| Abstract: | Describes a general analytic taxonomy of verbal response modes. Utterances in dyadic communication can be described as concerning the speaker's or the other's experience, using the speaker's or the other's frame of reference, and being focused on the speaker or the other (where "focus" means presuming or not presuming knowledge of the other). The intersection of these 3 dichotomous principles of classification defines 8 familiar verbal response modes: disclosure, question, edification, acknowledgment, advisement, interpretation, confirmation, and reflection. Each mode has a distinctive grammatical form as well as a distinctive interpersonal intent, so the form and the intent of an utterance can be coded separately. The modes can be used to define 3 conceptually orthogonal dimensions of interpersonal roles, tentatively labeled attentiveness, acquiescence, and presumptuousness. The system of verbal response modes and role dimensions is similar in purpose to R. F. Bales's (1950) interaction process analysis but has certain methodological and conceptual advantages. (43 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved) |
