Interruptions are common in joint activities like conversations. Typically, interrupted participants suspend the activity, address the interruption, and then reinstate the activity. In conversation, people jointly commit to interact and to talk about a topic, establishing these commitments sequentially. When a commitment is suspended, face is…

Applied a behavioral model of marriage to premarital couples to assess predictive validity of an exchange measure. Results provide evidence that unrewarding communication patterns precede development of relationship distress. Implications for the behavioral model of marriage and development of programs designed to prevent marital distress are…

Critiques recent research on the social evaluation of assertive speech. Proposes an alternative theoretical framework, based on speech act theory. Assertiveness is viewed as a style of conversation occurring in complex interpersonal contexts. (Author/BJV)

Presents a model of relational influence attempts (RIAs) in dating and marital couples' conversations. Provides insight into the role that tacit relational knowledge plays in shaping conversation. Links conversation analysis with relationship analysis. Supports the claim that knowledge of relational pragmatics is required to effectively evaluate…

Focuses on courtroom speech as it occurs when a lay person interacts with an attorney and proposes a framework that includes a (1) macrostructural description of direct and cross-examination sequences as contexts that condition the interaction, and (2) microanalytical model that accounts for the effectiveness of the question-and-answer examination…

Presents a model of meanings in coherent conversation taking the form of a hierarchy of levels of cognitive interpolations between the stream of behavior and archetypal patterns in conversations. A study of indirect responses in conversation is reported which supports the hierarchical structure of the model. (JMF)

Recognizing the lack of research delineating what personality traits might predispose a person to poor listening, this paper contrasts two lines of research assessing how the cognitive and affective characteristics of speakers impact on their recall of conversation. The first section of the paper considers the theoretical perspective arguing that…

A wide range of interesting observations of the past decade, which may now cast their shadow as the health communication paradigm of the forthcoming decade, can be clarified and correlated. One example of effective communication therapy was Norman Cousins's hospitalization with the crippling disease, "ankylosing spondylitis." Using large doses of…

The purpose of this paper is to introduce a model of the psychological processes that take place when a persuader decides to use or not to use a given persuasive message. The assumption is made that if the perceived emotional impact of a message is more positive than an ethical threshold (which varies from person to person), the persuader will use…

Communicative behavior conveys two messages: (1) content, and (2) how the recipient of the communication is to behave with regard to the content, or "relational communication." How the recipient responds to relational communication defines what form the relationship will take--either complementary or symmetrical. In a complementary…