Investigates whether children's representations of the linguistic description of a goal-directed event was similar to their representation of the same event observed visually. Finds that mode of presentation did not affect the recall of most important actions, but that verbal description led to recall characterized by greater cohesion than visual…

Identifies five speech act exchange forms and their communicative functions as forms that the conversational partners used in the course of their interactions. Identifies variables that influence the use of these exchanges within the interaction. (SR)

Analyzes skills involved in children's (twins and singletons) performance on communicative referential tasks and developmental changes in type and quality of messages. Finds no differences in number and type of information elements, but different interactive styles and strategies between twins and singletons, with twins showing a partner-dependent…

Examines the effects of prosodic variation (vocal affect) on the type of inferences six- and nine-year-old children made about a speaker's communicative intent. Demonstrates that children's interpretations of potentially ironic utterances were influenced by prosody, and the nature of this influence differed by age. (SR)

Studies the construction of coherent narrations of events in a picture storybook by children and adults. Applies a causal network discourse analysis. Analyzes the structure and content of the network representation of the main character. Reveals differences in content and structure of the narratives. (HB)

Analyzes the requests for clarification used by instruction receivers. Discusses insights about the interactive nature of communication success and failure with regard to route directions. Provides validation for a model of message comprehension. (HB)