A Framework for Studying Human Multimodal Communication - Coverbal Synchrony in Human-Machine Interaction - page 25

Table 4. Communicative expressions over and above auditory aspects of speech.

1. Facial gestures (nose, eyebrows, cheek, forehead, chin, etc.)

2. Head movements

3. Gaze direction, mutual gaze

4. Pupil size

5. Lip movements

6. Hand and arm movements

7.

Leg and foot movements

8.

Body posture

9. Distance between communicators

10. Spatial orientation

11. Clothing and bracelets

12. Touch

13. Smell

14. Taste

15.

Non-linguistic sounds

6. Contents of Communication

As we have seen in Sections 3 and 4, the content of language and
communication has many features. We will now consider these
features a little more in detail. Perhaps the most important types are
information concerning:

(i) Physiological states, like fatigue and hunger
(ii) Character—identity—personality, like haughty, timid, aggressive
(iii) Affective-epistemic attitudes (including emotions), like joy,
friendliness, surprise, boredom, interest, etc.
(iv) Factual content, giving information about our beliefs and
assumptions concerning facts
(v) Communication management, that is, information about ICM
(feedback, turn taking, sequences) and OCM (choice and change).

In many contexts, the verbal part of the auditory, mostly vocal
message is the most important. However, for all the types of content,
especially the fi rst three types, both prosody and communicative body
movements have a major role. Thus, in contexts where information
about physiological states, personality or affective-epistemic states is in
focus, the importance of prosody together with visible body movements