Communicative behavior conveys two messages: (1) content, and (2) how the recipient of the communication is to behave with regard to the content, or "relational communication." How the recipient responds to relational communication defines what form the relationship will take--either complementary or symmetrical. In a complementary relationship the two participants are unequal; one initiates action and the other follows. In a symmetrical relationship the participants are equal; each mirrors the behavior of the other. Complementarity and symmetry can be thought of as opposite ends of a relationship continuum, which should be considered when a coding process attempts to operationalize complementarity and symmetry. The current model of coding relational communication, which is based on the grammatical structure and response mode of a message, cannot adequately represent relationships on the complementarity/symmetry continuum. Therefore, the topic following/not following schema, designed in hopes of describing such relationships, uses the specific topic sequence as its basis of indicating complementarity/symmetry. Each speaking turn is rated as either a topic following response or a topic not following response, based on its relationship to the previous topic. Both coding systems are interactional in nature and the resulting codes are identical to a large extent; they will probably yield similar results except in less normal relationships, such as psychotherapy. (SRT)