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The Book of Tells (Peter Collett)[unlocked]

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THE BOOK OF TELLS<br />

following consonants <strong>of</strong>ten have to be prepared before the<br />

consonant is uttered.' 15<br />

Related observations have been made about the<br />

German language. Robert Zajonc and his colleagues were<br />

interested in the idea that different speech sounds<br />

differentially affect blood flow to the brain and that this<br />

may affect people's mood. To test this they asked a group<br />

<strong>of</strong> German-speakers to read out a story which either had a<br />

lot <strong>of</strong> 'ü' sounds or very few 'ü' sounds. 16 Participants who<br />

read the story with lots <strong>of</strong> 'ü' sounds were found to have<br />

hotter foreheads; they also rated the protagonist in the<br />

story less positively. <strong>The</strong> authors <strong>of</strong> the study took these<br />

findings as support for the notion that 'ü' sounds affect<br />

blood flow to the brain, which in turn affects mood.<br />

Although this particular effect has not been replicated,<br />

psychologists have discovered that mouth postures can<br />

affect people's moods in other ways. For example, people<br />

who are asked to hold a pencil between their teeth while<br />

they're looking at cartoons (and who therefore inadvertently<br />

replicate the extended mouth posture <strong>of</strong> a<br />

smile) are likely to rate the cartoons as funnier than people<br />

who hold the pencil either between their lips or in their<br />

hand. This study supports the 'facial feedback theory' - the<br />

idea that people's moods can be shaped by the facial<br />

expressions that they adopt. 17<br />

Conversation <strong>Tells</strong><br />

Countries differ widely in their enthusiasm for conversation.<br />

<strong>The</strong> French have always struck the English as overly<br />

garrulous. 'A Frenchman', declared Dr Johnson, 'must be<br />

316

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