Nonverbal Dictionary | Page 9

future marital disinteg\
ration (Bates and Cleese 2001). In
this regard, the sneer may be decoded as an unconscious sign of contempt\
.
RESEARCH REPORTS: So closely is emotion tied to facial expression that it is hard to ima\
gine one
without the other. 1. The first major scientific study of facial communication was published \
by Charles
Darwin in 1872. Darwin concluded that many expressions and their meaning\
s (e.g., for astonishment,
shame, fear, horror, pride, hatred, wrath, love, joy, guilt, anxiety, shyness, and modesty) are universal: "I
have endeavoured to show in considerable detail that all the chief expre\
ssions exhibited by man are the
same throughout the world" (Darwin 1872:355). 2. Sylvan S. Tomkins found eight "basic" facial
emotions: surprise, interest, joy, rage, fear, disgust, shame and anguish (Tomkins 1962; Carroll Izard
proposed a similar set of eight [Izard 1977]). 3. Studies indicate that the facial expressions of
happiness,
sadness, anger, fear, surprise, disgust, and interest are universal across cultures (Ekman and Friesen
1971). 4. ". . . the emotion process includes a motor component subserved by inna\
te neural programs
which give rise to universal facial patterns. These patterns are subject\
to repression, suppression, and
other consequences of socialization during childhood and adolescence" (\
Izard 1971:78).
E-Commentary I: The face entranced. "I have observed that when a woman absent-mindedly knots a lock of her\
hair on a
finger or twists her ring on her finger, she often displays a trance like facial expression--i.e., her glance seems to look far
away, her face has no expression, the right and left sides of her face a\
re more symmetrical, she slows or loses her
eye-
blink, her pupils dilate, she half-opens her mouth as her chin falls down (her jaw appears relaxed), and her body appears
fairly passive or motionless. I have seen the same nonverbal pattern in \
men, as well." --Dr. Marco Pacori, Institute of
Analogic Psychology, Milano, Italy (3/29/00 9:17:37 AM Pacific Standard\
Time)
E-Commentary II: "I am looking for help in analyzing the natural expression on my face.\
I'm a 52 year old male and I
believe others sense my facial expression as one of being angry when I'm\
not the least bit angry. I believe that it severely
limits healthy relationships as well as my income. (I talk to people al\
l day in sales.) Although my mate and I are very
http://members.aol.com/nonverbal3/facialx.htm (3 of 4) [27/04/02 05:54\
:57]

facialx
happy, I'm looking for a change, but don't know where to start. --R. C. \
(9/10/01 8:01:23 PM Pacific Daylight Time)
Neuro-notes I. 1. The facial nerve nucleus of the brain stem contains motor neurons that \
innervate the
facial muscles of expression (Willis 1998F). 2. "The facial muscles and the facial nerve and its various
branches constitute the most highly differentiated and versatile set of \
neuromuscular mechanisms in
man" (Izard 1971:52).
Neuro-notes II. "The homologue of Broca's area in nonhuman primates is the part of the\
lower precentral
cortex that is the primary motor area for facial musculature. . . . elec\
trical stimulation of this area in
squirrel monkeys . . . yields isolated movements of the monkey's lips an\
d tongue and some laryngeal
activity but no complete vocalizations" (Lieberman 1991:106; see
SPEECH).
Neuro-notes III. 1. "The facial nucleus [of the albino rat] contains numerous medium-calibe\
r, intensely
immunoreactive dynorphin fibers, especially in the intermediate subdivis\
ion of the nucleus . . ." (Fallon
and Ciofi 1990:31). 2. "The functions of these projections are unknown, but it is likely that \
dynorphin
and enkephalin would modulate motor neurons enervating the facial muscul\
ature, especially those in the
intermediate division controlling the zygomatic, platysma and mentalis m\
uscles" (Fallon and Ciofi
1990:31-2).
See also
BLANK FACE.
Copyright © 1998 - 2002 (David B. Givens/Center for Nonverbal Studies)
Detail of photo by Linda McCartney (copyright 1992 by MPL Communication\
s Limited)
http://members.aol.com/nonverbal3/facialx.htm (4 of 4) [27/04/02 05:54\
:57]

sign
SIGN
A trail of Skittle candy wrappers led police to three children whom they\
charged with breaking into a vending machine and
robbing a coin operated laundry. --Anonymous 2001N
Communication. 1. From Latin signum ("identifying mark"), something that "suggests the presence or
existence of a fact, condition, or quality" (Soukanov 1992:1678). 2. In philosophy, as defined by Charles
S. Peirce, "a sign stands for something else" (Flew 1979:327; e.g., the\

hand is a sign of humanity). 3.
The general term for anything that communicates, transmits, or carries
information.
Usage I: Sign is the most generic label for a nonverbal unit of expression, such as a\

gesture. While in a
technical sense their meanings differ, sign,
signal, and cue often may be used interchangeably.
Usage II: "It is useful to distinguish at the outset between a sign vehicle: the material carrier or physical
substratum of a sign, the tangible 'sign stuff' (i.e., its actual stone\
, clay, metal, glass, paper, or concrete
substance), and a sign form: the pattern or arrangement of lines, scratches, punctures, meanders, sh\
apes,
etc., which can appear on varied