The Steps to Reading Body Language 29
coming together into an organized whole. For example, rage may
be sparked by a thought, but the communication of it is the process
that includes a balled fist, an arm that goes rigid, contracting pupils,
a rigid back, and so on. The end point may be the enraged person
planting his knuckles on some other guy’s jaw. This rage can be
communicated without intent, too, as long as you know the sequence
of body movements that effectively convey it. A good interrogator
has the capacity to communicate rage where there is none, just as
a good actor does. Although many interrogators believe that this
is the most difficult emotion to portray, I don’t because few people
have ever seen true rage.
Therefore, given that communication means a bit more than a
single grunt or foot stomp, a typical first question from students is,
“Do animals communicate?”
The simple answer is yes. Cats, dogs, horses, goldfish, ham-
sters, and monkeys all have a system of symbols and behavior that
convey information. I want to draw a distinction here between those
actions that take shape as communication and simple, non-verbal
behavior. When a cat scratches her ear, she isn’t trying to tell you
anything; she’s scratching because her ear itches. Keep this dis-
tinction in mind for humans behavior, too. Sometimes a scratch is
just that.
The difference between animal communication and human
communication is, of course, complexity. Our pets generally com-
municate in a series of utterances, shifts in posture, flexing of
extremities, and eye movement. The most mentally advanced of