Measurement and meaning of head movements in everyday face-to-face communicative interaction.

Methodological approaches in which data on nonverbal behavior are collected usually involve interpretative methods in which raters must identify a set of defined categories of behavior. However, present knowledge about the qualitative aspects of head movement behavior calls for recording detailed transcriptions of behavior. These records are a prerequisite for investigating the function and meaning of head movement patterns. A method for directly collecting data on head movement behavior is introduced. Using small ultrasonic transducers, which are attached to various parts of an index person's body (head and shoulders), a microcomputer determines receiver-transducer distances. Three-dimensional positions are calculated by triangulation. These data are used for further calculations concerning the angular orientation of the head and the direction, size, and speed of head movements (in rotational, lateral, and sagittal dimensions). Further analyses determine relevant changes in movements, identify segments of movements, and classify the quantifications of movement patterns. The measured patterns of nonverbal behavior can be accurately related to features of verbal communication and other time-related variables (e.g., psychophysiological measures). To estimate the possible meanings of behavioral patterns, a heuristic is proposed that includes the situational context as the basis of interpretation.

The study of emotional processes in communication: I. Measuring emotionalization in everyday face-to-face communicative interaction.

The drawbacks of traditional research into emotional processes have led us to develop a set of methodologies for investigating them in everyday face-to-face communication. The conceptual basis of these procedures is a model of the eliciting conditions of emotional processes as well as a conceptualization of the emotional processes themselves. On the basis of the assumption of conversation as a rule-governed process, one can describe its default temporal, formal, and functional features, for which we use the MAS EDIT and SEQ programs, and the minimal model of communicative exchange, respectively. Violations of these default rules can be identified as unexpected/temporally unpredictable events eliciting emotionalization. The nature of emotionalization is determined by the psychological principle of "standard and deviation." Its investigation under natural conditions requires the following: A noninvasive method of data acquisition (including procedures for rejecting faulty or missing values), measurement (high-resolution recording of physiological, psychomotor, and vocal variables), and the (nonstatistical) construction of an inventory or "relevant effects" (contrastive and template analysis). Finally, we depict three routes of investigating time courses of activation changes as dependent and independent variables and as a target of modification and reflection.

The study of emotional processes in communication: II. Peripheral blood flow as an indicator of emotionalization.

Traditional methods of analyzing human peripheral blood flow (PBF) do not account for its continuous nature or small-scale variation. Sequel transformation is presented as a new methodology for measuring these variations. This analysis generates a richer record of aspects of activation of the autonomous nervous system than traditional interbeat-interval (IBI) measurement. Presumably, in addition to heartbeat (i.e., IBI), other information can be extracted that is consistent with the influence of several physiological and psychological factors. This kind of variation is reflected in the PBF signal. After determining and extracting relevant events from vascular volume data generated by sequel transformation, we demonstrate the use of template analysis to analyze patterns of events as time courses of activation. All procedures are included in the computer program VASC Analyzer.

[Incoherence as an interaction phenomenon. Results of a single case study]. / Inkohärenz als Interaktionsphänomen. Ergebnisse einer Einzelfallstudie.

Traditionally psychiatric patients' change of topic occurring in interviews e.g. with a doctor are construed as a psychopathologically relevant type of incoherence (formal thought-disorder). In a single case study it can be shown, however, that more than half of the patient's changes of topic occur after a specific class of interactionally meaningful paraverbal features. These may be interpreted as signals of the patient's being ready to relinquish the speaker's role. Therefore, rather than interpreting this type of change of topic as thought-disordered incoherence it should be considered as a consequence of the patient's unsuccessful trying to take over the listener's role. In contrast to interactively unmarked (thought-disordered) changes of topic the occurrence of this phenomenon may be determined by the asymmetric doctor-patient relationship.

[Measuring psychophysiologic variables during conversations. Quantifying pulse volume changes]. / Messung psychophysiologischer Variablen während Gesprächen. Die Quantifizierung des Pulsvolumengeschehens.

Little is known about connections between events in verbal communication and related physiological variables. Usually used procedures in quantification of pulsevolume data are based on simplifications neglecting essential characteristics of the curve between heart beats. It is shown that the concept of interbeat-intervals (IBI) underlying conventional methods hides these characteristics putting up with a delay in time between heart beats and related verbal factors. An alternative procedure of the extraction of period and amplitude is demonstrated. A software-package is developed to transform and interactively control the analysis of the pulsevolumesignal (filtering and vector-transformation). As results quasi-continuous time series of period and amplitude of the pulsecurve are shown, tracing the shape of the curve in each cardiac cycle. Some first applications of the method in stress research are discussed. The method is appropriate especially for detecting "short time" changes of cardiac activity in naturalistic observational settings (e.g. dyadic interaction).

[Change in the self-concept of drug-dependent patients in inpatient care]. / Die Veränderung des Selbstwertes von Drogenabhängigen während einer stationären Behandlung.

As a rule, drug addicted people show a distinctly diminished estimate of the value of their selves. It is investigated whether this estimate changes during a inpatient stay on a drug rehabilitation ward and whether the selected methods of investigation form an adequate means of evaluating the therapeutic program. It can be shown that under certain conditions (duration of stay, compliance, problem-solving ability) this is indeed the case. However, it remains an open question, whether the observed amelioration has to be viewed as a non-specific effect of the change of milieu or whether it depends on the therapeutic program offered on the ward.