In this “social distancing” environment we live in, you may be reluctant to participate in this
assignment. I understand this but you can sit in your vehicle in the parking lot of your local grocery store, shopping center, park, or just watch people walking in your neighborhood.
These and other ways will work without being in the presence of others.
Spend some time people-watching at the location of your choice. The mall is often a good place to go, but you can complete this assignment anywhere groups of people gather and interact. Your assignment is to look for examples of nonverbal communication. Find five examples to report on – for each example, describe what you saw, correctly identify what type of cue you saw using the terminology from the text, determine what function the cue was serving, and explain why you believe the cue was serving that function.
You are a researcher/observer for this assignment. You may not report upon interactions that you were personally involved in. Be as specific as possible in your description and analysis. For example, don’t say, kinesics – say emblem.
It would go like this…..
Nonverbal communication is communicating without words. This essay will discuss five of many nonverbal communication behaviors but I have chosen to observe five. The five I observed are…………
I decided to use the opportunity to observe my five nonverbal behaviors at my son’s football game. The first behavior I saw were two men giving each other high fives. They apparently knew each other because they mentioned their son’s names and wished each other good luck. High fives are examples or haptics (touch) more specifically, ritualistic touch. (Do you see how I identified what behavior was at work and then specifically told you the category high fives fit)?
Sample Solution
