ABSTRACT
The Albert Mehrabian and S. Ksionzky experiment explored the contribution of a different set of experimental factors to the social interaction of a subject with an experimental confederate. Speech rate, speech volume, and vocal activity were estimated on scales ranging from zero to four. The positive-negative quality of both the vocal component and the verbal contents was scored on a scale ranging from —2 to +2. The obtaind intercorrelations of these verbal cues with nonverbal communications of positive affect serve as assurance that such a composite measure, which is based on the verbal interchange, is reasonably representative of general affiliative behavior. The latter attempts to develop typologies for movement and social interaction are exemplified by the work of R. F. Bales, R. L. Birdwhistell, D. Efron, and more recently by P. Ekman and W. V. Friesen and N. Freedman and S. P. Hoffmann.
