The informational potential of the nonverbal and verbal components of feedback responses

Abstract

This research was designed to identify the nonverbal and verbal communicative behaviors which are the constituents of feedback responses and to examine the informational potential of these behaviors. Results from factor analyses indicate that the nonverbal communicative behaviors used in feedback responses are composed of four independent factors, while the verbal behaviors are composed of seven factors. The nonverbal communicative behaviors appear to have the potential to provide information about how receivers perceive themselves and the message sender. By contrast, verbal communicative behaviors used in feedback responses may be useful indicators of the effectiveness and efficiency with which the receiver is responding to a given message.