Matthew M. Martin

A NEW MEASURE OF COGNITIVE FLEXIBILITY

This paper contains a description of a scale to measure cognitive flexibility. In Study 1, 247 participants completed the Cognitive Flexibility Scale, the Communication Flexibility Scale, and the Rigidity of Attitudes Regarding Personal Habits Scale. In Study 2, 275 participants completed the Cognitive Flexibility Scale, the Interaction Involvement Scale, the Self-monitoring Scale, and the Unwillingness to Communicate Scale. Analysis showed the Cognitive Flexibility Scale to be internally reliable and supported its construct and concurrent validity.

Instructor–Student and Student–Student Rapport in the Classroom

This study examined the relationships between instructors and their students, and between students, to determine their roles in building positive relationships and an overall positive classroom environment. Of particular interest was the examination of instructor rapport with students and rapport between students. Students (N=232) reported on their perceptions of interpersonal relationships in the classroom and on their perceived participation and learning. Results indicate that perceived rapport with instructors and classmates is related to perceptions of classroom connectedness. Instructor rapport, student rapport, and classroom connectedness enhanced student participation. Only instructor rapport consistently predicted participation, affective learning, and cognitive learning.

Development of a measure of interpersonal communication competence

This article reports the development of a self‐report Interpersonal Communication Competence Scale (ICCS) that taps 10 dimensions of competence: self‐disclosure, empathy, social relaxation, assertiveness, interaction management, altercentrism, expressiveness, supportiveness, immediacy, and environmental control. First, we created the ICCS, reducing the number of items from an original 60 to 10. Then we established concurrent validity of the scale by looking at the ICCSs relationship to cognitive and communication flexibility.

Students’ motives for communicating with their instructors

The purpose of this study was to examine students’ motives for communicating with their instructors. Students were first asked why they communicate with their instructors. Based on their responses, a questionnaire was constructed that included these reasons and their interpersonal communication motives for communicating with their instructors. The results of a factor analysis identified five underlying reasons students communicate with their instructors: relational, functional, excuse, participation, and sycophancy. A canonical correlation analysis examined the relationship between these five reasons and participants’ trait interpersonal communication motives. Students who communicate with their instructors more often for all of the interpersonal communication motives tend to communicate more with their instructors to relate and participate, and to a lesser extent to offer excuses and for sycophantic reasons. The students who communicated for the interpersonal communication motive of control tended to com...

The cognitive flexibility scale: Three validity studies

The complexities of everyday life reinforce the need to be cognitively flexible. Cognitive flexibility refers to a persons awareness of communication alternatives, willingness to adapt to the situation, and self‐efficacy in being flexible. Three studies were conducted to establish further the validity of the Cognitive Flexibility Scale (Martin & Rubin, 1995). In Study One, cognitive flexibility was positively related to two other identified constructs of communication competence, assertiveness and responsiveness. In Study Two, respondents’ assessments of their own cognitive flexibility were positively related to ratings from their friends. In Study Three, a positive relationship was found between being cognitively flexible and confidence in performing communication behaviors.

The Relationship Between Perceived Instructor Aggressive Communication and College Student Involvement

This study investigated the link between college students’ perceptions of instructors’ aggressive communication and students’ involvement in and out of the classroom. Participants were 218 students enrolled in introductory communication courses. Results indicated that students’ reports of instructor argumentativeness were not positively associated with their motives to communicate, question asking, overt information seeking, interaction involvement, or out-of-class communication. Students’ reports of instructor verbal aggressiveness were negatively associated with their use of the relational, participatory, and functional motives to communicate as well as question asking, overt information seeking, interaction involvement, and out-of-class communication. Future research should consider the role students’ aggressive communication plays in their perceptions of their instructors, learning outcomes, and perceptions of the learning environment.

The Development and Validation of the Student Communication Satisfaction Scale

Four studies (N = 639) were conducted to develop and validate a global measure of student communication satisfaction with an instructor. In study one, participants were 155 students who reported on an instructor from their smallest class during the semester. Participants completed the Student Communication Satisfaction Scale (SCSS), the Interpersonal Communication Satisfaction Inventory, and the Conversational Appropriateness Scale. Results indicated that the SCSS is unidimensional, has initial concurrent validity, and is internally reliable. In study two, participants were 161 students who completed the SCSS, Attributional Confidence Scale, Revised Affective Learning Measure, and Student Motives for Communicating Scale in an attempt to establish additional concurrent validity. The SCSS was correlated positively with attributional confidence for the instructor, affect for the course and instructor, and the relational, functional, participatory, and sycophancy motives, while excuse-making was correlated negatively with communication satisfaction. Additionally, results of a confirmatory factor analysis yielded a single-factor solution. In study three, a confirmatory factor analysis of the scale using another sample (N=165) yielded a single-factor solution. In study four (N=158), discriminant validity was established as the SCSS loaded on a separate factor than the ICSI and was correlated positively with a host of instructional outcomes, student communication behavior, and perceived instructor communication.

Teacher Self-Disclosure: Amount, Relevance, and Negativity

This study focused on teacher self-disclosure in the classroom and the introduction of a measure that encompasses three dimensions of teacher self-disclosure: amount, relevance, and valence. Although other measures of self-disclosure exist, including a unidimensional scale for quantity of teacher self-disclosure, past research indicated that teacher self-disclosure entails more than just the amount. Specifically, we determined that relevance and valence are important dimensions of teacher self-disclosure. Additionally, the three dimensions of teacher self-disclosure related to course affect, affect for the instructor, student motivation, teacher clarity, and student interest. The Teacher Self-Disclosure Scale revealed a suitable level of reliability (α = .80 amount; α = .88 relevance; α = .84 negativity) and evidence of criterion validity.

Roommate similarity: Are roommates who are similar in their communication traits more satisfied?

This study investigated whether roommates who were similar in their communication traits would express more satisfaction with and affinity for their roommates. Specifically, the communication traits of willingness to communicate, interpersonal communication competence, and verbal aggressiveness were considered. Participants (college students and their roommates) completed measures of their own communication traits and their feelings about their roommates. Results showed that roommates who were prosocially similar (when both roommates were high in willingness to communicate, when both roommates were high in interpersonal communication competence, and when both roommates were low in verbal aggressiveness) reported the highest roommate satisfaction and liking.

Students' Motives for Communicating with Their Instructors: Considering Instructor Socio-Communicative Style, Student Socio-Communicative Orientation, and Student Gender.

The purpose of this study was to explore how student motives to communicate (i.e., relational, functional, participatory, excuse making, sycophantic) with their instructors are influenced jointly by perceived instructor socio-communicative style and student socio-communicative orientation. Participants were 225 students enrolled in a variety of introductory communication courses at a Midwestern university. Results indicate that (a) the relational and sycophantic motives to communicate are related to both student and instructor assertiveness and responsiveness, (b) the functional, participatory, and excuse making motives to communicate are related to student assertiveness, and (c) the participatory and functional motives are related to instructor responsiveness and student responsiveness, respectively. Moreover, it was found that (a) female students communicate more for the functional motive than male students and (b) male students communicate more for the relational and the sycophantic motives than female students.