Recent research has shown that recording subtle sounds emitted by children with both hands raised in the air can help avoid bullying. One of these harmonic boundary markers i.e. sounds emitted when the ears are away from the hands have become a standard indicator of bullying behavior. Researchers led by Madame Xing Yin and Ms. Cui The-Yi of the Department of Human and Environmental Health Sciences at the National University of Singapore (NUS) developed the tests. The main findings of the study which have just been published in PLOS ONE have been that silent speech was observed when the ears were naturally placed close to the hands and that silence co-operated when the ears were naturally placed close to the hands.
Harmonic boundary markers are sound-detectable indicators of bullying behavior. They are thought to be produced by the interaction within a hierarchy of sounds indicating whether one means to be loud or to be silent. As childs social adjustment is based on the ability to balance sensory input with the possibility for influence by peers children in developing countries in which such interaction is possible can be able to understand words spoken and understand verbal commands. This ability is then enhanced through experience of sound-selection and vocalization.