The concept of expressiveness came to psychology from linguistics, where it denotes a certain set of means of expression of the author.
In psychology, expressiveness also expresses a person’s attitude to what is happening with the help of a certain set of characteristic behavioral traits, expressions, facial expressions, and movements.
You will find the concept and types of personality accentuations in our article.
Expressiveness is also a quantitative characteristic of a reaction and means its significant, and sometimes even excessive, expression.
What is this in psychology?
The famous psychologist and scientist A. Maslow argued that expressiveness is a manifestation of the normal functioning of the human psyche, since it expresses its attitude, capable of being noticed by other people.
Expressiveness is a special form of contact and communication with other individuals, being a powerful signal of a person’s expression of opinion or attitude.
To express expressiveness, a person can use different techniques and methods: from behavior style to clothing style. Appearance can already indicate the severity of this possibility in an individual.
Many people deliberately hide their attitude to what is happening and dampen their expressiveness, thereby forming an internal conflict.
Others, on the contrary, are prone to unlimited expression, which can also contribute to the discomfort of both the person himself and those around him. Expressiveness as a psychological concept is reflected at all levels of the human psyche : behavior, habits, reactions, psychological syndromes.
Functions
The stages of expressive speech are normally considered (in this order):
- Formation of a motive or the emergence of a desire to speak out.
- Reproduction of a formulated thought in the brain centers (coding the main idea in the speech patterns of the brain).
- Voicing a formulated statement.
Speech therapists include the most important functions of expressive speech:
- the opportunity to express one’s emotional state (a child’s inability to convey to others about his personal attitude towards the events taking place in his life is fraught with the occurrence of neuroses, depression, and mental disorders);
- simplification of the child’s adaptation period in the children’s group;
- the formation of a predisposition to rapid socialization (the ability to feel comfortable in society without the presence of parents).
Impressive speech in its psychological structure implies the presence of 3 main stages:
- Primary perception of information flow. It can reach the child both through the hearing organs and the speech system.
- Decryption of the received message. At this stage, the child's brain perceives the sound or letter composition of incoming information.
- Forming connections between the results of data analysis and knowledge stored in think tanks, or one’s own understanding of what was heard (read).
The correct development of impressive speech is necessary for the correct implementation of its key functions:
- the opportunity to be in society and feel like a full member of it (understand the rules, accept the requests of others, respond to requests, and so on);
Expressive and impressive speech may be poorly developed in children, leading to separation from peers. - the ability for self-development (broaden your horizons, expand your vocabulary, and so on);
- using past life experience to improve the quality of what is happening in the present (for example, a child who is unable to store memories in the subcortex may often get burned by a hot kettle. Not only does he not remember his negative experience, but he also cannot fully perceive the warnings of his parents).
Types of expressiveness
Expressiveness can be divided into the following options:
- Motor : reflects a physical, muscular reaction. Russian physiologists I. M. Sechenov and I. P. Pavlov studied the severity of reflex activity and the degree of motor activity in response to various stimuli. Motor reactions expressed the degree of severity of the reaction.
- Emotional : describes a subjective attitude to what is happening; expressiveness can manifest itself both in positive emotions in the form of joy or delight, as well as in negative ones: anger, crying.
- Behavioral : expresses the characteristics of human behavior depending on the level of expressiveness. At the same time, it is a higher level in relation to the previous ones. Behavioral expressiveness is manifested in the severity of reactions assessed by others.
At the junction of the first two types are speech and facial expressiveness, which is realized with the help of characteristic speech patterns, the work of facial muscles in the form of certain “masks,” sets of microexpressions.
Determination of expression
What is expression? In medicine, it is a genetic process by which the information contained in genes is converted into specific cellular structures. Expressiveness in biology is a definition inextricably linked with human life and health, which is further developed in psychology and psychotherapy. The concept of “express” belongs to the same medical-biological field - this means to transcribe and broadcast a gene.
Expressiveness is the degree of expression of a certain state, feeling, emotion, attitude. The concepts of “expressiveness” and “expression” are used not only in psychology, but also in theater studies and art history, if it is necessary to emphasize the level of expression of spirituality. And also show means of expression, for example, painting, music, architectural elements. It turns out that in the existing definitions of these terms there are indications of the connection of this phenomenon with the mental and spiritual world of people.
Expression is the expressiveness of feelings and emotions, showing the internal state by manifesting it in appearance.
The opposite meaning is impressiveness - a tendency to internal rather than external experiences, the accumulation of predominantly negative feelings. They say about such people that they keep their experiences to themselves, are not inclined to share emotions and problems, grievances and frustrations do not come to them immediately, not instantly.
Opinions about the connection between the inner world of people and expression, which were formed mostly in art history and philosophy, are supplemented by psychology. The essence of this connection in psychological expression is visible in the fact that expression takes place not only as accompaniment of actions externally. It acts as a part of these phenomena, a form of their manifestation.
Expressive girl telling something to her friend
For this reason, it is worth talking about expression in the form of personal education , a way of knowing the spiritual world of the individual, and also as an external “I”.
Causes
There are several reasons for this phenomenon:
- anatomical-functional or biological,
- genetic,
- socially determined
- historical.
Biological reasons form the material basis of the ability to clearly express one’s “I”.
This includes neurotransmitter systems, metabolic features, and constitution.
Adrenaline and norepinephrine are responsible for the severity and speed of the reaction, the ability to euphoria is due to the presence of endorphins, serotonin and dopamine.
Depending on the activity of these systems, as well as on the speed of inactivation of products, characteristic behavioral features .
A special structure of the brain called the limbic system is responsible for the emotional sphere. With its active work and stimulation, emotional and motor activity increases.
In depressive states, when there is a marked decrease in expressiveness, a deficiency of serotonin is observed, which is what therapy is aimed at. However, this does not mean that only biology governs behavior.
Genetic reasons predetermine the structure of the body, and accordingly its anatomical and physiological characteristics, as mentioned above.
How are speech development disorders identified?
Speech therapists examine the speech function of children, conduct tests and analyze the information received. The study of expressive speech is carried out in order to identify the child’s formed grammatical structure of speech, to study vocabulary and sound pronunciation. It is for the study of sound pronunciation, its pathologies and their causes, as well as for the development of a procedure for correcting violations, that the following indicators are studied:
- Pronunciation of sounds.
- The syllabic structure of words.
- Level of phonetic perception.
When starting an examination, a qualified speech therapist clearly understands what exactly the goal is, that is, what kind of expressive speech disorder he should identify. The work of a professional includes specific knowledge about how the examination is carried out, what type of materials should be used, as well as how to formalize the results and form conclusions.
Taking into account the psychological characteristics of children whose age is preschool (up to seven years), the process of examining them often includes several stages. At each of them, special bright and attractive visual materials for the named age are used.
Expressive person, who is he?
An expressive person rarely goes unnoticed. His appearance and behavior usually speak before the dialogue with him.
Characteristic features of such a personality:
- Fast, sweeping movements with large amplitude.
- A large number of small movements accompanying gait or speech, active articulation and gestures.
- Jerky, abrupt nature of movements.
- An abundance of words in the dialogue, a loud voice, laughter that attracts attention.
- Lively facial expressions, easily interpretable.
- Mannered behavior, pretentiousness.
- Real or fabricated role of the leader, “ringleader”.
The fabricated role of a leader means that a person is ready to accept all the attention and all the rights of a leader, but is not ready to bear responsibility.
An expressive person does not always mean confident or dominant . It often happens the other way around: with outwardly bright behavior there is a lack of willpower and self-control.
Such people often make a lot of promises, make a lot of plans, and also like to express their opinions in public.
Expressive girls often attract attention with their atypical persistence in expressing themselves or responding to communication.
They are often the center of men's attention, but have difficulty building relationships due to lack of restraint. Also, expressive ladies are characterized by lability of emotional reactions and a tendency to hysteria .
The first sign of female expression is appearance: bold combinations of colors and models predominate, often absurd, but lively facial expressions and visible optimism successfully compensate for such inconsistencies.
Meaning of the term
The word "perception" (percipere) of Latin origin literally translates as "perception". It has been known since Antiquity, but the issue of the development of perceptual abilities is being developed in detail by modern psychology. This fact does not mean that the study of the issue of completeness of perception was carried out fragmentarily. The problem of developing the perceptive abilities of an individual gained particular popularity thanks to Gottfried Leibniz. He meant by the term “perception” “vague impressions” as opposed to apperception - clear awareness of perception.
In modern psychology, perception appears along with such abilities as thinking, memory, attention, and has such properties as:
- objectivity;
- apperception;
- contextuality;
- meaningfulness;
- structure.
The scientific study of perception is carried out using empirical methods and modeling.
Characteristics of behavior
With this model of behavior, actions that attract attention predominate: such people tend to be the center of everyone's attention.
They often become successful actors, singers, and musicians. Expressive behavior is characteristic of a creative environment .
Also in this behavior there is often a duality of standards: confident in public, such people are indecisive in their real actions, often trying to shift responsibility to someone else.
Expressive behavior is often associated with directness and honesty, but with the right skill, behavioral reactions can skillfully simulate something. Behavior is characterized by a constant dynamic desire: from the speed of movements to the speed of decision-making.
Speech is dominated by affirmative sentences and exclamations , both positive and negative. Sentences are constructed from complex constructions, characterized by an abundance of interjections, prepositions, and adverbs.
There are usually traces of facial wrinkles on the face, especially around the eyes, rapid movement of the eyes and lips, and a constantly changing facial expression.
A striking example of an expressive personality is the hero of Russian folk tales, Ivanushka the Fool .
His sweeping movements, elastic gait, fast and bright speech, as well as his image in eye-catching clothing colors with an expressive smile on his face allow us to create a portrait of an expressive person.
Diagnostics
It is important to show a child with any speech disorders to a pediatrician: he will examine him, ask the parent questions and refer him to more specialized specialists: a pediatric neurologist, otolaryngologist, speech therapist, psychologist. The main purpose of the examination is to determine the causes of the disorder, distinguish it from similar disorders and determine the optimal treatment tactics
The main purpose of the examination is to determine the causes of the disorder, distinguish it from similar disorders and determine the optimal treatment tactics.
The diagnostic process consists of:
- General examination. Specialists talk with parents, study the medical history, and find out whether there were any disturbances during the process of bearing the child and during childbirth. Reflexes are also tested. After this, the child is sent for additional examinations, the list of which depends on the conclusions of specialists. As a rule, this list includes electroencephalography, MRI or CT scan of the brain.
- Examination by a speech therapist. The speech therapist determines how deep the speech disorders are using tests, talks with the child, notices how well he controls his own articulatory apparatus, how he uses words and constructs sentences.
- Diagnostics of the mental sphere. Checks are carried out by a child psychologist in the form of a game. He monitors the child’s behavior and communicates with him. The child also undergoes tests that determine the degree of development of his cognitive abilities and intelligence quotient.
After a comprehensive examination, a diagnosis is made. The sooner correction of the disorder is started, the more favorable the prognosis will be.
Expressive crowd concept
Such a crowd of people is formed against a general excited background : all members of this crowd are in high spirits and, as a rule, ready for action, but they do not perform any action.
An expressive crowd has no goal, but has great energy potential; individuals are united by the similarity of their state and readiness to express it.
Such a crowd usually has a leader, but this does not always give purpose to the crowd of people.
A striking example of an expressive crowd can be seen at football matches or carnival processions.
In some cases, such a crowd poses a danger because it has no means of control or direction and is subject to the chaotic influence of an excited mood.
Universal language
The lexical meaning of expression is an expressive, vivid manifestation of a person’s emotions and personal qualities.
The expression of a healthy person is always adaptive to the society that forms the cultural unit. Laughter is a normal reaction to a joke and will be understood by both the African and the Australian settler. But the duration of a natural reaction to a joke, the strength of its manifestation and the nature of additional gestures are regulated by the principles of what is permissible in a particular environment. This also applies to other examples of the universal language of expressiveness: crying, sadness, joy, delight, fear.
The norms regulated by society do not seem very restrictive, but only because each of us was brought up in the concepts of what is permissible and what is not. People whose inner world does not fit into established frameworks are true expressionists.
conclusions
Expressive-emotional vocabulary occupies a fairly serious position in our speech. If it did not exist, it would be impossible to fully express a person’s feelings. And in technologies for creating artificial intelligence, at this stage they have learned to force robots to convey emotions only through emotionally charged expressions.
Also, expressive vocabulary allows you to better express your own thoughts during online correspondence, when only verbal communication is possible, and non-verbal language is not read. Of course, the latter plays an incredibly serious role in communication, but without the use of expressive vocabulary, even the most artistic nature would not show anything.
Russian
Morphological and syntactic properties
case | units h. | pl. h. |
Them. | expression | expressions |
R. | expressions | expressions |
D. | expressions | expressions |
IN. | expression | expressions |
TV | expression expression | expressions |
Etc. | expressions | expressions |
Noun, inanimate, feminine, 1st declension (declension type 7a according to the classification of A. A. Zaliznyak).
Pronunciation
Semantic properties
Meaning
Synonyms
Antonyms
Hypernyms
Hyponyms
Related words
Etymology
Comes from Lat. expressio “extrusion, squeezing out; expressiveness", from ch. exprimere “to squeeze out; express”, further from ex- “from-, from-” + premere “to press, press down”, from Proto-Indo-European. *prem-/*pres- “to beat”