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C Oser Examination of A Study On Verbal and

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25 views4 pages

C Oser Examination of A Study On Verbal and

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ramazonxamirov
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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-圈廖呻啊l

READING PASSAGE 3
You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 27•40, which are based on Reading Passage 3
on pages 9 and 10.

c oser examination of a study on verbal and


Al
non-verbal messages
A study of non-verbal communication carried out in 1967 continues to be widely
quoted today. David Lapakko looks at limitations in the original study
Description of the Study
The findings of a study on verbal and non-verbal messages in communication by Albert
Mehrabian and his colleagues at UCLA" in 1967 have been quoted so frequently that they
are now often regarded as a self-evident truth.
In the first experiment, subjects were asked to listen to a recording of a female saying the
word'maybe'in three tones of voice to convey liking, neutrality and disliking. The subjects
were then shown photos of female faces expres.sing the same three emotions and were
asked to guess the emotions in the recorded voice and the photos. It was found that the
photos got more accurate responses than the voices. In the second experiment, subjects
listened to nine recorded words spoken in different tones of voice. Three words had positive
meanings (e.g. honey), three were neutral (e.g. oh) and three were negative (e.g_ terrible)
Again, the subjects had to guess the speaker's emotions. It was found that tone of voice
carried more meaning than the individual words. From these experiments the researchers
concluded that,% of our feeling towards a speaker is based on the actual words they use,
38% on their tone of voice, and 55% on their body language (e.g. facial expression).
Methodological Issues
However, a closer look at the study reveals several limitations. The first is that the entire
study involved only 62 subjects. Of these, 25 were used to select the word for the first
experiment, while the key issue - comparing verbal and non-verbal communication - was
determined by only the 37 remaining subjects. All were female undergraduates who
participated as part of their introductory psychology course, and their ages and academic
qualifications seem remarkably uniform. Thus, the findings may simply be a product of the
nature of the sample.
Critics havef also pointed out that the 7-38-55 formula is flawed since it was pieced together
from two diferent experiments, neither of which involved all three channels (verbal, vocal,
and facial). In addition, in the first experiment the single word maybe was used throughout so
it was impossible for the effects of changes in verbal input to be assessed. The researchers
intentionally used a'neutral'word so naturally the subjects found little meaning there.
Clearly, such a methodology lacks validity. In the real world, people communicate in a
particular context and speak in phrases and full-blown sentences, making extensive use of
the multi-faceted vehicle of language.
My concern is that interpretations of this study have gained such prominence in our
pedagogical literature. This 7-38-55 formula appears in many basic texts, used for training in
public speaking, interpersonal communication and organizational communication.

·UCLA: University of California at Los Angeles

Turn over►

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匾
10

Lessons to consider
Clearly, one appealing aspect of the Mehrabian study is its nume北al precision
Communication is a complex phenomenon, but it seems less so when we can rely on
these three magical numbers. In contrast to the ambiguities of language, numbers seem
to possess exactness. And the popular appeal of the study has given the 7-38-55 formula
enormous credibility. There is a certain mystique about non-verbal communication, and the
continued 「eferences to this research sustain it, encou 「aging people to believe in the
overwhelming importance of the non-ve「bal message compared with the verbal one. Yet we
know that even one ill-chosen word to a colleague or friend can make or break a
communicative effort. Words do matter. Bradley (1991), one of the few textbook writers to
criticize the Mehrabian study, makes the same point when he observes,'If we could
communicate 93% of information and attitudes with vocal and facial cues, it would be
wasteful to spend time learning a language·.
Mehrabian himself believes his research should not be interpreted to devalue the role of
language in communication, saying:
Please remember that all my findings ... dealt with communications of feelings and
attitudes... it is absurd to imply or suggest that the ve巾el portion of all
communication constitutes only 7% of the message ... anytime we commun;cate
abstract relationships (e.g., x = y- the square of z) clearly 100% of the entire
communication is verbal. (Mehrabian, 1995)
To be fair. many textbook writers attempt to be faithful to the context of Mehrabian's
research. For example, Stewart and D'Angelo (1988) write:'Mehrabian argues that when
we're uncertain about what someone's feeling, or about how much we like him or her, we
「ely... only 7% on the wo 「ds that a 「e spoken'. Others try to play down the specific
percentages, saying that an understanding of the general importance of non-verbal cues is
more important. Nonetheless, othe 『 textbook autho 「s simply use the numbers without placing
any limits on their meaning

Conclusion
Since this relatively small study was fi「st published it has achieved an influence fa 「 beyond
its intended scope. We need to put it into its proper perspective and learn some important
lessons from it regarding social science research, communication pedagogy, and the forces
which have created widespread misunderstanding about communication

密
11

Questions 27 - 30

Complete the summary us;ng the list of words .and phrases, A-H, below.

Write the correct let/er, A丑，n boxes 27-30 on your answer sheet.

Mehrabian's 1967 study


Albert Mehrabian and his colleagues carried out an influential study comparing the
27 ............ of verbal and non-verbal communication. This involved two experiments. In
both expe「iments, subjects had to identify the 28 ............ being communicated by other
people. The two main areas focused on in the ft 「st experiment were voice tones and
29 .... ....... , while the second focused mainly on voice tones and 30 ............ .

A facial expressions B purposes C printed words


D effects E word meanings F gende 「 differences
G feelings H characteristics

Questions 31 - 35
Do the following statements agree with the views of the writer in Reading Passage 3?
In boxes 31-35 on your answer sheet, write
YES if the statement agrees with the vie ws of the writer
NO if the statement contradicts the views of the writer
NOT GIVEN if it is impossible to say what the writer thinks about this
31 One limitation of the study was that there were too few subjects involved
32 The fact that the subjects in the study came from a similar background was an
advantage.

33 The two experiments should have been carried out in a different order

34 The researchers'choice of a neutral word was helpful in the context of the study

35 The study would have been more valid if it had included a range of languages.

Turn over ►
．匾酝
12

Questions 36 - 40
Choose the co斤ect letter, A, B, C or D.
Write the correct Jetter in boxes 36-40 on your answer sheet.
36 What does the writer say about the'numerical precision'of Mehrabian's study?
A It makes the claims more attractive.
B It is the strongest point of the study.
C It will appeal to superstitious people
D It allows comparison between languages.
37 What does the writer say about the popularity of the 7-38-55 formula?
A It is unlikely to maintain its present status
B It is leading to an undervaluing of language.
C It should be applied in a more practical way
D It may help understanding of non-verbal messages.
38 I/I/hat point is Bradley making about language learning?
A Language could be learned more efficiently than it is.
B More research is needed into attitudes to communication.
C More time should be spent looking at tone and body language.
D Language must be important since we make an effort to acquire it
39 What does Mehrabian himself say about his findings?
A They are relevant to only one area of communic抑on.
B It is only in maths that 100% of communication is verbal
C Feelings a「e more difficult to communicate than numerical facts
D Non-verbal communication is the main part of the message.
40 What is the writer's purpose in the paragraph beginning'To be fair...'?
A to justify the strong points of Mehrabian's study
B to outline other research on non-verbal behaviour
C to present varying interpretations of Mehrabian's study
D to show that textbooks tend to igno「e non-verbal behaviour

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