Computer analysis of talk‐silence patterns in triads

Research on talk‐silence patterns has been hampered by the laborious procedures required for data collection and analysis. This paper provides computer‐assisted techniques for analyzing talk‐silence behaviors that are applicable to groups larger than two. A data‐based study on triads is provided to demonstrate the practical utility of the approach. Subjects with differing levels of communication apprehension were assigned to mixed‐sex triads for a conversation. Each person's voice was tape‐recorded on separate channels. The channels were simultaneously sampled four times per second to determine if a vocalization was occurring. Results demonstrate that high‐apprehensives talked less, less often, and were interrupted less often than low‐apprehensives. Implications for the analysis of talk‐silence behaviors; are discussed.