Characteristics of the three-person conversation

Abstract

Three Ss were assigned a task of conversing about a number of stimulus words, for one half hour per stimulus word. The conversations were tape-recorded and transcribed, and the words of each S in each conversation were categorized according to a preestablished system which permits one or two content categories to each word. Profiles of content for each speaker in each conversation were then constructed, and correlated with each other. It was found that content profiles of separate speakers within the same conversation were most highly correlated of all the profiles. Next highest correlations were between speakers in separate conversations where the separate conversations were about stimulus words judged to be psychologically similar. Lowest correlations were between speakers in separate conversations where the stimulus words were judged to be psychologically unrelated. The study did not reveal significant individual differences in predilection for content across all conversations. This suggests that topic of conversation and social conformity override individual differences in content.