Author(s): Ainsley Johns, Ashton Graff
Mentor(s): Tyson G. Harmon
Institution BYU
Correct information units in conversation (%CIUconv) has been used to measure language informativeness during unstructured conversational discourse produced by participants with aphasia (Leaman and Edmonds, 2019; 2021), but has not yet been used to understand the effect of attentional demands on conversation. The purpose of this study is to determine how driving while conversing impacts the informativeness of communication (%CIUconvo) for young, middle-aged, and older adults. In this study, 60 neurologically healthy participants completed unstructured conversation while driving. Participants included a young adult group ranging from 20-30 years, a middle-aged adult group ranging from 40-50 years, and an older adult group ranging from 60-71 years. Each group contained 10 men and 10 women. Previously recorded conversations were held under four different conditions: (1) in-person conversation, (2) in-person conversation while performing a simulated driving task, (3) conversation held over a speaker phone, and (4) conversation held over speaker phone while performing a simulated driving task. Samples were analyzed for language informativeness, which began with an orthographic transcription of samples that were verified by a second research assistant. The files were then coded for %CIUconv, which follows the same rules as Nicholas and Brookshire’s %CIU, with adaptations needed for conversational interactions (Leaman and Edmonds, 2019; 2021). Additionally, driving effects were calculated using a relative change score for the in-person and speaker-phone conditions, and a two-way ANOVA was used to investigate differences in driving effects across groups and between conditions. One sample t-tests were also used to determine whether driving led to significant interference for each group and condition pair. While results from thirty-six files have previously been analyzed, by the time we present at UCUR, all the data will be analyzed. We anticipate similar results. Follow-up testing revealed a statistically significant difference between the older and young adult groups and the older and middle-aged adult groups. Our preliminary results show that driving interfered with language informativeness for adults in their 60s. However, driving did not interfere with language informativeness for young and middle-aged adults. Across all age groups, there was no significant difference between the four conditions. These findings are applicable to communication partners seeking meaningful and informative conversations with their partner. Settings where attention is divided, such as driving, may not be ideal for holding meaningful conversations with older adults.