As we discuss the concepts of what it takes to understand behavioral analysis, oftentimes we have to discuss what happens in our brain as our sensory systems receive information. We also spend a good amount of time describing the most important of the senses to a trained observer which is sight. To aid in our understanding of these complex systems, we spend a good amount of time researching books and articles, which describes these processes. One standout book, which has become a valuable resource for us, is Brain Rules by Dr. John Medina.
Continue reading »
This book serves as the foundation for the entire domain of proxemics. Edward Hall can be seen as the “father of proxemics” as his research launched an entire field of study. But is it worth buying? If you’re a new student to profiling, I have to recommend that you pass on it for now.
The first nine chapters (111 pages out of a total of 192) do not apply to the way that we use Proxemics in predictive profiling and many are focused on animal behavior. By the time we get to chapter ten, Hall does finally break down the four proxemic zones for humans, which are important to us: the intimate, personal, social and public zones. However, Hall only dedicates about two pages to each zone with minimal discussion of an invasion into a person’s intimate or personal space. This is the functional area that means a lot to profilers. Understanding the concept of the zones is important, but it is the application of those zones and the behavior that results from violations of them that provide the greatest benefit to us when we are establishing our baseline and searching for those anomalies. It was in this area, how to apply and analyze what we are observing using proxemics that I was hoping to see more focus on from Hall.
