Anatomical position

Like a marionette, Jimmy's body obeyed an unnatural yet coherent set of physical laws all their own. Alternating contractions and expansions, tautness dissolving into jangling looseness, his body seemed to operate on hinged joints held up from a point beneath the nape of his neck, his psychological springs like the shade too tightly wound. --Elia Kazan, commenting on actor James Dean (Dalton 1984:53-4)

Standard. 1. An arbitrary position of the body used to define movements as deviations from the standard it defines. 2. An unusual posture, suggestive of humility or supplication, in which the body stands upright with arms extended by its sides, palms rotated forward, and feet resting flat upon the floor.

Usage: Myriad joints in our hands, arms, feet, legs, shoulders, pelvis, and spine make the possible number of body movements and gestures incalculably immense. Thus, in recording an observation, anatomical position is useful as a schematic device for description. Movements away from its standard may carry information as signs.

Anatomy. "Close inspection reveals it [anatomical position] as an energy consuming position, seldom actively adopted and involving some scapular rotation and adduction, full lateral rotation of the humerus, direct mediolateral disposition of the elbow joint's axis, full supination of the forearm and hand and with the pollex [thumb] laterally placed!" (Bannister 1995:15).

Literature. "... in the blurred circles of light... appeared a chin upturned, two closed eyelids, a dark hand with silver rings, a meager limb draped in a torn covering, a head bent back, a naked foot, a throat bared and stretched as if offering itself to the knife." --Joseph Conrad (Lord Jim)

Media. Few of us ever use this unnatural posture. However, in the 1951 movie, An American in Paris, Gene Kelly waited in anatomical position below a fountain for his dance partner, Leslie Caron, to return to his side. With his hands in the palm-up position, Kelly's humble "open" posture invited her to approach. The anatomical posture is seen on TV in NFL football games, as well, in players who are accused of pass interference.

See also BASELINE DEMEANOR, BLANK FACE.

ANGER

After Nora busted up Lindsay's wedding to Bo, the secretly pregnant Lindsay was psychotic with rage against Nora. -- One Life to Live (Soap Opera Digest, May 2, 2000, p. 25)

Emotion. A usually unpleasant feeling of annoyance, resentment, or rage.

Usage: Anger shows in a. jaws tensed to a biting position; b. postures of the broadside display (e.g., hands-on-hips); c. cut-off and head-jerk cues; d. fist, hand-behind-head, and palm-down beating gestures; e. frowning and tense-mouth expressions; f. growling voice tones; and g. staring.

Anatomy. In the face, motion energy maps reveal that anger shows most prominently in contortions around our eyebrows for frowning. Corrugator supercilii muscles, blended with occipitofrontalis and orbicularis oculi, draw the eyebrows down, as if to shield our eyes, producing vertical furrows above the nose. At the same time procerus, blended with occipitofrontalis, produces horizontal wrinkles over the bridge of our nose. Anger shows in contracted obicularis oris and masseter muscles (of the tense-mouth, e.g.) as well.

Culture. In Italy, the forefinger bite --in which "the knuckle of the bent forefinger is placed between the teeth and symbolically bitten"--means, "I am angry" (Morris 1994:81).

Evolution. Anger is a mammalian elaboration of earlier vertebrate behavior patterns a. for fighting and b. for the display of dominance.

Literature. "The youth exclaimed with sudden exasperation: 'He's a lunkhead! He makes me mad.'" --Stephen Crane (The Red Badge of Courage)

Primatology. "Males [i.e., wild baboon males] often launch charges and attacks without any preliminary threat gestures" (Hall and DeVore 1972:169).

RESEARCH REPORTS: 1. Signs of anger include body held erect; contracted brows; compressed mouth, flared nostrils, and "flashing eyes" (Darwin 1872:242-43). 2. Anger shows most clearly in the lower face and brow area (Ekman, Friesen, and Tomkins 1971). 3. Facial expressions of anger emerge in human infants between three and four months of age (Burgoon et al. 1989:349). 4. After a feeling of anger "... there may be angry vocalization and pugilistic behavior, with the arms flailing somewhat like those of a fighting chimpanzee. Or there may be gorilla-like hooting and striking of the chest" (MacLean 1993:79).

Neuro-notes. 1. "... the threshold for release of noradrenaline [the anger hormone] to psychological stimuli is generally higher than that of adrenaline [the fear hormone]" (Mayes 1979:37). 2. The amygdala of the limbic system plays a key role in the organization and expression of anger (LeDoux 1996).

See also EMOTION, EMOTION CUE, FACIAL FLUSHING.

YouTube Video: Anger in an Action

Photo of Raphael Palmeiro testifying before a U.S. Congressional hearing on March 17, 2005. Note the slightly lowered brows, staring eyes, and pointing index finger--aimed at committee members--as Palmiero says, "I have never used steroids. Period. I don't know how to say it any more clearly than that. Never" (Givens 2008:10). (Picture credit: unknown.)

Дата добавления: 2015-10-28