Developmental kinesics: How children acquire communicative and non-communicative nonverbal behavior

This article is a position paper concerning the major issues in the study of children's acquistion of nonverbal behavior. In linguistic theory non-verbal behavior may be considered irrelevant, it may be condsidered the precursor of verbal language, or it may be viewed as an integral part of human communication which is verbal and nonverbal. The author opts for the latter theory. Concerning the relationship between what is innate and what is learned, the paper discusses that nonverbal expression is innate, but culture determines its forms and its uses. The paper then presents a brief history of Developmental Kinesics, explaining its technical difficulties and its methodological complexities. It proceeds by documenting the function of maternal nonverbal behavior towards the neonate. Finally, the paper treats the levels of analysis. A distinction is drawn between communicative and non-communicative nonverbal behavior. Its affective, emotional function relates to ego state; its regulatory function governs face-to-face interaction; and its referential, informative function pertains to the message proper. The child also acquires the non-interactional aspects of body movements which distinguish different peoples. Expression and perception must be studied separately; and finally, nonverbal behavior has to be correlated with verbal behavior and particular attention has to be focused on the double bind.