Behavioral Support for Systematic Desensitization for Communication Apprehension

Abstract

This study reports two experiments designed to further our understanding of the effects of systematic desensitization (SD) training on college students. Experiment 1 demonstrates that students who participate in SD report significantly higher self-esteem after doing so. Experiment 2 provides behavioral support for SD. Using Mulac and Sherman's BASA scale, it was discovered that students who successfully completed the SD program exhibited more verbal fluency and less rigidity in their speeches than did those students who were originally as anxious but did not join the program. Also iccluded was the measurement of a student's predisposition towards verbal behavior. Mortensen, Amtson, and Lustig's scale was used to measure this predisposition. The results showed, however, that students in SD did not differ significantly from those who chose not to join SD.Communication researchers and teachers need little reminder that excessive speech anxiety inhibits one's communication performance. Speech fright is a topic that has received much attention in the last 20 years. Basic speech texts often speak about the problem but typically do not offer viable solutions. The purpose of this paper is to report two experiments using systematic desensitization as a treatment method for communication anxiety Recent research shows a trend away from the simple construct of public speaking anxiety to dealing with anxiety in a number of communication contexts. In fact, the term "communication apprehension" has replaced stage fright in the literature. As McCroskey et al. note, "communication apprehension is a broad based, personality-type characteristic that is characterized by withdrawal from and avoidance of communication, as well as feelings of discomfort and tension while com-

Oral Communication Apprehension: A Summary of Recent Theory and Research

“…The positive impact of systematic desensitization of CA has been demonstrated not only on subjects' self-reports of CA (McCroskey, 1972) but also on their actual communication behavior in small group (Wells, 1970) and public speaking (Goss, Thompson, & Olds, 1977) settings. While this method may be safely employed by lay personnel, it is highly advisable that at the outset of a program designed to provide such treatment at least one person involved have a background in counseling or clinical psychology, have been trained by such a person, or have worked in a similar program previously ( Barrick, 1971).…”

An Assimilation Theory Perspective of Communication Apprehension

“…Although this construct repesents a "broadbased personality-type characteristic" (McCroskey, Daly & Sorensen, 1976, p. 378) that is "relatively enduring and not subject to major fluctuations from one time to another" (McCroskey, 1978, p. 200), the presence of some intervening variables does alter levels of communication apprehension (McCroskey, 1978, p. 200). At times, individual levels of communication apprehension decline (Huntley, 1969;McCroskey, 1972;Goss, Thompson, & Olds, 1978); at other times they increase (Beatty, Behnke, & McCallum, 1978;Huntley, 1969) depending upon the nature of the intervention. Whereas the body of research literature focusing upon the stable trait aspects of communication apprehension is substantial (see McCroskey, 1978), the causal process underlying fluctuation in communication apprehension levels is not well understood.…”

Transcranial Focused Ultrasound Modulates Electrical Behavior of the Neurons: Design and Implementation of a Model

“…Since acoustical parameters of the cerebrospinal fluid and brain are close to each other, the simulated medium consists of the brain and skull with the following parameters given in Table 1. A bone layer was defined adjacent to the transducer, and both tissues were supposed as a homogenous tissue [20][21][22]. Calculations were performed in a computational grid with a 0.46 mm grid point size according to the Ny-quist limit of two grid points per wavelength [23].…”