Verbal report protocols have been considered as direct representations of individual cognitive processes. The present study examined the social nature of verbal reports, particularly focusing on whether and in what ways concurrent think-aloud (TA) protocol data are recipient-designed. The results of this study suggest that verbal reports elicited…

Investigates whether multiple-goal messages are, indeed, characterized by hesitations stemming from cognitive sources by examining the effects of advance preparation and task repetition on speech fluency. Produces evidence for cognitively based hesitations in multiple-goal messages, and notes there was little evidence of socially based pausing in…

Examines the relationship between an individual's ability to differentiate communication with his or her sensitivity to conversation. Shows a link between conversational sensitivity and cognitive complexity. (SR)

Indicates that inoculation treatments, using central and peripheral approaches, confer resistance to influence and thus imply that threat is more prominent than refutational preemption in the process of resistance. Suggests that greater receiver need for cognition enhances resistance but only with highly involving issues. Rules out assimilation…

Communication scholars have only recently begun to consider internal processes of thought as essential components of interpersonal communication. In 1964 a reorientation of thinking to include intrapersonal processes as integral to the communication process was first urged. The "hidden other" refers to the wellspring of the mind and its…

Finds that in low suspicion conditions, there was more truth bias when detectors (undergraduate students) had reduced cognitive capacity; but when detectors were in the high suspicion conditions, there was no significant difference between high and low capacity conditions. Suggests suspicion motivates people who have sufficient cognitive capacity…

Observes that three dominant perspectives on intentionality--the encoder, decoder, and interactional--emerge from communication literature. Explains that the encoder perspective links intent to conscious activity, whereas the decoder perspective associates intent with observable actions. Notes that the interactional perspective attempts to unite…

Finds that the increased cognitive load accompanying multiple-goal messages arises from demands on time and processing capacity associated with assembling incompatible message features and that multiple-goal messages are characterized by heavier demand on processing capacity associated with maintaining more complex message-relevant specifications…

Examines research (in communication theory and in cognitive neural sciences) which supports the view that mindful and mindless communicative behavior coexist and operate in complementary fashion during information processing. Argues that current communication pedagogy does not reflect this emerging model and that adaptations in content and…

Examines mechanisms that may account for why evaluations made by participants involved in conversations are more influenced by subliminal negative cues than are evaluations made by observers. Explains three studies in which subliminal priming tasks were used with differing cognitive loads and self-preservation concerns among a group of…

In predicting why one person may label behavior "sexual harassment" while others may be less inclined to interpret communication as harassing, four variables appear: the immediacy of the communication, employment in a field dominated by or balanced with members of the opposite sex, information about anti-harassment guidelines, and prior…

Arguing that understanding human interaction requires both a study of symbol use and a study of human action, this paper focuses on one function served by symbolization--fantasizing. Drawing upon the work of R. F. Bales, who identified the sharing of group fantasies as a useful communication function and who observed the process by which group…

Responds to an article in the same issue regarding research methods for conversational cognition. Reviews goals and methods of cognitive science, provides a model of conversation that contrasts the interests of cognitive science and communication, summarizes research on conversation that serves both fields, and contrasts that with the research…

Uses dual-process theories and research concerned with automaticity and the role conceptual short-term memory plays in visual information processing to illustrate both the ubiquity of nonstrategic information acquisition during interpersonal communication and its potential consequences on judgments and behavior. Discusses theoretical and…

Excerpts from a transcript of computer "conversations" provide the basis for a study of how people manage ongoing interaction, given the constraints of computer-mediated discourse, and whether any unusual conventions are used in doing so. The discourse was analyzed using address, topical references, and adjacency pairs to link the…