Psychology 2070A/B Chapter Notes - Chapter 4: Display Rules, Domestic Violence, Nonverbal Communication

• School: Western University
• Department: Psychology
• Course: Psychology 2070A/B
• Professor: Sarah Stanton

Document Summary

Social perception: the study of how we form impressions of other people and make inferences about them. Non-verbal communication: the way in which people communicate, intentionally or unintentionally, without words: non-verbal cues can include facial expressions, tone of voice, gestures, body position and movement, the use of touch and eye gaze. Physical characteristics such as attractiveness influence the way we judge others, in addition to what people say. Our ability to read non-verbal cues is not limited to members of our species (seen with our understanding of cues from dogs and cats) Facial electromyography (recording the movements of facial muscles); it has been shown that we mimic other people"s facial expressions, happiness, sadness and disgust. The extent to which we mimic differs depending on different factors: women mimic smiles more, we are more likely to mimic when we like our interaction partner. Humans have a special kind of brain cell called mirror neurons.