Collaboration under Uncertainty in Unscripted Conversations: The Role of Hedges

Autor/in	Dahan, Delphine
Titel	Collaboration under Uncertainty in Unscripted Conversations: The Role of Hedges
Quelle	In: Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 49 (2023) 2, S.320-334 (15 Seiten) PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Zusatzinformation	ORCID (Dahan, Delphine)
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	0278-7393
DOI	10.1037/xlm0001210
Schlagwörter	Language Usage; Interpersonal Communication; Task Analysis; Role; Geometric Concepts; Hypothesis Testing; Semantics; Cues; Responses; Discourse Analysis; Risk; Communication Problems; Undergraduate Students + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Sprachgebrauch; Interpersonale Kommunikation; Aufgabenanalyse; Rollen; Elementare Geometrie; Hypothesenprüfung; Hypothesentest; Semantik; Stichwort; Diskursanalyse; Risiko; Kommunikationsbarriere
Abstract	The present study examined the role of hedges in a referential communication task. Pairs of participants received an identical set of cards, each card displaying a geometric configuration (a "tangram"). One participant, the director, instructed their partner, the matcher, to reproduce a series of predetermined tangram sequences using their own cards. Directors sometimes included a hedge in their description of a tangram (e.g., "looks 'kinda' like an eagle"), and more so the first time than on subsequent mentions. The present study tested the hypothesis that, by revealing their uncertainty regarding the adequacy of their description in conveying the intended meaning, directors signal a possible difficulty in establishing reference. This in turn prompts their addressee to display, rather than merely assert, their understanding (by presenting a description for the tangram the matcher believes the director is referring to, for the director to evaluate). Analyses of matchers' responses to descriptions that directors had hedged or not confirmed the hypothesis. This finding supports the view that conversational partners work together to reach the mutual belief that they have coordinated what the speaker means and what their addressee takes them to mean. Conversational partners expend more joint effort when they deem the risk of misunderstanding to be high than when it is perceived to be low. (As Provided).
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Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2024/1/01