Non-verbal communication, innate or learned?

Darkfrog submitted, created time 2 months 3 weeks (www.nytimes.com)

This article talks about the assumption that non-verbal signs of pride and shame, such as gestures and facial expressions, are learned and not innate.

It seems that even people who have been blind since birth still raise their arms in a great "WOHOO!" of victory and slump their shoulders with disappointment. Frankly, I don't think this entirely precludes the idea that they're learned, but it does open up the question pretty well.

3 comments | Blog It | Email It | Keywords: blindness facial expressions primates human evolutionary biology communication non-verbal communication anthropology

A cultural difference in the way Westerners and Asians view facial expressions?

Darkfrog submitted, created time 8 months 1 week (www.nytimes.com)

I know we've got a lot of Asians on this board, so tell me if you think this article is accurate. Participants were divided into two groups, "Western" and "Japanese." Both groups were shown the same set of pictures of children and asked to rate the facial expressions of one specific child in each photograph. The Westerners rated the target children's expressions the same way no matter what the other children in the picture were doing, but the Japanese participants rated children as happier if the children in the background looked happy, etc

2 comments | Blog It | Email It | Keywords: science and culture faces facial expressions emotion emotions feelings Asia human behavior