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provide an overview of features in face-to-face communication,
which need to be taken into account in constructing both
computer-based systems for communication between humans and
systems for communication between humans and robots or other
artificial agents. In this way, we hope to support the cooperation
between computer scientists, engineers, signal processors and
communication researchers having a background in the social sciences
or linguistics.
3. Nature, Culture, Communication,
Cognition and Language
One of the most discussed issues in studying communication concerns
the interplay between Nature and culture. What in communication is
due to Nature and what is due to culture? Basically, culture is always
the result of cultivation of Nature. It is cultivated Nature. Culture,
thus, always has a natural foundation, but involves human shaping
of naturally given physical, behavioral and cognitive resources. We
have natural genetic predispositions for cognition, social bonding,
communication and language and through socialization (which is a
kind of cultivation) in particular cultures and social communities, we
acquire culture-specific, convention-regulated ways of social bonding,
thinking, communication and language.
Since our focus in this topic is on communication, we start by
turning to the question: What is communication? An answer to this
question is provided by the following definition: Communication
= sharing of information, cognitive content or understanding with
varying degrees of awareness and intentionality. For a different
definition of communication, Shannon and Weaver (1949) and for a
critical discussion of this, Reddy (1979).
Thus, we can say that: A and B communicate if and only if A and B
share a cognitive content as a result of A's infl uencing B's perception,
understanding and interpretation and B's infl uencing A's perception,
understanding and interpretation. The infl uence is mediated through
their action and behavior or by the results of their action and behavior,
e.g. texts or paintings (Allwood, 2008b.)
It is here important to note that a person can be informative
to another person unintentionally, e.g. when the color of their hair
or pitch of their voice provides information about their age or sex,
or when blushing gives information about their emotional arousal.
Similarly, also perception can be unaware; you could, for example,
be influenced by another person without noticing it, as when the
person's larger pupil size signals interest and this subconsciously is
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