Measuring Individual Differences in the Nonverbal Communication of Affect: The Slide-Viewing Paradigm1

This paper describes the slide-viewing paradigm for measuring nonverbal sending accuracy—the spontaneous tendency to display communicative nonverbal behavior— and nonverbal receiving ability—the ability to accurately decode such behaviors when they occur in others. Sending accuracy has been measured in adults, preschool children, and brain-damaged patients, and suggestive relationships have emerged between sending accuracy and gender, personality, autonomic responding, and presumed site of brain damage. The pattern of results suggests that sending accuracy may be related to both unlearned, temperamental factors and to gender-related social learning experiences. Receiving ability has been measured in adults and preschool children, and relationships with various measures have been demonstrated.