Chapter 6

· Go to the website http://www.dotolearn.com/games/facialexpressions/

Play with the demonstration. How could this simulation be beneficial?

-This demonstration was really cool! It was interesting to see how changing one simple thing has the potential to change the facial expression altogether. It was very beneficial, because it helps me to be more cautious with my facial expressions, because I could unknowingly be giving a negative expression when I mean to be positive!

· Watch an episode of the TV series Lie to Me

What did you learn? How could this show be useful to you in the future?

-I learned that you can learn a lot about a person by watching their body language closely. It is amazing how the slightest movements can give away emotions that we think we hide so well! This show could definitely be useful in the future by helping me recognize what people are actually thinking and feeling, versus what they are saying. This could be very useful when working with youth, especially, and trying to find out important information about them, and what is going on in their lives. As a social worker, it is so important to be able to recognize when people are not telling you the whole truth about a situation! I think that I should get school credit for watching this show whenever I start working on my MSW! J

· Go to the website http://www.esl-lab.com/para.htm

How did you do? Oftentimes we do not think about paralanguage. After taking this quiz, what role does paralanguage play in your life? If you misunderstand paralanguage, how might this negatively impact communication?

I did pretty well on the Paralanguage quiz. My score was 9 out of 10. I think that paralanguage is fairly important in my life. I have been known to use more paralanguage in the mornings than in the afternoons, but overall I tend to use it a lot. Paralanguage has also been known to be an issue with me when people misunderstand it. It negatively effects communication when people misunderstand paralanguage because they react according to how they understood what they heard. But if they misunderstand, it results in a confusion of the conversation, and may cause the conversation to go in a direction that was not originally intended. It also negatively effects communication when people have different meanings for paralanguage. It results in a similar situation as a general misunderstanding of paralanguage; causing the conversation to become confused.

· Go to the website http://homepage.psy.utexas.edu/homepage/group/langloislab/

Describe what the research suggests. Do you agree or disagree with this website? Why or why not?

The research presented on this website suggests that beauty is measured not necessarily by personal preference, but by comparing each person’s face to an “average”. The researchers took pictures people who are considered to be attractive, and found that they all have very similar facial features. In essence, the beautiful people are those who do not have abnormal facial features. Their research also suggests that a person’s image does in fact affect how they are judged by others.

I am not sure whether I agree with the research and results of this website or not. I think that their findings are logical, and I can see how they would have reached their results. I’m not sure, though, whether I agree with the implications of their research. If what they say is true, any person that I find attractive, I would only find attractive because they have the perfect, or mostly “average”. Based on my past, however, most of the people I found attractive are not necessarily considered attractive by other people. In fact, most of them have been quite opposite than the “normal” attractive people! But maybe the reason for that is because my brain really truly is backwards. :-/