Search research articles

ABOUT JoVE

Overview Leadership Blog JoVE Help Center

AUTHORS

Publishing Process Editorial Board Scope & Policies Peer Review FAQ Submit

LIBRARIANS

Testimonials Subscriptions Access Resources Library Advisory Board FAQ

RESEARCH

JoVE Journal Methods Collections JoVE Encyclopedia of Experiments Archive

EDUCATION

JoVE Core JoVE Business JoVE Science Education JoVE Lab Manual Faculty Resource Center Faculty Site

Terms & Conditions of Use

Related Concept Videos

Non-Verbal Cues

Non-Verbal Cues

Non-verbal communication extends beyond gestures and facial expressions to include vocal elements known as paralanguage. Paralanguage consists of non-verbal vocal cues such as pitch, loudness, speech rate, pauses, and non-verbal vocalizations like laughter, sighs, and moans. These elements not only accompany speech but also provide critical emotional and contextual information.The Role of Paralanguage in CommunicationParalanguage adds depth to spoken language by conveying emotions and...

Therapeutic Communication

Therapeutic Communication

Communication is a lifelong learning process. Through therapeutic communication, nurses can collect relevant assessment data, provide education and counseling, and interact during nursing interventions. Sending and receiving messages occur through verbal and nonverbal communication techniques and can happen separately or simultaneously.
Verbal communication depends on language or a prescribed way of using words so that people can share information effectively. The critical aspects of verbal...

Impression Management Techniques III: Aligning Actions

Impression Management Techniques III: Aligning Actions

Aligning actions are communicative strategies individuals employ to maintain social harmony and preserve personal identity in the face of potential disruptions to social norms. These actions are particularly important in managing social impressions when one's behavior might be seen as inappropriate, incompetent, or morally questionable.Types of Aligning ActionsThe three principal types of aligning actions are disclaimers, accounts, and apologies.DisclaimersDisclaimers are preventive; they are...

Channels of Non-Verbal Communication

Channels of Non-Verbal Communication

Non-verbal communication plays a critical role in human interaction, influencing how individuals perceive emotions and psychological states. It operates through four primary channels: facial expressions, eye contact, body language, and touch. These non-verbal cues help convey meaning beyond spoken language and are often culturally influenced.Facial Expressions and Emotional RecognitionFacial expressions are among the most powerful and universal forms of non-verbal communication. Research has...

Communication

Communication

Communication between two animals occurs when one animal transmits an information signal that causes a change in the animal that receives the information. Organisms communicate with one another in a host of different ways. Signals can be auditory, chemical, visual, tactile, or a combination of these. Communication is a critical behavioral adaptation that promotes survival, growth, and reproduction.

Communication

Communication

Sharing information, concepts, and emotions to foster mutual understanding is communication. The sender, recipient, and transaction must be considered in this manner. The sender is the person who shares the message, the recipient is the person who receives and understands the message, and the transaction is the method used to deliver the message and the variables that affect the communication's context and surroundings. The nurse-client connection is built on therapeutic communication.

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by

Same author

Charting New Paths in the Study of Kin Term Acquisition.

Topics in cognitive science·2026

Same author

EVApeCognition: An 18-Year Dataset of Great Ape Cognition.

Scientific data·2026

Same author

The enchronic envelope.

Psychological review·2025

Same author

Eyebrow movements as signals of communicative problems in human face-to-face interaction.

Royal Society open science·2025

Same author

Collusion in the Clinic: Constructing Patients' Moral Responsibility to Treat Cancer.

Qualitative health research·2025

Same author

Patients in pain.

Communication & medicine·2025

Search research articles

Related Experiment Video

Updated: Mar 28, 2026

Author Spotlight: Deciphering the Cognitive and Neural Mechanisms of Gesture in Communication

Author Spotlight: Deciphering the Cognitive and Neural Mechanisms of Gesture in Communication

Published on: January 26, 2024

Marked Initial Pitch in Questions Signals Marked Communicative Function.

Mark A Sicoli, Tanya Stivers, N J Enfield

Language and Speech

|December 19, 2015

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Initial pitch in speech signals communicative intent. Divergent pitch, especially in the top 10% of a speaker's range, predicts questions seeking agreement, not just information.

More Related Videos

Systematic Hearing Performance Evaluation Process for Adolescents with Cochlear Implantation at Early Ages

Systematic Hearing Performance Evaluation Process for Adolescents with Cochlear Implantation at Early Ages

Published on: March 24, 2023

Virtual Agent for Real-Time Motivational Interviewing by Integrating Adaptive Nonverbal Behavior and Language Models

Virtual Agent for Real-Time Motivational Interviewing by Integrating Adaptive Nonverbal Behavior and Language Models

Published on: December 23, 2025

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Mar 28, 2026

Author Spotlight: Deciphering the Cognitive and Neural Mechanisms of Gesture in Communication

Author Spotlight: Deciphering the Cognitive and Neural Mechanisms of Gesture in Communication

Published on: January 26, 2024

Systematic Hearing Performance Evaluation Process for Adolescents with Cochlear Implantation at Early Ages

Systematic Hearing Performance Evaluation Process for Adolescents with Cochlear Implantation at Early Ages

Published on: March 24, 2023

Virtual Agent for Real-Time Motivational Interviewing by Integrating Adaptive Nonverbal Behavior and Language Models

Virtual Agent for Real-Time Motivational Interviewing by Integrating Adaptive Nonverbal Behavior and Language Models

Published on: December 23, 2025

Area of Science:

Linguistics
Phonetics
Sociolinguistics

Background:

Conversational speech relies on phonetic cues for meaning.
Initial utterance pitch can signal communicative function, speech act, or social action.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate the relationship between initial pitch and the social action of questions.
To determine if pitch deviations predict specific question types and their social functions.

Main Methods:

Quantitative acoustic measurements and statistical analyses of pitch in over 10,000 utterances.
Analysis of pitch at first prominence across 10 languages, considering speaker, gender, and question form.
Multivariate logistic regression to predict social action based on pitch deviation from median levels.

Main Results:

Initial pitch significantly deviating from a speaker's median pitch level predicted the social action of a question.
Questions soliciting agreement, rather than information, showed pitch divergence predictably in the top 10% of a speaker's range.
A correlation was found between marked pitch and marked social action, suggesting iconicity.

Conclusions:

Speakers use initial pitch deviations as an early signal to indicate a question's non-literal, inferential meaning.
Prosody, specifically pitch, plays a crucial role in conveying social actions and communicative intent in conversation.
The findings highlight an iconic relationship between prosodic marking and social action in spoken language.