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The Effects of Varied Ratios of Positive and Negative Nonverbal Audience Feedback on Selected Attitudes and Behaviors of Normal Speaking College Students

Barwind, Jack A.
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu1554464085293587

Abstract Details

1969, Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), Bowling Green State University, Communication Studies.
The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of eighty per cent/twenty per cent ratios of posi­tive/negative and negative/positive audience feedback on perceptual, attitudinal, and behavioral responses of normal speaking college students. The study was based on a theore­tical rationale derived from dissonance theory. Graduate student drill instructors in a basic speech course selected the two most skilled and two least skilled student speakers in each of their drill sections. Twenty­six skilled speakers and thirty unskilled speakers were ran­domly assigned to either the primarily positive or primarily negative audience feedback condition. Ten paid undergraduate students comprised the audience. Prior to the experiment, specific audience behaviors were assigned and modified through practice and pilot sessions. The experiment utilized a pretest-postest procedure to secure responses to semantic differential concepts designed to obtain subjects' attitudes toward specific and generic con­ceptions of public speaking, public speaking audiences, topic of speech, and self-concept. In addition, typed transcripts of a rehearsal as well as an audience confrontation situation were analyzed and mean rate of utterance and mean rate of dysfluency scores were obtained. Since message discrepancy is one definition of disson­ance, disparity between expectations of feedback and the feed­back actually received was hypothesized as dissonance produc­ing. Therefore, skilled speakers receiving primarily nega­tive feedback and unskilled speakers receiving primarily posi­tive feedback constituted the dissonance groups. The results indicated that speakers will resolve dis­sonance by changing attitudes toward the source of communica­tion (immediate audience), a generic conception of source (public speaking audiences), and the speaking situation before they will change attitudes toward self related vari­ables (topic of speech and experience as a public speaker). The negative dissonance group derogated the audience while the positive group increased its evaluation of the audience. A similar phenomenon seemed to be in operation on the self­concept variables. Self-concept variables immediately related to the individual were stable and resistent to change. How­ever, as the analysis moved from considerations of real and other self to a conception of ideal self, significant differ­ences were observed for the dissonance groups. Dissonance groups lowered their conception of an ideal self. The study discovered no significant differences between dissonant-consonant groupings on any of the behav­ioral variables. However, differences in the amount of dys­fluency were observed between positive and negative treat­ment conditions. Speakers receiving negative feedback has significantly more interjections and hesitations than did speakers receiving positive feedback. Unskilled speakers had significantly more revision, repetition, and distortion dysfluencies in the rehearsal presentation than did skilled speakers. The most pronounced difference between skilled' groups was in their mean rate of utterance. Skilled speakers had a significantly higher rate of utterance in comparison to unskilled speakers. Prior to confrontation. differences in attitudes toward self and public speaking variables were not observed as a function of judged level of skill. However, after audi­ence confrontation unskilled speakers changed their attitudes in the direction advocated in their speech significantly more than did skilled speakers regardless of treatment condition.
Otto F. Bauer (Advisor)
Communication

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Barwind, J. A. (1969). The Effects of Varied Ratios of Positive and Negative Nonverbal Audience Feedback on Selected Attitudes and Behaviors of Normal Speaking College Students [Doctoral dissertation, Bowling Green State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu1554464085293587

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Barwind, Jack. The Effects of Varied Ratios of Positive and Negative Nonverbal Audience Feedback on Selected Attitudes and Behaviors of Normal Speaking College Students. 1969. Bowling Green State University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu1554464085293587.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Barwind, Jack. "The Effects of Varied Ratios of Positive and Negative Nonverbal Audience Feedback on Selected Attitudes and Behaviors of Normal Speaking College Students." Doctoral dissertation, Bowling Green State University, 1969. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu1554464085293587

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

bgsu1554464085293587
144
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