Download Sherlock Holmes

Sherlock Holmes
Non-verbal Communication Activity
No matter what you do to outward appearances, it’s your
thoughts that paint your face.
Today you are going to be part of a very important experiment. In order for this experiment to work, you must not talk or vocalize in
any way. We are going to communicate strictly by nonverbal means.
INSTRUCTIONS: Throughout the class period, you will be asked to express your feelings and do some activities. Use your study
guide to record the answers to the italicized questions and activities.
A. Line up according to birth date. For example, January 3 before January 18, then March 7, May 12, etc. The year of birth is not
important. There should not be any verbal communication. When finished, write down the people you stood between.
B. Read the article, “Adventures of Sherlock Holmes” and the remainder of the packet.
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
One night--it was on the twentieth of March, 1888-- I was returning from a journey to a patient (for I had now returned to civil
practice) when my way led me through Baker Street. As I passed the well remembered door, which must always be associated in my
mind with my wooing, and with the dark incidents of the Study in Scarlet, I was seized with a keen desire to see Holmes again, and to
know how he was employing his extraordinary powers. His rooms were brilliantly lit, and even as I looked up, I saw his tall, spare
figure pass twice in a dark silhouette against the blind. He was pacing the room swiftly, eagerly, with his head sunk upon his chest and
his hands clasped behind him. To me, who knew his every mood and habit, his attitude and manner told their own story. He was at
work again. He had risen out of his drug-created dreams and was hot upon the scent of some new problem, I rang the bell and was
shown up to the chamber which had formerly been in part my own,
His manner was not effusive. It seldom was; but he was glad I think, to see me. With hardly a word spoken, but with kindly eye, he
waved me to an armchair, threw across his case of cigars, and indicated a spirit case and a gas gene in the corner, Then he stood before
the fire and looked me over in his singular introspective fashion.
“Wedlock suits you,” he remarked. "I think, Watson, that you have put on seven and a half pounds since I saw you."
“Seven!" I answered.
"Indeed, I should have thought a little more. Just a trifle more, I fancy, Watson. And in practice again. I observe. You did not tell me
that you intended to go into harness."
“Then, how do you know?"
"I see it, I deduce it. How do I know that you have been getting yourself very wet lately, and that you have a most clumsy and
careless servant girl?"
“My dear Holmes," said I, "this is too much. You would certainly have been burned, had you lived a few centuries ago. It is true that
I had a country walk on Thursday and came home in a dreadful mess, but as I have changed my clothes I can't imagine how you
deduce it. As to Mary Janet she is incorrigible, and my wife has given her notice; but there, again, I rail to see how you work it out,"
He chuckled to himself and rubbed his long, nervous hands together.
"It is simplicity itself," said he: "my eyes tell me that on the inside of your left shoe, just where the firelight strikes it, the leather is
scored by six almost parallel cuts. Obviously they have been caused by someone who has very carelessly scraped round the edges of
the sole in order to remove crusted mud from it. Hence, you see, my double deduction that you had been out in vile weather, and that
you had a particularly malignant boot-slitting specimen of the London slavery. As to your practice, if a gentleman walks into my
rooms smelling of iodoform, with a black mark of nitrate of silver upon his right forefinger, and a bulge on the right side of his top hat
to show where he has secreted his stethoscope, I must be dull, indeed, if I do not pronounce him to be an active member of the medical
profession.”
I could not help laughing at the ease with which he explained his process of deduction. "When I hear you give your reasons,” I
remarked, "the thing always appears to me to be so ridiculously simple that I could easily do it myself, though at each successive
instance of your reasoning I am baffled until you explain your process. And yet I believe that my eyes are as good as yours.”
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"Quite so," he answered, lighting a cigarette, and throwing himself down into an armchair. "You see, but you do not observe," (Sir
Arthur Conan Doyle, A Scandal in Bohemia)
NON-VERBAL COMMUNICATION
Sometimes it's difficult to know how other people really feel. Often they don't know for sure themselves, and other times they have
some reason for not wanting to tell us, but in either case there are times when we can't find out what is going on inside another’s mind
simply by asking.
What should we do in these cases? They happen every day, and often in the most important situations. Sherlock Holmes said the way
to understand people was to watch them--not only to see, but to observe.
Observing yourself and others is nonverbal communication – the way we express ourselves, not by what we say, but by what we do.
45% of communication is verbal. 55% of communication is non-verbal.
Non-verbal Communication Behavior Clues are gestures used to put forth an idea.
*Shaking Hands = If the hand is limp, the person may be nervous or doesn’t like to be touched. A firm handshake shows
confidence.
*Defensiveness = cross the arms on the chest, keep fists closed, swing a crossed leg
*Suspicion and Secretiveness = won’t look at you when you talk, will touch or rub their nose with the index finger.
*Honesty = Placing the hand over the heart, have palms uplifted, look the person in the eye when speaking, touch the person.
*Frustration = short breaths, tightly clenched hands, wringing the hands, kick the ground
*Confidence = bring fingers together to form a church steeple, joining hands together behind the body, placing the feet up on
the desk.
*Nervousness = clearing of the throat, whistling, fidgeting, tugging at the ear, clenched fists, jingling money or other objects
in pockets, “Whew sound”, wring the hands, playing with objects around them
*Boredom = drumming on the desk or table, tapping the feet, leaning head on the hand,
doodling
Stop for a moment and examine yourself as you read this. If someone were observing you now, what nonverbal clues would they get
about how you're feeling? Are you sitting forward or reclining back? Is your posture tense or relaxed? Are your eyes wide open, or
do they keep closing? What does your facial expression communicate? Can you make your face expressionless? Don’t people with
expressionless faces communicate something to you?
C. If someone were observing you now, what nonverbal clues would they get about how you are feeling?
Of course, we don’t always intend to send nonverbal messages. Consider, for instance, behaviors like blushing, frowning, sweating,
or stammering. We rarely try to act in these ways, and often we’re not aware when we’re doing so. Nonetheless, others recognize
signs like these and make interpretations about us based on their observations.
The fact that you and everyone around you is constantly sending off nonverbal clues is important because it means that you have a
constant source of information available about yourself and others. If you can tune into these signals, you'll be more aware of how
those around you are feeling and thinking, and you'll be better able to respond to their behavior
D. Complete the assignment in your study guide “What am I Communicating?”
Nonverbal Communication Serves Many Functions - here are 6 of them
Verbal and non-verbal communication are interconnected elements in every act of communication. Nonverbal behaviors can operate
in several relationships to verbal messages.
First, nonverbal behaviors can repeat what is said verbally. If someone asked you for directions to the nearest drugstore, you could
say, "North of here about two blocks," and then repeat your instructions nonverbally by pointing north.
Nonverbal messages may also substitute for verbal ones. When you see a familiar friend wearing a certain facial expression, you don't
need to ask, "How's it going?" In the same way, experience has probably shown you that other kinds of looks, gestures, and other
clues say, "I'm angry at you" or "I feel great" far better than words.
A third way in which verbal and nonverbal messages can relate is called complementing. If you saw a student talking to a teacher, and
his head was bowed slightly, his voice was low and hesitating, and he shuffled slowly from foot to foot, you might conclude that he
felt inferior to the teacher, possibly embarrassed about something he did. The nonverbal behaviors you observed provided the context
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for the verbal behaviors--they conveyed the relationship between the teacher and student. Complementing nonverbal behaviors signal
the attitudes, the interactants have for one another.
Nonverbal behaviors can also accent verbal messages. Just as we can use italics in print to underline an idea, we can emphasize some
part of a face-to-face message in various ways. Pointing an accusing finger adds emphasis to criticism (as well as probably creating
defensiveness in the receiver). Shrugging shoulders accent confusion, and hugs can highlight excitement or affection.
Nonverbal behavior also serves to regulate verbal behavior. By lowering your voice at the end of a sentence, “trailing off," you
indicate that the other person may speak. You can also convey this information through the use of eye contact and by the way you
position your body.
Final1y--and often most significantly--nonverbal behavior can often contradict the spoken word. People often simultaneously express
different and even contradictory messages in their verbal and nonverbal behaviors. A common example of this sort of "double
message” is the experience we've all had of hearing someone with a red face and bulging veins yelling, "Angry? No, I’m not angry!"
Usually, however, the contradiction between words and nonverbal clues isn't this obvious. At times we all try to seem different than
we are. There are many reasons for this contradictory behavior: to cover nervousness when giving a speech or in a job interview, to
keep someone from worrying about us, or to appear more attractive than we believe we really are.
Even though some of the ways in which people contradict themselves are subtle, double messages have a strong impact. Research
suggests that when a receiver perceives an inconsistency between verbal and nonverbal messages, the unspoken cue carries more
weight.
NON-VERBAL COMMUNICATION CLUES
Nonverbal Communication Transmits Feelings
Even though feelings are communicated quite well nonverbally, thoughts don't lend themselves to nonverbal channels. Without being
able to use words, peoples' bodies generally express how they feel - nervous, embarrassed, playful, friendly, etc. with the eyes also
commonly reflecting emotions such as fear, surprise, and disgust.
Here's a list that contains both thoughts and feelings. Express each item nonverbally, and see which ones come most easily:
You're tired.
You're in favor of capital punishment.
You're attracted to another person in the group.
You think marijuana should be legalized.
You're angry at someone in the group.
Body Orientation
Body orientation is the degree to which we face toward or away from someone with our body, feet, and head. When in a group
situation by turning you body slightly away from an intruder you can make your feelings very clear. An intruder finds herself in the
difficult position of trying to talk over your shoulder, and it isn't long before she gets the message and goes her way. The nonverbal
message here is "Look, we're interested in each other right now and don't want to include you in our conversation.” Facing someone
directly signals your interest, and facing away signals a desire to avoid involvement. This explains how we can pack ourselves into
intimate distance with total strangers in places like a crowded elevator without offending others. Because there is a very indirect
orientation here (everyone is usually standing shoulder to shoulder facing in the same direction), we understand that despite the close
quarters everyone wants to avoid personal contact.
By observing the way people position themselves you can learn a good deal about how they feel. Next time you're in a crowded place
where people can choose whom to face directly, try observing who seems to be included in the action and who is being subtly shut
out. And in the same way, pay attention to your own body orientation. You may be surprised to discover that you're avoiding a
certain person without being conscious of it or that at times you're “turning your back" on people altogether. If this is the case, it may
be helpful to figure out why. Are you avoiding an unpleasant situation that needs clearing up, communicating your annoyance or
dislike for the other, or sending some other message?
Posture
Another way we communicate nonverbally is through our posture. To see if this is true, stop reading for a moment and notice how
you’re sitting. What does your position say nonverbal1y about how you feel? Are there any other people near you now? What
messages do you get from their present posture? By paying attention to the postures of those around you, as well as your own, you'll
find another channel of nonverbal communication that can furnish information about how people feel about themselves and each
other.
Psychologist Albert Mehrabian has found that postural keys to feelings are tension and relaxation. He says that we take relaxed
postures in non-threatening situations and tighten up when threatened. Based on this observation he says we can tell a good deal about
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how others feel simply by watching how tense or loose they seem to be. For example, he suggests that watching tenseness is a way of
detecting status differences: The lower-status person is generally the more rigid, tense-appearing one, whereas the one with higher
status is more relaxed. This is the kind of situation that often happens when we picture a "chat" with the boss (or professor, judge,
etc.) where we sit ramrod straight while she leans back in her chair. The same principle applies to social situations, where it's often
possible to tell who’s uncomfortable by looking at pictures. Often you'll see someone laughing and talking as if he were perfectly at
home, but his posture almost shouts nervousness. Some people never relax, and their posture shows it.
E. Stop and notice how you are sitting. What does your position say non-verbally about how you feel?
Gestures
Gestures are another good source of nonverbal communication. In an article titled “Nonverbal Leakage and Clues to Deception” Paul
Ekman and Wallace Friesen observed how gestures transmit emotions. They
explained that because most of us, at least unconsciously, know that the face is the most obvious channel of expressing emotions,
we're especially careful to control our facial expressions when trying to hide our feelings. But more of us are less aware of the ways
we move our hands, legs, and feet, and because of this these movements are better indicators of how we truly feel.
Probably the clearest example of someone whose feelings show through gestures is the fidgeter. They’re the kind of people who
assure us that "everything is fine” while almost ceaselessly biting their fingernails, flicking their cigarette, bending paperclips, and so
on.
Besides nervousness, you can often detect other emotions from a person's gestures. It's possible to observe anger by looking beyond a
smile and noticing the whitened knuckles and clenched fists. When people would like to express their friendship or attraction toward
us, but for some reason feel they can't we can sometimes notice them slightly reaching out or maybe even opening their hands.
Gestures play other roles—repeating, substituting, complementing, accenting, and regulating in conversations.
F. Pantomime Gestures to your neighbor and list the gestures you chose. Ideas = love, sad, happy, anger, disgust, tired,
embarrassed, fear……
The Face and Eyes
The face and eyes are probably the most noticed parts of the body, but this doesn’t mean that their nonverbal messages are the easiest
to read. The face is a tremendously complicated channel of expression.
It’s hard even to describe the number and kind of expressions we commonly produce with our face and eyes. There are at least eight
distinguishable positions of the eyebrow and forehead, eight more of the eyes and lids, and ten for the lower face. When you multiply
this complexity by the number of emotions we experience, you can see why it would be almost impossible to compile a dictionary of
facial expressions and their corresponding emotions.
Ekman and Friesen have identified six basic emotions that facial expressions reflect—surprise, fear, anger, disgust, happiness, and
sadness. The eyes themselves can send several kinds of messages. Meeting someone's glance with your eyes is usually a sign of
involvement, while looking away signals a desire to avoid contact. This is why solicitors on the street-panhandlers, salesmen,
petitioners--try to catch our eye. Once they've managed to establish contact with a glance, it becomes harder for the approached
person to draw away.
Most of us remember trying to avoid a question we didn't understand by glancing away from the teacher. At times like these we
usually became very interested in our textbooks, fingernails, the clock-anything but the teacher’s stare. Of course, the teacher always
seemed to know the meaning of this nonverbal behavior and ended up picking on those of us who signaled our uncertainty.
G. Look at each of the advertisements posted around the room. All of the written communication has been eliminated. Try to
identify what the people in the ads are trying to portray. Write on your answer sheet your own captions for each ad according to
what you think they are trying to say.
Voice
The voice itself is another channel of nonverbal communication. We don’t mean the words we say, which after all make up verbal
communication but rather how we say them. If you think about it for a moment, you’ll realize that a certain way of speaking can give
the same word or words many meanings. For example, look at the possible meanings from a single sentence just by changing the word
emphasis: This is a fantastic communication book.
(Not just any book, but this one in particular.)
This is a fantastic communication book.
(This book is superior, exciting.)
This is a fantastic communication book.
(The book is good as far as communication goes; it may not be so great as literature, drama, etc.)
This is a fantastic communication book.
(It s not a play or record, it's a book.)
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It’s possible to get an idea across without ever expressing it outright by emphasizing a certain word in a sentence. For example, a
State Department official in the Nixon administration, was able to express the government's position in an off-the-record way when
answering questions. He had three different ways or saying "I would not speculate." When he added no accent, he meant the
department didn't really know; when he emphasized the "I", he meant "I wouldn't, but you may--and with some assurance"; when he
emphasized "speculate," he meant that the questioner's premise was probably wrong.
There are many other ways our voice communicates--through its tone, speed, pitch, and number and length of pauses, volume, find
disfluencies (such as stammering, use of "uh," "um,” "er," and so on). All these factors together can be called "paralanguage," and
they can do a great deal to reinforce or contradict the message our words convey,
Communication through paralanguage isn't always intentional. Often our voices give us away when we're trying to create an
impression different from our actual feelings. For example, you’ve probably had experiences of trying to sound calm and serene when
you were really exploding with inner nervousness. Maybe your deception went along perfectly for a while--just the right smile, no
telltale fidgeting of the hands, posture appearing relaxed--and then, without being able to do a thing about it, right in the middle of
your relaxed comments your voice squeaked! The charade was over.
Touching
Touching is essential to our healthy development. During the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries a large percentage of children
born every year died from a disease then called marasmus, which translated from Greek means 'wasting away." In some orphanages
the mortality rate was nearly 100 %, but even children in the most "progressive” homes, hospitals, and other institutions died regularly
from the ailment. When researchers finally tracked down the causes of this disease, they found that the infants suffered from lack of
physical contact with parents or nurses, rather than nutrition, medical care, or other factors. They hadn't been touched enough, and as
a result they died. From this knowledge came the practice of “mothering” children in institutions--picking the baby up, carrying it
around, and handling it several times each day. At one hospital that began this practice, the death rate for infants fell from between 30
and 35 percent to below 10 percent.
Touch seems to increase a child's mental functioning as well as physical health. L. J. Yarrow has conducted surveys which show that
babies who have been given plenty of physical stimulation by their mothers have significantly higher IQs than those receiving less
contact.
Touch can communicate many messages. Besides the nurturing/caring function it can convey friendship, sexual interest, and
aggressiveness. Touch can serve as a means of managing transactions, such as when we tug at another’s sleeve.
H. Watch the program playing on the television for ten minutes. This will not have any vocalization or music included. After viewing
the program for 10 minutes, you must write a description of what you observed. Be sure to include the story line, facial expressions,
eye contact, body movements, hand gestures, physical appearance, and feelings of the characters.
Clothing
Besides protecting us from catching colds, clothes can be decorative, a means of identification with groups, devices for sexual
attraction, indicators of status, markers of certain roles and even a means of concealment. Clothes communicate some of these
functions far more clearly than others. For instance, there’s little doubt that someone dressed in a uniform, wearing a badge, and
carrying handcuffs and a gun is a police officer. On the other hand, while wrinkled, il1-fitting, dirty old clothes might be a sign that
the wearer is a destitute drifter, they might also be the outfit of a worker on vacation, a normally stylish person who is on the way to
clean a fireplace, or of an emotionally upset person, or even an eccentric millionaire.
People do intentionally send messages about themselves by what they wear, and we make interpretations about others on this basis.
Think about the people you know. See if you can tell anything about their personal attitudes or social philosophies by the way they
dress.
Take a look at your friends. Do you find that the people who spend time together share the same ideas about clothing? Is there a
"uniform' for political radicals and one for conservatives? Is there a high fashion "uniform" that tells the public who’s in style and
who’s out of it?
I. "Object language” is one type of non-verbal communication. It simply is the intentional or unintentional display of material things.
It might be art objects, machines, clothing, jewelry, etc. A social worker who appears in a ghetto neighborhood driving a flashy car
and wearing expensive clothing is obviously using the wrong language if he/she hopes to establish rapport with the people. Write a
list of five objects or items in the room and describe the message you receive from each of them. (The objects may be part of some
one’ s attire.)
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CONCLUSION
There is a real danger inherent in reading many nonverbal messages. That danger is that we find ourselves stereotyping others on
skimpy evidence, and often our interpretations are mistaken. By jumping to conclusions about another human from these surface
appearances, we may very well be stereotyping ourselves out of some important relationships. There's an old generalization that you
can't judge a book by its cover. In light of what we know about nonverbal communication we could change it to "You can tell only a
little about a book from its cover; you need to have more information before you’ll be able to speak with any authority about it.”
(Taken from Looking Out/Looking In by Ronald B. Adler and Neil Towne, publisher: Holt. Rinehart, Winston.
J. Try to non-verbally communicate your most embarrassing moment or a fun date you went on to another classmate.
PERSONAL SPACE INFORMATION
The first zone surrounding us is called the intimate zone. This is the zone that we
guard the most and is reserved for close friends and relatives, those that we love and that are emotionally close to us. It
extends from skin contact to 18 inches away from us. As a general rule, the more we like a person, the closer we stand to
them.
Voluntarily allowing someone to enter our intimate zone is a sign of trust. If someone enters this zone without our consent,
we feel threatened. Sometimes we are forced to let strangers into this zone (in crowded elevators or buses, when visiting
the doctor or dentist). In these circumstances, we will draw away, turn away, tense our muscles, and avoid eye contact.
Non-verbally, these actions say that we are sorry for invading their territory, but are forced to do so by the situation.
Sometimes people will use a prop such as a briefcase or a purse as a barrier to protect their personal space.
In a dating situation, one partner's reaction will convey to the other whether they have permission to enter your intimate
zone. In your own dating experiences, think of the messages you received according to where you and your date sat on
the sofa or car seat. If your date sat close to you, it meant they liked you. If you both sat on opposite ends of the sofa or
car seat, it meant something entirely different.
Your personal space zone begins at about 18 inches and extends to about four feet. Eighteen inches is the space for
couples who are in public. Two and one half feet to four feet is for casual conversation (at arm's length). Contacts in this
zone are reasonably close, but are far less personal.
The social zone is used for parties and friendly gatherings, for friends and for casual acquaintances. It is also used in
business situations. It extends from four to twelve feet. Between four and seven feet is an appropriate space for
salespeople, customers, and people who work together. Seven to twelve feet away is reserved for more formal and
impersonal situations. This would be the distance at which an employee and his/her boss would feel comfortable. It
provides for a less relaxed conversation.
The public zone is used by speakers and their audiences and is used in many classrooms. It begins at twelve feet and
extends outward. At this distance, two-way communication is practically impossible. Anyone who voluntarily remains at 25
feet and beyond is definitely not interested in dialogue.
These distances given for personal space are according to our culture. Many cultures differ in their definitions of personal
space. You might feel very uncomfortable talking to someone from Japan or Latin America because they stand closer in
ordinary conversation than we do. They may consider you to be cool or distant, because of your tendency to stand further
away from them than is common in their culture.
VISUAL TERRITORY
Penetrating visual territory is as uncomfortable as physical invasion. Any glance lasting longer than three seconds is likely
to be as threatening to you as someone who is standing too closely when walking in public. As you approach another
person, that person will glance away from you at a distance of a few paces, almost like a visual dimming of headlights.
Strangers will maintain eye contact at a close distance, generally speaking only when they want something such as
information, assistance, a handout, signatures on petitions, to complete a survey, etc.
TERRITORY
We all stake-out and mark our own territory-space that we consider to be private and our own. It remains stationary, we
don't carry it around with us; it is merely a geographical area where we assume some types of rights. An example of this
would be your room. It is yours whether you are physically there or not. Another example would be your desk in class.
Teachers who do not use assigned seating
in their classrooms, find that the students in their classes will generally choose seats and make
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"unwritten" seating arrangements. They feel affronted if they come to class and find that someone is seated in "their"
chairs, even though no formal assignments have been given.
People who have achieved a higher status are granted more personal territory and greater privacy. An
example of this is that an employee will knock before entering the boss's office, but the boss can walk into the employee's
work area without hesitation.
Sometimes people will temporarily claim space in public situations. They may create a "territorial marker" by spreading
coats, or books, or belongings on tables or chairs. This informs other people that the space is taken. Studies done in
public libraries have found that when a book or a personal object has been left on a desk, it will hold the space for a
person for about 30 minutes. If you leave-your coat or jacket on the back of a chair, people will stay away for about two
hours.
Some people seem to imitate birds. To claim public space, they arrange objects
around themselves in much the same fashion as a bird builds a nest. A student can
claim a table or desk as his/her own by arranging a temporary nest of books and other items.
One rule of claiming space is that when a lot of space is available, you do not crowd someone else's space. If a person is
seated at a large table and is surrounded by empty chairs, you would be expected to choose a chair far away from the
person who is already seated. If you were to choose a chair next to the person, he/she would probably react with
defensive gestures as he/she edged away. If you were to move your chair even closer, that person would probably leave.
Although people have strong feelings about having their personal space invaded, rarely will anyone verbally protest an
invasion of that space.
K. Walk through each personal space zone. Describe the different types of personal distance / space and how big the space measures
L Break The Following Social Rules and record the results in the study guide.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Stand too close to someone
Stand too far away from someone when they are talking to you
Don’t look at them person during a conversation
Sit in or really close to someone’s marked territory.
Take someone’s seat in class
Exaggerate hand movements.
Look someone in the eyes as they are walking towards you
Use the wrong facial expressions when someone is talking to you.
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