Dr Birdwhistell, in his work in
kinesics, has tried to pinpoint just what gesture indicates what message. One
of the things he has uncovered is that every American speaker moves his head a
number of times during a conversation. If you film a typical conversation
between two Americans and then slow down the film to study the elements of
posture in slow motion you will notice a head movement when an answer is
expected. The head movement at the end of each statement is a signal to the other
speaker to start his answer. This is one of the ways in which we guide our
spoken conversations. It enables a back-and-forth exchange without the
necessity of saying, 'Are you finished? Now I'll talk.' Of course, the signals
for other regions of the world will be different. In theory it would follow
that watching two people talk would give a good clue to their nationality. In
our language, a change in pitch at the end of a sentence can mean a number of
things. If there is a rise in pitch, the speaker is asking a question. Ask, '
What time is it?' and notice how your voice goes up on 'it'. 'How are you?' Up
on 'you'. 'Do you like your new job?' Up on ' job'. This is a linguistic
marker. Dr Bird whistell has discovered a number of kinesic markers that
supplement the linguistic markers. Watch a man's head when he asks a question.
'What time is it?' His head comes up on 'it'. 'Where are you going?' His head
comes up on the 'ing' in going. Like the voice, the head moves up at the end of
a question. This upward movement at the end of a question is not limited to the
voice and head. The hand, too, tends to move up with the rise in pitch. The
seemingly meaningless hand gestures in which we all indulge
as we talk are tied in to pitch and meaning. The eyelid, too, will open wide
with the last note of a question. Just as the voice lifts up at the end of a
question, it also drops in pitch at the end of a statement. 'I like this book.'
With 'book' the voice goes down. 'I'd like some milk with my pie.' Down on
'pie'. The head also accompanies the voice down at the end of a statement, and
according to Dr Birdwhistell, so do the hand and the eyelid. When a speaker
intends to continue a statement, his voice will hold the same pitch, his head will
remain straight, his eyes and hands unchanged. These are just a few of the
changes in position of the eyes, head and hands as Americans speak. Rarely, if
ever, do we hold our heads in one position longer than a sentence or two.
Writers are aware of this and also aware that head movement is tied not only to
what we are saying but to emotional content as well. To characterize a 'cool'
person, one who shows and feels no emotion, a writer will have him appear
stolid, physically unmoving. James Bond, in the movies made from Ian Fleming's
007 stories, was played by Sean Connery in a motionless style. His face rarely
moved, even in the face of extinction. It was an excellent characterization,
since he played a man who felt no emotion. In Jewish folklore a golem is a
being who shows no expression and, of course, feels no emotion. The high fashion
model holds herself in a rigid, unnatural pose to communicate no emotional
overtones. When the normal man or woman talks, however, he looks to the right,
to the left, now up, now down.
He blinks his eyes, lifts his eyebrows, bites his lips, touches his nose - and each movement is linked to what he is saying." Because of the tremendous variation in individual movements it is often difficult to link a specific movement to a specific message, but it is still true enough to say that, to paraphrase Marshall McLuhan, the movement is the message. Dr Scheflen, in studying psychiatric therapy sessions, has found that when a therapist explains something to a patient he may use one head position, but when he interprets some remark or behaviour he uses another position. When he interrupts the patient he uses still a third and he has a fourth head position for listening. The patient, too, when listening to the therapist, takes certain definite positions. In one situation studied by Dr Scheflen, the patient put his head to the right when he acted in a childish fashion, and he kept his head erect when he spoke aggressively and maturely. The difficulty in studying and interpreting these movements is that they are personal kinesic motions, related to events in the background of this or that particular patient. Not all patients put their heads to one side when they act childishly, and not all therapists make the same head motion when they listen. Yet it is pretty certain that the same man will repeat the same motion over and over. Dr Scheflen was surprised that these head movements which were repeated again and again during a thirty- minute interview were so stereotyped and rigid, yet he emphasizes that in this, as well as in many other sessions he has studied, the patient and doctor rarely used a great range of movement. It should not then be too difficult to find specific positions for a person and then relate them to statements or types of statements, questions, answers, explanations,, etc.
He blinks his eyes, lifts his eyebrows, bites his lips, touches his nose - and each movement is linked to what he is saying." Because of the tremendous variation in individual movements it is often difficult to link a specific movement to a specific message, but it is still true enough to say that, to paraphrase Marshall McLuhan, the movement is the message. Dr Scheflen, in studying psychiatric therapy sessions, has found that when a therapist explains something to a patient he may use one head position, but when he interprets some remark or behaviour he uses another position. When he interrupts the patient he uses still a third and he has a fourth head position for listening. The patient, too, when listening to the therapist, takes certain definite positions. In one situation studied by Dr Scheflen, the patient put his head to the right when he acted in a childish fashion, and he kept his head erect when he spoke aggressively and maturely. The difficulty in studying and interpreting these movements is that they are personal kinesic motions, related to events in the background of this or that particular patient. Not all patients put their heads to one side when they act childishly, and not all therapists make the same head motion when they listen. Yet it is pretty certain that the same man will repeat the same motion over and over. Dr Scheflen was surprised that these head movements which were repeated again and again during a thirty- minute interview were so stereotyped and rigid, yet he emphasizes that in this, as well as in many other sessions he has studied, the patient and doctor rarely used a great range of movement. It should not then be too difficult to find specific positions for a person and then relate them to statements or types of statements, questions, answers, explanations,, etc.
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