The Role of Interpersonal Processes in the Interpretation of Uncertainty Terms

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Language is an imperfect medium for communication, and although this quality can be exploited for positive effect (e.g., poetry), it can also result in communicative misunderstandings. What the current project seeks to provide is an in-depth analysis of words that are likely to be a prime source of misunderstanding: uncertainty terms. Uncertainty terms are words that are not fixed and include probability words (possible, likely), quantifiers (some, all), frequency terms (often, frequently), preference terms (like, love), and terms of evaluation (good, excellent). Because they are not fixed, these types of words can admit a range of interpretations. Hence understanding what people intend to convey when they use an uncertainty term, and how people interpret another's use of an uncertainty term, is critical for understanding human communication and miscommunication. The specific objective of the proposed research is to develop and test a comprehensive account of the role played by interpersonal processes in the production and interpretation of a group of uncertainty terms. A series of experiments is planned that will: (1) examine how people interpret and process uncertainty terms in an attempt to uncover basic interpretive principles involved in their use, (2) explore the production of uncertainty terms and the possibility that speakers and recipients may sometimes fail to coordinate in their use of uncertainty terms, (3) extend the analysis to interpersonal variables such as power and examine the impact of these variables on the interpretation of uncertainty terms, and (4) apply the analysis to the manner in which people interpret uncertainty terms in self-report measures. The results of this project will help advance social psychological theories of social communication as well as cognitive theories of language comprehension and production. In terms of broader impact, the proposed research will contribute to the training of several graduate and undergraduate students and improve the research climate at the PI's home institution. Students who participate in this project will be extensively trained and participate in all facets of the research process. In addition, the results will have practical implication by bringing to light interpersonal processes that influence how people interpret, and misinterpret, uncertainty terms. Uncertainty terms appear frequently in communications with important and far-reaching consequences such as the description of subjective experience (e.g., pain assessment in a medical setting), conveying estimates of risk (e.g., financial, environmental), and self-report instruments in general. Hence, the potential impact of the results of the proposed research is extensive.