Category: Interpersonal Communication

Building up relationship’s is particularly important for children for their development and future happiness. In order to build up relationship’s children must be given the opportunities to mix with others and learn how to interact and communicate with others. This is part of the socialisation process, which enables children to build up the skills needed to have these valuable relationships with family members and create friendships. Learning these skills will enable the child to become confident around others and know how to be kind and how to fit in with others, therefore, having the opportunities to create good friendships. Babies start to have relationships from birth with their primary carer such as skin to skin contact with their mother when they are born as this helps with the bonding process. Around 6 months, babies start to become aware of others and will show interest in other babies, such as smiling at another. They also like to engage in focusing on adults such as an adult who plays such as peek a boo, and a child will laugh and interact back. This phase in development is known as pro-social behaviour. Once a baby grows and hits the toddler years, they begin to learn to be social and play alongside others. They will learn to copy another child in play. Increasing this skill means that by the age of around two to three the child needs to have more access to be able to socialise such as toddler groups where they will be able to mix and play with a range of other children. Learning to think of others feelings is also important when they are developing their social skills as they need to be aware of what could upset someone or what might hurt someone and by the age of around 5 – 8 years children are able to begin to think about this and their actions. Like many developments, there is a general pattern to the socialisation process a child will go through providing they are given the time and opportunities to grow this skill. Firstly, they will develop a relationship within their family with their primary caregiver and then expanding this to other adults if they have siblings and from this, they develop a trust between these people who play a big part in their lives. Once they are confident and have a good foundation where they feel safe and secure, then they will have the confidence to expand their social area and start to learn to separate from those around them in a safe environment. This can mean that they will then have the opportunities to play with other children and begin to know about taking turns and sharing toys which in turn will mean they can learn to express their own preferences to certain toys etc. The more independence the child gains, they become more aware of themselves and therefore beginning to want to become a little more independent and start doing certain things for themselves. As they become more independent, they will come up against situations where there may be a disagreement with a child they are playing with, and they will need to learn what they need to do in these situations to overcome the issues and that sometimes they may not be correct in the way they handle it, but it is ok as they will make mistakes. But they can also learn through these mistakes. Finally, children will then be able to increase their confidence in themselves and when around others and really start to understand the feelings of others and knowing how to treat them.

One way to help children and their social skills is to create opportunities for group learning. Early years setting can encourage this by planning activities such as singing time or circle time which can involve singing and playing games such as the elephant on a piece of string song. This can be done as a circle game where one child is chosen to start with to walk around a drawn-out circle with the other children sitting outside. They will start with one elephant, i.e. one child and then move on to two elephants requiring child number 1 to choose another child to join him/her, and then they work together to walk around. This will encourage children to make decisions themselves about who to choose but will also get them to work together to form a chain around the circle string getting all the other children to sing and clap means that everyone is joining in together and encouraging them to participate and engage with others. Group learning could also be done in smaller groups for story reading and then encouraging the children to talk about their stories and share what bits they liked/didn’t like. This way, children will learn that everyone has different views. If you have a mixed group of ages, then it is a good way for children to learn about leading a group as you may find the older children begin to help and encourage the younger ones. All these ideas of group learning are ways in which a child can be helped with developing their social skills.

Creating a secure and strong relationship within an early years setting is especially important to the development of the child. Practitioners will encourage secure relationships with themselves. This is one of the reasons why the keyworker idea was introduced as it means that a child will have a main point of contact. This means that they will be able to develop a secure relationship with their keyworker which will give them the confidence to explore and enjoy their time at the setting. The child should be encouraged to have a good relationship with all the practitioners working in the setting, but by having a keyworker, they have a safety net as such that they can go to if they do feel a bit unsure. The practitioner will need to spend time with the child to build up a secure relationship as it can take time. The practitioner will need to spend time getting to know the child. Finding out what they do and don’t like. Asking questions about their home life and making sure they take the time to listen to the child, so they feel valued and that you really do care about them. The practitioner can make time to sit with the child and play with them and engage in play, all of which will help to cement the trust. The child must be able to feel they can go to their keyworker if they are finding things hard. The practitioner will also build up a good relationship with the child’s parents/main carer and this will demonstrate to the child that they keyworker values the people close to them and shows how relationships are built. If the child’s family are happy with the keyworker and are open and able to talk to them then the child will more likely follow.

As well as creating a secure relationship with their keyworker and other practitioners at the setting, it is important that a practitioner helps the child to create relationships with other children. This can be done by encouraging the child to join in and play with others, this can be done through the group learning as above. It could be that at each session the keyworker may spend a short while in a group with all his/her key children so that they spend time as a group and can get to know each other better. They could share ideas or spend a little bit of time by saying good morning and sharing any news they have from home. The practitioner can then encourage the other children in the group to give praise and acknowledge the child’s sharing. This will teach the children to take an interest in others, know how to praise them and that it is good to share. This will help and encourage the children to build up friendships. This could be done for just a short time in each session and after that then the children can mix with the other children to also widen their circle of social interaction. The practitioner could set up role-play activities to show the way in which children can share they could demonstrate playing together and taking turns.

When building up relationship, children will begin to learn that they will have may emotions and will need to learn how to deal with upset and anger at times but also to enjoy the happiness as well so learning to understand their feelings. Children will learn about their emotions as they go through emotional development and how they can help use these emotions to show others how they are feeling. It is about children learning what feelings and emotions are. When a child is born it is said they already have feelings and emotions, such as crying when they need something such as feeding / wet in their nappy or tired this is because from facial expression a baby can show anger, joy and fear. They will start to understand to calm themselves or respond to a familiar sound / voice that can soothe them. Children will start to show happiness by smiling around 2/3 months. 4 months is roughly when a child begin to be more aware of emotions, he/she will understand that he get upset if an item is taken from him or that he likes it when he has a cuddle. Learning about their emptions will take time as they need to grow these feelings and more aware of them and their self and how they feel. They will then begin to understand different emotions that they feel about others around them. Children will develop their self-esteem which is the feelings they have about themselves weather these are good or negative they will begin to understand how they feel and what they feel of them self. They will also develop self-concept which is the way in which a child sees themselves and how they feel that other people around them see them. As children develop their emotions they will begin to show that they can control their emotions , start to use words to show how they are feeling will learn when to ask for help if needed kif they are finding something nard. They will begin to show affection to people around them how they have created a bond with or who they have regular contact. As they develop these skills, they will also become more aware of other people feelings around them and will understand if someone is upset or happy.

Children will need guidance in understanding their emotions and feelings. When children feel these emotions, they need to be able to manage these. When children are young, they do not have the ability to control their emotions so will show us how they feel by as they cannot always tell us as they do not fully understand these emotions. They may use facial expressions or may use physical body actions to show us. Sometimes these actions can be shown by a child hitting or throwing when angry or becoming particularly excitable when showing joy. Adults can help show children how to manage their emotions, they will need to be guided and shown the best ways. Naming and talking through emotions with children is also important so they begin to understand these emotions, so they do not become afraid of them. Once a child knows what these emotions are, they can begin to learn how to control them. Some good ways to show a child how to help manage these are by taking deep slow breaths when they are feeling overwhelmed angry , asking for comfort such as a hug, doing something that they enjoy and they find relaxed them such as looking at a book, singing. They should be shown that its ok to ask for help when they are feeling emotions and encouraged to explain those feelings as best, they can. Practitioner could use cards that have face on them such as happy, sad, scared, excited or confused and a child could use these to point too if they are struggling to describe how they are feeling. Practitioner can spend some time with the children talking about feelings or using books to show feelings. The practitioner could use their own facial expression to show, such as if the children were not listening, they could show a grumpy face, or if the children are doing something well, they can show a happy face. The practitioner could show a sad face if they were to get hurt. Role-play is a good way a setting could show emotions the practitioner could act out scenarios showing a child hurt and show crying, they could act out a child achieving a task and show happiness, they could show giving comfort to another so showing love.

Factors which can affect the growth of relationships could be if a child is not given the opportunities to spend times with others and learn to accept other feelings as well as their own. Children need experience and opportunities to develop relationships. Factors such as a long-term illness could affect building relationships as if a child is aware of others or confined to a hospital where they may not get as many interactions. If a child suffers from a learning disability, this could also be a factor that could cause it harder for a child to create friendships. A child with a learning disability may not be able to judge others feelings as well or maybe more impulsive so may not fully understand sharing and patience with others which can mean that it becomes harder for them to build up friendships. If a child is not able to have contact with others for long periods, this can also cause issues such as fir example like we have been through with lockdown children were isolated away from friends and other family members so this may have caused a delay or a gap in this development of building up these secure friendships due to not having the social time to do this. If a family decide to move away to a different location then this can affect secure relationships because they may be too far away so they will not be able to develop them and also settling into a new setting can be tricky of friendships have already been established so it will take time and help from adults to help the child to settle and to start building up new friendships.

Above one of the areas I said could affect the development of relationships could be to do with the fact if a child suffers from a learning disability. In this case, it may be that the family/child has already had some outside help in aiding the child such as a health visitor or an educational psychologist who are there to help children in their learning and development if needed. They will be able to work alongside the family and work with the early years setting, so they all work together in the same way in order to benefit and help the child as much as possible.

Creating theses attachments and relationships as we have seen are especially important for a child’s development and future with regards to forming healthy, happy relationships. However, if a child does not experience this or have the opportunities to grow these then these can be classed as a child having developed an insecure attachment. This could be an Avoidant attachment. This is where a child has been bought up in an environment where their main carer is present in their lives but does not show them the comfort and emotional support that they need. It may be that the main carer does not know how to respond when a baby/child is showing their emotions and therefore will keep their distance rather than comfort. The issue with this is that the child learns that their needs will not be met so they learn to hold their emotions in and not to show them. If a child is cared or sad then their main carer / parents may not comfort them in the way they need or may even discourage them from crying or showing their emotions which in turn teaches the child that it isn’t ok to show emotion. For example, if a child hurts themselves then they may be told that it is babyish or wrong to cry when hurt and that they should toughen up. To avoid this type of attachment the parents/main carer need to make sure that they offer comfort and reassurance and times this child is distressed rather than shaming. Offer them love when they need it to show that it is ok to show how they are feeling. Another type of insecure attachment is anxious attachment. If a child develops an anxious attachment that means as they develop and grow they will often have trouble when building up relationships as they may become clingy or may not trust the person and may seek constant reassurance from that person This can cause problems within relationships as they may become over bearing and may not be able to show the person any trust.

The historical and social developments experienced by young adults over recent decades have been extensive, with changes affecting cultures on both a micro and macro level; however, the shift in the social norms of young adulthood is one of the greatest. The external factors this generation of young adults is subjected to have affected how our lives are constructed. In which the supposed “boomerang kids” (Gee, Mitchell, Wister 1997) struggle to find the independence their modern predecessors fell into, we must look to the individual choices, social pressures, and economic struggle that have prolonged this cohort’s route to self-sufficiency, in comparison to the generations of recent decades. It seems young adults are taking on the same responsibilities and social roles as their grandparents for an extended period. Young adulthood in an orthodox sense is defined through 5 key stages; completing school, leaving the family home, joining the workforce, romantic partnership, and parenthood. However, these traditional milestones are becoming more unpredictable, due to the now, more varied timing and sequencing that these actions are completed (Settersten and Ray, 2010). Young adults are taking more time to undertake these milestones when compared to the generation of our great-grandparents. This is due to factors such as education, financial independence, and the changes in the formation of the family unit. In this essay, I will be exploring how these aspects of new adulthood have changed the concept of young adulthood over recent decades.

As mentioned previously, the idea of the ‘boomerang’ generation defines this cohort of upcoming adults; it depicts a generation who leave their childhood home to live independently and subsequently come back to reside with their parents (Stone et al. 2013). This could be connected to the difficulties young adults experience in becoming financially independent, which is rooted in the international economic situation they were born into, as well as government involvement in how we live our lives. An example of this is the rise in legal school leaving age in the UK; where during the generation of the ‘baby boomers’- were able to leave education at 15, as of the 21st century this age had risen to 18. This caused a lengthening of the time it takes for young adults to join the workforce and ultimately find financial independence. This has led to parents having an increased long-term involvement in their child’s life when compared to parents of the past.

Young people are taking longer to become financially independent, as their schoolwork pathways are becoming more complex (Settersten and Ray, 2010). The recent economic situation which can be shown through historical events such as the financial crisis which developed with remarkable speed during the late summer of 2008 (Kotz 2009) is worse than that of recent decades. This economic decline has drastically changed how young adults plan for their future career prospects. A recent development is the considerable growth of young adults who choose to progress into further education, not just in the UK but across the world; according to data from the National Longitudinal Study of Youth, 59% of young adults enroll in a two or four-year college program before age 25 (Payne 2012). A lot of this growth can be attributed to the change in work style in the last 60 years, for example, the move from blue to white-collar work. Statistics suggest that there has been a 35% increase in gross domestic product coming from the service sector, with it now being responsible for 79% of the UK economy (ONS 2016). The growth in the cost of living has also meant that most young people need a higher-paying job to enter enhanced aspects of adulthood, such as the property ladder. This has led to a much more competitive job market; where young adults must prove their worth to prospective employers against other applicants. Although not exclusive, most higher-paying jobs require a degree, therefore limiting young adults’ choices of whether or not to enroll in further education. So, in contrast to our grandparents being able to leave schooling early and come across a secure job with relative ease, now more young people are attempting to attain a higher standard of education to improve employment prospects in their future.

Another element that factors into the differences between young adulthood in recent decades is the change in family formation. Partnership and parenting would be considered the roots of the creation of the family unit (Bonnie et al.2015). A few generations ago a partnership would have been defined mostly in a formal sense through the institution of marriage, however recently a partnership can be defined through cohabitation, marriage, or even co-parenthood. So, it seems that young people are taking more time to commit to a legal partnership, alternatively supporting the informal route. Statistics show that the proportion of young adults who have cohabited by the age of 25 (47%) is higher than the proportion who have married (27%) (Payne 2011). This informal route has created a widespread norm of informal partnership across most Western societies, with social behavior evoking social change. Where 60 years ago it would have been considered improper to cohabit with someone before marriage, now it is considered peculiar for marriage to precede cohabitation. We can see a delay in the path to family formation, these longer periods in between steps will therefore push back other stages such as marriage and parenthood.

Parenthood is another area that has been affected by the delay in life stages for young adults. With a rise in couples conceiving children out of wedlock, this is a clear stark contrast to the generations before. Even when considering the factors that caused our grandparents’ cohort to have a rise in children being born before marriage, such as legalized contraception, abortion laws, and the sexual revolution of the 60s; the growth between now and then remains vast. As of 2017 48.1% of babies were born outside of a legal partnership and 67.3% of births have been registered to cohabiting couples. These statistics coincide with the increases in the number of couples cohabiting rather than entering marriage or a civil partnership (Martin 2017). There is also a clear change in not just the way that people decide to raise their children but in what age they decide to have them. The median age for first-time parents in 2017 was 30.5 for mothers and 33 for fathers. This is a 7-year increase from that of the 1960s with the average age for first-time mothers being 23.7 (ONS 2017). This can be due to reasons such as changes in social views; for example, when compared to the ‘baby boomer’ generation the social views towards women and the workforce have changed massively. Women are more likely to be focused on gaining achievements and careers than ever before, which in turn can lead to a later entry into the more traditional family roles they were once aimed for.

Overall it seems that the social and historical changes that have changed the lives of young adults have a distinct domino effect. The change in economic comfortability leads to both a prolonged life at home and a lag in leaving education which links to delayed entry to the job market. This then also affects a young adult’s ability to have the chance to settle down with a partner and think about parenthood. A combination of the economic situation and progress in social stigma has meant that the life stages of young adults in the 21st century are extensively different from those of the decades before. These delays in life stages that universally would be used to define adulthood, will inevitably lead to a pushback back the biological definition of young adulthood.  

Communication is an exchange of information between people through either verbal or non-verbal forms. Dëger, Sibiya, Johnson & Uno (2018) stated that communication is an essential component in cooperation, collaboration, and relationships, which makes communicating in professional practice such as nursing vital. Conversations between nurses and patients are crucial to their overall safety, they can prevent medical mistakes, aid in the level of care provided and act as a support system. There are many different strategies in verbal communication within nursing, including being able to read the entry points, active listening, and showing empathy through touch.

Not only is communication important in nursing, but it is also part of the code of conduct. The Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia (NMBA, 2018) Code of Conduct states in section 3.3 ‘Effective Communication’ that positive professional relationships are built on effective communication. Section 3.3 details the importance of recognizing: health literacy issues different cultures and possible language barriers, verifying the patient completely understands the information, the ability to communicate clearly and accurately information, being non-judgmental, and finally always maintaining a professional manner.

There are different procedures and communication styles and strategies in place to ensure the overall safety of the patient. If the patient doesn’t understand English, it becomes more difficult to communicate. It is the nurse’s responsibility to recognize this and bring in an interpreter to ensure the patient fully understands. Nursing is defined as caring for a patient and communication is paramount in being able to provide the best care. Bullington, Söderlund, Sparèn, Kneck, Omēror & Cronquist (2019) proclaimed that a nurse’s caring relationship with the patient was reliant on the effectiveness of communication between the nurse and the patient. Patient handover is another example where a lack of effective communication can result in unnecessary care. Fixing and forgetting is another example of a lack of communication between healthcare providers. Hewitt & Chreim (2015) described this as one of the most re-occurring situations in the medical field. For example, if a problem arose and an individual fixed it, if they forgot to record it, another individual may come along and try to fix something that had already been fixed, which could result in harm to the patient, prioritizing time incorrectly and creating re-occurring safety issues. Being a nurse, acting as an advocate is part of the role, whether it be the patient, their family, or colleagues, the correct communication skills must be developed and demonstrated throughout the practice. If the competency to communicate decreases, the situation becomes more difficult and stressful, as the recommended procedures may not be possible due to a lack of understanding, culture, or language barriers. This results in compromising the safety of the patient.

There are many different strategies within verbal communication that nurses require to succeed in caring for their patients. Gurdan (2016) expressed the importance of identifying the ‘entry points’ when talking to patients. Gurdan defined this as the ability to decode what the patient is saying and know whether to ask more questions. If a patient says, “I am having a debulking surgery, so I will be fine because they are taking the whole tumor out in one go”, this indicates to the nurse that informed consent has not been given as the patient is unaware of the correct procedure, the nurse is in a position to educate and inform so that the consent can be gained. Another strategy is recognizing each patient’s differences and being able to actively listen and respond to each situation in an empathetic manner. By doing these actions it constructs an effective nurse-patient relationship. It is important to have empathy when caring for a patient, as it allows the nurse better relate to the patient’s experience, understand it, and provide a higher level of care. Turner, Locke, Jones, & Carpenter (2019) gave examples of demonstrating empathy, including treating patients with respect, caring for the patient with compassion, engaging in conversations with the patient and listening to what they have to say, knowing the importance of a smile, and being present at the moment. Empathy can have a major role in the outcomes for patients as they are more willing to allow the help being provided and work with the health care team.

However, not only verbal communication helps with the progress of caring for a patient. Non-verbal communication is also used regularly by nurses while caring for patients, however, can act as a barrier between the patient and nurse. Dëger, Sibiya, Johnson & Uno (2018) gave an example of a barrier as the noise around the communication setting. Hospitals can be very loud, so it is important that nurses maintain awareness of others while communicating with their patients. It may be that the patient is an elderly person who has trouble hearing. If you incorporate their hearing impairment with the background noise, it can make it very difficult for the patient to understand the information being given, which can result in miscommunication. However, non-verbal communication doesn’t always act as a barrier. It can be used to enhance the level of care, help nurses connect to their patients, and help maintain the patient’s safety. Benbenishty & Hannink (2015) stated that communicating through touch was crucial when creating the nurse-patient relationship, including two specific modes of touch: touch during interventions and conveying an emotional message. A simple touch can convey many different messages so it is important that nurses recognize what their touch is saying. Benbenishty & Hannink explained that a simple gesture can make a patient feel safe and supported, can change their hospital experience, and help with their overall recovery. For example, a trauma patient that has just come into the ward may be in shock and won’t understand what is going on. However, a simple gesture of washing their face or touching their hand may effectively help them understand what is happening. Mohammed, Hons, Hutchinson, Sungkar & Considine (2018) stated that in a situation like this one or more critical situations, it is the nurse’s responsibility to obtain written consent if verbal consent isn’t viable. This can fast-track procedures required to keep the patient safe.

Communication is vital in the profession of nursing as it is required in maintaining the health and safety of the patient. In the nursing code of conduct, effective communication is discussed as part of the nurse’s obligation to the patient and forms part of the nurse’s duty of care. There are many verbal strategies used within nursing, including active listening, expressing empathy, and the ability to identify entry points when conversing with patients. Both verbal and non-verbal communication strategies and methods are vital in the medical field, especially nursing as they are the first point of contact for the patient. These strategies aid the nurse in getting the required information, the level of care provided, and the overall safety of the patient. Poor communication can have a significant negative effect on the patient’s safety, quality of care, outcomes and satisfaction, and the staff’s satisfaction as well.

References

1. Degër V.B., Sibiya N., Johnson F., Uno M. (2018). Nursing. Nilgun Ultasdemir. https://books.google.com.au/books?hl=en&lr=&id=Ib-QDwAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PA19&dq=effective+communication+in+nursing&ots=7fsAIXv4nF&sig=u6TP3krLDp38rn9pc4RMxsZbsXE&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=effective%20communication%20in%20nursing&f=false
2. Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia (2018). Code of Conduct for Nurses. Cusack Lynette. https://www.nursingmidwiferyboard.gov.au/codes-guidelines-statements/professional-standards.aspx
3. Price B. (2020). Nursing Standard. Optimising Professional Communication with Patients. DOI:10.7748/ns.2020.e11457. https://journals.rcni.com/nursing-standard/cpd/optimising-professional-communication-with-patients-ns.2020.e11457/pdf
4. Webb L. (2018). Nursing Standard. Exploring the Characteristics of Effective Communicators in Health Care. 33, (9), 2. https://search-proquest-com.libraryproxy.griffith.edu.au/docview/2165293013/fulltextPDF/453BEFA63B3744C7PQ/5?accountid=14543
5. Bendenishty B., Hannink J.R (2015) Non-Verbal Communication to Restore Patient-Provider Trust. Heidelberg 41(7), 2. https://search-proquest-com.libraryproxy.griffith.edu.au/docview/1691395720?pq-origsite=summon
6. Hewitt, T.A., & Chreim, S. (2015). Fix and Forget or Fix and Report: A Qualitative Study of Tensions at the Front Line of Incident Reporting. BMJ Quality & Safety, 24(5). https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25749025
7. Bullington J., Söderlund M., Sparèn E.B., Kneck A., Omēror P., Cronqvist A. (2019). Communication Skills in Nursing: A Phenomenologically-Based Communication Training Approach. Nurse Education in Practice, 39. https://search-proquest-com.libraryproxy.griffith.edu.au/docview/2290041878/fulltextPDF/32F3BB582F54CAEPQ/1?accountid=14543
8. Turner K., Locke A., Jones T., Carpenter J. (2019). Empathy Huddles: Cultivating a Culture of Empathy. Neuroscience Nursing 51(3). http://dx.doi.org.libraryproxy.griffith.edu.au/10.1097/JNN.0000000000000444
9. Mohammed S., Hons B.N., Hutchinson A.F., Sungkar Y., Considine J. (2018). Nurses’ Role in Recognising & Responding to Clinical Deterioration in Surgical Patients. Wiley Journal of Clinical Nursing. https://onlinelibrary-wiley-com.libraryproxy.griffith.edu.au/doi/epdf/10.1111/jocn.14331

Public speaking is a skill that every person has whether they have mastered it or they lack the skill due to anxiety and anxiousness, we all have gone through it at one point in our lives. When you have good public speaking skills, it can be beneficial and essential when communicating your thoughts and ideas to a group. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of awareness training to reduce nervous habits when speaking in public. Targeting nervous habits that people display when speaking in public can direct us in a way to decrease the habit or change it. The researchers used 4 students at the University of South Florida. Karen who wants to avoid the use of verbal fillers such as “um” and “uh”. Jasmine who wants to better communicate and to decrease the use of verbal fillers, swaying, poor eye contact, and awkward hand gestures. Tyler wants to stop using verbal fillers such as “like” and to have better eye contact with the audience. Lastly, Michelle says she is terrified to speak in public and wants to manager her nerves and the use of verbal fillers.

Dependant Variable

The dependent variables included: filled pauses, tongue clicks, and the inappropriate use of the word “like”. Filled pauses are an occurence of a word such as “uh” and “um” that had no meaning in the sentence. Tongue clicks was defined by the researchers as a clicking sound the speaker made in his/her mouth with the tongue that could be heard steps away. The word like was defined as the use of the word when it “…did not follow grammatical, semantic, or syntactical form.” It could also be used right before describing someone or something. In order to see these habits happen, the participants met in a conference room and had their speech examined by video recording. With the use of frequency with 15 second intervals on each the targeted behaviors.

Independent Variable

The participants were given a choice to choose one topic out of three which included: My First Job, If I Could Be Born in Any Decade, and My Favorite Vacation. They were then given 10 minutes to take notes on what they wanted to say and then given 5 minutes to deliver their speech. The recorder(PI) video taped the speech as well as sitting and watching the speech. During awareness training the recorder showed the participants their recording of their target behavior as part of response detection. The participant would deliver their speech fully until all of the target behaviors were identified. 33% of each session had treatment fidelity. Participants needed to complete each speech with 100% of their target behavior used. The recordings were scored based on the implemented steps. In booster sessions, participants would deliver their speech over again until the target behaviors decreased to 80%.

“This study used a multiple baseline design across participants. Each participant experienced a baseline and post awareness training phase”(Spieler & Miltenberger).

“Karen’s habit behaviors in baseline averaged 12.9 per min and decreased to an average of 2.0 per min in post-AT assessment. Jasmine’s habit behaviors in baseline averaged 7.1 per min and decreased to an average of 2.2 per min in post-AT assessment. Tyler’s habit behavior decreased from an average of 6.7 per min in baseline to an average of 1.6 per min in post-AT assessment. Michelle’s habit behaviors decreased from an average of 9.3 per min in baseline to an average of 1.7 per min in post-AT assessment” (Spieler & Miltenberger). All of the participants took part in filled pauses and the use of the word like having the highest frequency in baseline and post-AT

This study showed a decrease in each participant’s targeted behavior during the post-AT. Although we did see a decrease in the habit’s, we also saw an increase in anxiety and nervous behavior before delivering their speeches. A limitation of the study is to give the participants a topic related to their studies rather than having them choose something more general. This study determined that awareness training was not effective standing alone, which is why they had to also incorporate booster sessions to target the habit behaviors. I think this study did correctly target the behaviors, but in awareness training is where I did not see an effectiveness. The participants raised their own hand when a habit was used, and they then would rewatch themselves on the video recording to see how often they used the habit behavior. I think them just watching and using frequency to notice when it is being used can work just as effectively. Having the use of a video recording is very effective because the participant and the researchers can easily see how often a habit is used and how that can affect their speaking skills.