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Nonverbal Communication
Through interviews with experts on interpersonal distance, this video examines the equilibrium theory of eye contact, sex differences in the perception of nonverbal behavior, gestures and expression in photos, biological programming, and more. Milgram examines scientific findings on communication through gesture, body posture, intonation, eye contact, and facial expression, and presents research and theory on communication. Interviews include Hall on interpersonal distance, Argyle on the equilibrium theory of eye contact, Rosenthal on sex differences, Akaret on gestures and expressions in photographs, and Eibl-Eibesfeldt on biological programming.

About Stanley Milgram
Stanley Milgram became a controversial and compelling public figure as a result of his shocking 1961 experiment Obedience to Authority, which revealed the extraordinary actions average people will take to follow orders. When published, the world was reeling as new information about the Holocaust came to light through the Eichmann trials. The film Obedience, which documented the experiment and provided visual evidence of the results, began Milgram’s interest in film as an educational tool. He went on to create five more films over the course of his career on other social psychology topics.

Milgram also conducted research that includes the well-known studies in small world (the source of “Six Degrees of Separation”), the lost-letter technique, mental maps of cities, the familiar stranger, and other important work central to the study of social psychology. Each of these films provides arresting visual imagery to supplement classroom instruction and discussion around a variety of essential themes, figures, and experiments in social psychology, making even complex topics accessible to a wide variety of students.