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<\/a>Cue<\/strong>: Arm Freezing Behaviour or Leg Freezing Behaviour.<\/p>\nSynonym(s)<\/strong>: Flight or Fight Response, Leg Freezing Behaviour.<\/p>\n Description<\/strong>: Arm freezing refers to the sudden reduction or elimination of movement in the arms or hands such as gesticulation, due to stress or fear.<\/p>\n When hands or arms freeze, the hands can be stuffed into the pockets, be hidden under the table or be placed palm down on the table or held tightly on the lap in order to reduce gesticulation. Additionally, the hands may be coupled hand-in-hand on the lap, fingers entwined and placed on the table, or seem to be praying near chest level.<\/p>\n The cue is especially salient when they seem to freeze suddenly \u2013 especially when something particularly damning or incriminating, or something that can be the source of discomfort has occurred.<\/p>\n In One Sentence<\/strong>: Hand freezing is to \u201chide in plain sight\u201d and indicates that one is fearful.<\/p>\n How To Use it<\/strong>: Use arm freezing behaviour to show others that you are in disagreement with what they are saying. The hands can also be frozen to feign fear. This can be effective in bluffing in poker.<\/p>\n Context<\/strong>: General.<\/p>\n Verbal Translation<\/strong>: \u201cI\u2019m scared and I\u2019m going to stop moving so I can try to escape detection and hide in plain sight.\u201d<\/p>\n Variant: See Hands In Pockets<\/a>, Feet Wrapped Around Legs Of Chair<\/a>.<\/p>\n Cue In Action<\/strong>: a) A child happily plays on the kitchen floor with a truck set when a close relative suddenly appears – the child freezes. In children, a sudden freeze response can indicate the presence of abusive parents or relatives. b) The boss suddenly walks in the room and sees you playing video games on company time \u2013 your hands lock up and you can\u2019t click to a new screen.<\/p>\n Meaning and\/or Motivation<\/strong>: A fear driven or high stress response.<\/p>\n Hands can suddenly change in terms of use as illustrators and seem to pause, stop or slow in their rate of use. Sudden cessation of gesticulation can indicate a freeze response due to being caught in a lie, especially when the context warrants it. This is part of the flight or flight response as liars are trying to seem less noticeable. They are \u201chiding in plain sight\u201d and to do this it is necessary to move less as movement attracts attention.<\/p>\n Reducing expressiveness means fewer \u201ctells\u201d or so the lying mind thinks. When hands or feet that are usually busy, suddenly begin to slow, or become less expressive, it can signal a lack of enthusiasm or confidence for the topic. Whatever happens to the hands, when they suddenly change, we know that something internal has changed and it is usually tied directly to whatever is happening in the moment.<\/p>\n Cue Cluster<\/strong>: Arm and leg freezing is accompanied by other minimizing cues such as head lowered, ducked or down, erection of barriers as well as escape movements such as moving feet toward the door.<\/p>\n Body Language Category<\/strong>: Fearful body language, Stressful body language, Defensive, Escape movements, Negative body language.<\/p>\n Resources:<\/strong><\/p>\n Arduino, P. J., & Gould, J. L. (1984). Is tonic immobility adaptive? Animal Behavior, 32, 921\u2013923.<\/p>\n Bracha, H. S. (2004). Freeze, flight, fight, fright, faint: Adaptionist perspectives on the acute stress response spectrum. CNS Spectrums, 9, 679\u2013685.<\/p>\n Burgess, A. W., & Holmstrom, L. L. (1976). Coping behavior of the rape victim. American Journal of Psychiatry, 133, 413\u2013418.<\/p>\n Baxter, James C., and Richard M. Rozelle (1975). “Nonverbal Expression as a Function of Crowding During a Simulated Police-Citizen Encounter.” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 32(1): 40-54.<\/strong><\/p>\n Cannon, W. B. (1929). Bodily changes in pain, hunger, fear and rage (2nd ed.). New York: Appleton, Century, Crofts.<\/p>\n Estes, Zachary Estes and Michelle Verges. Freeze or flee? Negative stimuli elicit selective responding. Cognition. 2008. 108(2): 557-565.<\/p>\n Fyer, M. R., Uy, J., Martinez, J., & Goetz, R. (1987). CO2 challenge of patients with panic disorder. American Galliano, G., Noble, L. M., Travis, L. A., & Puechl, C. (1993). Victim reactions during rape\/sexual assault: A preliminary study of the immobility response and its correlates. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 8, 109\u2013114.<\/p>\n Gallup, G. G. (1977). Tonic immobility: The role of fear and predation. Psychological Record, 27, 41\u201361.<\/p>\n Gillis, M. M., Haaga, D. A., & Ford, G. T. (1995). Normative values for the beck anxiety inventory, fear questionnaire, Penn state worry questionnaire, and social phobia and anxiety inventory. Psychological Heidt, J. M., Marx, B. P., & Forsyth, J. P. (2005). Tonic immobility and childhood sexual abuse: A preliminary report evaluating the sequela of rape-induced paralysis. Behavior Research and Therapy, 43, 1157\u20131171.<\/p>\n Kalin, N. H., Shelton, S. E., Rickman, M., & Davidson, R. J. (1998). Individual differences in freezing and Liebowitz, M. R., Gorman, J. M., Fyer, A. J., Dillon, D. J., & Klein, D. F. (1984). Effects of naltrexone on patients with panic attacks. American Journal of Psychiatry, 141, 995\u2013997.<\/p>\n LeDoux, Joseph (1996). The Emotional Brain: The Mysterious Underpinnings of Emotional Life (New York: Simon & Schuster).<\/p>\n McGrew, W. C. (1972). “Aspects of Social Development in Nursery School Children with Emphasis on Introduction to the Group.” In N. G. Blurton Jones, ed., Ethological Studies of Child Behaviour (Cambridge: University Press), pp. 129-56.<\/p>\n Mattick, R. P., & Clarke, J. C. (1998). Development and validation of measures of social phobia scrutiny fear and social interaction anxiety. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 36, 455\u2013470.<\/p>\n Morris, Desmond (1994). Bodytalk: The Meaning of Human Gestures (New York: Crown Publishers).<\/p>\n Navarro, Joe. 2008. What Every BODY is Saying: An Ex-FBI Agent’s Guide to Speed-Reading People. William Morrow Paperbacks.<\/p>\n Reiss, S., Peterson, R. A., Gursky, D. M., &McNally, R. J. (1986). Anxiety sensitivity, anxiety frequency, and the prediction of fearfulness. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 24, 1\u20138.<\/p>\n Sagliano, Laura ; Cappuccio, Angela ; Trojano, Luigi ; Conson, Massimiliano. Approaching threats elicit a freeze-like response in humans. Neuroscience Letters. 2014. 561: 35-40.<\/p>\n Schmidt, Norman B. ; Richey, J. Anthony ; Zvolensky, Michael J. ; Maner, Jon K. Exploring human freeze responses to a threat stressor. Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry. 2008. 39(3): 292-304.<\/p>\n Schmidt, N. B., & Joiner, T., Jr. (2002). Structure of the anxiety sensitivity index: Psychometrics and factor structure in a community sample. Journal of Anxiety Disorders, 16, 33\u201349.<\/p>\n Schmidt, N. B., Miller, J., Lerew, D. R., Woolaway-Bickel, K., & Fitzpatrick, K. (2002). Imaginal provocation of Schmidt, N. B., & Telch, M. J. (1994). Role of fear of fear and safety information in moderating the effects of voluntary hyperventilation. Behavior Therapy, 25, 197\u2013208.<\/p>\n Suarez, S. D., & Gallup, G. G. (1979). Tonic immobility as a response to rape in humans: A theoretical note. The Psychological Record, 29, 315\u2013320.<\/p>\n Sporer, Siegfried L. ; Schwandt, Barbara Penrod, Steven D. (editor). MODERATORS OF NONVERBAL INDICATORS OF DECEPTION: A Meta-Analytic Synthesis. Zvolensky, M. J., & Eifert, G. H. (2001). A review of psychological factors\/processes affecting anxious responding during voluntary hyperventilation and inhalations of carbon dioxide-enriched air. Clinical Psychology Review, 21, 375\u2013400.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Body Language of Arm Freezing Behaviour or Leg Freezing Behaviour Cue: Arm Freezing Behaviour or Leg Freezing Behaviour. Synonym(s): Flight or Fight Response, Leg Freezing Behaviour. Description: Arm freezing refers to the sudden reduction or elimination of movement in the…<\/p>\n
\nJournal of Psychiatry, 144, 1080\u20131082.<\/p>\n
\nAssessment, 7, 450\u2013455.<\/p>\n
\ncortisol in infant and mother rhesus monkeys. Behavioral Neuroscience, 112, 251\u2013254.<\/p>\n
\npanic in patients with panic disorder. Behavior Therapy, 33, 149\u2013162.<\/p>\n
\nPsychology. Public Policy, and Law. 2007. 13(1): 1-34.<\/p>\n