DIFFERENTIAL EFFECTS OF SEXUAL COMPOSITION AND INTERACTIONAL CONTEXT ON INTERACTION PATTERNS IN DYADS

Recent research into whether males and females differ in their communication has been confounded by several variables: perceptual measures, observing isolated behaviors, and same-sex or mixed-sex composition of the communicative system. Some research has suggested that the interactional context may affect whether males and females communicate differently at all. This study sought to determine the differential impact of sexual composition and one aspect of interactional context (specifically, competitive or cooperative orientation) on interaction patterns in same-sex and mixed-sex dyads. Results confirm the expectation that competitive/cooperative orientation exerts a significant impact on both content and relationship patterns of interaction. Results also demonstate that the sexual composition of the dyads did not affect the interaction patterns, measured on any of five dimensions of interactional functions, in competitive dyads, cooperative dyads, or all dyads taken together.     

Enhancing Older Adult Eyewitness Memory with the Cognitive Interview

Thirty older (m age=71.73 years) and 20 young adults (m age=21.60 years) viewed a videotape of a simulated crime and were then interviewed with either a Cognitive Interview (CI) or a standard police interview (SI). The older participants were interviewed with either an SI, CI, or CI that was modified for older people (CI–M). No differences were found between the CI and CI–M. The CI elicited more information than the SI, without a reduction in accuracy rate. Moreover, the advantage of the CI over the SI was greater for the older than for the young participants. There were no overall age-related differences. Results are discussed in terms of performance of older witnesses and implications for understanding how the CI functions.