Robert N. Bostrom

Listening, Communication Abilities, and Success at Work

Although many have argued that listening is particularly important in organizations, few studies have examined listening and listening skills in this context. This study ex amined relationships between listening, communication related abilities, employee level in an insurance company, and upward mobility. The results indicated significant positive relationships between listening and other social cognitive and communicative abilities. While findings suggested that nonsupervisors tended to possess better listen ing abilities than supervisors, there was some evidence that better listeners were in higher levels of the organization and were more upwardly mobile.

Memory models and the measurement of listening

Although most persons consider listening an essential communication skill, research in listening has not attracted the attention paid to other communication skills. Part of this neglect is due to definitions of listening, and part is due to some of the problems inherent in measuring listening. So‐called “standard”; methods of measuring listening have been shown to be completely confounded with traditional tests of intelligence. Since memory seems to be a vital part of definitions of listening it might serve as a basis for a new approach to measurement. Memory research indicates that short‐term, short‐term with rehearsal, and long‐term memories are all distinct. Listening tasks were devised which should utilize these three different kinds of memory and were found to be different from one another. To achieve a “comprehensive”; measure of listening, tasks requiring interpretation and concentration were added. All of these tasks were presented on audiotape. The varying subscales were found to be internally re...

The case for empiricism: Clarifying fundamental issues in communication theory

Perceived difficulties inherent in logical empiricism cited by “action theorists” ignore interpretations and modifications of empirical reasoning. Although it is highly unlikely that invariant laws of a universal nature will ever be discovered about any kind of phenomenon, critics of conventional science often cite this as an example of the deficiencies of empiricism without being aware of more recent interpretations or modifications of empirical reasoning. The authors focus on recent critiques of empiricism, which are frequently cited as a basis for support of interpretive approaches. They maintain that contemporary empirical reasoning has much to offer that subjectivist thought does not. The present state of communication research probably does not allow us to venture into hermeneutics, because of the incomplete nature of what is presently known about communication processes and effects. Examining levels of language and explanation helps us solve logical inconsistencies that have appeared to present phi...

Patterns of communicative interaction in small groups

(1970). Patterns of communicative interaction in small groups. Speech Monographs: Vol. 37, No. 4, pp. 257-263.

Rethinking Conceptual Approaches to the Study of “Listening”

Theory about listening has been strongly affected by methodological orientations and institutional pressures. It would help if researchers spent more time on the objects of study rather than method. Traditional listening research has confused listening with general cognitive abilities, such as IQ. Studying listening as memory is a tempting alternative, but carries with it its own problems. Listening should be considered as a broad field rather than a single ability or skill. Some alternatives might include listening and schemas, the relationship between listening and reading, and behaviors associated with listening.

Type of speech, sex of speaker, and sex of subject as factors influencing persuasion

Speeches that advocated “institutional”; norms were compared with speeches that did not, in conditions where male and female speakers were varied. Female speakers were more successful when they took a noninstitutional position, and male speakers were more successful when they took an institutional position. “Masculinity”; and “Femininity”; were not significant factors in any of the effects.

Classroom criticism and speech attitudes

The speech teachers use of classroom criticism needs to be tempered by the fact that this criticism has important effects on speech attitudes.

Theories, data, and communication research

In Communication, as well as many other disciplines, it is common to make distinctions between interpretive and empirical research. One argument for these distinctions is a belief that a theory–data interaction invalidates empirical research. This view holds that because objectivity is impossible, those studying social phenomena should adopt phenomenological positions and explore individualistic accounts of reality. Though many speak of a theory–data interaction as if it were a general principle, actually there are many different types of interactions between theories and data. Whether or not these interactions result in invalid observations, however, is less clear. Because specific evidence of distorted data leading to incorrect theories has not been cited by interpretive thinkers, it is more accurate to say that research data have been accurately reported despite this interaction. The ubiquity of the theory–data interaction, together with the acknowledgment of objectivity in the reporting of data has a number of implications for communication study. One is that empirical researchers need to acknowledge subjective involvement in their research, rather than maintaining a pose of objectivity in theory as well as method. Because theory–data interactions have been cited as a foundational issue in paradigmatic thought, it might well be time to rethink paradigmatic distinctions in the search of broader and more useful research. As Toulmin (2001) put it, we might well profit from a broader mode of expression.

Credibility of Source and of Self in Attitude Change.

One rather consistent finding in communication research has been that message sources perceived to be credible (i.e., trustworthy and qualified) are more influential in changing message recipients’ attitudes than are sources perceived to be lower in credibility.’ However, the question of how the message recipient views his own credibility on a topic in relation to his perception of the message source’s credibility, and the subsequent influence on the process of attitude modification has received little attention. It seems plausible to suggest that the consequences of a persuasive communication would, at least in part, be infiuenced by the receiver’s perception of how qualified he feels himself to be on the topic being discussed by the communicator. If he perceives that he, as a communciation recipient, is as qualified on the topic as the source of the message (i.e., his credibility is equal to that of the source’s) then less attitude change ought to occur than if he perceives himself to be significantly less qualified on the issue than the same source. On the other hand, if he perceives himself to be significantly more qualified on the topic than the source, then it would seem that little if any attitude change would be expected to occur. The relationship between the message recipient’s

Convention nominating speeches: A product of many influences

In the national political conventions, the forces that have kept nominating speeches on the program have, at the same time, made this speech from one of American s worst.