For this assignment, I watched an episode of Modern Family. I haven't ever seen an episode of this show but have a friend who watches it so I decided to give it a try. Some of the assumptions I made while I watched it were close to the actual way things were happening after watching it with the sound on but a few were not. I figured out who was with who in a relationship, while the sound was off, but couldn't figure out how they all were related. I figured out that part of the storyline was about an ex-boyfriend of one of the partners in a gay relationship but couldn't place which partner he was the ex of. There were two children who I couldn't place with their parents. I didn't have any idea why one of the women was upset during part of the show.
It was easy to name the emotions the characters were feeling based on the nonverbal facial clues they were exhibiting, as well as the hand gestures they used. The assumptions would have been a lot easier with a show I typically watch because knowledge of the relationship dynamics and past events of the show would be helpful in assuming how the characters were interacting with each other.
An insight I would share with my classmates would be to remember that nonverbal cues are not always accurate. Watching the show with the sound off, and not knowing how the characters were related or fit together, made it hard to know why one of the women characters was upset during the show. I wrongly assumed she was angry because of a situation with an older man (I thought it was maybe her father) and a younger women that appeared to be his wife. It turned out she was not angry but unsure how to tell her father she didn't want to work at his company, as he had asked her to do, and didn't want to disappoint him like she felt she had done several times while growing up. Knowing details of a situation well helps an observer to be able to read communication cues more accurately.
Laurie,
ReplyDeleteI appreciated your insight about remembering that nonverbal cues are not always accurate. I think that could also go along with not taking people's anger and/or outbursts personally since we do not always know the source of the anger.
Thanks for your post.
Nicolette
Laurie,
ReplyDeleteI liked how you stated that nonverbal cues are not always accurate and that is true. It can translate into about anything with appearance and gestures from a distance. The expressions can also convey different meanings to others. You had me thinking about assumptions viewed differently when you already know the characters and storyline of shows, then our assumptions with nonverbal cues could possibly be right on cue with what each character communicated. Great job on picking up on these cues.
Great post. I love the fact that you can tell how people feel by their nonverbal cues and not just by what they say. You can see tears, watch facial expressions and see attitude through nonverbal cues. I love the fact that if you were a deaf person, you could still interpret some of what was going on because of the nonverbal cues. Isn't communication just amazing?
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