This training will get you well-versed in American Sign Language for just $20
Learn beginner to advanced ASL signs while gaining a better understanding of the deaf culture and community.
- From emergency situations to foreign language requirements and even diving, it's extremely useful to have sign language skills under your belt.
- You can learn beginner to advanced American Sign Language (ASL) signs while gaining a better understanding of the deaf culture and community with this $20 master class.
- The Complete American Sign Language Master Class provides students with 75 hours worth of training and CPD credits.
Talking with your hands alters the perception of your words
A new study found that words are more accurately heard when accompanied by hand gestures.
- A team of researchers from the Netherlands found that hands gestures, when used strategically, influence how certain words are heard.
- Participants were 20% more likely to hear and interpret the words being spoken when accompanied by a matching hand gesture, and 40% as likely to hear the wrong word when the gestures did not match.
- Previous research has suggested that certain hand gestures can signal extraversion and dominance, and that speaking with gestures in general tends to lead to being evaluated as warm, agreeable, and energetic.
The experiment
<p>After showing the participants the videos of people speaking under different conditions, the researchers asked them questions about what they had heard. Those conditions involved the speaker emphasizing different parts of words in a sentence (e.g. OBject versus obJECT). Other conditions involved the speaker making various types of hand gestures. For example, chopping, pointing, or sweeping motions made with the hands and arms. Sometimes those hand motions coincided with sections of words being stressed, but sometimes they were random.</p><p>The team recorded the volunteers as they viewed the video recordings, questioning the participants afterward about what they had seen and heard. They found that the participants were more impacted by syllables spoken in conjunction with hand gestures: In 20 percent of the cases the viewer was more likely to have heard and interpreted the word being spoken when accompanied by a hand gesture. Interestingly, however, participants were 40 percent more likely to hear the wrong sound when a mismatch between the word spoken and the hand gesture occurred. </p>Perception of character
<span style="display:block;position:relative;padding-top:56.25%;" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="0d5d839153030de9e9e5221064cb1b3b"><iframe type="lazy-iframe" data-runner-src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ZZZ7k8cMA-4?rel=0" width="100%" height="auto" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" style="position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;"></iframe></span><p>In addition to making your words more clear, past research has found that speaking with your hands really can alter the <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0092656610000553" target="_blank">perception of your character</a>. Markus Koppensteiner at the University of Vienna has analyzed the way that people <a href="https://www.scienceofpeople.com/hand-gestures/" target="_blank">talk with their hands</a> and how the speaker is perceived. His research has suggested that certain hand gestures can signal extraversion and dominance.</p><p>For example, extraversion appeared to be associated with more hand movements overall. Vertical movements, meanwhile, seemed to be linked to the perception of authority. For example, hands sweeping up from torso to shoulder height. People making these expansive gestures with their arms tend to be rated <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0022103113001467" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">lower in agreeableness</a>, but <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0191886916300137" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">higher in domination</a>. This was, <a href="https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20180828-your-n-can-help-make-you-more-charismatic" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">according to Koppensteiner</a>, a consistent result in his papers. </p><p><a href="https://www.amanet.org/articles/when-leaders-talk-with-their-hands/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">According to body language expert Carol Goman, Ph.D.</a>, "Studies have found that people who communicate through active gesturing tend to be evaluated as warm, agreeable, and energetic, while those who remain still (or whose gestures seem mechanical or "wooden") are seen as logical, cold, and analytic." In fact, a 2015 study that analyzed TED Talks found that the most popular, viral speakers used nearly twice as many as the least popular speakers used. </p>Implications
<p>The Dutch research team of this recent study suggests that their findings imply that hand gestures are an important part of in-person communications that have a direct impact on what the listener actually hears. Furthermore, they suggest that our responses to hand gestures used by someone speaking to us may be something that we learn as we grow up. Or, as they also note, it's equally plausible that there is an evolutionary reason for our enhanced responses to hand-talking rather than a learned behavior.</p> <p>Although these experiments were conducted with only Dutch speakers, the team believes that it's likely they would have found the same results with other languages. </p>How one NY hospital system treated 128,000+ COVID cases
From making their own swabs to staying in constant communication across the board, Northwell Health dove headfirst into uncharted waters to take on the virus and save lives.
- Preparing for a pandemic like COVID-19 was virtually impossible. Northwell Health president and CEO Michael Dowling explains how, as the largest healthcare provider in New York, his team had to continuously organize, innovate, and readjust to dangerous and unpredictable conditions in a way that guaranteed safety for the staff and the best treatment for over 128,000 coronavirus patients.
- From making their own supplies when they ran out, to coordinating with government at every level and making sense of new statistics and protocols, Northwell focused on strengthening internal and external communication to keep the ship from sinking.
- "There was no such thing as putting up the white flag," Dowling says of meeting the pandemic head on and reassuring his front line staff that they would be safe and have all the resources they needed to beat the virus. "It's amazing how innovative you can be in a crisis."
World-record laser transmission could prove Einstein's theory
Researchers devise a record-breaking laser transmission that avoids atmospheric interference.
- Researchers from Australia and France team up for a record-breaking laser transmission.
- The new technique avoids atmospheric interference.
- It can be used to test aspects of Einstein's theory of relativity and advance communications.
Scientists achieved the most stable transmission of a laser signal through the atmosphere ever made, beating a world record. The team managed to send laser signals from one point to another while avoiding interference from the atmosphere. Their very precise method can allow for unprecedented comparisons of the flow of time in separate locations. This can enable scientists to carry out new tests of Einstein's celebrated theory of general relativity, and have wide applications across different fields.
For the record transmission, the researchers combined phase stabilization technology with advanced self-guiding optical terminals. They used two identical phase stabilization systems, which had their transmitters located in one building while receivers were in another. One system used optical terminals to send the optical signal over a 265-meter free-space path between the buildings. Another system transmitted using a 715 meter-long optical fiber cable, essentially to keep tabs on the performance of the free-space link. The terminals were outfitted with mirrors to prevent interference like phase noise and beam wander.
The scientists hailed from Australia's International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research (ICRAR) and the University of Western Australia (UWA), as well as the French National Centre for Space Studies (CNES) and the French metrology lab Systèmes de Référence Temps-Espace (SYRTE) at Paris Observatory.
The study's lead author Benjamin Dix-Matthews, a Ph.D. student at ICRAR and UWA, highlighted the innovation and potential of their technique. "We can correct for atmospheric turbulence in 3-D, that is, left-right, up-down and, critically, along the line of flight," said Dix-Matthews in a press release. "It's as if the moving atmosphere has been removed and doesn't exist. It allows us to send highly stable laser signals through the atmosphere while retaining the quality of the original signal."
Credit: Dix-Matthews, Nature Communications
Block diagram (above) of the experimental link that shows two identical phase stabilization systems on the CNES campus. Both of the systems have their transmitter in the Auger building (local site), and both receivers are located in the Lagrange building (remote site). One transmits the optical signal over a 265 m free-space path in-between the buildings while utilizing tip-tilt active optics terminals. The other transmits using 715 m of optical fiber.
Dr. Sascha Schediwy, ICRAR-UWA senior researcher, envisioned numerous applications for their technology, whose precise performance beats even the best optical atomic clocks. Putting one of these optical terminals on the ground while another one is on a satellite in space would help the exploration of fundamental physics, according to Schediwy. Other applications could extend to testing Einstein's theories with greater precision as well as understanding the time-related changes of fundamental physical constants and making advanced measurements in earth science and geophysics.
Optical communications, a field that utilizes light for sending information, could also benefit. The new tech can improve its data rates by "orders of magnitude," thinks Dr. Schediwy. "The next generation of big data-gathering satellites would be able to get critical information to the ground faster," he added.
Check out the new study in Nature Communications.
Here’s how you know when someone’s lying to your face
When someone is lying to you personally, you may be able to see what they're doing.
- A study uses motion-capture to assess the physical interaction between a liar and their victim.
- Liars unconsciously coordinate their movements to their listener.
- The more difficult the lie, the more the coordination occurs.
The tell
<p>Someone who is lying to your face is likely to copy your motions. The trickier the lie, the truer this is, according to experiments described in the study.</p><p>The researchers offer two possible explanations, both of which have to do with cognitive load. In a <a href="https://www.scimex.org/newsfeed/telling-a-really-big-lie-turns-us-into-copycats" target="_blank">press release</a>, the authors note that "Lying, especially when fabricating accounts, can be more cognitively demanding than truth telling."</p><p>The first hypothesis is that when someone is lying, their brain is simply too occupied with the subterfuge to pay any attention to the control of physical movements. As a result, the unconscious part of the liar's brain controlling movements defaults to the easiest course of action available: It simply imitates the motions of the person they're lying to.</p><p>The second possibility is that the liar's cognitive load deprives a liar of sufficient bandwidth to devise a clever, effective physical strategy. Instead, while lying, their attention is so laser-focused on their listener's reaction that the liar unconsciously parrots it.</p>Experimental whoppers
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNTUxMTc5My9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYzNTgwOTY0NX0.3GYcJFPaeUrPE_NXYkadkUKi66IGLLH4wdTk2oo0AiA/img.jpg?width=980" id="77e98" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="8f9cd644cf3362f49ba9ad7c96939153" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" data-width="1440" data-height="954" />Credit: Niels/Adobe Stock
<p>The phenomenon is referred to as "nonverbal coordination," and there is some existing evidence in deception research that it does occur when someone is under a heavy cognitive load. However, that evidence is based on observations of specific body parts and doesn't comprehensively capture whole-body behavior, and little research has mutually tracked both parties' movements in a lying scenario.</p><p>Nonetheless, say the authors, "Nonverbal coordination is an especially interesting cue to deceit because its occurrence relies on automatic processes and is therefore more difficult to deliberately control."</p><p>To track nonverbal coordination, pairs of participants in the study's two experiments were outfitted with motion-capture devices Velcroed to their wrists, heads, and torsos before being seated facing each other across a low table.</p><p>In the first experiment, a dynamic time-warping algorithm analyzed participants movements as they ran through exercises in which one individual told the truth, and then told increasingly difficult lies. In the second experiment, listeners were given instructions that influenced the amount of attention they paid to the liar's movements.</p><p>The researchers found "nonverbal coordination increased with lie difficulty." They also saw that this increase "was not influenced by the degree to which interviewees paid attention to their nonverbal behavior, nor by the degree of interviewer's suspicion. Our findings are consistent with the broader proposition that people rely on automated processes such as mimicry when under cognitive load."</p>Mirroring
<p>There is, it must be said, a third possible reason that a liar copies their target's behavior: Maybe liars are subconsciously reinforcing their credibility with their victims using "mirroring."</p><p>As Big Think readers and anyone familiar with the art of persuasion knows, copying another person's actions is called "mirroring," and it's a way to get someone else to like you. Our brains have "<a href="https://bigthink.com/mind-brain/mirror-neurons-smiling" target="_self">mirror neurons</a>" that respond positively when someone imitates our actions. The result is something called "<a href="https://imaginehealth.ie/the-psychology-of-mirroring/" target="_blank">limbic synchrony</a>." <a href="https://www.scienceofpeople.com/mirroring/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Deliberately mirroring</a> a companion's movements is an acknowledged sales technique.</p><p>So, how can you tell when mirroring signifies a lie and not benign interpersonal salesmanship? There is an overlap, of course — lying is one form of persuasion, after all. Perhaps the smartest response is to simply take mirroring as a signal that close attention is warranted. No need to automatically shout "<a href="https://64.media.tumblr.com/7a549060a9b05fc0a94d50dfe0bcbd9e/tumblr_n24teywDbO1tv5oaqo1_250.gifv" target="_blank">liar!</a>" when someone copies you. Just step back a little mentally and listen a bit more carefully to what your companion is saying.</p>