ABSTRACT
This chapter offers an overview of a biological/physiological approach to studying communication, describe three physiological systems that are often examined in such research, and reviews specific applications to the instructional communication context. It describes few systems that are commonly explored in psychophysiological research. The chapter details three systems commonly assessed in social science research: the central nervous system, endocrine system, and cardiovascular system. It describes various possibilities for using this approach to study instructional communication contexts and behaviors. The chapter illustrates how a biological/physiological framework can inform instructional communication research. Much of the original communibiological research was grounded in instructional communication, focusing heavily on communication apprehension. Communication apprehension is the anxiety associated with actual or expected communication. The early work on communibiology reflected the dominant focus of the research in instructional communication on communication apprehension.
