Learning how to read people extends beyond one on one conversation into the realm of politics and media studies. A recent study published in Science has sought to analyze the ways in which such false stories get promoted and circulated throughout social media. While many news commentators have pointed to the role of automated bots…
Read MoreAping Around with Gestures
Many of our gestures and emotions are universal across cultures, but is this limited to just our species? In an exciting new study by Dr. Kirsty Graham of the University of York, researchers found surprising patterns among gestures utilized by bonobos and chimpanzees in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Not only did they find…
Read MoreOur Voice’s Emotions
Humintell tends to focus on nonverbal behavior and facial expressions, but our voices also convey a lot of subtle information. This should not be a surprise to many of you who intuitively see different emotions and attitudes in pre-vocal utterances such as sighs, grunts, or yells. In a 2015 study, a team of researchers sought…
Read MoreThe Case for Musical Emotions
For many people, listening to music is a deeply emotional experience, but does that tap into universal emotions? In a 2016 study, psychologist Heike Argstatter sought to determine whether universal basic emotions are recognizable in music across cultures. This built on her previous research which found that, within one Western culture, both trained musicians and…
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