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The Ultimate Body Language Book

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old, will pull his chin in and put his head down so that I can’t see his eyes when I instruct him not to<br />

touch the buttons on my desktop computer tower. He also smirks when he doesn’t want to internalize<br />

and obey me. Next, he raises his left arm (usually) to the back of his neck and either (short) grabs his<br />

ear or the hair at the side of his head, or reaches all the way and scratches the back of his neck showing<br />

restraint. I say short-grab because the real cue is the grab the back of the neck, but his arms, being a<br />

baby are short and inflexible. Scratching the back of the neck is like “holding yourself back” by the<br />

scruff of the neck. This cue cluster has been important for my wife and I as we ascertain what level of<br />

obedience we should expect based on whether or not he has actually internalized our instructions.<br />

As with any head motion it is important to examine the adjoining clusters of body language to<br />

determine it’s true origins. For example, adding arm crossed to head down would signify more<br />

prominently that there was negativity present. Bending the head down, but looking up, can easily be<br />

confused with a lowered head yet means something totally different. <strong>The</strong> bent head means agreement,<br />

confirmation, or even shame.

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