Non Verbal Communication - Haptics

Report on Non-Verbal Communication

HAPTICS

Contents

|Topic |Page No. |
|Introduction |1 |
|Categories of Haptic Communication |2 |
|Meanings of Touch |5 |
|Power and Touch |7 |
|Culture and Touch |8 |

Introduction

Haptic Communication is the means by which people and other animals communicate via touching. Touch is an extremely important sense for humans; as well as providing information about surfaces and textures it is a component of nonverbal communication in interpersonal relationships, and vital in conveying physical intimacy. It can be both sexual (such as kissing) and platonic (such as hugging or tickling). Touch is the earliest sense to develop in the fetus, and the development of infants' haptic senses, and how that relates to the development of the other senses such as vision, has been the target of much research. Human babies have been observed to have enormous difficulty surviving if they do not possess a sense of touch, even if they retain sight and hearing. Babies who can perceive through touch, even without sight and hearing, fare much better. Touch can be thought a basic sense in that most life forms have a response to being touched, while only a subset have sight and hearing.