The Provine et. al article about :) ;) :( emotional expression was very interesting. :) The study itself was pretty standard, :-/ but they got extremely :-D robust results. (which were semi-expected?) But what I really :-))) enjoyed about it were the parts :-P which didn't really deal with the experiment itself :-O.
Alright, looking back at that, I want to kick myself in the face. Ugh... that's so awkward and terrible. I definitely understand the whole punctuation thing...especially because I read this in my head as me speaking it and all the emoticons just keep interrupting the flow of what's happening. I guess I could see an occasional smiley after a phase break at mid-statement such as with a comma, but other than that... Ew... that was rough.
The article brought up a lot of different applications and examples which I thought were valuable, such as the use of canned laughter on TV shows to indicate to people when they should be laughing or when something is funny.
The idea of higher-order versus lower-level processes was also cool. Even though deaf individuals were not limited in their actual vocal tracts to limit them from laughing, they still placed their emotional content as punctuation, rather than something in the middle of statements.
The mention of ASL as another form of communication which would possibly use emotion or some form of emoticon indication was a nice connection.
However, there was one thing I wondered about. What if people who are deaf and using ASL laugh in signs as well, rather than making the physical noise? I don't know much about ASL but if that was my primary form of communication I feel like I might "laugh" in sign language rather than make a noise the person you are communicating with may or may not hear.
That being said, I feel as though the point still stands that various forms of communication such as CMC and sign language really imitate that of face-to-face speech.
Another question I had was something a little beyond the scope of what the article but something that could lead to a lot of interesting future research. I have a cousin with Asperger's Syndrome, a mild form of autism, who I thought of when reading the appropriate time to use emoticons such as smiley faces, since those with Asperger's have a harder time recognizing social cues and communicating their own cues appropriately.
I jumped on WebMD and grabbed some official descriptions of symptoms which may be present in those with Asperger's.
Parents often first notice the symptoms of Asperger's syndrome when their child starts preschool and begins to interact with other children. Children with Asperger's syndrome may:-Not pick up on social cues and may lack inborn social skills, such as being able to read others' body language, start or maintain a conversation, and take turns talking.
-Be unable to recognize subtle differences in speech tone, pitch, and accent that alter the meaning of others’ speech. Thus, your child may not understand a joke or may take a sarcastic comment literally. Likewise, his or her speech may be flat and difficult to understand because it lacks tone, pitch, and accent.
It made me wonder about the use of emoticons in children and adults with Asperger's. Would they use them less overall, or be more likely to put them in the middle of statements rather than using it as "punctuation"? I know that my cousin has learned to pick up cues and has greatly improved, and I wonder if communication using CMC and emoticons would make emotion easier to convey. Possibly it could be used, similarly to the canned laughter present on TV sitcoms, to show an unmistakable emotion. While it may sometimes be hard to tell if someone is being funny or sarcastic even in person, reading a statement with a LOL emoticon afterward makes it pretty clear.
Just something I started thinking about :)
Provine, R. R., Spencer, R. J., & Mandell, D. L. (2007, September). Emotional expression
online: Emoticons punctuate website text messages. Journal of Language and
Social Psychology, 26(3), 299-307. doi:10.1177/0261927X06303481
Asperger's syndrome - symptoms. (2008, April 30). WebMD. Retrieved
March 26, 2009, from http://www.webmd.com/brain/autism/tc/aspergers-
syndrome-symptoms
Comments (4)
I really think you have some great thoughts on the use of emoticons in CMC communication. I definitely agree with you that it is easier to recognize emotional cues when they are clearly spelled out in ways such as LOL or haha rather than in a face to face conversation. Although like I posted on Maggie's blog, what happens when "lol" and "haha" are used in a sarcastic sense? It complicates things even more!
As for your question about deaf people and whether they laugh or have a sign for "I'm laughing" I actually have an answer! :) When I worked with a deaf man and he would often find my sad attempts at sign language humorous and he would literally laugh out loud at me. I also noticed that when I was talking to Willy (the deaf man) he was much more perceptive to emotional cues on my face. I thought this was very interesting - kind of an opposite to what people with Asperger's syndrome experience. Researching either of these group's recognition of emotional cues could be very cool :)
Posted by Camille | March 26, 2009 12:32 PM
Posted on March 26, 2009 12:32
There's a lot of really cool stuff here. I think looking at the ASL stuff is really cool, and I honestly wouldn't have really had any idea of an answer to it, so thanks for explaining that Camille!
I've never really realized how annoying emoticons can come across when used in the middle of sentences and stuff. Like I said on the other blogs, I do find myself using emoticons but I guess in my experiences I've always used them at the end or beginning of entries... kind of interesting.
Posted by Ashley Crosby | March 27, 2009 4:16 AM
Posted on March 27, 2009 04:16
Also, I'm not really up at that ridiculous hour, I'm 3 hours behind you guys! ;-) See everyone on Tuesday!
Posted by Ashley Crosby | March 27, 2009 4:17 AM
Posted on March 27, 2009 04:17
I have Aspergers and I find use of emotion cons to be annoying.
Feel free to read my Aspergers Blog
Posted by Aspergers Blogger | May 4, 2009 12:47 AM
Posted on May 4, 2009 00:47