An Evaluation of Listener Comprehension Indecision and Cognitive Effort When Unresolvable Ambiguity Leads to Miscommunication

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer M. Roche ◽  
Arkady Zgonnikov ◽  
Laura M. Morett

Miscommunication is pervasive in conversational interactions, having short- and long-range impacts on interpersonal communication. The evaluation of the social and cognitive underpinnings of miscommunication have received relatively less attention. Here we report two experiments investigating how a listener’s cognitive effort and decision-making processes were affected by a speaker’s use of ambiguity that led to a miscommunication. Both Experiments 1 and 2 found that an environmental cue that made a miscommunication more or less salient impacted listener language processing effort. Moreover, findings from Experiment 2 indicated that listeners may develop different processing heuristics dependent upon the speaker’s use of ambiguity that led to miscommunication, exerting a significant impact on cognition and decision-making. For instance, we found that perspective taking effort and decision-making complexity metrics predict language processing effort, indicating that instances of miscommunication produced cognitive consequences of indecision, thinking, and cognitive pull. Together, these results indicate that listeners behave both reciprocally and adaptively when miscommunications occur, but the way they respond is largely dependent upon the type of ambiguity and how often it is produced by the speaker.

Author(s):  
Jennifer M. Roche ◽  
Arkady Zgonnikov ◽  
Laura M. Morett

Purpose The purpose of the current study was to evaluate the social and cognitive underpinnings of miscommunication during an interactive listening task. Method An eye and computer mouse–tracking visual-world paradigm was used to investigate how a listener's cognitive effort (local and global) and decision-making processes were affected by a speaker's use of ambiguity that led to a miscommunication. Results Experiments 1 and 2 found that an environmental cue that made a miscommunication more or less salient impacted listener language processing effort (eye-tracking). Experiment 2 also indicated that listeners may develop different processing heuristics dependent upon the speaker's use of ambiguity that led to a miscommunication, exerting a significant impact on cognition and decision making. We also found that perspective-taking effort and decision-making complexity metrics (computer mouse tracking) predict language processing effort, indicating that instances of miscommunication produced cognitive consequences of indecision, thinking, and cognitive pull. Conclusion Together, these results indicate that listeners behave both reciprocally and adaptively when miscommunications occur, but the way they respond is largely dependent upon the type of ambiguity and how often it is produced by the speaker.


2013 ◽  
Vol 46 (1) ◽  
pp. 7-24
Author(s):  
Guy Davidov ◽  
Maayan Davidov

Research on compliance has shown that people can be induced to comply with various requests by using techniques that capitalise on the human tendencies to act consistently and to reciprocate. Thus far this line of research has been applied to interactions between individuals, not to relations between institutions. We argue, however, that similar techniques are applied by courts vis-à-vis the government, the legislature and the public at large, when courts try to secure legitimacy and acceptance of their decisions. We discuss a number of known influence techniques – including ‘foot in the door’, ‘low-balling’, ‘giving a reputation to uphold’ and ‘door in the face’ – and provide examples from Israeli case law of the use of such techniques by courts. This analysis offers new insights that can further the understanding of judicial decision-making processes.


2017 ◽  
Vol 55 (4) ◽  
pp. 390-406 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vicki Park ◽  
Elise St John ◽  
Amanda Datnow ◽  
Bailey Choi

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine how data are used in classroom placement routines. The authors explore educators’ assumptions about the purposes of the classroom placement routine, detailing the ostensive (i.e. structure and template) and performative aspects of the routine itself, and the implications of data use for equity and leadership practices. Design/methodology/approach Using a multi-site case study involving in-depth interviews of teacher and school leaders and observations of meetings, the authors examined the role that data played in classroom placement routines in three elementary schools in the USA. Findings Findings show that educators across schools collected similar types of multi-dimensional data; however, analysis and decision-making processes varied based on their assumptions and goals. Assessing student needs holistically and balancing students across classes based on academic diversity, behavioral or socio-emotional needs, gender and teacher workload were consistent patterns. There was a distinct difference between collecting data and actually using it as a basis of decision making. Research limitations/implications These findings highlight the importance of using in-depth observations to understand data use in schools. Educators’ assumptions and philosophies about classroom placement contributed to the pattern of discussion and decisions made throughout the routines. Delving deeper into how data are used in specific routines and organizational contexts can illuminate how data use is socially constructed and enacted for equity. Practical implications Educators who guide school routines have the power to maintain taken-for-granted assumptions about students, or to create counter-narratives. Originality/value This study provides insights into classroom and student placement processes by emphasizing the social and interactional dimensions of data use as they unfold in practice. It also extends empirical knowledge about the purposes, dimensions, and uses of data-driven decision making models.


1973 ◽  
Vol 67 (3) ◽  
pp. 799-816 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. H. Somjee

The relationship between the traditional social organization of India, based on the principle of hierarchy, and the newly introduced democratic institutions and procedures, based on the principle of equality, has been a subject of diverse interpretations. The more significant of these interpretations are that the social organization has subsumed the new political system, and that the various units of social organization, namely, castes, have developed voluntary bodies or caste associations of their own in order to enter into an operative relationship with the new political system. The latter interpretation also implies that the democratic political socialization in India has been taking place by means of the caste associations. This study takes a hard look at such interpretations and points out that the internal cohesion of the social organization materially alters when it moves away from its primary social concerns—ritual, pollution, and endogamy—to nontraditional concerns. This change is reflected in the fact that highly fragmented decision-making processes of castes in nontraditional matters often lead to their substantial vote against candidates of their own castes. Such political differentiation within castes has occurred before the advent of certain caste associations, and in some cases despite them. These and other assertions are substantiated through data collected in a rural and an urban community where fieldwork designed to understand their political dynamics extended over a number of years.


2018 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 35-45
Author(s):  
Habibie Bte Hj Ibrahim ◽  
Norhamidah Jarimal ◽  
Nurul Hudani Md Nawi ◽  
Puteri Hayati Megat

This paper based on literature review relates to emotions, emotional intelligence (EI) and their contributions to working relationships and decision-making processes are explored, particularly in social work settings. Little research has been conducted regarding emotion and Emotional Intelligence in the social work context. However, other caring professions such as health and nursing placed great emphasis on the importance of EI in their practice. Illness and healing processes occur within the context of relationships, and relationships are important frameworks for conceptualizing health care. This paper therefore aims to reveal the potential contributions of EI to working relationships with clients and decision-making processes in social work. This paper may provide some useful information for individuals and organizations as to how they can benefit from such contributions in order to develop more effective social work practices.


2018 ◽  
Vol 64 (No. 8) ◽  
pp. 367-377 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rafael Gonzalo Herranz De ◽  
Sebastián Fernandez-Prados Juan

The main purpose of this study was to analyse the opinions of farmers in the province of Almería concerning the state of the fruit and vegetable sector, to learn about the main considerations in their decision-making processes when marketing their products and their assessment of the image of companies and cooperatives and to analyse the social structure of this collective. To that end, the analysis was conducted on three levels: a descriptive analysis on two levels – a quantitative analysis of the socio-demographic, socio-economic and marketing characteristics of farmers in the province of Almería and a qualitative analysis based on the opinions of farmers and a group of experts in the sector; and an explanatory analysis, based on a binary logistic regression model, to show how decision-making occurs in the marketing dialectic, whether it either be at the source (auction) or the end-point (cooperative). The conclusion is that the marketing variables that are most tied to context – such as price, timeframe or certification – better explain the decision-making process of farmers in the province of Almería when marketing their products, both for cooperative members and for those who sell their products in alhóndigas (traditional auction houses).


Author(s):  
Fabio De Matteis ◽  
Daniela Preite

Accountability in the social economy sector is very important because it is inherent in the nature of the organizations of this sector. The literature on the topic of social accounting and accountability is abundant and highlights the benefits and the criticisms of social reporting. The objective of the chapter arises from the literature review that highlights how more in-depth studies are needed on the characters and role of social accountability in decision-making processes. In order to answer the research question (How is social reporting performed and how does social information influence the decision making of the management in a cooperative?), the single case study methodology has been adopted, considering embedded units of analysis and focusing on the social report of an Italian retail cooperative (COOP Lombardia). Thanks to the analyzed case study, it is possible to conclude that the social report can represent a tool of accountability that also informs future decisions, realizing a circular relationship between results achieved and decisions to be taken.


2017 ◽  
Vol 17 (4) ◽  
pp. 661-677 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aikaterini Argyrou ◽  
Robert J. Blomme ◽  
Tineke Lambooy ◽  
Henk Kievit

Purpose This paper aims to examine the concept of participatory governance through membership in the context of the tailor-made legal form for social enterprises in Greece, i.e. the social cooperative enterprise (Koinsep). As such, the paper aims to contribute to the theoretical discussion regarding the participation of stakeholders in the governance of social enterprises not only as a theoretical construct prescribed by law but also by examining its implementation in practice. Design/methodology/approach The development of two in-depth case studies demonstrate whether and how the application and implementation of legal requirements regarding governance and membership permit and encourage stakeholders to participate in the decision-making processes of social enterprises. The study accordingly showcases the influence exerted by the legal regime over the social enterprise. Findings The case studies demonstrate how participatory governance is not realised in a formal manner in the organisational set-up of two social enterprises. It thereby shows how stakeholders and employees participate informally in the decision-making processes of Greek social enterprises, although legislation is conducive to formal means of participation. Research limitations/implications This study is part of a larger project involving a comparative research of tailor-made legal forms of social enterprises and corresponding organisations in three jurisdictions, i.e. Greece, Belgium, and the UK. In this study, the research was limited to the legal form of Koinsep. Practical implications This paper also contributes to the development of a better understanding of the Koinsep as a new tailor-made legal form for social enterprises in Greece. It therefore, sheds light in its function and its participatory governance structure. Originality/value The study is an original attempt to theoretically and practically examine the subject of participatory governance in the Greek social enterprises context.


2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (5) ◽  
Author(s):  
Krzysztof Krejtz ◽  
Justyna Żurawska ◽  
Andrew Duchowski ◽  
Szymon Wichary

A large body of literature documents the sensitivity of pupil response to cognitive load (e.g., Krejtz et al. 2018) and emotional arousal (Bradley et al., 2008). Recent empirical evidence also showed that microsaccade characteristics and dynamics can be modulated by mental fatigue and cognitive load (e.g., Dalmaso et al. 2017). Very little is known about the sensitivity of microsaccadic characteristics to emotional arousal. The present paper demonstrates in a controlled experiment pupillary and microsaccadic responses to information processing during multi-attribute decision making under affective priming. Twenty-one psychology students were randomly assigned into three affective priming conditions (neutral, aversive, and erotic). Participants were tasked to make several discriminative decisions based on acquired cues. In line with the expectations, results showed microsaccadic rate inhibition and pupillary dilation depending on cognitive effort (number of acquired cues) prior to decision. These effects were moderated by affective priming. Aversive priming strengthened pupillary and microsaccadic response to information processing effort. In general, results suggest that pupillary response is more biased by affective priming than microsaccadic rate. The results are discussed in the light of neuropsychological mechanisms of pupillary and microsaccadic behavior generation.


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