Four channels, one test — no words involved
Non-verbal communication (NVC) — sending and receiving messages without words, spoken or written. One test: if the message rides on the words chosen, it is verbal and out of scope. Four channels: facial expressions (emotion via brows, eyes, mouth); eye contact; body language = postures + gestures; personal space = proxemics + cultural differences. Boundary: 10.1.4 is the examples; why we have NVC (Darwin, 1872) is 10.1.5.
Facial expressions and eye contact
Facial expressions — emotion shown by movement of the face: the brows, eyes and mouth. Eye contact — two people looking directly at each other's eyes; separate from facial expression because it is the mutual gaze, needing another person. It signals emotion — widened eyes = fear — and regulates turn-taking. An eye-contact answer must name it as NVC and give an example tying an eye behaviour to a meaning; staring at people does neither.
Body language — postures vs gestures
Answer with the sub-bullet, not the umbrella. Postures — how a person holds the whole body (arms folded, turned away); usually held and often unintentional. Gestures — deliberate movements, usually of the hands, arms or head, carrying meaning (a wave, a thumbs-up, a nod); brief and usually intended. Postural echo: two people getting on well mirror each other's posture, so posture signals the state of a relationship.
Personal space, proxemics, culture
Personal space — the physical distance at which a person feels comfortable with another; breach it and they step back. Proxemics — the use of that distance, by relationship: AO1 = the distance, AO2 = how it changes with familiarity. Cultural differences: preferred distance varies, and Yuki et al. (2007) found Western weight the mouth, Japanese the eyes. So NVC is not a universal language; Yuki is the named study, 10.2.1.
Drawn from real examiner reports.
Personal space is not wanting to be alone
The everyday phrase I need space means being left alone, so candidates write that personal space is being on your own — worth nothing. It is a physical distance at which one feels comfortable; it exists only in an interaction, and a breach makes you move to restore it. Nor is it territory — not your room or belongings; it travels with the person.
The digest records candidates defining personal space as wanting to be alone rather than the distance at which a person feels comfortable (June 2023 P2 Q35).
Proxemics answered with slang or word choice
Asked about proxemics, many candidates write about using slang with friends but formal language with adults. That adapts to a relationship, but proxemics is non-verbal, and choosing words is verbal, so it misses the question. A proxemics answer needs the distance: closer with a friend, further from a stranger, shortening with familiarity.
The digest records a large number of candidates answering a proxemics question with slang used to friends versus adults (June 2022 P2 Q36), and the required split of distance for AO1 and change with familiarity for AO2 (June 2024 P2 Q38).
Naming a behaviour with no meaning attached
Two errors share a root: naming what the body does and never saying what it communicates. Staring at people fails for eye contact — it names no emotion and calls it no NVC; say eye contact is NVC because widened eyes signal fear. Gestures as doing something nice is the everyday sense; a gesture is a deliberate movement of the hands, arms or head.
The digest records staring at people failing an eye-contact item needing NVC named and an eye behaviour tied to an emotion (June 2023 P2 Q36), and gestures confused with facial expression and with something nice done for others (June 2019 P2 Q37).
Answering examples with Darwin's evolution
This statement asks only for examples of non-verbal communication. Why we have NVC — Darwin's (1872) theory that expressions are inherited and adaptive — is the next statement, 10.1.5. Bringing in evolution when the question asks you to identify or describe a channel wastes time and answers a different statement. Give the channel, define it, tie it to a meaning.
Personal space vs proxemics confused
These two are a pair and get merged. Personal space is the distance itself — the gap at which a person feels comfortable with another. Proxemics is the use of that distance: what it says about the relationship and how it changes as people grow familiar. A question naming one wants that one — a distance, or the use of distance varying with the relationship.
The digest records proxemics needing physical distance for AO1 and change with familiarity for AO2 (June 2024 P2 Q38).
NVC is not universal, and animals use it too
Two imported beliefs. NVC means the same everywhere — false: the spec names cultural differences as a sub-bullet. Preferred distance differs, and Yuki et al. (2007) found Western weight the mouth, Japanese the eyes. So NVC is not universal. Only humans use NVC — false: animals use it too, and the real human difference is displacement (10.1.3).
The digest records animals using non-verbal communication (June 2023 P2 Q37) and Yuki et al. weighting the mouth versus the eyes (June 2024 P2 Q40 and June 2019 P2 Q40).
Reaching 7-9 on the 9-mark Assess
The 9-mark Assess splits evenly across AO1, AO2 and AO3; AO3 is where marks stall. Define the specific channels used, read the scenario's behaviours through them, then evaluate both ways — NVC as rich information against its openness to misreading.
Two points, two ways, a connective
Describe (2): two unique points — one reworded scores once. Two ways (2): two different justifications — the same reason twice is credited once, a generic answer zero. Difference (2): add a connective (whereas) — two side-by-side definitions cap at one mark.
A result is not a conclusion; apply first
A result is what was found; a conclusion is what it means, so restating the numbers when a conclusion is asked scores nothing. And AO3 needs AO2: naming the person, repeating the stem or copying a line is not application, so a generic answer earns no AO3.
Non-verbal communication (NVC) is the sending and receiving of messages between people without words, spoken or written. Everything in this statement has to pass that test.
Facial expressions — the communication of emotion through movement of the muscles of the face, especially the brows, eyes and mouth.
Eye contact — when two people look directly at each other's eyes during an interaction.
Postures — the way a person positions or holds their whole body, which communicates their attitude or emotional state.
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