ORAL COMMUNICATION APPREHENSION: A SUMMARY OF RECENT THEORY AND RESEARCH

Editors Note: With this issue we inaugurate a new section of HCR devoted to summaries of research and theory in specialised areas within the field of human communication. Papers in this section will he designed to bring research and theory in a given area together so that both specialists and nonspecialists can determine the “state of the art” in that area up to the time the paper is published. Scholars who wish to prepare papers for this section are requested to contact the editor and make their interests known. Generally, papers for this section will be commissioned. However, unsolicited papers will be given full consideration.     

AN EMPIRICAL APPRAISAL OF THE PRCA FOR MEASURING ORAL COMMUNICATION APPREHENSION

Since 1970 about 80% of the research on oral communication apprehension has used one of two versions of McCroskey's Personal Report of Communication Apprehension. The original 20-item PRCA was introduced for the purpose of measuring apprehension beyond the traditional public speaking context. Although the PRCA-20 is reliable, some serious criticism of it has centered on its ability to tap interpersonal behavior outcomes. In an attempt to bolster its interpersonal applicability, five “interpersonally-oriented” items were added to form the PRCA-25. The studies reported herein demonstrate that both versions fail to possess sufficient reliable variance to be applicable to contexts other than public settings. In addition, it was found that the interpersonal items are a separate component of the PRCA, and as such, do not justify being treated equal in terms of additivity and, therefore, reduce the construct integrity of the PRCA.     

THE EFFECTS OF COMMUNICATION APPREHENSION ON COMMUNICATION EFFECTIVENESS1

This study investigated the following hypothesis: physiological, psychological, and verbal behavior indices of communication apprehension can predict comprehension, perception of speaker credibility, and ratings of speech effectiveness. The stimulus materials were videotapes of the first minute of 85 different students expressing their views on women's liberation. Measurement on all the indices of communication apprehension had been taken on these students as the videotapes were being prepared. Each of these one-minute videotapes was shown to a single receiver who then filled out forms measuring comprehension, perception of source credibility, and rating of speech effectiveness. Results supported the hypothesis that the indices of communication apprehension could predict all the communication effects save one, perception of character. The strongest relationship between the set of communication apprehension variables and the set of communication effectiveness variables indicated that individuals who reported high apprehension experienced much silence in their speech and received low ratings on language facility, vocal characteristics, and general effectiveness.     

THE EFFECTS OF COMMUNICATION APPREHENSION ON INTERPERSONAL ATTRACTION

Two studies are reported which indicate that high communication apprehensives are perceived as less interpersonally attractive than low communication apprehensives by members of the opposite sex. Effects of physical appearance and attitude similarity on interpersonal attraction, consistent with previous research, were also observed. It was also found that, in general, the more communication apprehensive the subject the less the subject was attracted to other people.     

THE EFFECT OF COMMUNICATION APPREHENSION AND SITUATION ON COMMUNICATION STRATEGY CHOICES

Volunteer undergraduate students were administered a questionnaire that assessed their perceptions of the probable use of certain persuasive strategies in a given situation and measured their level of communication apprehension. Data were analyzed to test hypotheses concerning the effects of communication apprehension and type of situation on the use of persuasive strategies. Data confirmed the impact of situation on strategy selection but failed to demonstrate the effect of communication apprehension or an interaction between communication apprehension and situation on strategy use. Implications for communication apprehension and communication competence were offered.     

PERSONALITY CORRELATES OF COMMUNICATION APPREHENSION: A RESEARCH NOTE

Research is reported indicating significant relationships between communication apprehension and 18 of 21 personality variables studied. High communication apprehension was found to be associated with a wide range of socially maladaptive personality characteristics.     

STUDIES OF THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN COMMUNICATION APPREHENSION AND SELF-ESTEEM

This paper reports research conducted as a part of a continuing program designed to provide empirical delineation of the communication apprehension construct. Five studies are reported which indicate a substantial correlation (r =?.52 to r =?.72) between oral communication apprehension and self-esteem. Results from two college student samples (N = 192 and N = 272), two samples of elementary and secondary teachers (N = 202, N = 384), and a sample of federal employees (N = 211) indicate highly consistent relationships across age groups and occupational types.     

EXPLICATION AND TEST OF A COGNITIVE MODEL OF COMMUNICATION APPREHENSION: A NEW LOOK AT AN OLD CONSTRUCT

A cognitive model of the processes underlying the arousal of a state of communication apprehension is proposed. This model draws upon current work in cognitive science to specify the nature of the relevant structures and the nature of the processes that operate over those structures. An empirical test of the model indicates strong support in that the interaction of long-term memory contents and perceived evaluative ness of the situation was a significant predictor of anxiety. Additionally, the model allowed the prediction of changes in physiological arousal (heart rate) over time that closely paralleled observed heart rate.     

COMMUNICATION APPREHENSION AND ACHIEVEMENT IN A PERFORMANCE-ORIENTED BASIC COMMUNICATION COURSE

The study of communication apprehension (CA) impact in the instructional environment is extended through examination of all three CA levels relative to various performance situations in a basic communication course. Results indicate significant differences in achievement indices between all three CA groups on final course grade and the first two of four performance assignments. Moderate and high CA groups were not significantly different from each other on the third and fourth performance tasks. Low and high CA groups were significantly different in all performance areas. No differences were indicated between CA groups on the final examination. Results are discussed relative to the naturalistic nature of the study.     

BEHAVIORAL SUPPORT FOR SYSTEMATIC DESENSITIZATION FOR COMMUNICATION APPREHENSION

This study reports two experiments designed to further our understanding of the effects of systematic desensitization (SD) training on college students. Experiment 1 demonstrates that students who participate in SD report significantly higher self-esteem after doing so. Experiment 2 provides behavioral support for SD. Using Mulac and Sherman's BASA scale, it was discovered that students who successfully completed the SD program exhibited more verbal fluency and less rigidity in their speeches than did those students who were originally as anxious but did not join the program. Also included was the measurement of a student's predisposition towards verbal behavior. Mortensen, Arntson, and Lustig's scale was used to measure this predisposition. The results showed, however, that students in SD did not differ significantly from those who chose not to join SD.     

PSYCHOLOGICAL SEX TYPE AND ANDROGYNY IN THE STUDY OF COMMUNICATION VARIABLES: SELF-DISCLOSURE AND COMMUNICATION APPREHENSION

This study extended the investigation of gender differences in two communication variables, self-disclosure and communication apprehension, by shifting the conceptual focus from the biological sex dichotomy to the more discriminating psychological sex-role designations: masculine, feminine, and androgynous. Using the Bern Sex-Role Inventory (BSRI) as a measure of psychological sex type, the study showed that psychological sex type is superior to biological sex categories in identifying patterns of self-reported self-disclosure and communication apprehension. A number of hypotheses were considered with regard to total disclosure to same-sex friend or opposite-sex friend, and communication apprehension.     

AN EXPERIMENTAL ANALYSIS OF FACILITATED COMMUNICATION

We evaluated the authorship of messages produced through facilitated communication by 7 adults with moderate or severe mental retardation and their facilitators. The clients had been reported to be communicating fluently through facilitated communication. We controlled the facilitators' access to information to be communicated in two evaluation formats, naming pictures and describing activities. In both formats we conducted three conditions: (a) the facilitator and client had access to the same information, (b) the facilitator did not have access to the picture or activity, and (c) the facilitator was given false information about the picture or activity. The results showed that the clients typed the correct answer only when the facilitator had access to the same information, never typed the correct answer when the facilitator had no information or false information, and typed the picture or activity presented to the facilitator when it was different from the one experienced by the client. These results provide unequivocal evidence for facilitator control of typing during facilitated communication.     

THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN COMMUNICATION APPREHENSION AND ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT AMONG COLLEGE STUDENTS

A series of studies are reported which indicate that high communication apprehensives have lower academic achievement in traditional interaction-oriented educational systems than low communication apprehensives, but that no similar relationship exists in a communication-restricted educational system. Data are also reported indicating that high communication apprehensives prefer mass lecture classes over small classes while moderate and low communication apprehensives' preferences are the reverse. The implications of these results for choosing or designing instructional systems are discussed.     

COMMUNICATION APPREHENSION AND BEHAVIOR: APPLYING A MULTIPLE ACT CRITERIA1

Operating from a model derived from research on the attitude-behavior relationship, a conceptualization is presented which indicts current attempts to select a specific behavior and examine its relationship with a personality characteristic relevant to the field of communication. Evidence is presented demonstrating that the characteristic should predict well a multiple act criteria but not a single act criterion. In addition, an empirical distinction is predicted between apprehension and attitude and a comparison is made between three self-report measures of apprehension.     

TOWARDS AN INTERNATIONAL PROFESSION OF CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGY: AN ANGLO-SWEDISH PERSPECTIVE

Previous reviews of the international trends in the development of clinical psychology as a profession have identified the United Kingdom and the Nordic States as countries where the role of the psychologist is approximating that in North America. The article presents a review of the historical and current influences on the development of clinical psychology in the United Kingdom and in Sweden. In Europe, where clinical psychology is mainly a Health Service profession rather than a private practice, independence of the management and medical responsibility of the psychiatrist has become more of a key issue. Of the two major ‘schools’ of clinical psychology, identified in Britain with the behavioral approach of the Maudsley Institute of Psychiatry and the psychodynamic approach of the Tavistock Clinic, the behavioral school tended to dominate in Britain until the 1970s. In Sweden, the psychodynamic approach importing many of the aspects of British Object Relations Theory, gained ascendence. This resulted in a split between the more academic form of clinical psychology in Sweden, which had produced research of international importance (e.g. the role of psychological factors in stress-related illness), and professional education in psychology with its emphasis on psychotherapeutic training. Whereas in Britain, during the 1970s, clinical psychology broke away from psychiatry, became more eclectic, and entered the general medical and health areas, these changes failed to take place in Sweden. On the other hand, private practice amongst psychologists in Sweden has shown a dramatic increase during recent years and there are now some clear trends towards eclecticism in the education of psychologists. The issue of medical responsibility remains unresolved in Sweden. That British clinical psychology has reached more progressive and cordial professional relationships in this respect may be, in part, due to the status of the scientist-practitioner role that the initial behavioral emphasis achieved. The major contributions of and trends in British and Swedish clinical psychology are discussed with a view to identifying international trends.     

AN ANALYSIS OF MAINTENANCE FOLLOWING FUNCTIONAL COMMUNICATION TRAINING

The multiple and long-term effects of functional communication training relative to a common reductive procedure (time-out from positive reinforcement) were evaluated. Twelve children participated in a functional analysis of their challenging behaviors (Study 1), which implicated adult attention as a maintaining variable. The children were then matched for chronological age, mental age, and language age and assigned to two groups. One group received functional communication training as an intervention for their challenging behavior, and the second group received time-out as a contrast. Both interventions were initially successful (Study 2), but durable results were achieved only with the group that received functional communication training across different stimulus conditions (Study 3). Students whose challenging behaviors were previously reduced with time-out resumed these behaviors in the presence of naive teachers unaware of the children's intervention history. The value of teaching communicative responses to promote maintenance is discussed as it relates to the concept of functional equivalence.     

AN EXPLORATION OF DECEPTION AS A COMMUNICATION CONSTRUCT

Even though most of us lie from time to time, it is really quite surprising how little is known about such behaviors. Through controlled observation and laboratory testing, this study attempted to determine what verbal and nonverbal behaviors were characteristic of intentionally deceptive communicators. Seventy-six videotaped interviews provided a data base for the analysis of 32 dependent measures. In addition to analyses of specific behavioral differences between deceivers and nondeceivers, the authors provide a conceptual framework for the study of deception—predicting that deceivers will exhibit significantly more uncertainty, vagueness, nervousness, reticence, dependence, and unpleasantness than nondeceivers.     

ON COMMUNICATION RULES FROM A SOCIAL PERSPECTIVE

The paper addresses some of the assumptions and criticisms of rule-governed approaches to interpersonal communication research and theory. A definition of rules is first outlined which does not require sole reliance on interpersonal actors’ statements about their behavior or assumptions of communicator self-awareness. Then the paper addresses the intercultural and developmental criticisms directed by Miller (1978) against rules studies. With regard to the former, it is suggested that communications researchers account for (1) the behavior patterns of individuals interacting intraculturally, (2) the culturally patterned attitudes and behavior manifest in intercultural exchanges, and (3) the rule-governed strategies for negotiation. While the paper does not deny the existence of some idiosyncratic behavior, it is suggested that researchers consider rules-based concomitants of relationship developments which are socially patterned in lieu of focusing on relationship-specific (unique) behavior.     

THE CURRENT STATUS OF THEORY AND RESEARCH IN INTERPERSONAL COMMUNICATION

This paper details four alternative perspectives for conceptualizing the interpersonal communication process, emphasizing their implications for the theorist and researcher of interpersonal communication. The four perspectives discussed are the situational approach, the developmental approach, the law-governed approach, and the rule-governed approach. The strengths and limitations of each perspective are examined, and some suggested priorities for future research are offered.