published_or_final_version / Speech and Hearing Sciences / Master / Master of Science in Audiology

This dissertation measures the levels of trait-like and situational oral communication apprehension in jury bodies and provides some interpretation of these measurements on these bodies. By extending research on oral communication apprehension to juries, a clearer understanding of the impact of this phenomenon on specialized small groups is possible. Juries constitute a specialized small group because of the manner by which jurors are selected, the rules applying to their discussion of trial matters, their isolation from external influences during a trial, and their objective to determine a trial verdict for which they have personal impunity. Results of this study were obtained from analysis of data acquired from actual venire members and jurors in the Pima County Superior Court in Tucson, Arizona. The study uses a data collection instrument that is a modification of the Personal Report of Communication Apprehension-24 combined with the Situational Communication Apprehension Measure. This research determined that the overall trait-like oral communication apprehension level of venire members is below that normally found in other groups, whereas, the situational apprehension level of jurors is generally above that level found in nonjury small groups. This situational apprehension level varies considerably depending on the ethnicity of the individual venire member or jurors and the nature of the trial on which the juror is impaneled. The study further determined that certain factors normally associated with leadership role fulfillment appear to be altered inside the jury deliberation room. Jury service appears to serve as a motivational drive that lowers the fears and anxieties that high communication apprehensives associate with interactive speaking in small groups.

This study investigated the concept of verbal accessibility in marriage. It is an example of the interactional approach to the study of marriage, which is concerned with the on-going socialization process in marriage. Verbal communication is one component of the socialization process and also of problem solving in marriage. Interpersonal communication is influenced by many variables-- personality, culture and social situation. Polansky (1 965) conceptualized verbal accessibility as the degree of readiness to communicate verbally and to participate in communication about determinant attitudes. Determinant attitudes are those which have the most far reaching influence on other attitudes and on behavior. One of the goals of this study was to develop a scale which would permit examination of the verbal accessibility of attitudes relevant for marriage, and also to measure the VA between marital partners. The scale of fifty-seven items covered such areas as child-rearing, sex, money, education, in-laws, religion, employment, health, and the like. The items were then roughly categorized by Goffman’s scheme of social structure, interaction, and personality referents. Items were also judged as to their positive, negative and neutral connotation. Subjects were asked to report how fully they would talk with their spouses about each of the items, and also how fully they thought their spouse would talk with them about the same items. The responses were weighted in order to arrive at scores of verbal accessibility. The scale was administered to twenty-six couples who had requested conciliation services at the Court of Domestic Relations. The scale was constructed to measure verbal accessibility in such a way that persons as well as items could be ranked along a continuum from least accessible to most accessible. Scalogram analysis with the interaction and personality items for husbands and for wives produced a total of six scales. These scales appeared to reflect a dimension of self-protectiveness. There was no significant difference between the medians for husbands and wives, although the mean of the medians for husbands was slightly higher. Since this is in contrast to previous findings, we assumed that our sample was abnormal, biased, or both. Women did have a higher median score for interaction items, however, which may be due to the woman’s affective role in the family, and to the greater specificity of the interaction items. The scale appears to have potential for future use because it was able to elicit differential responses; items around such areas as sex and health had low accessibility and items around such areas as children and employment had higher accessibility. It was hypothesized that: 1) The more similar the marital partner’s verbal accessibility, the greater the likelihood of reconciliation. 2) The greater the marital partners’ assumed similarity of verbal accessibility the greater the likelihood of reconciliation 3) The higher the verbal accessibility on positive items, the greater the likelihood of reconciliation. 4) The higher the verbal accessibility on negative items, the less the likelihood of reconciliation. 5.) The higher the verbal accessibility of the respondent on positive and neutral items, the greater the likelihood of reconciliation. The data did not support the hypotheses. We concluded that our study was weakened by the small sample size, the lack of other measures of VA, and the uncertain significance of marital reconciliation. Responses apparently were biased by the stress of the situation, the desire to appear cooperative and the preponderance of female interviewers. We do not believe that the scores we obtained were actual measures of VA, but rather a reflection of the special situation of our subjects. Our sample appeared to have unique characterological, motivational, and interactional patterns which had an undetermined influence on our findings. We suggest that future research consider social, cultural and personality measures as part of any study of VA. Interactional patterns, orientations to marriage and barriers to marital breakdown down should also be studied. A normal sample would be useful for purposes of comparison.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Open University. BLDSC no. DX77744.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2000. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 286-306). Available also in a digital version from Dissertation Abstracts.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2002. / Supervisor: Diane L. Schallert. Vita. Includes bibliographical references. Also available from UMI.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Ohio State University, 2003. / Title from first page of PDF file. Document formatted into pages; contains xii, 151 pages : ill. (some col.) Includes abstract and vita. Advisor: Charles R. Hancock, College of Education. Includes bibliographical references (p. 115-125).

M.A. dissertation, University of Hong Kong, 1980.

The purpose of this experiment was to determine which of the communication apprehension reduction methods currently available was most effective in classroom application. This contextual concern was a critical factor. Communication apprehension reduction methods not readily applicable to classroom environments were eliminated as viable treatment methods. Treatment methods (independent variables) tested in this experiment were: skills training plus cognitive restructuring, skills training only, cognitive restructuring only, and a no systematic treatment (control) group. Each of these treatments was reviewed. Nonapplicable treatment methods for classroom environments were also reviewed. Subjects were randomly chosen and assigned to one of the four experimental conditions. Three introspective self-report instruments measuring communication apprehension were employed as dependent measures. Level of communication apprehension was the dependent variable. Attempts to control a number of extraneous variables in this quasi-experimental design were made. Composite scores were made for each subject on pre-test and post-test measures, and "Difference" (D) scores were computed from these composite scores. These D scores were submitted to three sets of statistical analyses: a one-way analysis of variance, an analysis of co-variance, and an analysis of co-variance using only those subjects with pre-test composite scores falling above the marginal mean score. In addition, homogeneity of variance tests were run on experimental group variances, and correlation coefficients were computed for each of the six dependent measures (three instruments with one of these instruments having four sub-scales). Also, three sets of Dunnett's tests for comparisons of treatment groups to a control group were made. The results indicated that no significant differences occurred between any of the four experimental conditions tested. Results of the Dunnett's tests indicated that skills training plus cognitive restructuring was the most effective treatment method of those methods tested. Specifically, significant changes in level of communication apprehension occurred from pre-test to post-test trials when only those subjects above the marginal mean score were used. Based on the findings reported, instructors were recommended to use skills training plus cognitive restructuring as a communication apprehension reduction technique in classroom environments. The author also recommended that skills training plus cognitive restructuring be employed only with those students experiencing a moderate or high level of communication apprehension.

This study investigates the question of how the combination of different-age listeners and developmentally delayed individuals affects preadolescents' communication. While being videotaped in a lounge-like setting, two 11-year-old females separately interacted with three different same sex listeners: a younger nonhandicapped child (6 years old); a nonhandicapped peer (11 years old); and a retarded peer (also 11 years old). Measures were taken on the number, duration, and content of their initiated interactions. The results demonstrated that the speaker who addressed the less verbally adept retarded peer made more communicative adjustments than the speaker who talked with the more verbally advanced retarded peer, more than when she talked with the two nonhandicapped listeners. Also, both speakers seemed to talk to the younger child much like they spoke with the normal same-age peer. This finding suggests that the age of the listeners had less influence on the speaker's linguistic behavior than the developmental level of the listener. (Abstract shortened with permission of author.)