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Focused on physical education (PE), this study examined the association between teachers' communication and students' psychological needs, enjoyment/boredom, PE usefulness, and students' grade perception. Participants were 1,000 students (572 girls; Mage = 14.58 ± 0.65) from 29 Spanish secondary schools. A path model including variables measured at three times was tested: teachers' verbal/nonverbal communication (Time 1), needs satisfaction/frustration (Time 2), and PE outcomes (Time 3). Verbal communication positively predicted needs satisfaction, which, in turn, positively predicted enjoyment, PE usefulness, and students' grade perception and negatively predicted boredom. Verbal communication negatively predicted needs frustration, which was a positive predictor of boredom. Multigroup analysis showed that gender did not moderate the associations in the path model, whereas mediating effects were found between teachers' communication and consequences via students' psychological needs. Teachers should improve their communicative capacities to satisfy students' psychological needs and promote positive PE outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sandplay therapy helps the person develop social skills and acts as a therapy method where they can reflect and repair their inner world. This study aims to test the feasibility of sandplay therapy method in an open area for children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and investigate its effect on the development of social skills. In addition, the reorganization of sandplay areas where children with disabilities receive education and treatment, and the introduction of design proposals for integrating them with sandplay therapy in the open area, have been one of the other objectives of this study. The study group of this research, has a quasi‐experimental design in which pre‐test and post‐test measurements are made on the experimental groups of children between the ages of 8 and 12 years with autism diagnosed were formed. This research consisted of five stages: the planning of the study, the implementation phase, the post‐tests, the analysis of the data and the explanation of the design proposals. As a result of the studies conducted on children with ASD, increasing their interaction with society contributed to the development of children with autism socially and psychologically. In this context, group sand therapy was applied to the experimental groups for 7 weeks, one session a week and a total of seven sessions of two children with autism were selected using the selective assignment method. The effect of open area sandplay therapy method on the development of autistic‐disabled people was compared with the values taken before and after the sandplay therapy sessions. The findings revealed that increasing interaction with society contributed to the development of children with ASD socially and psychologically. In addition, the development of suggestions for the design of barrier‐free sandplay areas and the evaluation of the connection between sandplay therapy and design in the open area was made. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the notion that sexual consent is either granted or refused, its communication can sometimes be ambiguous. This uncertainty stems from the tendency to rely on implicit, nonverbal cues to indicate consent. Without clear, explicit communication, people might be encouraged to rely upon contextual information when assessing whether a sexual encounter was consensual. Perceived levels of intimacy and familiarity in a relationship might influence these perceptions, such that prior intimacy might lead to ambiguously communicated consent being interpreted as more consensual. Gender roles can dictate the behaviors expected in a sexual encounter, with female-initiated sexual violence against men potentially being perceived as more consensual than the inverse. The current study examined how relationship type (Experiments 1 and 2) and gender pairing (Experiment 2) influenced participants' perceptions of how consensual various sexual encounters were. Participants read a series of vignettes in which sexual consent was verbally granted, verbally rejected, or inferred using nonverbal cues. Additionally, the dyads' relationships were either described as dating, friends, or strangers. Following vignette presentation, participants provided judgments regarding how consensual the interactions were. Experiment 2 expanded upon this by manipulating the gender of the initiators and targets. When consent was not clearly indicated, more established relationships were associated with higher ratings of perceived consent. Male targets were attributed more responsibility for sexual interactions, and they were also believed to want nonconsensual sex more than female targets. These findings highlight the importance of contextual information in instances where sexual consent is unclear. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Concerns have been raised about genomic studies of autism. Most recently, the Spectrum 10 K study was paused due to criticism from the autistic community. This situation raised important questions about how the autistic and autism communities perceive genomic research. The Personal Experiences of Autism and Perceptions of DNA-based-research study was established to address this issue. Twenty parents of nonverbal or minimally verbal autistic children took part in the current study. Data were provided in diverse formats including online interviews, telephone interviews, and writing. This approach was co-produced with autistic experts by experience. Data were analysed using reflexive Thematic Analysis. We found that participants were supportive of autism research, including some genomic research, if it is designed to support autistic people and is ethical and transparent. However, while some believed that polygenic scores, genomic predictors of the statistical probability of being autistic, would be helpful, others argued that this would only be true in an ideal world. Participants felt that they and their children were often excluded from, and unrepresented by, the autistic and autism communities. We conclude that genomic researchers need to work with the autistic and autism communities to design future work, and that it is important to ensure a representative range of voices are heard. In Summer 2021, a genomic study of autism, Spectrum 10 K, was paused due to backlash from the autistic and autism communities. This raised important questions about how these communities perceive genomic research. The Personal Experiences of Autism and Perceptions of DNA-based research study was established to address this issue among a range of sub-groups within these communities. Twenty parents of nonverbal or minimally verbal autistic children took part in the current study. Data were provided in diverse formats including online interviews, telephone interviews, and writing. This approach was co-produced with autistic experts by experience and involved a parent of a minimally verbal autistic child. Data were analysed using reflexive Thematic Analysis. We found that participants were supportive of autism research, including some genomic research, as long as it is designed to support autistic people and is ethical and transparent. However, while some believed that polygenic scores, genomic predictors of the statistical probability of being autistic, would be helpful, others argued that this would only be true in an ideal world and that the world is too far from ideal. Participants felt excluded from the autistic and autism communities and that the dominant voices in those communities do not represent them or their children. We concluded that genomic researchers need to work with the autistic and autism communities to design future work, and that it is important to ensure a representative range of voices are heard. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the ways in which simulation, mimicry and camouflage contributed to deportees' survival and allowed them to subvert Nazi oppression. The camp society seemed permeated by ritual-like, theatrical and symbolic action, which shaped human relationality and power relations. I explore simulation and camouflage as survival strategies, offering a reflection on the meaning of performing in the camps. Conceiving the Lager as a space of performance, I contend that actors constructed clandestine codes of signification, taught to each other and constantly improved, which allowed them to deceive the perpetrator, resist the dehumanizing ethos, and foster ingroup solidarity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the design, it is important to evaluate the user experience of representative users in many human product interactions. But, in some cases, it is difficult or even impossible to recruit representative users because they have disabilities that do not allow them to take part in such investigations. Thus, alternative populations are widely studied. The most common way to replace real blind people is to use sighted but blindfolded users when studying design solutions. To test whether such alternative or proxy users can be used to represent blind people in social interactions, we examined the communication quality of 20 blind-sighted pairs and 20 blindfolded-sighted pairs in two different experiments. A prototype named E-Gaze glasses was evaluated as the testing tool. Results clearly show that the blindfolded participants achieved significantly higher communication quality than the blind participants. In qualitative data analysis, the blindfolded participants also reported their user experience of being blindfolded in conversations. Our qualitative results strengthen the conclusion that blindfolded users' behaviour is different from real blind users' behaviour. We recommend that blind users should not be substituted for blindfolded users in human product evaluations when communication quality is measured. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Do the nonverbal signals used to make social judgements differ depending on the type of judgement being made and what other nonverbal signals are visible? Experiment 1 investigated how nonverbal signals across three channels (face: angry/fearful, posture: expanded/contracted, lean: forward/backward), when viewed together, were used for judgements of emotion, threat, and status. Experiment 2 replicated Experiment 1 and explored how use of the body channels differed in making social judgements when the face channel was obscured. Both experiments found facial anger linked to high anger, threat, and status ratings; facial fear was linked to low ratings. Expanded body posture increased threat and status judgements, while backward lean decreased anger and threat. With the face channel blocked (Experiment 2B), the influence of body posture increased across emotion, threat, and status judgements, while body lean was more consistent. Findings demonstrate that despite the face’s importance across types of social judgements, the body channels differentially contribute to judgements of emotion, threat and status. Further, they are differentially affected by the absence of facial information. How much face and body-related channels are used in social judgements is moderated by the type of judgement being made and the availability of other (particularly facial) channel information. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: The Covid‐19 pandemic dramatically altered the way cancer care services were accessed and delivered, including for colorectal cancer (CRC). In the United Kingdom, patients were discouraged from presenting in primary care, many consultations took place remotely, investigative procedures and screening programmes were temporarily suspended, and fewer operations and treatments were delivered. People had to face the practical consequences of having cancer during a pandemic and navigate never before seen pathways, often alone. We examined the experience of being diagnosed and treated for CRC during the pandemic, and the implications of this on people's cancer journeys. Methods: Semi‐structured interviews were undertaken with people diagnosed with CRC during the Covid‐19 pandemic (January 2020–May 2021), in the North East of England. An iterative topic guide was used during interviews, which took place remotely (telephone or Zoom), were audio recorded, pseudo‐anonymised and transcribed. Initial transcripts were independently coded by two researchers, and a code 'bank' developed for application across transcripts. Development of themes and overarching analytical constructs was undertaken collaboratively by the research team. Results: Interviews were conducted with 19 participants, analysed and four key themes identified: (1) The relative threats of Covid‐19 and Cancer were not comparable, with cancer seen as posing a far greater risk than Covid‐19; (2) Remote consultations were problematic, affecting patients' abilities to build rapport and trust with clinicians, assess nonverbal communication, and feel able to disclose, comprehend and retain information; (3) Stoma follow‐up care was seen to be lacking, with long wait times for stoma reversal experienced by some; Finally, (4) Being alone during consultations negatively impacted some peoples' abilities to absorb information, and left them without the support of loved ones at an emotionally vulnerable time. However, some participants preferred being alone at certain points in their pathways, including receiving a diagnosis, and most frequently when receiving in‐patient treatment. Conclusion: Being alone brought unexpected benefits, absolving people from undertaking emotions work for others, and instead focus on their recovery, however, remote consultations negatively impacted patients' experiences. This study highlights the complex benefits and burdens of pandemic‐located cancer journeys, including how these shifted at different points across cancer pathways. Patient or Public Contribution: Lorraine Angell, a cancer survivor, has been central to this study from idea conception, contributing to: development of study focus and design; securing funding; production of patient‐facing materials; development of interview topic guides; analysis and interpretation of data; and drafting of key findings and manuscripts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Migrant-origin families may have a pronounced need for psychosocial support and healthcare services, but they face barriers in using services. To ensure the timely use of services, it is important that families understand how service systems work and trust care providers. Thirty-two migrant-origin mothers living in Finland participated in five focus-group interviews and shared their wishes for social and healthcare professionals on how trust and understanding can be increased. The data were analyzed with Qualitative Content Analysis. We identified six main themes related to the use of services and professionals' behavior. These were the need for professionals to justify and explain questions, to meet each family as individuals, the importance of non-verbal communication, the need to talk about racism and discrimination, the importance of cultural sensitivity in services, and a discussion of positive aspects of life after migration and children's strengths. To foster trust and mutual understanding in social and healthcare services, professionals should be aware of potential cultural differences in family life, while avoiding pre-conceived ideas. Misunderstandings can rise from language barriers and unclear or intimidating questions. It is important that professionals explain what they do and justify why they might inquire about a family's personal matters. Working with interpreters is necessary when professionals and parents do not share a common fluent language. Professionals should also pay attention to their non-verbal communication and to being friendly. Finally, it is important to show interest in families' experienced hardships such as racism as well as their strengths. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Digital teamwork has become prevalent and is ever since becoming part of the human work- and life-style, globally. But in comparison with face-to-face setting, virtual teams face multifold challenges. To date, scarce empirical research has examined whether team-breaking challenges are associated with limited access to peer nonverbal signals. This study examines whether access to body signals is associated with effective teamwork, and whether limited access provokes key team challenges. We also examine what social-psychological team concepts can be detected from peers' consciously or unconsciously displayed visual cues that cannot be as effectively gained without visual access. 14 dyadic teams of MBA students were examined in an online business negotiation task to reach an authentic commercial deal. Half of the teams negotiated only through voice and text, while the other half had camera access as well. Using an exploratory mixed methods analysis, we identified 12 unique team factors based on nonverbal data. We also found that teams with camera access could build mutual trust more rapidly, detect peer honesty better, and realize agreements on suggestions more accurately. Surprisingly, we also found instances where camera access became stressful and participants reported it as an additional burden. Conclusions and implications are reported at the end. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

People are more disfluent in their second language (L2) than their first language (L1). Gesturing facilitates cognitive processes, including speech production. This study investigates speech disfluency and representational gesture production across Turkish-English bilinguals' L1 (Turkish) and L2 (English) through a narrative retelling task (N = 27). Results showed that people were more disfluent and used more representational gestures in English. Controlling for L2 proficiency, people were still more disfluent in English. The more people were proficient in L2, the more they used gestures in that language. Similarly, disfluency-gesture co-occurrences were more common in English. L2 proficiency was positively correlated with the likelihood of a disfluency being accompanied by a gesture. These findings suggest that gestures may not necessarily compensate for weak language skills. Rather, people might gesture during disfluent moments if they can detect their errors, suggesting a close link between representational gestures and language competency in benefiting from gestures when disfluent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective Video-based therapy has been used increasingly since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Yet, video-based initial psychotherapeutic contact can be problematic due to the limitations of computer-mediated communication. At present, little is known about the effects of video first contact on important psychotherapeutic processes. Method: Forty-three individuals (nvideo = 18, nface-to-face = 25) were recruited via an outpatient clinic waiting list and were randomly assigned to video or face-to-face initial psychotherapeutic sessions. Participants rated treatment expectancy before and after the session, and the therapist's empathy, working alliance, and credibility after the session and several days later. Results: Empathy and working alliance ratings of patients and therapists were high and did not differ between the two communication conditions after the appointment or at follow-up. Treatment expectancy increased to a similar extent for the video and face-to-face modalities from pre to post. Willingness to continue with video-based therapy increased in participants who had video contact, but not in those with face-to-face contact. Conclusion: This study indicates that crucial processes related to the therapeutic relationship can be initiated via video, without prior face-to-face contact. Given the limited nonverbal communication cues in video appointments, it remains unclear as to how such processes evolve. Trial registration: German Clinical Trials Register identifier: DRKS00031262.. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tactile contact is one of the earliest nonverbal channels through which parents shape the ways their sons and daughters feel in their own bodies and experience the relational world. In this study, we sought to explore the nuances of early tactile communication by examining a community sample of 126 mothers during interactions with their 4-month-old infants. Mothers and their infants were videotaped in the laboratory while engaging in face-to-face play. Each second of the first 2.5 min of videotaped interaction was assigned a 10-digit code for maternal tactile behavior, using the COSYMIT (Coding System for Mother-Infant Touch) to identify specific modes of touch. We then statistically examined the possibility that maternal tactile behavior would differ according to infant gender and maternal depression status. We found that infant gender and maternal depression were each significant predictors of mother-infant tactual patterns. Mothers interacting with a boy touched central body locations and varied their touch more than did those interacting with a girl. Mothers who reported depressive symptoms engaged in substantially less affectionate and more object-mediated touch than their non-depressed counterparts. These findings suggest that tactile behavior may serve as an early prelinguistic channel by which mothers transmit affective and sociocultural "messages" to their infants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ability to decode nonverbal cues is essential for effective cross-cultural communication. Despite the significance of nonverbal communication, research in this area has primarily focused on spoken language. This is particularly problematic during indirect communication, where there is a discrepancy between the surface meaning and the true intention (e.g., "Well, there is still room for improvement in your writing skills"). Misinterpretation of nonverbal cues during indirect communication can impede the decoding of true intention and potentially create hostile situations. The present study investigated cross-cultural differences in the use of nonverbal cues in decoding indirect messages. British and Chinese raters watched silent video clips and identified the types of replies from models of their own and the other culture. Results revealed that British raters were able to recognize indirect replies from British models but not from Chinese models above chance level, whereas Chinese raters were able to recognize indirect replies from models of both cultures above chance level. Furthermore, British raters showed higher accuracy and confidence in identifying indirect replies from British models than Chinese models. In contrast, Chinese raters were equally skilled and confident in identifying indirect replies from both British and Chinese models. Additionally, British and Chinese raters employed different nonverbal cues to recognize indirect replies from models of their respective cultures. These findings underscore the importance of cross-cultural differences in identifying indirect replies through nonverbal communication and provide insights to enhance intercultural communication between British and Chinese individuals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We examined whether mimicking an interaction partner is universally advantageous or, provided the mimicry is particularly strong, whether it has detrimental impacts on interpersonal and negotiation outcomes. Participants interacted with a confederate who engaged in no, subtle, or strong mimicry and then negotiated. In laboratory Experiment 1 (N = 71) and Experiment 2 (N = 149), subtly (vs. not) mimicked participants liked the confederate more, while strongly (vs. subtly) mimicked participants liked and trusted less. In Experiment 2, strongly (vs. subtly) mimicked participants were less susceptible to the first-offer anchor. The online Experiment 3 (N = 180) corroborated the too-much-mimicry effect: When participants became aware of mimicry, it exerted detrimental effects on liking and trust irrespective of the experimental condition. Experiment 1 and Experiment 3 found no too-much-mimicry effect on anchoring susceptibility. These findings show that (a) sufficiently subtle mimicry positively influences interpersonal outcomes and (b) too much mimicry backfires. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study compared the effects of attractiveness and expressivity on liking at three important stages in a relationship: (a) at zero-acquaintance, (b) after a five-minute getting-to-know-you conversation, and finally (c) after becoming well-acquainted with one another. We formed unacquainted groups of participants (N = 81) and over a period of nine weeks (40 + hours of total contact) had them engage in group activities spanning work, play, eating, and conflict. At zero acquaintance, attractive targets were liked more, a direct replication of prior literature. After the first conversation, this effect was still present. Self-reported expressivity also predicted liking after a five-minute conversation. By nine weeks of acquaintanceship, both self-reported expressivity and observer-rated expressiveness predicted liking in addition to attractiveness. We interpret this finding to suggest that these nonverbal behavioral qualities that are chronically embedded throughout one's behavioral stream must be notable given their effects on liking remained predictive even after interactants learned about their group members' other characteristics over the course of a relationship. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This manuscript focuses on the communication factors that affect the willingness of African Americans and Black Caribbean patients to participate in clinical trials and research studies. Low rates of research participation by members of communities of color have long been linked to health disparities. While there are many factors that contribute to low rates of accrual of African American and Black patients to clinical trials, a lack of attention to communication factors that enhance or inhibit the recruitment process is central to the problem. In this study, we describe results from the analysis of six focus groups (N = 31) consisting of African American (k = 3) and Black Caribbean (k = 3) participants. Our analyses focus on verbal and nonverbal communication behaviors and how they affect participants' willingness to participate in clinical trials. Specifically, when clinical research coordinators (CRCs) had a professional appearance, made the effort to explain a study in detail, made eye contact, took the time to listen and answer questions patiently, and gave the sense that the CRC was being truthful and transparent, patients felt respected and valued. Additionally, participants emphasized the importance of the process of developing and maintaining a trusting relationship between study participants and CRCs. The results of this study will be used to develop a clinical trial communication training program designed to enhance the communication skills of clinical research coordinators who discuss research participation with African American and Caribbean Black patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Autistic people often experience difficulties navigating face-to-face social interactions. Historically, the empirical literature has characterised these difficulties as cognitive 'deficits' in social information processing. However, the empirical basis for such claims is lacking, with most studies failing to capture the complexity of social interactions, often distilling them into singular communicative modalities (e.g. gaze-based communication) that are rarely used in isolation in daily interactions. The current study examined how gaze was used in concert with communicative hand gestures during joint attention interactions. We employed an immersive virtual reality paradigm, where autistic (n = 22) and non-autistic (n = 22) young people completed a collaborative task with a non-autistic confederate. Integrated eye-, head- and hand-motion-tracking enabled dyads to communicate naturally with each other while offering objective measures of attention and behaviour. Autistic people in our sample were similarly, if not more, effective in responding to hand-cued joint attention bids compared with non-autistic people. Moreover, both autistic and non-autistic people demonstrated an ability to adaptively use gaze information to aid coordination. Our findings suggest that the intersecting fields of autism and social neuroscience research may have overstated the role of eye gaze during coordinated social interactions. Autistic people have been said to have 'problems' with joint attention, that is, looking where someone else is looking. Past studies of joint attention have used tasks that require autistic people to continuously look at and respond to eye-gaze cues. But joint attention can also be done using other social cues, like pointing. This study looked at whether autistic and non-autistic young people use another person's eye gaze during joint attention in a task that did not require them to look at their partner's face. In the task, each participant worked together with their partner to find a computer-generated object in virtual reality. Sometimes the participant had to help guide their partner to the object, and other times, they followed their partner's lead. Participants were told to point to guide one another but were not told to use eye gaze. Both autistic and non-autistic participants often looked at their partner's face during joint attention interactions and were faster to respond to their partner's hand-pointing when the partner also looked at the object before pointing. This shows that autistic people can and do use information from another person's eyes, even when they don't have to. It is possible that, by not forcing autistic young people to look at their partner's face and eyes, they were better able to gather information from their partner's face when needed, without being overwhelmed. This shows how important it is to design tasks that provide autistic people with opportunities to show what they can do. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Current literature recommends assessment of communication skills in medical education combining different settings and multiple observers. There is still a gap in understanding about whether and how peers assessment facilitates learning in communication skills training. We designed a qualitative study using focus group interviews and thematic analysis, in a medical course in the Netherlands. We aimed to explore medical students' and teachers' experiences, perceptions, and perspectives about challenges and facilitating factors in PACST (Peer assessment in medical communication skills training). Most of the participants reported that peer feedback was a valuable experience when learning communication skills. The major challenges for the quality and credibility of PACST reported by the participants are the question whether peer feedback is critical enough for learning and the difficulty of actually engaging students in the assessment process. Teachers reviewing students' peer assessments may improve the quality and their credibility and the reviewed assessments can best be used for learning purposes. We suggest to pay sufficient attention to teachers' roles in PACST, ensuring a safe and trustworthy environment and additionally helping students to internalize the value of being vulnerable during the evaluation process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Research into enhancing the effectiveness of information delivery in asynchronous video lectures remains sparse. This study analyzes the nonverbal teaching behaviours in asynchronous online videos, drawing comparisons between pre‐service and in‐service teachers (ITs). Objectives: This research primarily aims to juxtapose the nonverbal teaching behaviours, such as arm extensions and body orientation, utilized by pre‐service teachers (PTs) and ITs within asynchronous online videos. Methods: Asynchronous video lectures from four pre‐service and four ITs across four diverse subject topics were scrutinized. Leveraging deep learning technology, teachers' poses during their instruction towards a video camera were quantified, with a particular focus on arm stretch range and body orientation in relation to the subject being taught. Results: The findings revealed that PTs were deficient in effectively employing pointing gestures. Their arm stretches and body orientation towards the board were not differentiated across subjects. Conversely, ITs demonstrated subject‐specific variations in their arm extension and body orientation, signalling their effective strategies for knowledge dissemination. Conclusions and Discussion: This study emphasizes the importance of assessing nonverbal teaching behaviours in the development of effective instructional training. It accentuates the need for nonverbal communication and subject‐specific teaching strategy training in PTs. Future investigations could broaden their scope to include larger sample sizes and expanded subject areas to discern more comprehensive trends in nonverbal teaching behaviours. Lay Description: What is already known about this topic: The proliferation of online and distance learning has been largely driven by the widespread utilization of asynchronous video lectures.However, the focus of video analysis regarding teaching practices has predominantly been on in‐class activities. This has resulted in the underdevelopment of methods for delivering knowledge through asynchronous video lectures.Research into enhancing the effectiveness of information delivery within asynchronous video lectures remains sparse. What this paper adds: This study contributes to the development of teaching techniques for asynchronous online lectures through a comparative analysis of nonverbal teaching behaviours between pre‐service and in‐service teachers within asynchronous lecture videos.The findings suggest that pre‐service teachers have a deficiency in knowledge regarding the effective use of demonstrative gestures. Implications for practice and/or policy: Considering the widespread use of asynchronous video lectures – including flipped and blend learning, the training of pre‐school teachers using video analysis is requiredThe creation of a robust metric for developing knowledge delivery methods is feasible and advisable, potentially by leveraging state‐of‐the‐art technology such as deep learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and the broader autistic phenotype (BAP) have been suggested to be associated with perceptual–cognitive difficulties processing human faces. However, the empirical results are mixed, arguably, in part due to inadequate samples and analyses. Consequently, we administered the Cambridge Face Perception Test (CFPT), the Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test (RMET), a vocabulary test, and the Autism Quotient (AQ) to a sample of 318 adults in the general community. Based on a disattenuated path analytic modelling strategy, we found that both face perception ability (β = –.21) and facial emotional expression recognition ability (β = –.27) predicted uniquely and significantly the Communication dimension of AQ. Vocabulary failed to yield a significant, direct effect onto the Communication dimension of the AQ. We conclude that difficulties perceiving information from the faces of others may contribute to difficulties in nonverbal communication, as conceptualised and measured within the context of BAP. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The integration of neuroscience and psychotherapy research has long been a topic of interest in the field of mental health. A significant challenge in psychotherapy research is understanding the dyadic interaction between patient and therapist. This interaction is complex, emerging from a myriad of multi-level factors such as gestures, verbal communication, mentalization, and environmental influences. This article aims to present a roadmap for the future integration of neuroscience and psychotherapy research, addressing the complexities of human interaction. We introduce the 4E/MoBI approach, a framework that combines theoretical and methodological tools to study the dynamics of the brain, body, and environment in real-world settings. This approach emphasizes the use of physiological systems (e.g., heart and brain), behavioral interactions (e.g., conversations and eye-tracking), and environmental video recordings. Additionally, the scalable experimental design (SED) heuristic is discussed as a method to blend controlled experiments with real-world scenarios, allowing for the parametric testing of neurobehavioral markers. As a practical demonstration of the SED heuristic within the 4E/MoBI framework, a concrete experimental example using the N170 event-related potential (ERP) component is presented. While the N170 ERP component is not posited as the foundational marker in the field, it serves to illustrate the application of hypothesis-driven designs and analyses. The 4E/MoBI approach offers a promising avenue for the integration of neuroscience and psychotherapy research. By addressing existing gaps, such as the physiology and phenomenology of expertise in psychotherapy, this framework can foster a virtuous relationship between the two disciplines, paving the way for more comprehensive and nuanced understandings of therapeutic interactions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

OBJECTIVES: Educational approaches for training physicians in clinical communications vary, and whether physicians apply the communication skills they learn or find them useful in the clinic is not well known. The aim of this study was to determine how first-year residents who received explicit instruction in 7 communication strategies would apply them in a simulation exercise and in clinical practice. METHODS: First-year Internal Medicine residents at an urban teaching hospital received instruction in 7 systematic communication strategies: Ask-Tell-Ask, Teach-back, open-ended questioning, NURSE, open body language, pausing, and plain language. Residents were evaluated on their use of specific communication behaviors associated with the 7 strategies during a simulation exercise of disclosing a medical error to a standardized patient. Control group residents who did the simulation before attending the training program and training group residents who did the simulation after the training were compared. Residents were queried 6 months after the training program on their use of communication strategies during clinical practice. RESULTS: A total of 27 residents participated (n = 13 control group; n = 14 training group). The training group performed behaviors for "establishing patient understanding" significantly more often than the control group. Both groups used non-verbal communication and behaviors for addressing patient emotions at similar levels. Of the 24 residents who responded to the 6-month follow-up questionnaire, 24 (100%) reported using Ask-Tell-Ask, open-ended questioning, and Teach-back, and 22 (92%) reported using NURSE statements and non-verbal communication. Most respondents reported using the strategies in clinical practice often or very often (79%) and found the strategies useful or very useful (96%). CONCLUSION: Providing explicit instruction in systematic communication strategies, particularly those focused on establishing patient understanding, may be an efficient approach for helping early career physicians develop effective communication skills that can be readily implemented during clinical training and practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Auditory deprivation following congenital/pre‐lingual deafness (C/PD) can drastically affect brain development and its functional organisation. This systematic review intends to extend current knowledge of the impact of C/PD and deafness duration on brain resting‐state networks (RSNs), review changes in RSNs and spoken language outcomes post‐cochlear implant (CI) and draw conclusions for future research. The systematic literature search followed the PRISMA guideline. Two independent reviewers searched four electronic databases using combined keywords: 'auditory deprivation', 'congenital/prelingual deafness', 'resting‐state functional connectivity' (RSFC), 'resting‐state fMRI' and 'cochlear implant'. Seventeen studies (16 cross‐sectional and one longitudinal) met the inclusion criteria. Using the Crowe Critical Appraisal Tool, the publications' quality was rated between 65.0% and 92.5% (mean: 84.10%), ≥80% in 13 out of 17 studies. A few studies were deficient in sampling and/or ethical considerations. According to the findings, early auditory deprivation results in enhanced RSFC between the auditory network and brain networks involved in non‐verbal communication, and high levels of spontaneous neural activity in the auditory cortex before CI are evidence of occupied auditory cortical areas with other sensory modalities (cross‐modal plasticity) and sub‐optimal CI outcomes. Overall, current evidence supports the idea that moreover intramodal and cross‐modal plasticity, the entire brain adaptation following auditory deprivation contributes to spoken language development and compensatory behaviours. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current study explores whether individual differences in the dimensional adjectives (e.g., big, tall) children understand, relates to individual differences in two non‐verbal spatial abilities, spatial scaling and mental transformations, in bilingual children. The inclusion of English–Spanish bilingual children broadens the work in this area which has previously focused strictly on English language. Ninety‐two English–Spanish bilingual children between 37.65 and 71.87 months (42 male) participated in the study. Results show number of dimensional adjectives preschool children comprehend utilizing a new interactive, tablet‐based task relates to performance on non‐verbal spatial tasks. This research supports hypothesized relations between spatial language comprehension and spatial abilities, introduces an effective tool for examining spatial language comprehension in young children, and improves generalizability by including a bilingual sample and testing comprehension in both English and Spanish. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite advances in the field of augmentative and alternative communication (AAC), outcomes among children who require AAC remain discouraging. Practitioners may benefit from guidelines to aid decision-making in relation to supporting pre-linguistic communicators. We conducted an open-ended questionnaire of 30 AAC professionals from six countries—Australia, Denmark, the Netherlands, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States—to determine if consensus existed regarding the assessment information needed, the communication skills to teach, and the instructional strategies to employ to support AAC learning for pre-linguistic communicators. We analyzed the responses using qualitative content analysis in four iterative phases. We provide five statements that reflect areas of consensus and divergence among the participating AAC professionals. These findings provide important insights related to assessment, communicative competence, instructional strategies, decision-making, and communication partner instruction. Findings of this preliminary exploration indicate the need for ongoing and targeted research related to AAC decision-making guidance that attends to context (e.g., languages spoken, service structures) and pre- and in-service training in AAC decision-making. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: Facial expressions are a core component of emotions and nonverbal social communication. Therefore, hypomimia as secondary symptom of Parkinson's disease (PD) has adverse effects like social impairment, stigmatization, under-diagnosis and under-treatment of depression, and a generally lower quality of life. Beside unspecific dopaminergic treatment, specific treatment options for hypomimia in PD are rarely investigated. This quasi-randomized controlled trial evaluated the short-term effects of facial electromyogram (EMG) based biofeedback to enhance facial expression and emotion recognition as nonverbal social communication skills in PD patients. Furthermore effects on affect are examined. Method: A sample of 34 in-patients with PD were allocated either to facial EMG-biofeedback as experimental group or non-facial exercises as control group. Facial expression during posing of emotions (measured via EMG), facial emotion recognition, and positive and negative affect were assessed before and after treatment. Stronger improvements were expected in the EMG-biofeedback in comparison to the control group. Results: The facial EMG-biofeedback group showed significantly greater improvements in overall facial expression, and especially for happiness and disgust. Also, overall facial emotion recognition abilities improved significantly stronger in the experimental group. Positive affect was significantly increased in both groups with no significant differences between them, while negative affect did not change within both groups. Conclusions: The study provides promising evidence for facial EMG-biofeedback as a tool to improve facial expression and emotion recognition in PD. Embodiment theories are discussed as working mechanism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Analysis of conversations between international university students in the Corpus of English as a Lingua Franca Interaction (CELFI, McDonough & Trofimovich, 2019) has demonstrated that holds, which are temporary cessations of dynamic movement, are a robust visual cue of nonunderstanding that can be reliably interpreted by external observers as signals of listener comprehension difficulties (e.g. McDonough et al., 2019, 2022, 2023). Using CELFI materials, this study used an experimental design to explore whether business communication students (N = 64) benefit from instructional activities designed to raise their awareness of holds as a signal of nonunderstanding. The students carried out perception tests in Week 1 and Week 5 that presented video excerpts from CELFI showing the depicted listeners' hold onsets and releases, and the students rated those listeners' comprehension. In the interim, 31 students completed weekly awareness-raising activities via Moodle (2 hours per week) for four weeks. A mixed ANOVA showed that students who participated in the awareness-raising activities showed significant improvement in their ability to discriminate between hold onsets and releases. Implications for the use of awareness-raising activities to promote recognition of nonverbal behavior are discussed. L'analyse des conversations entre étudiants universitaires internationaux dans le Corpus of English as a Lingua Franca Interaction (CELFI, McDonough & Trofimovich, 2019) a démontré que des arrêts temporaires du mouvement dynamique sont un signe visuel solide de non-compréhension qui peuvent être interprétés de manière fiable par des observateurs externes comme des indicateurs de difficultés de compréhension de l'auditeur (par exemple, McDonough et al., 2019, 2022, 2023). À l'aide du matériel du CELFI, cette étude a utilisé une conception expérimentale pour déterminer si les étudiants en communication d'entreprise (N = 64) bénéficient d'activités pédagogiques conçues pour les sensibiliser aux arrêts des comportements non verbaux en tant que signe de non-compréhension. Au cours de la première et la cinquième semaine, les étudiants ont effectué des tests de perception qui présentaient des extraits vidéo du CELFI montrant les arrêts et les recommencements des mouvements non verbaux des auditeurs représentés, et les étudiants ont évalué la compréhension de ces auditeurs. Entre-temps, 31 étudiants ont suivi des activités de sensibilisation hebdomadaires via Moodle (2 heures par semaine) pendant quatre semaines. Une ANOVA mixte a montré que les étudiants qui ont participé aux activités de sensibilisation ont montré une amélioration significative de leur capacité à faire la distinction entre les arrêts et les recommencements des mouvements non verbaux. Les implications de l'utilisation d'activités de sensibilisation pour promouvoir la reconnaissance des comportements non verbaux sont discutées. When listening, people can signal that they do not understand the speaker by using words (e.g. 'what?') or body language. One type of body language that listeners use in many different languages and cultures to show that they do not understand the speaker is hold. A hold is a brief stop in dynamic movement that the listeners maintain until they understand again. In this study, we taught business communications students about holds to see if they could get better at recognizing them. This skill would help them know if their listeners were understanding so that they could change what they were saying. We taught some students about holds and compared them to other students who did not learn about holds. We found that the students with training did better at recognizing when a hold started and ended than the students who did not get training. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Top performers create stage magic through their command of nonverbal communication. While students aspire to the highest levels of performance, they may be unprepared for the intricacies of professional stagecraft. This study trials an experiential learning workshop about optimising nonverbal communication on the concert stage. Five emerging music professionals participated in role-playing exercises on stage entrance and appropriate stage behaviour, and discussed their experiences in the workshop and in interviews. Recordings were transcribed and coded thematically. Participants were able to exaggerate nervous, arrogant and confident stage personas, before imagining their stage entrance to an examination or the Opera House stage. As audience members, they experienced the power of performativity first-hand, and as performers, they grasped experts' approach to stage entrance to enhance performance. Participants gained a sense of autonomy over their stage presentation. These early-career performers advocated the inclusion of stage training as a critical extension to current practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aimed to identify sleep quality profiles of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), to compare these profiles with those of typically developing (TD) children, and to verify whether there are differences between them in terms of language skills. We evaluated the sleep quality and language skills of 47 children with ASD without intellectual disability (ID) and 32 children with TD. Using a hierarchical cluster analysis, we identified two sleep quality ASD profiles (poor and good). We then performed a series of MANCOVAs and ANOVAs to compare the sleep quality and language skills of the two ASD clusters and the TD group. A main group effect (TD, "poor" cluster, and "good" cluster) was found in the total sleep quality and all its dimensions. Significant differences were revealed between the "good" and "poor" clusters in the total structural language score (F1,46 = 10.75, p < 0.001) and three of its subscales (speech: F1,46 = 9.19, p < 0.001; syntax, F1,46 = 8.61, p = 0.001; coherence: F1,46 = 11.36, p < 0.001); the total pragmatic language score (F1,46 = 7.00, p = 0.001) and three of its subscales (inappropriate initiation: F1,46 = 8.02, p = 0.001; use of context: F1,46 = 8.07, p = 0.001; nonverbal communication: F1,46 = 7.35, p = 0.001); and the social relations score (F1,46 = 9.97, p = 0.003). Sleep quality in children with ASD (especially a subgroup) is worse than in children with TD. There is an association between sleep quality and language skills, both at the pragmatic and structural levels. • Sleep quality of children with ASD is worse than that of children with TD. • There is an association between sleep quality and language skills in ASD. • Both pragmatic and structural language are affected by sleep quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research in the U.S. and other Western countries shows that children's early gesture use, which starts prior to verbal communication, is an important predictor of children's later language development. Despite increasing efforts to study gesture use in diverse contexts, most of our knowledge on the role of gesture is largely based on populations of Western countries. In this study, we add to the growing body of international research by examining gesture use by 31 mothers and their 14‐month‐old infants (12 girls) in South Korea and investigate the gestures used during interaction, and whether early gesture use at 14 months predicts Korean children's later language skills at 36 months. The results showed that in addition to using gestures observed in other cultural contexts, Korean mother‐child dyads used culturally specific gesture (i.e., bowing), showing an early sign of socialization that starts with preverbal children. In addition, Korean infants' index‐finger pointing, but not showing and giving, predicted their later receptive and expressive vocabulary skills at 36 months, providing additional support for the importance of pointing in early language development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

How do judges assess witness credibility? This question is particularly important in cases where child victims testify. These cases are usually of a sensitive nature (e.g., involving allegations of abuse) where there are no other testimonial or material evidence to corroborate the account of child victims. To better understand what actually happens when judges preside over trials about sexual interference, and how, in actual courtrooms, they use demeanour to assess the credibility of child victims, we conducted a qualitative thematic analysis of real courts judgements (n = 44). The results highlighted that when assessing credibility in actual courtrooms, judges make a variety of inferences from the demeanour of child victims who testify live, with striking differences (and similarities) when defendants are found not guilty than when they are found guilty. The results of our descriptive study also provided unique insights about (correct and incorrect) beliefs judges hold about child witnesses, and how, if children fail to display behaviour they are expected to display, or if they display behaviour they are not expected to display, child victims could face difficulties at several stages of the judicial process. We discuss the results based on the literature on nonverbal behaviour and child witnesses, explaining their scope for scholars and legal practitioners. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research article analyses the emotional management of 46 teachers in the department of Boyacá (Colombia) according to their level of professional teaching experience, from the theoretical perspective of Mayer and Salovey's emotional skills. It uses a descriptive-comparative process with different perspectives across three stages: quantitative, qualitative and mixed. It also utilizes the MSCEIT emotional intelligence questionnaire, a semi-structured interview, and an observational analysis. The results show competent development of teachers' emotional skills, but with statistically significant differences in emotional management by experience. The teachers also mention in their narratives that the emotional management that occurs in school interactions and in the educational process has two facets: difficulties and positive emotional management. Similarly, the gestures that are part of non-verbal emotional communication that supports this skill are established. Therefore, it is concluded that emotional management as a skill decreases as experience increases, given that emotional experiences in the classroom generate stress, emotional exhaustion, and even leaving the profession. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When we hear another person laugh or scream, can we tell the kind of situation they are in – for example, whether they are playing or fighting? Nonverbal expressions are theorised to vary systematically across behavioural contexts. Perceivers might be sensitive to these putative systematic mappings and thereby correctly infer contexts from others' vocalisations. Here, in two pre-registered experiments, we test the prediction that listeners can accurately deduce production contexts (e.g. being tickled, discovering threat) from spontaneous nonverbal vocalisations, like sighs and grunts. In Experiment 1, listeners (total n = 3120) matched 200 nonverbal vocalisations to one of 10 contexts using yes/no response options. Using signal detection analysis, we show that listeners were accurate at matching vocalisations to nine of the contexts. In Experiment 2, listeners (n = 337) categorised the production contexts by selecting from 10 response options in a forced-choice task. By analysing unbiased hit rates, we show that participants categorised all 10 contexts at better-than-chance levels. Together, these results demonstrate that perceivers can infer contexts from nonverbal vocalisations at rates that exceed that of random selection, suggesting that listeners are sensitive to systematic mappings between acoustic structures in vocalisations and behavioural contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Humans often use co‐speech gestures to promote effective communication. Attention has been paid to the cortical areas engaged in the processing of co‐speech gestures. Aims: To investigate the neural network underpinned in the processing of co‐speech gestures and to observe whether there is a relationship between areas involved in language and gesture processing. Methods & Procedures: We planned to include studies with neurotypical and/or stroke participants who underwent a bimodal task (i.e., processing of co‐speech gestures with relative speech) and a unimodal task (i.e., speech or gesture alone) during a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) session. After a database search, abstract and full‐text screening were conducted. Qualitative and quantitative data were extracted, and a meta‐analysis was performed with the software GingerALE 3.0.2, performing contrast analyses of uni‐ and bimodal tasks. Main Contribution: The database search produced 1024 records. After the screening process, 27 studies were included in the review. Data from 15 studies were quantitatively analysed through meta‐analysis. Meta‐analysis found three clusters with a significant activation of the left middle frontal gyrus and inferior frontal gyrus, and bilateral middle occipital gyrus and inferior temporal gyrus. Conclusions: There is a close link at the neural level for the semantic processing of auditory and visual information during communication. These findings encourage the integration of the use of co‐speech gestures during aphasia treatment as a strategy to foster the possibility to communicate effectively for people with aphasia. WHAT THIS PAPER ADDS: What is already known on this subject: Gestures are an integral part of human communication, and they may have a relationship at neural level with speech processing. What this paper adds to the existing knowledge: During processing of bi‐ and unimodal communication, areas related to semantic processing and multimodal processing are activated, suggesting that there is a close link between co‐speech gestures and spoken language at a neural level. What are the potential or actual clinical implications of this work?: Knowledge of the functions related to gesture and speech processing neural networks will allow for the adoption of model‐based neurorehabilitation programs to foster recovery from aphasia by strengthening the specific functions of these brain networks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines verbal and non-verbal communication between the interpreter and the injured party in a video-recorded main hearing of a criminal matter at a court of first instance in Finland. The language of the court was Finnish and the interpreter and injured party communicated in French, the interpreter's B language and the injured party's second language. Due to differences in the two participants' ability to communicate in French, their verbal communication was characterized by significant problems. A salient feature of their communication consisted of abundant gesturing on the part of the injured party and the interpreter's mirroring of these gestures and putting them into words in her renditions. The interpreter's renderings combined mimicking of the injured party's gestures, language interpretation, and intermodal (gesture to language) interpretation, as well as elements that had been mentioned previously by other participants. The analysis highlights the problematic status of intermodal and multimodal translation from the viewpoint of legal norms, interpreting norms, and the theory of multimodality. It calls for increased sociolinguistic awareness among interpreters, legal experts, and interpreting studies scholars, as well as greater communication between the theory and practice of multimodality and intermodality in the dialogue interpreting of spoken languages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Communication about life-threatening disease and palliative care is essential but often experienced as difficult by those concerned and has mainly been studied in terms of its verbal components. Despite the fundamentality of nonverbal communication, its dimensions in care, especially in the communication by patients and their significant others, has not been as extensively examined. Drawing on a secondary qualitative content analysis of data from 23 interviews—15 with patients in specialized palliative home care in Sweden and 8 with their significant others—this study aims at understanding and characterizing how patients verbally express experiences of conveying nonverbal cues about life-threatening disease and its consequences and how their significant others express perceiving these cues. Patients expressed experiences of nonverbal communication in the form of cues conveying meaning about their disease and its consequences, often beyond their control. Whether and how the patients reinforced these cues verbally, depended on individual needs, care for others, and evaluations of relationships. Significant others acknowledged the presence of nonverbal cues and tried to interpret their meaning. Both patients and significant others emphasized the importance of nonverbal cues and actively related to how cues in the form of bodily appearance, aids, objects and acts, serve communicative functions about disease and its consequences. These dimensions of nonverbal communication are characterized as: body talk, extension talk and action talk. This study contributes to an international knowledge base on the complexities of nonverbal communicative aspects in these dimensions and how it affects patients and significant others. Professionals should be aware that dimensions of care, such as prescribed aids, from the patients' perspective can be perceived as nonverbal cues that might "speak of" disease progression. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dyadic Developmental Psychotherapy (DDP) is a family-based therapy for adopted children aiming to achieve secure attachment between the child and parent. Due to restrictions under the COVID-19 pandemic, delivery of DDP transitioned from face-to-face to online methods. This study aimed to explore families experience of online DDP compared to face-to-face DDP, looking at the advantages and disadvantages of remote delivery methods and the implications this has on future service delivery for clinicians. Semi-structured interviews with 6 families were conducted online. Analysis of transcripts using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) revealed four superordinate themes: environment and child engagement, non-verbal communication, travel and familiarity with remote interactions. Parents recognised the influence the physical and online environment had on their child's engagement levels, however, varied in their experience and hence preference of delivery method. All families emphasised the importance of non-verbal communication within DDP sessions and majority highlighted this may be lost online. For families who travelled to face-to-face DDP, car journeys provided a unique opportunity to decompress and reflect after sessions. For families where travel is unfeasible, online DDP was a lifeline, demonstrating the ability of remote therapy to widen access to specialist healthcare. Familiarity with online work emerged as a strong indicator of positive attitudes towards remote DDP, especially if the previous experience is positive and the child is confident using technology. Overall, families differed greatly in their experience of remote and face-to-face DDP indicating a new approach must be undertaken with each family beginning therapy, ensuring it is unique and individual to their needs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The absence of some forms of non-verbal communication in virtual reality (VR) can make VR-based group discussions difficult even when a leader is assigned to each group to facilitate discussions. In this paper, we discuss if the sensor data from off-the-shelf VR devices can be used to detect opportunities for facilitating engaging discussions and support leaders in VR-based group discussions. To this end, we focus on the detection of suppressed speaking intention in VR-based group discussions by using personalized and general models. Our extensive analysis of experimental data reveals some factors that should be considered to enable effective feedback to leaders. In particular, our results show the benefits of combining the sensor data from leaders and low-engagement participants, and the usefulness of specific HMD sensor features. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Altered nonverbal communication patterns especially with regard to gaze interactions are commonly reported for persons with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). In this study we investigate and differentiate for the first time the interplay of attention allocation, the establishment of shared focus (eye contact and joint attention) and the recognition of intentions in gaze interactions in adults with ASD compared to control persons. Participants interacted via gaze with a virtual character (VC), who they believed was controlled by another person. Participants were instructed to ascertain whether their partner was trying to interact with them. In fact, the VC was fully algorithm-controlled and showed either interactive or non-interactive gaze behavior. Participants with ASD were specifically impaired in ascertaining whether their partner was trying to interact with them or not as compared to participants without ASD whereas neither the allocation of attention nor the ability to establish a shared focus were affected. Thus, perception and production of gaze cues seem preserved while the evaluation of gaze cues appeared to be impaired. An additional exploratory analysis suggests that especially the interpretation of contingencies between the interactants' actions are altered in ASD and should be investigated more closely. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) who are also minimally verbal may require specialized interventions to promote the development of vocalizations. Preliminary research supports an innovative procedure called response contingent stimulus-stimulus pairing (SSP) as a potentially effective procedure to promote vocalizations. The primary aim of this study was to demonstrate the feasibility of delivering a randomized trial comparing response contingent SSP to a control condition. Secondary aims were to demonstrate the feasibility of deploying to the home environment the Digital Language Processor (DLP), a voice recorder by LENA®, and to examine preliminary efficacy of the intervention. Sixteen minimally verbal children with ASD (ages 2.0 to 3.9 years) were randomly assigned to the intervention or control condition with access to delayed treatment. Feasibility metrics were met in that 14 participants (88%) finished the study and attendance to all assessment time points and treatment sessions was over 90%. The research team conducted treatment sessions with 99% fidelity and collected 83.3% of voice recorder data. Nine of 16 caregiver satisfaction surveys were returned, and scores averaged 5.68 out of a possible 6.00 across all participants. Preliminary treatment data results showed that 8/14 participants (57%) showed significant improvement in target sounds and participants receiving the intervention were 3.5 times as likely to improve compared to control. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During daily communication, visual cues such as gestures accompany the speech signal and facilitate semantic processing. However, how gestures impact lexical retrieval and semantic prediction, especially in a naturalistic setting, remains unclear. Here, participants watched a naturalistic multimodal narrative, where an actor narrated a story and spontaneously produced co-speech gestures. For all content words, word frequency and lexical surprisal were regressed against the EEG using temporal response functions (TFRs), which were fitted separately, additively, and interactively for words accompanied and not accompanied by gestures. Results from our analyses suggest a robust modulation effect of gesture on the frequency-dependent regression N400. Besides, we also observed some evidence of modulative effect of gesture on the surprisal-N400 effect based on the single-predictor model. Our finding thus suggests that, on a neural level, the presence of co-speech gestures facilitates lexical retrieval and potentially semantic prediction during the processing of naturalistic multimodal stimuli. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article considers the implications for film analysis of the presence or absence of a manual crank. More specifically, it looks at the 16 mm Time and Motion Study Projector as used in behavioral research in the 1960s and 1970s. The controversial concept of 'interactional synchrony', or the dance-like coordination of people in conversation, emerged from the use of this hand-turned projector. William S. Condon developed the concept along with the technique of microanalysis. Starting with the projector manufactured by Bell & Howell, he made numerous improvements to facilitate observation—'sweeping' over segments of very short duration to discover the rhythmic synchrony of all filmed participants. It led him to a theory of 'process' in communication, and in the reception of speech in particular. People always 'danced' to the tune of their own voice, and their listeners 'danced' to the tune of the speaker—at intervals of one-sixth or one-eighth of a second. This also led Condon to an epistemology of discovery derived partly from philosophy but mostly from his machinery. The universe, he said, is a 'continuum of order' whose structures are preserved through translations of order: of thought into speech, speech into vibrations, vibrations into neurons, and back into behavior. The only exceptions are people with disabilities, like the autistics Condon studied from the 1970s onward. But the very distinction of normal and pathological was epiphenomenal to his scanning technique; it was rooted in material and formal qualities of film and of the projector whose crank he turned often. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Autistic youth display difficulties in emotion recognition, yet little research has examined behavioral and neural indices of vocal emotion recognition (VER). The current study examines behavioral and event-related potential (N100, P200, Late Positive Potential [LPP]) indices of VER in autistic and non-autistic youth. Participants (N = 164) completed an emotion recognition task, the Diagnostic Analyses of Nonverbal Accuracy (DANVA-2) which included VER, during EEG recording. The LPP amplitude was larger in response to high intensity VER, and social cognition predicted VER errors. Verbal IQ, not autism, was related to VER errors. An interaction between VER intensity and social communication impairments revealed these impairments were related to larger LPP amplitudes during low intensity VER. Taken together, differences in VER may be due to higher order cognitive processes, not basic, early perception (N100, P200), and verbal cognitive abilities may underlie behavioral, yet occlude neural, differences in VER processing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: ASD is associated with relative strengths in the visuospatial domain but varying abilities in the linguistic domain. Previous studies suggest parallels between spatial language and spatial cognition in older autistic individuals, but no research to date has examined this relationship in young autistic children. Therefore, the purpose of the present study was to investigate the connection between children's spatial language production and nonverbal spatial cognition over time. We also examined two potential predictors of spatial language observed in previous literature, ASD symptom severity and parent spatial language input. Methods: In past work investigating spatial language in NT children of the same age, parent-child interactions have been a primary context for study. Therefore, in the present study, we analyzed transcripts of dyadic naturalistic play interactions between autistic children and their parents over three visits from age 30 to 66 months and administered standardized cognitive and ASD diagnostic assessments at each visit. Results: Spatial language production was related to nonverbal spatial cognition even when accounting for overall language production, though the strength of that relationship decreased over time. Parent spatial input (but not ASD severity) significantly predicted children's spatial language production over and above the effect of overall language production. Conclusion: Spatial language is associated with spatial cognition in young autistic children and appears to reflect the interaction of overall linguistic skills and nonverbal spatial cognitive ability regardless of autism severity. Parent-mediated interventions may be a promising context for increasing spatial language in autistic preschoolers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]