-Elderly (60-80) perform significantly worse than younger adults (20-40) on decoding facial expressions of emotion-They perform as well when decoding emotion from the voice-Elderly with Alzheimer’s have more problems decoding facial expressions of emotion than healthy or psychiatric outpatient elderly-Peak performance in the ability to identify facial expressions is in middle age; children and older adults perform poorest-Fear, sadness, anger, and happiness were hardest for the elderly to decode-Ambady et al, 2002-Facial expressiveness of physical therapists-Especially smiling-Positively associated with improvements over time in (all positively associated with physical therapist smiling):-Mobility-Performing activities of daily living-Decrease in confusion-Facial expressiveness conveys empathyENCODING:-Dyads interacting in public are closest for young children and old people and farthest from middle aged-Dyads in shopping malls: closest distance in preschool and senior citizen pairs-When approaching a friend, elderly women (63-85) use personal space, young women (19-24) use intimate space-Btw age 59-94, older age is associated with a preference for closer space except among those with limited mobility who prefer more spaceDECODING:-Elderly females perform better on tasks when they can sit close to another person – the opposite is true for college students-Elderly females find closeness enjoyable-People tolerate closeness more when being invades by someone of the same agePossible Reasons for Decrease in Space-Sensory problems-Trouble seeing and hearing makes them want to be close-Social isolation-Being alone all the time makes them want to be near-Dependency-They need help doing things so they have to be close to people (like help getting out of chair)-Elderly subjects dislike certain types of touch (ex: putting arm around them), but find others acceptable (ex: hand on arm)-Touch from male nurse was seen as very disagreeable-Touch from female nurse was rated as more acceptable (DeWeaver, 1977)-“Male nurses are terrible, I don’t want one to touch me”-“I don’t like male nurses”-“I see no reason for a male nurse to touch me”-“I want no familiarity from a man”-Newman and McCauley (1977) had confederates stand in doorway of post office and gaze at people as they entered-Youngest (under 15) and oldest (over 50) most likely to return gaze-Murihead and Goldman did same thing at shopping mall-Mean duration of gaze (18-30) 2.55, (31-55) 1.23, (56+) 2.36-So same pattern as the last studyENCODING-Younger adults demonstrate mood-congruent gaze, looking more at positive faces when in a good mood and at negative faces when in a bad mood-Older adults demonstrate mood-incongruent positive gaze, looking toward positive and away from negative faces when in bad mood-This finding suggests that in older adults, gaze does not reflect mood, but rather is used to regulate itDECODING-Elderly people are less likely to decode direct gaze as a sign of honesty or gaze aversion as a sign of dishonesty, compared to young adults-So they are more accurate-The ability to detect subtle differences in gaze aversion decreases with ageConclusions-Apparent return to “childlike” patterns of nonverbal behaviors-Physiological changes in encoding and decoding apparatus may contribute to changes, as well as psychological social changes-Need to slightly adjust communication behaviors for effective interaction with the elderly -On average the use of gaze increases compliance by about 15%Meaning in the above study 15% complied when gazed at15% more people comply when gazed at vs when gaze averted-Gaze produces more compliance-Touch + Gaze = Even more effective-Approach at a shopping mall by a confederate who touched and made eye contact, compliance rates (to participate in a survey were 86-92%-Force: most studies use very light touch-Body region: most studies used touch to the upper arm or shoulder (“friendly touch”)-Confederates stepped out of a phone booth and asked a passed-by for a nickel in exchange for five pennies-Near condition: request when target was even with phone booth-Far condition: request was made when target was 4 feet from phone booth-Compliance: 75% said yes near, 44% said yes farSpeech Rate & Compliance (Buller & Aune)-Tape recorded message-Volunteer to watch up to a 5 half-hour TV shows-But did not have to watch all of them-Played the messages at different speed-Measured nonverbal decoding skill of subjects-Pre test for the experiment tested if people were good at decoding nonverbal communication or not-Fast speech rate increased compliance rates, but only for some subjects-Those “some subject” were good decoders of nonverbal communicationRemland & Jones, 1994-Female confederate approached pedestrians-Bogus postcard technique (“would you please mail this for me”?)-Vocal intensity: soft, medium, loud-Compliance highest in medium condition (62%), low in soft or loud conditions (both 49%)Buschman (1984, 1988): confederate directed people passing by on the sidewalk to give a dime to another confederate who was “overparked” at the meter-Clothing Conditions-No authority: unshaven bum, work shoes, soiled baseball cap, greasy overalls-Status authority: two-piece business suit, white shirt, tie, dress shows-Role authority: fireman uniform, badge-Results82% complied with the “fireman”50% complied with the “businessman”45% complied with the “bum”Gueguen-Different clothing status:-Low (worn & dirt jeans, dirty t shirt-Medium (Clean jeans t shirt)-High (suit & tie)-Asked to fill out a survey on the street-Few people complied with the request in the low status dress condition-Graph on Slide:-Touch slightly enhanced every clothing status level-High status dress has most compliance, low status dress had least compliance-Well dress AND touch almost doubt the effect of just well dressed-Certain nonverbal behaviors (ex: gaze, touch, close space) produce arousal in others-Because we are forced into interpersonal involvement with the actor-Nonverbal behavior then functions as a “demand” for something-The easiest way to get rid of the arousal is to comply with the demand-Nonverbal behaviors (ex: gaze, touch, etc) can produce arousal in others-People make attributions to explain their arousals-In making these attributions we label our arousal (good or bad)-If we label it (+) we will comply, if we label it (-) we won’t comply-People have expectations for what