Judging appropriacy: the implication of inter‐observer variance

Abstract

ABSTRACT Four observers, two speech and language therapists and two others, were asked to judge a corpus of utterances obtained from a test of verbal expression in context (The Story Completion Test). The sample came from a group of people suffering from memory‐related communication problems. Five hundred and sixty utterances were judged and reported: (1) Using a formula for criteria of appropriacy, utterances were compared with the target construction; (2) Overall agreement score was calculated against the clinical judgement of the assessing therapist; (3) Inter‐observer variance resulted. The influence of several factors, including the manner of presentation, tester bias, shared knowledge, bridging inference and situation, are discussed. The implication of appropriate judgements in clinical contexts is considered and the question raised as to whether variance, judged more on extra‐linguistic inappropriacy, can mask linguistic adequacy. The potential of bridging inference in interpreting the expressive speech, in particular in patients with dementia, is proposed.