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This paper sets out a research agenda for oral history in/and geography, with a particular focus on emotional historical geographies. With three families' relocation from inner‐city Glasgow to the new town of East Kilbride as the empirical backdrop, I argue that oral history methodology is uniquely well placed to capture both the emotionality and spatiality of historical narratives. Whilst previous reviews across geography and oral history theory have considered important emotional markers such as tone of voice, the expression of feeling and body language, I intervene by focusing on different narrative strategies employed throughout the interview and argue that the geographical remit of an interviewee's memories is inseparable from their emotional brevity. The focus of the paper is therefore threefold. Firstly, I consider the subjective temporalities and spatialities that oral history narrators employ when seeking composure, considering how they might "re‐place" their narratives (and thus themselves) in the interview setting. Secondly, I argue that how interviewees might "re‐place" themselves is inextricable, and as such so is any emotional reading of the interview, from the inter‐subjective relationship produced by such an encounter. Finally, I explore the implications of this methodology for carefully elaborating on the intersection between the intimate geographies of the home, and geographies of violence. How the interviewees witnessed domestic abuse among their families was moulded by the context of their relocation. Moreover, the inter‐subjective relationship, an analysis of which I argue is crucial to the findings of the paper, was also distinctly moulded by that same family context – as I was conducting these interviews with members of my own family. This paper establishes the merits of using oral history methodology to explore the emotionality and spatiality of historical‐geographical narratives. Using the new town of East Kilbride in the 1970s as a case study, I set out an emerging research agenda for the interaction between oral history theory and emotional historical geographies ‐ which in turn reveals new avenues for exploring the intimate geographies of domestic abuse. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Humans often use co‐speech gestures to promote effective communication. Attention has been paid to the cortical areas engaged in the processing of co‐speech gestures. Aims: To investigate the neural network underpinned in the processing of co‐speech gestures and to observe whether there is a relationship between areas involved in language and gesture processing. Methods & Procedures: We planned to include studies with neurotypical and/or stroke participants who underwent a bimodal task (i.e., processing of co‐speech gestures with relative speech) and a unimodal task (i.e., speech or gesture alone) during a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) session. After a database search, abstract and full‐text screening were conducted. Qualitative and quantitative data were extracted, and a meta‐analysis was performed with the software GingerALE 3.0.2, performing contrast analyses of uni‐ and bimodal tasks. Main Contribution: The database search produced 1024 records. After the screening process, 27 studies were included in the review. Data from 15 studies were quantitatively analysed through meta‐analysis. Meta‐analysis found three clusters with a significant activation of the left middle frontal gyrus and inferior frontal gyrus, and bilateral middle occipital gyrus and inferior temporal gyrus. Conclusions: There is a close link at the neural level for the semantic processing of auditory and visual information during communication. These findings encourage the integration of the use of co‐speech gestures during aphasia treatment as a strategy to foster the possibility to communicate effectively for people with aphasia. WHAT THIS PAPER ADDS: What is already known on this subject: Gestures are an integral part of human communication, and they may have a relationship at neural level with speech processing. What this paper adds to the existing knowledge: During processing of bi‐ and unimodal communication, areas related to semantic processing and multimodal processing are activated, suggesting that there is a close link between co‐speech gestures and spoken language at a neural level. What are the potential or actual clinical implications of this work?: Knowledge of the functions related to gesture and speech processing neural networks will allow for the adoption of model‐based neurorehabilitation programs to foster recovery from aphasia by strengthening the specific functions of these brain networks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Early intervention is recommended for pre‐school children with low language. However, few robustly evaluated language interventions for young children exist. Furthermore, in many interventions the theoretical underpinnings are underspecified and the 'active ingredients' of the interventions not tested. This paper presents a quasi‐experimental study to test the efficacy and examine the active ingredients of Building Early Sentences Therapy (BEST): an intervention based on usage‐based theory designed to support young children to understand and produce two‐, three‐ and four‐clause element sentences. BEST manipulates the input children hear to support them to harness the cognitive mechanisms hypothesized in usage‐based theories to promote the development of abstract linguistic representations. One such input manipulation is the use of signing alongside verbal input signalling both content and morphology of target sentences. Aims: To examine whether (1) BEST is more efficacious than treatment as usual (TAU); and (2) signing of content and morphology is an active ingredient of the intervention. Methods & Procedures: A quasi‐experimental study recruited children aged 3;5–4;5 years from 13 schools. Schools were assigned to receive either BEST with sign, BEST without sign or TAU. The TAU group received their usual classroom provision. Across arms schools were matched with respect to classroom oral language environment and indices of deprivation. Participants were 48 children (28 boys) with expressive and/or receptive language abilities ≤ 16th centile measured using the New Reynell Developmental Language Scales (NRDLS). Outcomes gathered by researchers blind to treatment arm were NRDLS production and comprehension standard scores and measures of production of targeted sentence structures. Outcomes & Results: Primary outcomes indicate that BEST with sign was significantly more efficacious than TAU with respect to NRDLS production standard score, but not comprehension. The advantage for production was maintained at follow‐up. BEST without sign was significantly more efficacious than TAU on measures of targeted vocabulary, sentence structure and morphology. The results from this quasi‐experimental study provide evidence for the efficacy of a usage‐based intervention on expressive language outcomes for preschool children with low language abilities. There is also evidence to support the inclusion of sign as an active ingredient, and so efforts to train interventionists in its use are worthwhile. Conclusions & Implications: Patterns of findings across outcomes suggest signing of content and morphology may support the development of abstract linguistic representations and accelerate language learning. Given these positive results and the scale of this study, a fully powered randomized controlled trial is warranted. WHAT THIS PAPER ADDS: What is already known on the subject: Robust language skills are crucial for positive social, emotional, academic and economic outcomes across the lifespan. There is a paucity of robustly evaluated interventions for preschool children with language difficulties. The development of such interventions is crucial for ameliorating language difficulties and promoting positive educational and psychosocial outcomes. What this study adds to the existing knowledge: This paper evaluates BEST, a novel usage‐based language intervention targeting children with language difficulties in the early years. Findings indicate that a usage‐based intervention is efficacious for treating language difficulties. In particular, BEST benefited expressive language development, bringing benefits to both treated and untreated language structures and improving standard scores. The role of sign as an active ingredient is also supported. Further evaluation is warranted. What are the practical and clinical implications of this work?: Findings suggest that BEST may be effective for targeting children who have been identified as having language difficulties. In particular, expressive language may be improved when the intervention is delivered as it was originally manualized, including a signing system to represent content and grammatical morphology. More broadly, these findings also provide preliminary evidence that the use of a signing system does not hinder oral language development in children with language difficulties and may conversely support their expressive language. Future research exploring the role and underpinning mechanisms of sign in language intervention is warranted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: There are only few guidelines on how instructional videos should be designed to optimize learning. Recently, the effects of social cues on attention allocation and learning in instructional videos have been investigated. Due to inconsistent results, it has been suggested that the visual complexity of a video influences the effect of social cues on learning. Objectives: Therefore, this study compared the effects of social cues (i.e., gaze & gesture) in low and high visual complexity videos on attention, perceived cognitive load, and learning outcomes. Methods: Participants (N = 71) were allocated to a social cue or no social cue condition and watched both a low and a high visual complexity video. After each video, participants completed a knowledge test. Results and Conclusions: Results showed that participants looked faster at referenced information and had higher learning outcomes in the low visual complexity condition. Social cues did not affect any of the dependent variables, except when including prior knowledge in the analysis: In this exploratory analysis, the inclusion of gaze and gesture cues in the videos did lead to better learning outcomes. Takeaways: Our results show that the visual complexity of instructional videos and prior knowledge are important to take into account in future research on attention and learning from instructional videos. Lay Description: What is already known about the topic: Instructional videos are widely used in education.Learners need to timely attend to relevant content to learn successfully.Learners' attention might be guided towards relevant content with social cues (gaze and gesture of a presenter or instructor) but findings regarding learning outcomes are inconclusive. What does this paper add: This paper is the first to examine the role of the visual complexity of an instructional video in the interplay between social cues (gaze and gesture), learners' attention allocation, and learning outcomes. Implications for practice: The results show that visual complexity influences the learners' attention allocation and learning outcomes.Social cues (i.e., gaze & gesture) improved learning outcomes when controlling for learners' prior knowledge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: As delays or disorders in early language and communication are the most prevalent symptom in children with disabilities, early screening is crucial to promote prevention, early diagnosis, and intervention. However, to the best of our knowledge, no screening tool is available for the joint assessment of early language and social communication skills in European Portuguese (EP)‐learning children, which is critical for screening, monitoring and enrolment in appropriate early intervention services. Aims: (1) To adapt and validate the EP version of the Communication and Symbolic Behaviour Scales Developmental Profile™ (CSBS DP™) Infant–Toddler Checklist, a parental report for the screening of early language and social communication skills. (2) To conduct a cross‐cultural comparison between the EP adaptation and the original US version. Methods & Procedures: A total of 611 EP‐learning children (ages 6–24 months) were assessed on the CSBS DP Infant–Toddler Checklist. Normative data, psychometric characteristics (i.e., internal consistency and test–retest reliability), and cross‐cultural comparison between the EP and the original version were explored. Outcomes & Results: Internal consistency ranged from good to excellent and the test–retest reliability was excellent. The performance of the EP and US samples matched on almost all scores. However, EP children performed significantly better than their American peers in the Social compositive at 22 months and in the Symbolic composite at 20 months. No further differences were found. Conclusions & Implications: These findings showed that the EP CSBS DP Infant–Toddler Checklist seems to be a reliable screening tool of communicative and symbolic behaviours for EP‐learning children, which can be particularly relevant for decision‐making in clinical practice. WHAT THIS PAPER ADDS: What is already known on the subject: Early communication skills are known to be related to later language outcomes. Thus, screening tools for the early identification of children at risk for language and communication impairments, which may lead to monitoring and early intervention, have the potential to promote better outcomes. However, to the best of our knowledge, no screening tool is available for the assessment of early communication abilities in EP‐learning children. What this paper adds to existing knowledge: This study adapted and validated the EP CSBS DP Infant–Toddler Checklist, the first published parental report checklist for the assessment of early communication skills in EP. It described the psychometric characteristics of the adapted checklist, summarized the newly available normative data for EP‐learning infants and toddlers, and compared the performance of EP‐learning children with the original standardization sample reported for American English. The results demonstrated that this tool is a reliable instrument for the early screening of language, communicative and symbolic behaviours for EP‐learning children between 6 and 24 months of age. What are the potential or actual clinical implications of this work?: Given that early screening is crucial to promote prevention, early diagnosis and intervention, the availability of this tool is particularly relevant for children monitoring and their enrolment in appropriate early intervention services, helping decision‐making in clinical practice, in line with current guidelines regarding early monitoring and intervention to promote and support better outcomes. Thus, the tool and related normative data will be useful for paediatricians, family doctors, primary healthcare providers, developmental psychologists and speech–language therapists, among other professionals in the healthcare and educational fields, concerned with speech, language, and communication development and impairments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Individuals with developmental language disorder or Williams syndrome are reported to use more gestures than individuals with typical development. However, these two groups differ considerably in visuospatial and language skills, two skills that are hypothesized to shape gesture rate. Aims: We first examined whether children with both developmental language disorder and children Williams syndrome do indeed use more gestures. Our second aim was to disentangle the role of vocabulary and visuospatial skills in the use of supplementary gestures (i.e., containing unique information). To account for participant heterogeneity, analyses included both group comparisons and vocabulary and visuospatial skills at an individual level. As a third aim, the role of visuospatial skills was further examined in relation to gestures containing spatial content. Methods & Procedures: In a cross‐sectional group design, three participant groups watched and then retold a cartoon: children with typical development (n = 25), children with developmental language disorder (n = 25) and children/young people with Williams syndrome (n = 14). Their narrations were transcribed and hand gestures were coded based on gesture–speech integration (redundant, adds information to particular lexical items, gives information that is entirely absent from speech) and spatial content. Participants' expressive vocabulary and visuospatial skills were measured. Outcomes & Results: Between‐group comparisons showed that individuals with developmental language disorder or Williams syndrome did indeed use more gestures. Poisson loglinear modelling demonstrated that a relative higher use of supplementary gestures was determined by lower expressive vocabulary skills. Neither the group distinction nor visuospatial skills shaped the supplementary gesture rate nor spatial gesture rate. Conclusions & Implications: Regardless of neurodevelopmental condition or typical development, a higher use of supplementary gestures was influenced by expressive vocabulary skills. Children with lower vocabulary skills spontaneously capitalized on the multimodality of communication to express constituents that were not present in their verbal speech. This finding is a promising starting point for future gesture intervention studies examining whether implicit modelling of gesture use can encourage gestures even more in these children and if this allows them to achieve higher linguistic complexity. On a methodological note, the observed intra‐group skill variability demonstrates that group comparisons need to be complemented with correlational measures accounting for skills at an individual level. What this paper adds: What is already known on the subject: Children with developmental language disorder and children with Williams syndrome are more inclined to use gestures than typically developing children. Research conducted in adults with typical development points towards the role of lexical and visuospatial skills in gesture use, but it is unclear how these skills shape gesture use in children with atypical development. What this paper adds to existing knowledge: This study compares the rate of gestures that convey meaning that is not expressed in speech between the three aforementioned populations. Novel is the inclusion of the group distinction, individual lexical skills, and visuospatial skills in one encompassing statistical model. What are the potential or actual clinical implications of this work?: The inclination to use gestures that replace speech is related to lexical skills. Visuospatial skills do not seem to play a role and should not be considered as a factor when thinking about gesture intervention. Understanding how gestures relate to specific skills is a first step to understanding how gesture interventions can bolster language production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: This study was designed to produce a new parent‐report measure, the Diagnostic Receptive Expressive Assessment of Mandarin‐Infant Toddler Assessment of Communication and Language (DREAM‐IT) in order to provide norms for the developmental skills of children aged 0–36 months in four areas: expressive language, receptive language, cognitive play and social skills. Methodology: The scale was designed to be both broader and deeper than existing instruments that neglect one or more of these significant domains involved in early language. Items were chosen by a group of specialists with clinical experience working with the age group and with attention to the developmental literature. Caregivers were tested individually by a trained person who asked the questions and provided examples. In addition to an extensive health questionnaire, caregivers answered questions in Mandarin about their child's behaviour using a scale of 'not yet', 'sometimes' or 'always' or listing out words and/or sounds understood or said by the child. The 476 participating caregivers were recruited at maternal and child healthcare clinics centred in Chengdu, China, 191 of whom were tested a second time seven months later. The children were sampled in three‐month age‐bands from 0 to 36 months. The sample was balanced for child gender by age band, and parental education was balanced. Caregivers of 0–24‐month‐old children and caregivers of 12–36 months were each asked a different set of questions, to determine the appropriate age range and cutoff points for each question, requiring the sample size to be doubled for children aged 12–24 months. Results: The results were subject to item‐response theory analysis to remove outlying items, and the resulting internal reliability was high for each domain (average Cronbach's alpha=0.87). The final instrument (between 67 and 113 questions in total) was refined to include the least redundant questions that had the highest intercorrelations, with attention paid to coverage of all domains across the age range. Two scales were developed: one for children 0–18 months, the second for children aged 18–36 months. The longitudinal design permitted the creation of growth curves and norms for each domain for six‐month intervals from 0 to 36 months. A small sample of 32 parents of children with Down syndrome aged 18–36 months provided validation that the scales are highly sensitive to developmental delay. Conclusion: The instrument shows considerable promise for detecting early communication problems in children in China. WHAT THIS PAPER ADDS: What is already known on the subject: In China, efforts were made in recent years to develop language assessments for infants and toddlers, but limitations existed with the domains included and number of items included per age group. Many clinical practitioners also continued to rely on language subtests of general developmental scales, which were limited in depth and breadth of language skills tested and were never intended for diagnosis of language delay. What this paper adds to existing knowledge: This paper discusses the development of a valid caregiver report instrument for early communication and language skills of infants and toddlers in mainland China. The Diagnostic Receptive Expressive Assessment of Mandarin‐Infant Toddler (DREAM‐IT) includes foundational domains necessary for language and communication development in young children (receptive language, expressive language, cognitive play and social communication domains). The results show strong internal reliability (Cronbach's alpha) for each domain on a sample of 716 children sampled in three‐month age bands from 0 to 36 months. The external validity proved strong when tested on a group of 32 young children with Down syndrome. What are the potential or actual clinical implications of this work?: Besides helping to inform the diagnosis of language delays in infants and toddlers in China, the caregiver report instrument has special features to support clinical practitioners in a field that is just emerging in China. The unique support features include the automatic generation of a profile of relative strengths and weaknesses of the child on the report and the recommendation of child‐specific caregiver coaching videos on a companion app. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Research into enhancing the effectiveness of information delivery in asynchronous video lectures remains sparse. This study analyzes the nonverbal teaching behaviours in asynchronous online videos, drawing comparisons between pre‐service and in‐service teachers (ITs). Objectives: This research primarily aims to juxtapose the nonverbal teaching behaviours, such as arm extensions and body orientation, utilized by pre‐service teachers (PTs) and ITs within asynchronous online videos. Methods: Asynchronous video lectures from four pre‐service and four ITs across four diverse subject topics were scrutinized. Leveraging deep learning technology, teachers' poses during their instruction towards a video camera were quantified, with a particular focus on arm stretch range and body orientation in relation to the subject being taught. Results: The findings revealed that PTs were deficient in effectively employing pointing gestures. Their arm stretches and body orientation towards the board were not differentiated across subjects. Conversely, ITs demonstrated subject‐specific variations in their arm extension and body orientation, signalling their effective strategies for knowledge dissemination. Conclusions and Discussion: This study emphasizes the importance of assessing nonverbal teaching behaviours in the development of effective instructional training. It accentuates the need for nonverbal communication and subject‐specific teaching strategy training in PTs. Future investigations could broaden their scope to include larger sample sizes and expanded subject areas to discern more comprehensive trends in nonverbal teaching behaviours. Lay Description: What is already known about this topic: The proliferation of online and distance learning has been largely driven by the widespread utilization of asynchronous video lectures.However, the focus of video analysis regarding teaching practices has predominantly been on in‐class activities. This has resulted in the underdevelopment of methods for delivering knowledge through asynchronous video lectures.Research into enhancing the effectiveness of information delivery within asynchronous video lectures remains sparse. What this paper adds: This study contributes to the development of teaching techniques for asynchronous online lectures through a comparative analysis of nonverbal teaching behaviours between pre‐service and in‐service teachers within asynchronous lecture videos.The findings suggest that pre‐service teachers have a deficiency in knowledge regarding the effective use of demonstrative gestures. Implications for practice and/or policy: Considering the widespread use of asynchronous video lectures – including flipped and blend learning, the training of pre‐school teachers using video analysis is requiredThe creation of a robust metric for developing knowledge delivery methods is feasible and advisable, potentially by leveraging state‐of‐the‐art technology such as deep learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Evidence shows that the relation with the referent (object manipulation, contact/no contact pointing) and the different hand features (index finger/open palm) when pointing indicate different levels of cognitive and linguistic attainment in typical development (TD). This evidences the close link between pointing, cognition and language in TD, but this relation is understudied in autism. Moreover, the longitudinal pathway these abilities follow remains unexplored and it is unclear what specific role (predictor or mediator) pointing and cognition have in both typical and atypical language development. Aims: The first aim was to investigate whether pointing hand features (index finger/open palm) and relation with the referent (manipulation, contact and no contact pointing) similarly predict language in children with and without autism. The second aim was to explore whether cognition mediates the longitudinal relationship between pointing and language development. Methods & Procedures: Sixteen children with autism, 13 children at high risk (HR) for autism and 18 TD children participated in an interactive gesture‐elicitation task and were tested on standardised cognitive and expressive language batteries in a longitudinal design. A two‐step analysis consisted of a stepwise linear regression and mediation analyses. First, the linear regression identified which hand features and types of relation with the referent predicted expressive language in all groups. Second, three mediation analyses (one per group) assessed the predictor/mediator role of the variables that met significance in the regression analysis. Outcomes & Results: Both cognition and index finger pointing were direct longitudinal predictors of further expressive language skills in the autism group. In TD and HR groups this relation was mediated by age. Conclusions & Implications: Findings highlight the role of age in communicative development, but suggest a key role of cognition and index finger use in the longitudinal relationship between pointing gestures and expressive language development in children with autism. This has important clinical implications and supports the view that index finger pointing production might be a useful tool in the intervention for communicative and language abilities in autism. What this paper adds: What is already known on the subject: There is evidence that no contact pointing is associated with complex socio‐cognitive abilities that underpin communication in TD. Similarly, studies in TD show that index finger pointing is closely linked with language acquisition. However, it is unclear whether these associations are present in autism. In addition, the mediating (or predictive) role of cognition in the pointing–language relation has not yet been explored neither in typical nor in atypical development. What this paper adds to existing knowledge: This paper shows that index finger pointing and cognition are direct longitudinal predictors of expressive language in the autism group. In the other groups this relation is mediated by age. This suggests that there is a window of opportunity for pointing to predict expressive language whereas the predictive value of cognition expands in development. Based on this, children with autism would share the same language predictors as TD children, but with delays. What are the potential or actual clinical implications of this work?: This study reveals that index finger, age and cognition reliably predict spoken language in autism, which may indicate that early prelinguistic intervention based on pointing production and the improvement of cognitive skills might have a positive impact on spoken language in this population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Communicating and engaging with children is a foundational component of child care social work practice, but all too frequently, in the wake of serious incidents, it is the focus of criticism. Drawing on findings from a large‐scale ESRC‐funded research project conducted in the four U.K. nations, this paper explores, through a psychosocial analytic lens, how social workers anticipate, enact and reflect on their encounters with both children and their families. Close analysis of what social workers said about their practice alongside what they were observed to do in practice revealed perceptions, patterns and processes of communication that, first, minimize emotions and the complexity of the professional task and second, overly privilege verbal interaction. Drawing on Sennett's (2012) ideas this paper offers a reconceptualisation of this professional task, from a communicative to a co‐operative one. It affords and creates a space in which social workers can develop more attuned communicative practices that include rituals, gestures and the minimal use of force. The theoretical insights and evidence‐informed practice recommendations arising from this research have conceptual significance for the social work discipline and practical significance for the child care social work profession, across national and international contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the construction of the identities of Philippe Curtius and his protégé Marie Grosholtz, known as Madame Tussaud, as providers of medical and health services, body workers, and entrepreneurs in key works that charted their experiences during the volatile period of the French Revolution. As purveyors of entertainment that derived its attraction from perceived close rendering of the likenesses of noteworthy individuals, modellers in wax required attentive discernment of bodies, or at least the capacity for imaginative descriptive skills, establishing a professional language for body work. Moreover, Tussaud's account explicitly foregrounds complex gender dynamics as a young woman interacting with the bodies of male and female clients. This essay explores how important eighteenth‐century gendered conceptualizations of body work are revealed in the body texts produced in this period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Prelinguistic communication complexity refers to the use of different communication forms such as eye gaze, gestures and vocalisations and the degree to which these forms are coordinated and how directed to a communication partner. To date, little is known about the relationship between prelinguistic communication complexity and expressive language in minimally verbal autistic children. Aims: To test the hypothesis that prelinguistic communication complexity predicts expressive language 12 months later in autistic children and explore whether there are any differences in specific prelinguistic intentional communicative behaviours that are related to later expressive language levels. Methods & Procedures: This longitudinal study examined 37 minimally verbal autistic children (29–71 months old). The Communication Complexity Scale (CCS) was used to measure participants' prelinguistic communication behaviours, which were extracted from a semi‐structured play interaction at Time 1. The Chinese Communicative Development Inventory (CCDI) was used to examine participants' expressive language at Time 1 and Time 2 (12 months later). According to Time 2 vocabulary size, participants were divided into two groups: Low CCDI, between 0 and 62 words, and High CCDI, more than 100 words. Linear regression was used to examine the relationship between early prelinguistic communication complexity and later expressive language. Binary logistic regression was used to determine which of the early communication behaviours were uniquely significantly related to later expressive language levels. Outcomes & Results: There was a significant positive relationship between prelinguistic communication complexity and expressive language 12 months later, even after controlling for age and concurrent language. Findings revealed a group difference in the frequency of gesture and vocalisation combinations between the Low and High CCDI groups at Time 1. Gesture‐vocalisation combinations also predicted better expressive language levels at Time 2. Conclusions & Implications: Our findings suggest that it may be beneficial to incorporate different complex communication behaviours into prelinguistic intervention targets for minimally verbal autistic children. The CCS hierarchies can be used as a reference for the intervention goals of minimally verbal autistic children. These findings highlight the importance of targeting gesture and vocalisation combinations when autistic children transition from single prelinguistic communication behaviours to multimodal behaviours. What this paper adds: What is already known on this subject: Children use eye gaze, gestures and vocalisations to communicate with others before they learn spoken language. There is strong evidence suggest that the frequency of prelinguistic communication predicts later linguistic achievements in autistic children. However, less is known about whether prelinguistic communication complexity also predicts later language and which specific behaviours are most predictive of language outcomes. What this study adds: Minimally verbal autistic children who exhibit more complex prelinguistic communication behaviours have better expressive language 12 months later. Gestures combined with vocalisations predict better expressive language in minimally verbal autistic children. What are the clinical implications of this work?: When identifying intervention targets for minimally verbal autistic children, the clinicians may reference the prelinguistic communication behaviours from the CCS. The gesture and vocalisation combinations are the key behaviours when targets transit from single form to two‐form behaviours. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Very young children from lower socioeconomic status (SES) backgrounds often show poorer language development. Whilst there have been attempts to provide early intervention programmes, these sometimes miss the most disadvantaged groups. Aims: This report presents preliminary feasibility and effectiveness data for a novel language intervention designed for parents of toddlers in the United Kingdom. Methods and Procedures: In total, 43 UK families of 2–4‐year‐olds were recruited to the study, half of whom completed an 8‐week course (Tots Talking) focussed on parent interaction, and half of whom acted as wait‐list controls. Results and Outcomes: Results suggest that such programmes are feasible for families with 86% staying in the intervention. In addition, greater changes in underlying communication skills such as joint attention and gesture were evident compared to wait‐list controls. Conclusions and Implications: We conclude that pre‐verbal skills may be more important to measure as initial outcomes than language or vocabulary change in this population. What This Paper Adds: What is already known on the subject: Children from lower socioeconomic status (SES) backgrounds are at higher risk of communication difficulties and there is a need for community intervention programmes for very young children. What this study adds: This study suggests that such programmes can be feasible and effective, but that very early/basic communicative skills (such as joint attention) may be boosted first rather than language or vocabulary. What are the clinical implications of this work?: Children's centres and other community services could feasibly run short parent facing courses emphasising contingent communication in low SES families and other diverse groups. These may be more successful run with younger preschoolers. Joint attention may be a better focus of intervention before expecting vocabulary or language change. Community health professionals may find this information useful in referring and supporting families in need. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: People with aphasia rely on gesture more than healthy controls to get their message across, but use a limited range of gesture types. Gesture therapy is thus a potential avenue of intervention for people with aphasia. However, currently no gesture assessment evaluates how they use gesture. Such a tool could inform therapy targets and measure outcomes. In gesture research, many different coding categories are used to describe gesture forms and functions. These coding methods are prohibitively time‐consuming to use in clinical practice. There is therefore a need for a 'quick and dirty' method of assessing gesture use. Aims: To investigate current practice among UK‐based clinicians (speech and language therapists) in relation to gesture assessment and therapy, to synthesize gesture‐coding frameworks used in aphasia research, to develop a gesture checklist based on the synthesized coding frameworks suitable for use in clinical practice, and to investigate the interrater reliability (IRR) of the checklist among experienced and unfamiliar users. Methods & Procedures: The research team synthesized seven gesture‐coding frameworks and trialled three resulting prototype checklists at a co‐design workshop with 20 clinicians. Attending clinicians were also consulted about their current clinical gesture practice using a questionnaire. A final City Gesture Checklist (CGC) was developed based upon outcomes and feedback from the workshop. The IRR of the CGC was evaluated between the research team and 11 further clinicians within a second workshop. Both groups used the CGC to count gestures in video clips of people with aphasia talking to a conversation partner. Main Contribution: A total of 18 workshop attendees completed the current practice questionnaire. Of these, 10 reported assessing gesture informally and five also used formal assessment. Gesture‐coding synthesis highlighted six main categories of gesture form. Clinicians at the co‐design workshop provided feedback on prototype checklists regarding the relevance and usability of the gesture categories, layout, use of images and instructions. A final version of the CGC was created incorporating their recommendations. The IRR for the CGC was moderate between both the researchers and clinicians. Conclusions & Implications: The CGC can be used to assess the types of gesture that people with aphasia produce. The IRR was moderate amongst both experienced users and new users who had received no training. Future research directions include investigating how to improve IRR, evaluating intra‐rater reliability and sensitivity to change, and exploring use of the CGC in clinical practice. What this paper addsWhat is already known on the subjectPeople with aphasia rely on gesture more than healthy speakers, yet use a more limited range of gesture types. Gesture therapy is used by clinicians with the aim of helping people with aphasia to compensate for their language impairment and/or to facilitate speech.What this paper adds to existing knowledgeThis study explores current gesture assessment practice among UK‐based clinicians and synthesizes the coding categories used in the literature about gesture research in aphasia. It describes the development of a novel outcome measure, the CGC, and preliminary testing of its IRR.What are the potential or actual clinical implications of this work?This 'quick and dirty' tool enables clinicians to analyse and record the types of gesture produced by people with aphasia without the need for gesture coding. Preliminary findings suggest that clinicians can use it with a fair degree of reliability by following the checklist's written instructions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper considers the recognition of moving images and proposes a new framework in which the local features, the global structure, and motion information are handled comprehensively. The method is applied to the extraction of facial expressions and its effectiveness is demonstrated. In most conventional moving image recognition methods, recognition is performed on the basis of the sequence of recognition results for individual frames. However, the authors believe that the motion information should be more positively utilized in the recognition of the individual frames. When the time-series data are combined into the recognition of a still image, however, the amount of information is tremendous, making the processing complicated. The method proposed in this paper extends the concept of the labeled graph matching method, which has been used for still images, to moving images. The proposed method handles sparse graphs and can prevent an increase in the amount of computation. By dynamically adjusting the features to be handled according to the stage of processing, complex processing in dynamic image recognition can be integrated in a simple and straightforward way. As practical examples, the human head, and parts of the head, are extracted, indicating the effectiveness of the proposed method. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Electron Comm Jpn Pt 3, 87(10): 35–43, 2004; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/ecjc.20106 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Given the widespread use of touch screen devices, the effect of the users' fingers on information processing and learning is of growing interest. The present study drew on cognitive load theory and embodied cognition perspectives to investigate the effects of pointing and tracing gestures on the surface of a multimedia learning instruction. Learning performance, cognitive load and visual attention were examined in a one‐factorial experimental design with the between‐subject factor pointing and tracing gestures. The pointing and tracing group were instructed to use their fingers during the learning phase to make connections between corresponding text and picture information, whereas the control group was instructed not to use their hands for learning. The results showed a beneficial effect of pointing and tracing gestures on learning performance, a significant shift in visual attention and deeper processing of information by the pointing and tracing group, but no effect on subjective ratings of cognitive load. Implications for future research and practice are discussed. Lay Description: What is currently known about the subject matter? Pointing and tracing gestures enhance learning with multimediaThe effect is true for paper based and digital learning instructionsLess is known about the cause of this effect with regard to complex learningDifferent theoretical explanations are currently discussed What our paper adds to this A detailed analysis of the effect using eye‐tracking and touch screen dataEvidence that the effect of pointing and tracing is mediated by eye‐movementsRelevant information concerning the discussion about theoretical explanations The implications of study findings for practitioners Pointing and tracing gestures can guide the learners' visual focus of attentionPointing and tracing gestures can increase the learners' visual attentionPointing and tracing gestures foster information processing when learning with multimediaLearners can or even should use pointing and tracing gestures to support learning [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Virtual reality has shown great potential in many fields, especially in business and psychology. By immersing someone in a new computer‐generated reality, it is possible to create realistic, safe, and controllable simulations for research and training, as well as new three‐dimensional‐enriched consumer experiences and services. Most of these environments, especially in the metaverse, rely on virtual representations of people called avatars. The design and non‐verbal behaviors of these avatars must be carefully crafted to provide a realistic and truly immersive experience. This paper aims to understand how avatar nonverbal behaviors (i.e., body posture, facial expression, and head movement) are perceived by users immersed in a virtual reality context, a very common situation encountered in many simulations and especially during training. Therefore, the first objective of this study is to validate, through an experiment with 125 participants, how the audience's levels of emotional valence and arousal are perceived in virtual reality. Based on these results, a library of audience non‐verbal behaviors corresponding to different arousal and valence levels is now available for future applications. The experiment also examines the benefits of using low‐end versus high‐end virtual reality headsets, and photo‐realistic versus cartoon avatars. The results have implications for the design of realistic, challenging, and interactive virtual audiences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Critically ill patients have the right to communicate and participate in their treatment to avoid adverse medical outcomes due to the severity of their illness, their responsiveness, and level of consciousness. This human right has often been neglected by health care professionals, as a result of limited alternative communication support provided to patients who are unable to speak due to, for example, endotracheal intubation. Despite the successful use of alternative communication strategies in critical care units (CCUs) in other countries, limited implementation in South African hospitals has been reported. Aims and objectives: This study aimed to determine the perspectives of South African nurses working in CCUs on the frequency of use of alternative communication strategies to support patient‐centred communication with critically ill adult patients. Design: The study followed a quantitative non‐experimental survey research design. Methods: A total of 210 nurses working in both private and public hospitals completed a survey on their perspectives on the use of alternative communication strategies in CCUs. Results: Nurse participants reported experience working with critically ill and communication‐vulnerable patients. Nurse–patient communication mainly involved the use of pen and paper, facial expressions and gestures to obtain information relating to patients' needs and their health history. Limited use of speech‐generating communication devices was reported. Conclusion: Nurse training on the use and implementation of alternative communication strategies, such as communication boards or electronic speech‐generating devices, should be investigated to improve nurses' communication with communication‐vulnerable patients in South Africa. Relevance to clinical practice: The results are applicable in clinical practice due to patients' need for alternative communication. The nurses mainly used low‐tech solutions, which are cheap and easy to access. However, there exists an opportunity to increase the use of available digital solutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simon Williams has provided an interesting and informative rejoinder to the journal "Sociology of Health and Illness." Authors believe that Williams has raised some significant criticisms of the paper, and they will address these. Williams's first point is that what authors wrote was not very new. Agreed. It is certainly true that the concepts of self and identity, which were the central theoretical planks in their argument, are to be found in the work of other authors. Neither of the authors has ever sought to conceal their admiration for the work of other authors, and they admit happily to the influence of these writers on their own thinking about chronic illness. Following his critique of authors' paper Williams presents the concept of body image as a theoretical alternative which he suggests is complementary to their own position. Authors do not agree, because of the theoretical problems that the concept of body image generates for them. Over many years body image has become established in the lexicon of pop-psychology. It is now frequently invoked, along with its close cousin--body language, as a useful way of describing social behaviour and people's feelings about their own bodies amidst this social behaviour.

This paper provides an integrative review of neuroscientific and biobehavioral evidence about the effects of dance on the individual across cultural differences. Dance moves us, and many derive aesthetic pleasure from it. However, in addition-and beyond aesthetics-we propose that dance has noteworthy, deeper neurobiological effects. We first summarize evidence that illustrates the centrality of dance to human life indirectly from archaeology, comparative psychology, developmental psychology, and cross-cultural psychology. Second, we review empirical evidence for six neural and biobehavioral functions of dance: (1) attentional focus/flow, (2) basic emotional experiences, (3) imagery, (4) communication, (5) self-intimation, and (6) social cohesion. We discuss the reviewed evidence in relation to current debates in the field of empirical enquiry into the functions of human dance, questioning the positions that dance is (1) just for pleasure, (2) all about sex, (3) just for mood management and well-being, and (4) for experts only. Being a young field, evidence is still piecemeal and inconclusive. This review aims to take a step toward a systematization of an emerging avenue of research: a neuro- and biobehavioral science of dance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The existing evidence is limited in terms of perspectives of preschool children with speech and language needs and their views on activities used to support their needs. This paper discusses a stream of work from the interdisciplinary research programme known as "Child Talk," based in England, UK. The overall purpose of this work stream was to gain the perspectives of preschool children aged 2 to 5 years and 11 months, with speech and language needs, to use in the development of an evidence‐based framework of activities. Methods: Twenty‐four preschool children with a variety of needs from diverse backgrounds took part. An observational methodology was used to capture children's experiences. Children were filmed during a series of sessions, with innovative head‐mounted cameras worn by the children and supported by researcher field notes. Framework analysis was used to analyse the data based on the body movement, vocalization, and visual attention of the children during these sessions. Results and Conclusions: Results included that children expressed enjoyment and engagement in the activities. The children expressed themselves and demonstrated their focus "multimodally" through combinations of body language, vocalization, and visual attention. These modalities were present across all contexts and children. It highlights the importance of encouraging participation in preschool children and consequently this innovative piece of work has national and international importance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An instructor's gestures have an effect not only on students' learning but also on teaching itself. In two experiments, this study tested whether instructors' use of gestures while recording video lectures affected their teaching performance, stress, and cognitive load. In Experiment 1, participants recorded video lectures with gestures or without gestures. As hypothesized, t tests showed that participants in the gestures condition had better teaching performance and lower cognitive load than participants in the no‐gestures condition, whereas there was no effect on stress level. In Experiment 2, participants recorded video lectures with either pointing gestures or representational gestures. The t tests indicated that participants in the pointing gestures condition showed better teaching performance and experienced lower stress than those in the representational gestures condition, but there was no difference in cognitive load. Overall, our findings suggest that in the new educational environment of video lectures, instructors should consider using gestures, especially pointing gestures, to improve their teaching and their experience of teaching. Lay Description: What is already known about this topic Instructors' gestures have benefits on learners' learning.Different types of gestures have different effect.Gestures can affect speaker's cognition. What this paper adds This study explored the effect of whether instructors' gestures and different types of gestures (pointing gestures and representational gestures) during recording instructional videos on their teaching.Instructors' gestures improved their teaching performance, induced cognitive load, and enhanced teaching efficacy.Instructors' pointing gestures were outperformed than representational gestures in teaching performance and stress level. Implications for practice and/or policy Instructors should consider using gestures when recording instructional videos, especially pointing gestures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Accessible summary: We taught teachers sign language to use with children with a disabilityWe asked teachers if they liked the training and learning signsWe tested their memory of signs after training and 6 and 12 weeks laterWe found that teachers can learn signs in a one‐day workshop and remember them laterTeachers forgot some of the signs by 6 weeks laterTeachers want follow‐up sessions to practise the signs to help them remember the signs. Background: Children and adults with developmental disability frequently require either aided or unaided alternative and augmentative communication (AAC). Key word sign (KWS) involves using natural gesture and sign language to support the key words in spoken utterances. The purpose of this study was to determine whether communication partners of children and adults with developmental disabilities can learn and retain a basic KWS vocabulary. Materials and Methods: Communication partners attended a one‐day training workshop where they were taught 100 signs. Measures of sign recognition and production were taken prior to the training, immediately after the training on the day and at 6 and 12 weeks later. Results: Participants were able to learn signs during the workshop and demonstrate receptive and expressive knowledge of KWS. However, sign knowledge decreased after 6 and 12 weeks. Participants noted that having to be tested again after several weeks, motivated them to practise and served as a follow‐up. Conclusion: This paper provides evidence that KWS training enables participants to learn and retain signs, but that there is a need for ongoing training and support even for communication partners who use sign regularly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper identifies key themes from research into programme fidelity of sexual abuse prevention programmes. It presents a detailed analysis of programme fidelity within a study of the Tweenees school-based abuse prevention programme (Barron and Topping, ). The paper reports how programme fidelity was addressed in a programme delivered to survivors of child sexual abuse by experienced survivor organisation workers. There was also study of programme fidelity in the delivery of the programme to grade-seven pupils through co-working between survivor organisation workers and teachers. Video was taken of all four sessions delivered to the survivors' group. To begin to explore programme fidelity when lessons were co-delivered by survivor organisation workers and a teacher, the first session of a grade-seven class was videoed. Survivor organisation workers achieved high levels of programme fidelity characterised by facilitative communicative behaviours (e.g. affirming responses, seeking clarification, checking understanding and summarising). The grade-seven teacher's communication was characterised by a behaviour management focus. Video analysis of interactions was a useful measure for programme fidelity and analysing appropriate communication underpinning delivery of the programme. Recommendations for future programme fidelity measures are provided for researchers and practitioners in the field. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

What visual cues do human viewers use to assign personality characteristics to animated characters? While most facial animation systems associate facial actions to limited emotional states or speech content, the present paper explores the above question by relating the perception of personality to a wide variety of facial actions (e.g., head tilting/turning, and eyebrow raising) and emotional expressions (e.g., smiles and frowns). Animated characters exhibiting these actions and expressions were presented to human viewers in brief videos. Human viewers rated the personalities of these characters using a well-standardized adjective rating system borrowed from the psychological literature. These personality descriptors are organized in a multidimensional space that is based on the orthogonal dimensions of desire for affiliation and displays of social dominance. The main result of the personality rating data was that human viewers associated individual facial actions and emotional expressions with specific personality characteristics very reliably. In particular, dynamic facial actions such as head tilting and gaze aversion tended to spread ratings along the dominance dimension, whereas facial expressions of contempt and smiling tended to spread ratings along the affiliation dimension. Furthermore, increasing the frequency and intensity of the head actions increased the perceived social dominance of the characters. We interpret these results as pointing to a reliable link between animated facial actions/expressions and the personality attributions they evoke in human viewers. The paper shows how these findings are used in our facial animation system to create perceptually valid personality profiles based on dominance and affiliation as two parameters that control the facial actions of autonomous animated characters. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Expressive facial animation synthesis of human like characters has had many approaches with good results. MPEG-4 standard has functioned as the basis of many of those approaches. In this paper we would like to lay out the knowledge of some of those approaches inside an ontology in order to support the modeling of emotional facial animation in virtual humans (VH). Inside this ontology we will present MPEG-4 facial animation concepts and its relationship with emotion through expression profiles that utilize psychological models of emotions. The ontology allows storing, indexing and retrieving prerecorded synthetic facial animations that can express a given emotion. Also this ontology can be used a refined knowledge base in regards to the emotional facial animation creation. This ontology is made using Web Ontology Language and the results are presented as answered queries. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Measures of the effectiveness of marketing communications have traditionally focused on the verbal components of the message. In recent years researchers have recognized that nonverbal messages are at least as important, and sometimes more important, than the verbal message. The present paper provides an overview of research on nonverbal communication, with special emphasis on advertising and personal selling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since multitouch interfaces are steadily moving out of the experimental niche, the demand for comprehensive programming support increases. Between the formation of de facto standards for multitouch gestures by the industry, and continued research and experimentation by developers or academia, the abstraction of gesture properties becomes essential. This paper contributes a revision of the Gesture Formalization for Multitouch (GeForMT) gesture description language. This language aims at a short and concise syntax, which is still able to capture the complexity of multitouch gestures. We report on a previously missing reference architecture and practical implementation. Based on a study comparing the revised GeForMT language with other formalization approaches for multitouch gestures, we introduce an editor for GeForMT.Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In music therapy for nonfluent aphasia patients who have difficulty producing meaningful words, phrases, and sentences, various benefits of singing have been identified: strengthened breathing and vocal ability, improved articulation and prosody of speech, and increased verbal and nonverbal communicative behaviors. This paper will introduce these various techniques used in clinical music therapy, and summarize findings based on our recent study to illustrate the strength of different techniques emphasizing rhythm, pitch, memory, and vocal/oral motor components dealing with different symptoms. The efficacy of each component is enhanced or diminished by the choice of music and the way it is interactively delivered. This indicates that neural mechanisms underlying speech improvement vary greatly with available acoustic and social cues in aphasic brain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper addresses methodological considerations relevant to nonverbal communication of emotion research. In order to gather more information about the interpretations given to spontaneous and dynamic facial expressions, two main objectives guide the present exploratory research. The first one is to obtain naturalistic recordings of emotional expressions in realistic settings that are ‘emotional enough’. The second one is to address the issue of dynamic judgments of facial expressions of emotion, that is real-time emotional recognition. An innovative device has been created for this specific purpose. Results show that, although the social nature of the eliciting situation is minimal, the experience of some emotions is reflected on the encoders' faces while being covertly videotaped in natural conditions. Moreover, results show the utility to investigate dynamic emotional judgments of spontaneous and dynamic expressions since observers seem to be sensitive to the slightest facial expression change in making their emotional judgments. A promising paradigm is thus proposed for the study of the dynamics of real-time nonverbal emotional interaction. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes a new approach for gesture recognition based on stochastic context-free grammar (SCFG). We focus on the actions in the Japanese tea ceremony, where structure of the action can be described by context-free grammar. Our aim is to recognize the actions in the tea ceremony. Existing SCFG approach consists of generating symbol stream, parsing, and recognition. The symbol stream often includes uncertainty. Therefore, the parsing process needs to recover from errors in the entry process. This paper proposes an error-free approach to segment an action into a set of events. This approach, based on acceleration of body motion, can produce events corresponding to a terminal symbol with little error. After translating the events into a set of symbol streams, parsing the set of the streams leaves a small number to be derived. The number of potential streams is not too large since each event is correctly segmented. Among the remaining streams, our SCFG can identify the action with a maximum posterior probability. Giving an SCFG rule the multiple probabilities, one SCFG can recognize multiple actions. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Syst Comp Jpn, 38(9): 52–62, 2007; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/scj.20531 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many people are extremely anxious about their blushing and regard it as the cause of their social difficulties rather than as a symptom of them. This paper addresses the belief that there is something inherently unpleasant or unattractive about blushing. Historical evidence shows that redness of the cheeks has long been regarded as a sign of facial beauty and youth, and transitory changes such as the blush have also been seen in a positive light as an indication of modesty and charm. The blush is an expression of shame and embarrassment and it too can be regarded in positive or negative light depending on the circumstances. What is distinctive about contemporary anxieties about blushing is that perceived personal inadequacies are in themselves reason to be ashamed and embarrassed: there is a vicious circle where a blush is both a sign of, and reason for, self-deprecation. This perception is not a necessary one but reflects current cultural values and this has implications for the treatment of blushing anxieties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When lecturing, teachers make use of both verbal and nonverbal communication. What is called teaching, therefore, involves not only the words and sentences a teacher utters and writes on the board during a lesson, but also all the hands/arms gestures, body movements, and facial expressions a teacher performs in the classroom. All of these communicative modalities constitute resources that are made available to students for making sense of and learning from lectures. Yet in the literature on teaching science, these other means of communication are little investigated and understood—and, correspondingly, they are undertheorized. The purpose of this position paper is to argue for a different view of concepts in lectures: they are performed simultaneously drawing on and producing multiple resources that are different expressions of the same holistic meaning unit. To support our point, we provide examples from a database of 26 lectures in a 12th-grade biology class, where the human body was the main topic of study. We analyze how different types of resources—including verbal and nonverbal discourse and various material artifacts—interact during lectures. We provide evidence for the unified production of these various sense-making resources during teaching to constitute a meaning unit, and we emphasize particularly the use of gestures and body orientations inside this meaning unit. We suggest that proper analyses of meaning units need to take into account not only language and diagrams but also a lecturer's pointing and depicting gestures, body positions, and the relationships between these different modalities. Scientific knowledge (conceptions) exists in the concurrent display of all sense-making resources, which we, following Vygotsky, understand as forming a unit (identity) of nonidentical entities. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Sci Ed91:96–114, 2007 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dynamic facial expressions of emotion constitute natural and powerful media compared with static ones. However, little is known about the processing of dynamic facial expressions of emotion. In this paper, we describe the results of our recent neuroimaging and psychological studies on this issue. A neuroimaging study was conducted to investigate brain activity while viewing dynamic facial expressions. The results revealed that the broad region of visual cortices, the amygdala, and the right inferior frontal gyrus were more activated in response to dynamic facial expressions than control stimuli, such as static facial expressions and dynamic mosaics. In corresponding with the characteristics of these brain activities, the results of three psychological studies indicated that the dynamic presentation: (a) intensified the perceptual image of the facial expression (perceptual enhancement); (b) enhanced the emotional feeling; and (c) elicited spontaneous and rapid facial mimicry. These results revealed that the dynamic property facilitates the perceptual, emotional, and motor processing of facial expressions of emotion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we address the problem of temporal alignment applied to capture communicative gestures conveying different styles. We propose a representation space that may be considered as robust to the spatial variability induced by style. By extending a multilevel dynamic time warping algorithm, we show how this extension can fulfil the goals of time correspondence between gesture sequences while preventing jerkiness introduced by standard time warping methods. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper questions the underpinning assumptions inherent in the concept of cognitive age and shows how these reflect a Western preoccupation with youthfulness. Then, arguing that attitudes to age and aging are socially constructed, it demonstrates how these are not fixed but mutable and how the demographic power of the baby boom generation may significantly alter attitudes to aging. The implications for marketers' use of cognitive age are discussed. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In conversation, individuals work together to achieve communicative goals, complementing and aligning language and body with each other. An important emerging question is whether interlocutors entrain with one another equally across linguistic levels (e.g., lexical, syntactic, and semantic) and modalities (i.e., speech and gesture), or whether there are complementary patterns of behaviors, with some levels or modalities diverging and others converging in coordinated fashions. This study assesses how kinematic and linguistic entrainment interact with one another across levels of measurement, and according to communicative context. We analyzed data from two matched corpora of dyadic interaction between—respectively—Danish and Norwegian native speakers engaged in affiliative conversations and task‐oriented conversations. We assessed linguistic entrainment at the lexical, syntactic, and semantic level, and kinetic alignment of the head and hands using video‐based motion tracking and dynamic time warping. We tested whether—across the two languages—linguistic alignment correlates with kinetic alignment, and whether these kinetic‐linguistic associations are modulated either by the type of conversation or by the language spoken. We found that kinetic entrainment was positively associated with low‐level linguistic (i.e., lexical) entrainment, while negatively associated with high‐level linguistic (i.e., semantic) entrainment, in a cross‐linguistically robust way. Our findings suggest that conversation makes use of a dynamic coordination of similarity and complementarity both between individuals as well as between different communicative modalities, and provides evidence for a multimodal, interpersonal synergy account of interaction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is written by clinicians for clinicians who are thinking about or planning to evaluate family therapy. The basic premise is that to be successful a research project must be built from the beginning on a very solid foundation. This foundation is built from a careful consideration of various research problems which are interrelated yet which can be solved when addressed in a particular sequence. The paper describes eight stages which must be followed in any research project. The authors illustrate these stages with examples from their own experience with a family therapy process research study lasting five years. This project did not produce reliable results, but the authors learnt important lessons about such things as the way a particular theory may lead a researcher to select data which cannot be reliably observed; and the way in which practical constraints can erode the reliability of the outcome. Discussion of why and where the project went wrong offers direction and warnings for the prospective clinician/researcher. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Deceptive behavior in negotiations has been found to be widespread and to have harmful consequences. This study shifts the current research direction on deceptive negotiation behavior by adopting a target's perspective on deception and by using a configurational theorizing approach. Prior studies in supply chain management (SCM) and in other disciplines have studied deceptive negotiation behavior—as one specific form of opportunism—based on correlational approaches. In doing so, they have focused almost exclusively on the actor's (i.e., deceiver's) perspective—for example, investigating actors' motivations for using deception. As a result, a profound understanding of deceptive negotiation behavior from a target's perspective is lacking. In three studies, this research investigates what factors, on both the firm and individual levels, combine to lead purchasing managers (i.e., targets) to perceive supplier deception. The configurational analysis uncovers considerably more combinations of firm‐level and individual‐level factors that lead to perceptions of high supplier deception than combinations that lead to perceptions of low supplier deception. Thus, the contribution is twofold: First, the studies shift the perspective from the deception source to the deception target. Second, they uncover the causally complex nature of perceived deception in negotiations. Managerial implications include that purchasing managers, in their efforts to detect supplier deception, should move beyond paying attention to isolated factors, such as body language, and instead should focus on different combinations of power balances, negotiation stakes, and negotiator proficiencies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Political apologies have been theorized to play an important role in healing and reconciliation processes in post‐conflict settings. Whether they actually fulfil this function, however, remains unclear as the voices and perspectives of victim communities have largely been underrepresented in research. To address this, we examined the role of apologies that were offered for the El Mozote massacre (El Salvador), the Jeju 4.3 massacres (Republic of Korea) and Bloody Sunday (United Kingdom), according to members of these communities and the broader public. Although we anticipated that victim community members should find the apology more valuable and meaningful and should, therefore, be more positive about its role in healing and reconciliation processes, we found that this varies across countries. This variation could be explained by people's trust in the country's institutions. Across the samples, we found that the apology was seen as a relatively important gesture. For the apology to be perceived as impactful, however, it had to be seen as a meaningful (i.e. sincere) gesture. Our findings suggest that apologies have a role to play in the aftermath of human rights violations, but that it is essential to take the broader context into account. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Compassion is important to patients and their families, predicts positive patient and practitioner outcomes, and is a professional requirement of physicians around the globe. Yet, despite the value placed on compassion, the empirical study of compassion remains in its infancy and little is known regarding what compassion 'looks like' to patients. The current study addresses limitations in prior work by asking patients what physicians do that helps them feel cared for. Methods: Topic modelling analysis was employed to identify empirical commonalities in the text responses of 767 patients describing physician behaviours that led to their feeling cared for. Results: Descriptively, seven meaningful groupings of physician actions experienced as compassion emerged: listening and paying attention (71% of responses), following‐up and running tests (11%), continuity and holistic care (8%), respecting preferences (4%), genuine understanding (2%), body language and empathy (2%) and counselling and advocacy (1%). Conclusion: These findings supplement prior work by identifying concrete actions that are experienced as caring by patients. These early data may provide clinicians with useful information to enhance their ability to customize care, strengthen patient–physician relationships and, ultimately, practice medicine in a way that is experienced as compassionate by patients. Public Contribution: This study involves the analysis of data provided by a diverse sample of patients from the general community population of New Zealand. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Discusses the article "Body language and the self: the search for psychic truth," by J Hubback, published in the 1986 issue of "Chiron". Research on psyche/soma wholeness; Position statement of analytical psychology towards psychological illnesses.

Racism is increasingly recognized as a determinant of health.1 The health impacts of racism are evident in all areas of medical care and surgery is no exception. Promotes a safe and inclusive health care environment and works to eliminate health inequities. Patients must always feel involved in their decision-making about their own care to achieve positive health outcomes and most importantly, experiences.22 Overt and subliminal racism is wrong and inadvertently affects healthcare delivery. As a professional community we need to practice cultural competence.24 If we understand the context and the bias in structural inequities in healthcare delivery, we can be culturally safe and better advocate for our communities leading to better outcomes. [Extracted from the article]

This paper reports on a microanalysis of gestural behavior in classroom assessment situations. Videotaped excerpts of secondary school ESL students engaged in a peer group oral assessment task were transcribed to represent the gestures that occurred during the interaction. Using conversation analysis as a central tool for analysis, this study explored the potential differences in use of gestures between higher- and lower-scoring students in group oral language assessment situations. Results show that gestures of the higher-scoring group appeared to be well synchronized with the flow of speech, turn-taking, as well as other nonverbal behavior such as eye contact and facial expression, whereas the gestural behavior of the lower-scoring group appeared to be an outward sign of language difficulties, disfluency, tension, and lack of confidence, and largely bore no association to the verbal speech. In addition, in the higher-scoring group, gestures seemed to function at all the three discourse levels (paranarrative, metanarrative, and narrative), while in the lower-scoring group, gestures seemed to be utilized predominantly at the paranarrative level and be involved in self-organizational processes. Implications for current oral test criterion modification and for students' test preparation are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the possibility that L2 learners utilize gesture, like speech, for intrapersonal problem solving. Kita (2000) argued that the “default” organization of information when speaking is analytic but that the use of representational gestures, specifically iconic and abstract deictic gestures, can constitute a spatio-motoric mode of thinking, that is, that we deploy “gesturing for thinking”. Thus, Kita believes that gestures are actional as opposed to representational and form as part of the physical environment in conjunction with the cognitive system. In applying this perspective to second language learning, it is argued in the current study that, because of an inability to fully command discourse in the L2, at times learners utilize this mode of thinking. There is also speculation that the use of gestures in the form of beats in relation to prosodic features, notably intonation and syllable structure, may be a form of enaction, that is, internalizing the L2 through embodied processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores how professionals within the Norwegian immigration authorities conceptualise age when doing non‐medical age assessments. By using social constructivism, which challenges an ethnocentric quantifying understanding of age, we delve into how socially constructed perceptions of childhood and adulthood manifest in assessment practices and the implications of these. By examining how applicants' physical appearance, body language and life experience are used as an assessment basis, we argue that the ways age is conceptualised relate to Western ideas and ideals while overlooking other social and cultural backgrounds in which age is embedded. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Studies the interrelationship of physiographic gestures and speech in a group of children. Expression of physiographic gestures during conversations; Production of physiographic gestures when describing pictures and previously executed motor activities; Utilization of physiographic gestures when there is a discrepancy between the units of thought and speech.

This article discusses nonverbal interpersonal communication in a multicultural workplace. A paper entitled "The Little Chill," by Lise Funderburg published in "O, the Oprah Magazine" talks about the ways in gestures attached to verbal words are used to make employees feel excluded. Personality, internal dimensions, organizational dimensions, and external dimensions are factors that come into play in communication within organizations. The World of Difference Institute presents tips for creating an inclusive work environment.

Context: Empathic physician behaviour is associated with improved patient outcomes. One way to demonstrate empathy is through the use of non‐verbal communication (NVC) including touch. To date, research on NVC, and specifically touch, has been relatively limited in medicine, which is surprising given the central role it plays in conveying affective and empathic messages. To inform curriculum development on NVC, this study aimed to examine physicians' experiences of communicating by touch. Methods: We conducted an interpretative phenomenological study. A total of 15 physicians (seven women and eight men) from different specialties, including both recent graduates and experienced doctors, described in detail specific instances of touch drawn from their clinical practices. Interview prompts encouraged participants to recall exact details such as the context, their relationship with the patient they touched and their physical experience of touching. Interviews (45‐100 minutes) were analysed with template analysis, followed by a process of dialectic questioning, moving back and forth between the data and researchers' personal reflections on them, drawing on phenomenological literature to synthesise a final interpretation. Results: Participants described two dimensions of the experience of touch: 'choosing and inviting touch' and 'expressing empathy.' Touch was a personal and fragile process. Participants interpreted non‐verbal patient cues in order to determine whether or not touch was appropriate. They interpreted facial expressions and body language in the present to make meaning of patients' experiences. They used touch to share emotions, and to demonstrate empathy and presence. Participants' experiences of touch framed it as a form of embodied empathic communication. Conclusions: Touch is a powerful form of NVC that can establish human connection. Phenomenological accounts of empathy, which emphasise its embodied intersubjective nature, can be used to theoretically enrich pedagogical approaches to touch in medical education and to deepen our understanding of empathy. If a picture is worth a thousand words, what value hath a touch? The authors of this study describe how doctors communicate empathy through touch, raising awareness of why non‐verbal communication skill should be incorporated into communication skills training. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]