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Feds Spend $333,989 Studying Conversations

‘Surprisingly little is known about what makes communication in groups successful’

conversation
AP
September 2, 2016

The National Science Foundation is spending over $300,000 studying conversations, saying that little is known about how people communicate with each other.

Research by Vanderbilt University began last month into the conversations of high school students and the elderly.

"Conversation among members of a group is a basic form of language use," a grant for the project states. "It likely played a key role as languages evolved and it continues to play important roles in children's language acquisition and adult communication."

The researchers say "little is known" about why people are successful at conversing in groups.

"Group communication is typical of a variety of high-stakes settings, including classroom education and business teams, yet surprisingly little is known about what makes communication in groups successful," according to the grant. "One determinant of success is the ability to appreciate the perspective of the other person or people in the conversation."

"Basic communicative exchanges such as asking a question require calculations about what other people know," the grant said.

The researchers provide examples, such as a person would probably ask a plumber "Where is the gas meter?" rather than a small child.

"Keeping track of who knows what also allows us to navigate social relationships effectively," the grant said. "For example, if you once tell your friend ‘My son is getting married in June,’ it is usually communicating good news. If you repeat the same information to the same friend several times, it may instead signal anxiety, uncertainty, or disbelief."

The goal of the project is to determine "how people take into account the knowledge and perspective of other people in communicative settings." Conversations involving three people or more will be studied, where each person "brings a different set of beliefs and knowledge to the conversation."

The study has cost taxpayers $333,989 so far, and will continue through July 2019.

The researchers hope that their work will "advance understanding of psychological and linguistic processes" and can be used to improve voice-command software such as Apple’s Siri.