Discuss the importance of personal space in conversation. How ...

[sammy]

Discuss the importance of personal space in conversation. How does culture influence it?
 
  What will be an ideal response?

Question 2

Identify and discuss at least two reasons for studying language in nonhumans.
 
  What will be an ideal response?

[Chelseyj.hasty]

Answer to Question 1

One aspect of nonverbal communication is personal spacethe distance between people in a conversation or other interaction that is considered comfortable for members of a given culture. Proxemics is the study of interpersonal distance or its opposite, proximity. It concerns itself with relative distancing and the positioning of you and your fellow conversants. In the United States, 2.45 feet to 2.72 feet is considered about right. In Mexico, the adequate distance ranges from 1.65 to 2.14 feet, whereas in Costa Rica it is between 1.22 and 1.32 feet. Scandinavians expect more distance. Middle Easterners, southern Europeans, and South Americans expect less.

Answer to Question 2

Researchers study nonhuman animals for several reasons. First, nonhuman animals often are presumed to have somewhat simpler cognitive systems. It is therefore easier to model their behavior. Second, nonhuman animals can be subject to procedures that would not be possible for human ones. For example, a rat may be sacrificed at the end of a learning experiment to study changes that have occurred in the brain as a result of learning. Third, nonhuman animals that are not in the wild can serve as full-time subjects, or at least, regularly available subjects. They are typically available whenever the experimenter needs them. Fourth, an understanding of the comparative and evolutionary as well as developmental bases of human behavior requires studies of various nonhuman animals. If cognitive psychologists want to understand the origins of human cognition in the distant past, they need to study other kinds of animals besides humans.