Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 1, 2026

Measurement of the Directional Information Flow in fNIRS-Hyperscanning Data using the Partial Wavelet Transform Coherence Method
Published on: September 3, 2021
The sweet spots in human communication
1Department of Communication Studies, Texas State University San Marcos, TX 78666, USA. ps05@txstate.edu
Abstract:
In baseball, the sweet spot is a special place on a bat where the batter can hit the ball with the most power. It is the place where the performances of the batter and pitcher collide with maximum effect. It is the place where the dynamic tension between opponents leads to transformation. The dynamic tension in all living systems is between similarity and difference. Chaos and complexity scholars recognized this tension as amounts of information. When the amounts of information were high, but not too high, the system moved to the edge of chaos, to the complexity regime, to strange attractors, or to chaos, depending on the model. The sweet spot is that range of relative variety, just the proper mix of similarity and difference, leading to transformation. This essay contains a model of human communication as an emergent social process with its own sweet spots. The essay also includes a description of current literature highlighting tensions between similarity and difference, and there is an exploration of the potential to move from one basin of attraction to another. The primary constraints on finding communication sweet spots are paradigmatic - adopting a process orientation, discovering the proper parameters, bracketing sequences to define initial conditions, and understanding the strengths and weaknesses of various modeling techniques.
More Related Videos
07:12Protocol for Data Collection and Analysis Applied to Automated Facial Expression Analysis Technology and Temporal Analysis for Sensory Evaluation
Published on: August 26, 2016
09:53Humor or Rationality? The Neural Mechanisms of How Agent Type and Language Style Influence Satisfaction with Ride-Hailing Service Failure Recovery
Published on: March 13, 2026
Related Concept Videos
Therapeutic Communication
Verbal communication depends on language or a prescribed way of using words so that people can share information effectively. The critical aspects of verbal...
Channels of Non-Verbal Communication
Communication
Within...
Communication
Levels of Communication I: Intrapersonal, Interpersonal, and Small Group
We can participate in these relationships through verbal, nonverbal, and mediated communication. We engage in verbal communication when we use words during our interaction to convey specific meanings. On the other hand, nonverbal communication refers to various factors that can impact how we understand each other—for example, facial expressions.
We interact with others using mediated technologies like the...
Relationship Formation