Improving communicative understanding: The benefits of global processing

Karl-Andrew Woltin, Olivier Corneille, Vincent Yzerbyt

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

The current research investigated whether a global processing style, affording a focus on the broader context, promotes communicative understanding and, in turn, communicative success. Results confirmed that compared to priming local processing, priming global processing enhanced the deciphering of potentially sarcastic statements of which participants were the receivers (Experiment 1). Experiment 2 extended these findings to oral communication: Global processing increased the correct deciphering of meanings that speakers’ attempted to convey by ambiguous sentences to listeners. Overall ‘seeing the forest instead
of the trees’ allowed receivers to attend more perceptively to the larger communicative context, thereby facilitating successful communication.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1179-1182
JournalJournal of Experimental Social Psychology
Volume48
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2012

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