowing the trunk forward starts with flexor muscles of the
stomach\'s *recti abdominis*, assisted by the backbone\'s *erector
spinae*. These muscle groups are supplied directly by spinal nerves
rather than by more evolved nerve plexuses. The bow\'s submissive tone
stems from the role these muscles and nerves originally played in
curling the head and trunk forward into a protective
***[crouch](crouch1.htm){tppabs="http://members.aol.com/doder1/crouch1.htm"
target="_top"}***. (Sudden *head-lowering* and *back-rounding* in
response to an employer\'s remarks thus reveals weak or \"spineless\"
resignation.)

*Baseball*. In Japanese baseball, pitchers remove their
[**caps**](http://members.aol.com/nonverbal2/hat.htm){target="_top"} and
bow toward home plate after hitting a batter with a ball.\
\
*Culture*. **1.** In Japan, the forwardness of one\'s bow reflects
status; e.g., those higher in status bow less deeply to those lower in
status. It is considered bad form for westerners to bow too deeply to
lower status Japanese. **2.** Among the Mossi of Burkina Faso, the most
servile gesture is the *poussi-poussi*. \"To poussi-poussi, Collett
\[1983\] explains, one takes off shoes and headgear (which add height),
sits with the legs \'tucked to one side,\' lowers the body, and beats on
the ground. (Historically, men also threw dust on their heads.)\"
(Givens 1986:155 ). **3.** \"In the Muslim world, the *body kowtow*\--in
which one kneels down and touches the ground with the forehead\--is used
in prayer to show humility before the deity (Morris 1994:11).\
\
*Humility*. The English word *humble* means being \"close to the
ground.\" It comes via Old French\'s *umble* from Latin\'s *humilis*,
\"low, lowly.\" The word derives from Latin\'s *humus*, \"earth,\" and
is related to the English word *human*. In its original sense, being
human meant being an \"earthly being,\" as opposed to being an ethereal,
immortal god in the sky (Ayto 1990). The Indo-European root for *man* is
\*dhghom, for *on the ground* is \*dhghm, and for *earth* is \*dhghom-o
(Susan N. Skomal, personal communication).\
\
***[Submission](http://members.aol.com/nonverbal2/submit.htm){target="_top"}****.*
Bowing at the boss\'s door is a common act inspired by the **[reptilian
brain](reptile.htm){tppabs="http://members.aol.com/nonverbal3/reptile.htm"
target="_top"}**. Before entering a superior\'s inner sanctum, American
workers may *pause*, *bend at the waist*, *flex their necks forward,*
and *lower their heads* to peek in. Though without a formal tradition of
bowing, they ritually lower themselves at the boss\'s door, as if doing
so were written into the job description.

***RESEARCH REPORTS***: **1.** Bonnet macaques *bow heads* in extreme
fear (Rahaman and Parthasarathy 1968). **2.** *Bowing* (Eibl-Eibesfeldt
1970), *bent-forward* (Scheflen 1972), and *body-kowtow* (Morris 1994)
postures involve forward *bending* (ventral flexion) of the spinal
column; each of these nonverbal cues makes its submissive appeal by
showing *harmlessness*.

*Antonyms*\--**[ANTIGRAVITY
SIGN](http://members.aol.com/nonverbal2/antigrav.htm){target="_top"}**,
**[HIGH-STAND
DISPLAY](highstan.htm){tppabs="http://members.aol.com/nonverbal3/highstan.htm"
target="_top"}**. See also **[BODY
WALL](bodywal3.htm){tppabs="http://members.aol.com/doder1/bodywal3.htm"
target="_top"}**.

Copyright 1999, 2000 (David B. Givens/**[Center for Nonverbal
Studies](http://members.aol.com/nonverbal2/index.htm){target="_top"}**)


CANDY

**CANDY**

![Designed for Primates](candy.jpg){border="0"
tppabs="http://members.aol.com/doder1/objects/candy.jpg" height="35%"
width="38%"}\
\
***[Fruit
substitute](fruit1.htm){tppabs="http://members.aol.com/doder1/fruit1.htm"
target="_top"}***. **1.** A rich confection, such as a strawberry sucker
or a chocolate mint, designed to communicate with our taste buds for
sweetness and, secondarily, with our receptors for sour, bitter, or
salty tastes. **2.** A food product designed to mimic the usually sweet
taste of ripe fruit.

*Usage*: In U.S. supermarkets, the three best-selling candy
bars\--*M&M\'s*®, *Snickers*®, and *Reese\'s Peanut Butter Cup*® (Krantz
1991)\--contain nuts, and are crunchy rather than merely soft. The top
three successfully combine sweetness and nuttiness in a proven
evolutionary formula for primates. So tasty are these and other candy
bars that, according to the Hershey company, two-thirds are eaten
immediately upon purchase.\
\
*M&M\'s*. Colorful, nut-sized M&M\'s® are among the most popular fruit
substitutes of all time. Their crisp, candy coatings encase milk
chocolate mixed with finely ground peanut powder. On average, U.S.
citizens swallow 11,000 M&M\'s in a lifetime (Heyman 1992), liking the
orange ones least. (***N.B.***: The **[primate
brain](http://members.aol.com/nonverbal3/primate.htm){target="_top"}**
decodes orange as a *warning* (or *aposematic*) *coloration sign*, often
associated with poisonous snakes, insects, and berries.)

See also
**[COCA-COLA](http://members.aol.com/nonverbal2/cocacola.htm){target="_top"}®**,
**[EXISTENTIAL
CRUNCH](http://members.aol.com/nonverbal2/crunch.htm){target="_top"}**,
**[NUT
SUBSTITUTE](nut1.htm){tppabs="http://members.aol.com/doder1/nut1.htm"
target="_top"}**.

Copyright 1999, 2000, 2001 (David B. Givens/**[Center for Nonverbal
Studies](http://members.aol.com/nonverbal2/index.htm){target="_top"}**)\
Snickers wrapper (copyright 1999 by Mars, Inc.)


CHAIR

**CHAIR**

![Garden Chair, White](chair.jpg){border="0"
tppabs="http://members.aol.com/doder1/objects/chair.jpg" height="50%"
width="22%"}\
\
*The human race spends a great deal of time sitting down, whether
working in an office, studying in a library, commuting by bus, car, or
airplane, or eating in a restaurant. Some seats are far more comfortable
than others*. \--Barry H. Kantowitz and Robert D. Sorkin (*Human
Factors*, 1983)\
\
*I quit following straight lines and work with the natural lines that
are there*. \--Warren Schulze (Taggart 2001:B3; see below, *Woodworking
impressionist*)\
\
\
***[Consumer
product](consprod.htm){tppabs="http://members.aol.com/nonverbal2/consprod.htm"
target="_top"}***. **1.** A piece of furniture with a horizontal seat,
quadrupedal legs, an upright back, and horizontal arms, usually designed
to be occupied by a single person. **2.** *Homo sapiens\'s* most
diversely styled furniture item.

*Usage*: Office workers spend the majority of their working days seated
in ergonomic swivel chairs. \"Office seating has been extensively
studied\" (Kantowitz and Sorkin 1983:480).

*Word origin*. The word *chair* comes from Greek kathedra, \"seat,\"
from the 7,000 year old Indo-European root, **sed-**, \"to sit.\"\
\
*Anatomy*. \"The main weight of the body should be carried by the bony
protuberances of the buttocks, more technically known as the ischial
tuberosities\" (Kantowitz and Sorkin 1983:478).

***[Animals](animal1.htm){tppabs="http://members.aol.com/doder1/animal1.htm"
target="_top"}***. The legs of ancient Egyptian and Greek chairs were
often carved to mimic the feet of beasts. The legs of ancient Assyrian
backless chairs were carved to depict lion claws or the hooves of bulls.

*History*. \". . . this familiar piece of furniture was not common
anywhere in the world until just 300 years ago!\" (Manchester 1982:69).
Before the widespread use of chairs, people sat on benches, logs, mats,
stools, and storage chests. The earliest chairs served as symbols for
high-status aristocrats, clan elders, religious leaders, and royalty.
Today, the leader of a group seated around a **[conference
table](table.htm){tppabs="http://members.aol.com/doder1/table.htm"
target="_top"}** is called \"the chair.\"\
\
*Psychology*. Asking someone to \"please sit down\" reduces an
opponent\'s standing height, and thus diminishes effects of the
[**high-stand**](highstan.htm){tppabs="http://members.aol.com/nonverbal3/highstan.htm"
target="_top"} display. Sitting in a slightly higher chair confers a
subtle but powerful psychological advantage in bargaining and
negotiations. Through the nonverbal principle of
**[isopraxism](http://members.aol.com/nonverbal2/isoprax.htm){target="_top"}**
a chair suggests sitting down, because it, itself, appears to be
seated.\
\
*Rocking chair*. The soothing effect of rocking in a chair is due to the
vestibular sense (see [**BALANCE
CUE**](balance1.htm){tppabs="http://members.aol.com/doder1/balance1.htm"
target="_top"}).\
\
*Symbolism*. More than any other type of furniture, chairs have been
elaborately carved, ornamented, and bedecked with symbols of heraldry,
power, and wealth. They have become the everyday totems of status and
rank.\
\
*Woodworking impressionist*. **1.** \"\'I had a need to create things
with my hands,\' Warren \[Schulze, former attorney, now chair designer
in Rathdrum, Idaho\], 41, says, believing forces out of his control
pulled him from the mainstream. \'I had to take something from natural
materials and create something\'\" (Taggart 2001:B3). **2.** Schulze
makes trees with natural branches and twigs (see [**BRANCH
SUBSTITUTE**](http://members.aol.com/nonverbal2/branch.htm){target="_top"}).
\"The backs of his chairs reach toward the ceiling like arms stretching
for an escaping balloon. His table legs bend with the natural grace of
windblown branches. His benches grip the floor with duck-like feet\"
(Taggart 2001:B3).\
\
![Posture Mold](seat.jpg){border="0"
tppabs="http://members.aol.com/doder1/objects/seat.jpg" height="35%"
width="35%"}\
\
*Toilet seating*. \"The Posture Mold seat designed by architect
Alexander Kira is contoured and provides proper support for the thighs.
This seat was selected for the design study collection of the Museum of
Modern
[**Art**](art1.htm){tppabs="http://members.aol.com/doder1/art1.htm"
target="_top"} showing that good human factors can be esthetically as
well as functionally attractive\" (Kantowitz and Sorkin 1983:482).\
\
***[Trees](tree1.htm){tppabs="http://members.aol.com/doder1/tree1.htm"
target="_top"}***. \"Until the middle of the 17^th^ century, the
majority of chairs in all European countries were made of oak, without
upholstery or other cushioning\" (Manchester 1982:72).\
\
*Vehicular seating I*. \"Layout of most vehicle cabs begins from a
theoretical design eye point. This is an imaginary point in space from
which lines of sight are calculated\" (Kantowitz and Sorkin 1983:483).\
\
*Vehicular seating II*. \"Anthropometric data also can determine
side-by-side seat spacing, that is, how many seats will fit in each row.
The crucial dimension is called shoulder breadth. If your shoulders fit,
so will your hips\" \[however, this \'. . . does not guarantee you will
have much room to move your elbows.\'\] (Kantowitz and Sorkin
1983:487).\
\
Copyright **©** 1998 - 2001 (David B. Givens/**[Center for Nonverbal
Studies](http://members.aol.com/nonverbal2/index.htm){target="_top"}**)\
Detail of photo of Posture Mold toilet seat (copyright by Forbes Wright,
Church Products)

\


CHIN JUT

**HEAD-TILT-BACK**

![Who\'s the Boss?](headback.jpg){border="0"
tppabs="http://members.aol.com/doder1/objects/headback.jpg" height="39%"
width="25%"}\
\
***[Gesture](http://members.aol.com/nonverbal2/gesture.htm){target="_top"}***.
Lifting the chin and leaning the head backward (dorsally, i.e., toward
the shoulder blades or scapula bones).

*Usage*: Lifting the chin and looking down the nose are used throughout
the world as nonverbal signs of superiority, arrogance, and disdain
(Eibl-Eibesfeldt 1970, Hass 1970).

*Anatomy*. The prime mover of head-tilt-back (i.e., of extending the
spine) is the *erector spinae* muscle group, components of which reach
to the skull\'s occipital bone to produce extension movements of the
head as well. These deep muscles of the back and neck are basic
[**postural**](posture1.htm){tppabs="http://members.aol.com/doder1/posture1.htm"
target="_top"} muscles which are innervated by the spinal nerves
directly, without relay through the cervical plexus or brachial plexus.
Thus, we have less voluntary control of our haughty head-and-trunk
postures than we have, e.g., of our hand-and-arm gestures. (***N.B.***:
Gross postural shifts which involve *back-extension* and *head-raising*
may express unconscious attitudes of power and
**[dominance](http://members.aol.com/nonverbal2/dominate.htm){target="_top"}**.)\
\
*Culture*. **1.** In Greece and Saudi Arabia, a sudden head-tilt-back
movement means \"No,\" and may originate from the infantile
head-tilt-back used to refuse food (Morris 1994:145; see also
[**HEAD-SHAKE**](headshak.htm){tppabs="http://members.aol.com/nonverbal3/headshak.htm"
target="_top"}). **2.** In Ethiopia, the same gesture means \"Yes,\" and
may originate from the backward head movment used as a greeting (Morris
1994:146).\
\
*Origin*. In its \"superior\" sense, head-tilt-back is a constituent of
the primeval **[high-stand
display](highstan.htm){tppabs="http://members.aol.com/nonverbal3/highstan.htm"
target="_top"}**.\
\
*Politics*. Political leaders who used the head-tilt-back gesture in
public speeches include Al Gore, Benito Mussolini, Franklin D.
Roosevelt, and George Corley Wallace.\
\
***RESEARCH REPORT***: Head-tilt-back may be accompanied by
\"contempt-scorn\" cues: one eyebrow lifts higher than the other, the
eye openings narrow, the mouth corners depress, the lower lip raises and
slightly protrudes, and one side of the upper lip may curl up in a sneer
(Izard 1971:245).\
\

------------------------------------------------------------------------

***E-Commentary***: \"I was reading through the online *Nonverbal
Dictionary* and I believe they\'ve left out an entry on \'chin
thrusts.\' I don\'t know how you all get the entries for the Dictionary
but I figured I would comment on that one. I am finding the *Dictionary*
to be very informative and one of the best web resources on kinesics so
far in my searches.\" \--J.P., USA (4/16/00 12:12:54 AM Pacific Daylight
Time)\

------------------------------------------------------------------------

*Chin jut*. A derivative gesture of head-tilt-back is the \"chin jut,\"
described by Desmond Morris (1994:30 \[\"The chin is thrust towards the
companion\"\]) as an \"\'intention movement\' of forward attack,\" which
has become a worldwide sign of threat. The world\'s most exaggerated
chin jut was that of the Italian dictator, Benito Mussolini\
\
****

------------------------------------------------------------------------

E-Commentary: \"Have you come across any research regarding a rapid
multiple [**eye
blink**](http://members.aol.com/nonverbal2/eyeblink.htm){target="_top"}
that looks almost as if the person is rolling their eyes back in their
head? It often is accompanied by a *head tilt back*. I have a client who
does this, and have encountered others who do this, and am not sure the
source of such a gesture, or what it might suggest nonverbally. My gut
tells me it makes the guy look arrogant and a bit supercilious. Am I
totally off base in thinking this may be a problem. Any suggestions?
I\'d be glad to send you a copy of videotape showing what I\'m talking
about.\" \--L.G., Senior Communications Consultant, USA (9/30/99
12:24:16 PM Pacific Daylight Time)\

------------------------------------------------------------------------

\
See also
[**EYEBROW-RAISE**](browrai1.htm){tppabs="http://members.aol.com/doder1/browrai1.htm"
target="_top"}.

Copyright 1999, 2000 (David B. Givens/**[Center for Nonverbal
Studies](http://members.aol.com/nonverbal2/index.htm){target="_top"}**)\
Detail of photo sequence by Ruth Orkin (copyright Ruth Orkin)

\
\
\
\
\
\