EXPLORATORY RESEARCH ON COMMUNICATION ABILITIES AND CREATIVE ABILITIES.

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REPORT RESUMES
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CG 002 121
EXPLORATORY RESEARCH ON COMMUNICATION ABILITIES AND CREATIVE
ABILITIES.
BY- TAYLOR, CALVIN W..
AND OTHERS
UTAH UNIV., SALT LAKE CITY, DEPT. OF PSYCHOLOGY
AIR FORCE OFFICE OF SCIENTIFIC RES., ARLINGTON,VA.
PUB DATE
APR 67
MF-U.23
EDRS PRICE
HC-$12.40
308P.
DESCRIPTORS- *COMMUNICATION SKILLS, COMMUNICATION
PROBLEMS:
CREATIVITY RESEARCH, *MILITARY PERSONNEL, MILITARY
TRAINING,
THIS STUDY SOUGHT TO IDENTIFY VARIABLES RELATED
TO
EFFECTIVENESS OF COMMUNICATION IN MILITARY OPERATIONS.
THE
GOAL WAS TO DEVELOP TESTS TO CLASSIFY OFFICERS
AND AIRMEN,
BASED UPON ALL OF THE BROAD COMMUNICATION ABILITIES
NEEDED IN
THE AIR FORCE. THE RESEARCH OUTLINE CONSISTED
OF REVIEWING
COMMUNICATION STUDIES AND OTHER TESTS, PREPARING
A REDUCED
BATTERY, AND ANALYZING THE DATA. THESE BATTERIES
OF SCORES
WERE USED--(I) BATTERY A (APTITUDE TEST
SCORES), (2) BATTERY
B (PERSONALITY AND SELF-REPORT SCORES), AND (3)
BATTERY C
(PREDICTOR AND SITUATIONAL CRITERION SCORES). SEVERAL
HYPOTHESES WERE DRAWN PERTAINING TO EXISTING
MEASURES AND
INVOLVING NEW INTELLIGENCE AND PERSONALITY MEASURES.
THE
RESULTS INDICATE THAT MANY MEASURING DEVICES
COULD BE
IMPROVED. COMMUNICATION ABILITIES ARE HIGH-LEVEL
SKILLS.
UNDERLYING MANY IMPORTANT ACTIVITIES AND
COMPRISING A VAST
AREA INVOLVING A LARGE NUMBER OF VARIABLES.
AS A RESULT OF
THIS STUDY, A STANDARD SET OF COMMUNICATION
ABILITIES AND
TRAITS WHICH UNDERLIE SUCCESSFUL PERFORMANCES
ACROSS TYPICAL
_COMMUNICATION TASKS IN AN ORGANIZATION WERE IDENTIFIED. (PH)
;U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH,
EDUCATION & WELFARE
OFFICE OF EDUCATION
THIS DOCUMENT HAS BEEN REPRODUCED EXACTLY AS RECEIVED FROM THE
PERSON OR ORGANIZATION ORIGINATING IT.
POINTS OF VIEW OR OPINIONS
STATED DO NOT NECESSARILY REPRESENT OFFICIAL OFFICE or EDUCATION
POSITION OR POLICY.
AFOSR 67-1523
EXPLORATORY RESEARCH OR
COMMUNICATION ABILITIES
an CREATIVE ABILITIES
CALVIN W. TAYLOR
BREWSTER GHISELIN
and KAN YAGI
University of Utah
DEPARTMENT OF PSYCHOLOGY
SALT LAKE CITY,UTAH 84112
April 1967
FINAL REPORT. RESEARCH SPONSORED BY
THE AIR FORCE OFFICE OF SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH
DIRECTORATE OF INFORMATION SCIENCES
OFFICE OF AEROSPACE RESEARCH U.S.AIR FORCE
UNDER GRANT AF-AFOSR-144-63.
DISTRIBUTION OF THIS DOCUMENT IS UNLIMITED
EXPLORATORY RESEARCH ON COMMUNICATION
ABILITIES AND CREATIVE ABILITIES
by
Calvin W. Taylor, Brewster Ghiselin,
and Kan Yagi
Including some unpublished materials by
Calvin W. Taylor,
William R. Smith, Brewster Ghiselin, Boyd
V. Sheets, and
John R. Cochran from a previous Air
Force project on commu-
nications abilities in military situations()
Supported by:
Air Force Office of Scientific
Research
AFAFOSR 144-63
Grant No:
University of Utah
April, 1967
PREFACE
This project carried out under
Grant # AF-AFOSR 144-63 with
the
University of Utah is
a continuation and an expansion of
a previous
project reported by Calvin
W. Taylor, William R. Smith,
Brewster
Ghiselin, Boyd V. Sheets, and
John R. Cochran, Identification
of
Communication Abilities in Military
Situations, WADC-TR-5892, Wright
Air Development Center,
Personnel Laboratory, Lackland
Air Force
Base, Texas, June 1958, 67
pp.
In addition to the authors of
the present report and the
authors
of the preceding report,
others who assisted in the
present project
were Robert Ellison, Larry James, John
Branum, and Judy Nielsen.
We
are especially indebted to Connie Tramell
Jensen for her help through-
out the project and for her typing
of the final report.
During the course of the
project, opportunities
arose to use this
research information in various
ways.
For example, a speech
was given
to the Federal Council for Science
and Technology at their Second
Symposium on Technical Information
and the Federal Laboratory,
April
13-14, 1964.
This speech entitled "Information
and Scientific
Creativity" by 'Calvin W. Taylor,
is now published in their
symposium
report, pages 26-33.
A chapter entitled "Productive
Thinking in
Science Education"
was also written by Calvin W. Taylor
for a forth-
coming National Education
Association publication (edited
by Robert
Uffelmann) on Science Education
at the Junior
Lucille
Hunter, a teacher in
a local school district, integrated
some of
these communication tests and
other adaptations and ideas
of her own
into an English Arts
program in her classroom and completed her
thesis
on these materials (Hunter, 1964).
She also oriented
new teachers
coming into her district about
her new materials and approaches.
Recently the Granite School District,
which has the largest enroll-
ment of any district in Utah, initiated
a large study in their Title
I program designed to reach
the educationally deprives in
which
communication tasks and training
exercises adapted from these
commu-
nication studies
were implemented.
The major impetus for this
lo
study
came from the research accomplished and
reported here.
In addition
to their final report,
a masters thesis by Larry James (1967)
has
recently been completed.
Computer time was made available
without charge by Numerical
Analysis Research, University of
California, Los Angeles, for
work
on the SWAC; and by Western Data Processing
Center, UCLA for work
on the IBM 709 and 7090.
ii
a
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Chapter
Page No.
Introduction.
1
I
.
.
Hypotheses and Postulated Factors....
12
II
The Predictor Tests 21
III
. ......
The Battery A Study
IV
25
............. . 43
V
The Battery B Study
. ..
Summary of the Factors in Batteries A and B
VI
51
.
.
.
Description of Battery C.
VII
63
VIII
Communication Factors in Battery C.
80
. .
. . .
The Four Main Channels of Verbal Communication.
IX
104
.
Validities of Battery C Predictor Scores.
X
130
.
.
Correlates. 136
Criterion Pfedictability and Criterion
XI
Predictions by Multiple Correlation......
XII
179
A Review of the Results of the Hypotheses
XIII
191
...
Conclusions and Implications. 205
XIV
REFERENCES.
230
.
Results
APPENDICES
Detailed
Factor Analysis of Battery A Scores:
235
Results ..
II
Detailed
Factor Analysis of Battery B Scores:
249
III
OOOOO
261
Tables 41-50.
.
IV
Factor Analysis of Battery C Criterion
Detailed Results
Scores:
301
iii
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
Both the integrity and the efficiency of a society depend on
the power of its members to communicate with one another.
In a
society of considerable size, the system of communication is of
prime importance.
Likewise the vital functions of a large or wide-
spread organization with central control are directed through its
communication system.
Because of our strong hunch that the major
source of variability and error in the communication system lies
ordinarily in the human being rather than in the physical apparatus
of the system, a first requirement for ensuring effective communica-
tion is to identify the human abilities involved in good communica-
tions--in other words, to study the individuals and their various
communication abilities as they function in the total communication
system in an organization.
Communication abilities are interpreted as comprising those
behaviors which affect transmission of intelligence among people,
through either direct or indirect means.
For the broad exploratory
purposes of this project, the domain of behavior in communication
was divided into four primary areas:
reading, listening, talking,
and writing.
The major emphasis in this study is on the expression-
al abilities--that is, on writing and talking.
Whenever we mention
speaking abilities we cer'.ainly do not limit ourselves to the very
narrow realm of public speaking but we mean the many, many things
that are much better described as tales king abilities.
The focus was much more on human processes and abilities rather
than upon the messages that were formulated, modified
or transmit-
ted by these processes.
However, almost all activities studied were
concerned mainly with communicating by use of words, and not other
aspects or activities such as non-verbal communicating.
The Problem
More than a decade ago the Air Research and Development Command,
Air Force Personnel and Training Research Center, Lackland Air Force
Base, San Antonio, Texas, awarded contractual funds to the Univer-
sity of Utah for the purpose of conducting a study, the main intent
of which was to use current psychological methodology "to identify
variables related to effectiveness of communication in military
situations." The practical goal was to develop tests for operation-
al use which could effectively determine classification of both
officers and airmen for duty, based upon all of the communication
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abilities needed in the large complex organization of the Air Force.
At the outset, we hardly realized the complexity and immensity of
the problem.
In the initial phases of the study it became apparent
that we could only do some wide exploratory work and could not hope
to clarify the whole subject.
Throughout our report, we shall
attempt to point out many remaining areas of obscurity.
The research project as viewed initially involved (1)
a brief
review of related research, (2) an analysis of the communication
requirements in Air Force job specialities, (3)
a comprehensive
formulation of hypotheses believed to underlie the various communi-
cation processes, (4) two comprehensive studies of Batteries A and
B using predictive tests of ability and personality variables that
were expected to be related to communication behaviors, and (5) an
extensive Battery C validation study of selected predictor tests,
using multiple situational test criteria.
The research outline comprised a sequence of eight broad phases.
We planned to (1) review studies pertaining to communication abili-
ties; (2) list variables having a rational relationship to communi-
cation abilities; (3) assemble previously constructed Air Force
tests and other relevant tests; where necessary, construct new
tests of postulated variables, revise currently available Air Force
tests and, in general, proceed to prepare a trial battery of tests
likely to predict effective communication performances in military
situations; (4) determine the reliability of each test in the bat-
tery and reduce the predictor variables to a more parsimonious num-
ber by means of factor analysis or related techniques; (5)
prepare
a reduced battery by eliminating tests which overlapped excessively;
(6) develop between eight and fourtee,1 military-type laboratory
situations in which communication skills
were to be measured; (7)
administer the predictor tests and the criterion situations to not
less than 60 subjects; and (8) analyze the data in order to develop
generalizations concerning the relationship between the abilities
measured and communication skills in military situations.
The outline above was expanded in some areas so that the
re-
search might be conducted more fully and efficiently.
In fact, the
research team proved to be so productive in generating ideas for
new tests that it became necessary to assemble two predictor bat-
teries, rather than one, for experimental purposes.
As a conse-
quence two large samples were tested in the early phases in order
to try out all predictor tests.
Between these two batteries there
were 104 different scores--41 that were common to both batteries
and 63 scores that were different.
The situational test phase was
also affected by the fruitfulness of the researchers, so that
more
than the required number of situational
mores were obtained.
Twenty-seven scores from eighteen situational tests provided
an
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elaborate multiple set of criteria against which the selected pre-
dictors were to be evaluated.
In each of the three empirical stud-
ies, the samples tested were larger than the minimum number required,
far exceeding this minimum in the first two studies.
It was felt that the domains involved in the communication pro-
cesses could not be realistically presented within a single academic
field of learning.
In order to ensure an adequate coverage of the
communication area, a group of professional people were identified
and recruited from disciplines considered to be of the greatest
potential value to the project.
The main workers were from the
fields of psychology, English (creative writing), and speech (speech
Other areas that were represented in the project in-
pathology).
cluded Air Force ROTC, anthropology, basic communications, education,
The representatives of each of
remedial reading, and sociology.
these disciplines contributed in a way that we felt assured that the
domain of communication was covered adequately for an initial major
effort.
At the first meeting of the research team, the principal inves-
tigator presented the overall task and possible approaches for
It was apparent that some delimi-
analyzing communication abilities.
tation of the exceedingly large and complex communication field would
be required in order to provide a sound approach to the problem.
As
indicated earlier, reading, listening, talking, and writing were
accepted as sufficiently inclusive areas for the selection and
creation of tests, and yet were considered sufficiently circumscribed
The
to permit the relatively independent development of each area.
group realized that other kinds of communication abilities exist but
chose to limit their efforts in this initial project to these four
broad types, with much more intensive coverage of the expressive
than of the receptive activities.
Many kinds of communication skills were listed and categorized.
Many hypotheses which aided in the development of tests arose rapid-
Existing tests and fac-
ly and in crude form at this early stage.
tors were studied and judged for their relevancy, and frequently new
test ideas evolved from such studies.
Mimeographed copies of revised outline structures, new hypo-
theses, and ideas for new tests continually were prepared and dis-
As
tributed to all the research members for their consideration.
individuals and subgroups constructed drafts of new tests, these
tests were reviewed thoroughly, with the entire group submitting
Most of these tests were tried out
suggestions for modifications.
on small samples and the results were reported in later research
team conferences.
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:11
A review of related literature from various disciplines was
conducted periodically throughout the study.
By means of group
meetings the entire research team became qui
familiar with the
,
literature pertaining to communication skills and psychological
testing methodology.
A technical report prepared from selected
sources by Smith, and Eckles (1956) on certain literature of small
group research related to communication situational testing and on
communication requirements of Air Force job specialities
was of con-
siderable help in guiding progress through these areas of the
re-
search development.
In that report, Air Force job specialities were
analyzed to determine what communication abilities are required.
Here the expertness of three members of the Air Force ROTC staff
contributed invaluably.
The early phases of the project were truly a team effort.
It
was felt that many problems were anticipated and methods developed
in the meetings which might easily have been overlooked by individ-
uals working alone.
Ideas grew rapidly during the free exchange
which flowed from the spontaneous group interactions.
The meetings
held in the early stage were very provocative and were probably the
most crucial and fruitful part of the entire activity.
Ideas arose
in almost endless streams and unfortunately only a fraction of these
new ideas could possibly have been studied.
The term "communication" will be used hereafter in a very broad
sense, and not in a limited sense as it often is in Army Signal Corps
communications systems or in some approaches to information theory.
Our concept of communication abilities is broad enough to encompass
much of what is involved in social intelligence and from strictly an
individual and not a group basis, probably accounts for a sizeable
portion of human relations phenomena.
It is also believed that per-
sonality traits condition communicative behavior and are therefore
partly measured when testing for communication abilities.
It is
recognized that many of the communication abilities can also be con-
ceived as intellectual abilities.
For example, in Guilford's Struc-
ture of Intellect (1964) the expressive abilities would overlap his
productive thinking of both the convergent and divergent types.
In retrospect, the research team felt that the subjects were
very cooperative in the communication abilities testing and that
this quite palatable title for the tests, plus the nature of the
tests, proved personally less threatening to the subjects than if
they had been given either "intelligence" or "personality" tests.
And yet the communication abilities approach can probably measure
most of what is being measured in both the intelligence and the
personality domains.
In addition, people are presumably more will-
ing to admit that they.cannot write well or do not like to give a
speech, etc., than they are to acknowledge a low score in
an
4
intekligence profile or an extreme score in a personality profile.
The subjects may also be quite aware that a low score in a communi-
cation ability can ordinarily be improved through training if they
are sufficiently motivated to strengthen this weakness.
An Analuis of Air Force Job Specialities
In numerous jobs, one of the skills needed for successful per-
formance is some type of communication ability.
And many jobs
require several different types of communication ability.
in fact,
in a report concerning job requirements one. of the main job factors
that was rated was communication skills.
The rater was asked to
consider "the extent to which the job requires skill in oral and
written communication" and "the complexity and variety of informa-
tion communicated as well as the level of the individuals and agen-
cies involved," (June 1954, p.3).
The Air Force communication requirements were assessed by our
staff through a survey of the Warrant Officer and Airman Classifi-
cation Manual.
The list of communication activities compiled from
the lob descriptions contributed variously to the research, in such
matters as the improved orientation of the research group, the
development of hypotheses, and the design of predictor and situa-
tional tests.
A total of 38 career fields, shown in Table 1,
covering 415 job descriptions were examined, and among these we
distinguished 75 communication activities.
Although there is some
overlap among some of the activities, important differences and
similarities can be identified rather easily.
It was felt that the communication activities appearing most
frequently among the Air Force jobs would, to some degree at least,
be those most important to the Air Force.
However, it is possible
that an extremely critical type of communication activity will
appear only a few times in the entire series of job descriptions.
This possibility was watched carefully, but the situation did not
appear to be occurring very often. One such less frequent but im-
portant activity is indicated in the descriptive phrase "presents
Critical
oral briefings," which appeared in only 11 descriptions.
activities of this type should be given greater weight than their
frequency of occurrence indicated. In other words, both frequency
and importance of the communication must be considered in determin-
ing the value of communication abilities in the job.
Table 2 shows the communication requirements and the frequency
of appearance for each requirement across the job studied. The
breadth of our interpretation of communication activities is well
The interpretation
illustrated by what is included in this list.
of the list may be misleading if the reader concludes that those
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