Enhancing accurate information processing: An investigation of verbal information probes in decision making

A significant concern for communication scholars is identifying the role played by interaction in group decision‐making efficacy. The present study continued this investigation by examining the impact of communicative behaviors designed to examine information introduced into group discussion. Specifically, the relative frequencies of three types of verbal information probes (VIP), utterances that have the potential to stimulate examination of a statement, were found to be positively related to group decision quality. Descriptive analyses also revealed: 1) VIPs prevalently took the form of a challenge which prompts justification for a statement, and 2) VIPs primarily served the function of solution development.

Notes

Kathleen M. Propp (Ph.D., University of Iowa, 1991) is assistant professor at Northern Illinois University, Department of Communication Studies, Dekalb, IL 60115 and Kelly M. Julian (M.A., University of Iowa, 1989) is assistant professor at the University of Akron. An earlier version of this paper was presented at the Speech Communication Association Convention, Chicago, IL, November, 1990.