Interviewee speech behavior under different content conditions

Abstract

Gave Civil Service patrolman job applicants a 45-min interview unobtrusively divided into 3 15-min segments discussing education, occupation, or family history. Study I utilized 60 Ss, and was replicated in a 2nd study utilizing 30 Ss. 20 control Ss also were interviewed. Cross-validated results showed that noncontent speech behavior is differentially affected by the content being discussed. Ss spoke with a statistically significantly shorter RT and a longer mean utterance during content conditions involving their occupational histories. Results suggest that the content category of occupation had a higher level of saliency in these job applicants than either education or family. (26 ref.) (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved)