This project constitutes an attempt to reconcile individual production and perception of linguistic form with the social function of language use in conversation. In addition to furthering knowledge about communication, a more complete understanding of social factors in communication can inform the treatment of disrupted language processes, whether one is concerned with diagnosis and/or treatment of communicative disorders or clinician-patient interaction. The proposed research will examine the influence of factors such as social role and community membership on comprehension and convergence in normal conversational interactions. The research design includes the use of recordings of conversational speech in order to assess convergence in different social settings. Participants will be asked to complete conversational tasks with varying social role assignments. Differences in comprehension and convergence depending on the role of a participant in a task can elucidate the relative influence of psycholinguistic and social factors in both effective and deficient communication. Because communication is essential to all human interaction, such an understanding has the potential to improve quality of life in many ways.
