NEW APPROACHES TO THE STUDY OF HUMAN COMMUNICATION

IN VARIOUS STUDIES, BRIEFLY DESCRIBED IN THIS PAPER, SOUND FILMS WERE MADE OF PEOPLE ENGAGED IN VERBAL COMMUNICATION. THE FILMS WERE ANALYZED TO NOTE RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN PHYSICAL MOVEMENT AND THE ACTUAL CONTENT OF THE CONVERSATION. THE FRAMES OF THE FILM WERE SEQUENTIALLY NUMBERED TO CORRELATE THEM TO THE NEAREST FRAME WITH THE SOUND RECORDING. SOME RESEARCH TOOK NOTE OF A SINGLE PERSON'S MOVEMENTS DURING THE MOVIES AND OTHER WORK WAS DONE ON THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN TWO INTERACTORS' MOVEMENTS (INCLUDING BODY CONSONANCE OR CONGRUENCE). INCIDENTAL STUDIES INVOLVED THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN MOVEMENT AND CERTAIN WORDS OR PHONEMES. IT WAS NOTED THAT IN EACH MOVIE THERE WERE AT LEAST A FEW TIMES WHEN TWO INTERACTORS MOVED THE SAME PART OF THEIR BODIES IN THE SAME WAY AT THE SAME TIME. THIS TANDEM MOVEMENT WAS CALLED SYNCHRONY. SYNCHRONY WAS LATER FOUND TO OCCUR BETWEEN DIFFERING ELEMENTS--THE SPEAKER'S CIGARETTE AND THE LISTENER'S HEAD, FOR EXAMPLE. ANOTHER STUDY BROUGHT UP THE QUESTION OF WHETHER INTERACTORS CHANGE POSTURE AS THE NARRATIVE CHANGES FROM SHARED TO NON-SHARED EXPERIENCES. THE QUESTIONS RAISED BY THESE STUDIES POINT OUT THE NEED FOR MORE BASIC OBSERVATION IN DYNAMIC COMMUNICATION RESEARCH. THIS STUDY IS PUBLISHED IN "ANTHROPOLOGICAL LINGUISTICS," DECEMBER, 1966. (JD)