Lecture 7

Question 1

Interpersonal Communication in Children

Answer 1

• At the heart of interpersonal communication: Children learn to infer thoughts and goals from a young age.
• Empathic accuracy refers to inferring thoughts, goals, and attention accurately without verbal communication.
• Children spontaneously act on their inferences to help others.

Question 2

Empathic Accuracy Measurement

Answer 2

• Dyadic interaction paradigm: Two people discuss a topic, and both independently note thoughts, intentions, emotions, and goals during a video playback.
• Independent raters compare lists, and higher overlap indicates greater empathic accuracy.
• Thomas & Fletcher (2003) study found empathic accuracy increases with closeness in relationships.

Question 3

Men’s Empathic Accuracy

Answer 3

• Klein & Hodges adjusted the paradigm, offering rewards for empathic accuracy, eliminating gender differences.
• Tomas & Maio’s motivation experiment showed men possess empathic accuracy but may lack motivation.
• Empathic accuracy is trainable.

Question 4

Training Empathic Accuracy

Answer 4

• Empathy can be trained through systematic thinking rather than relying solely on intuition.
• Closer relationships and higher empathy contribute to better empathic accuracy.
• Oxytocin can enhance empathic accuracy, even in individuals with low autism scores.

Question 5

Relationship between Empathy and Emapthic Accuracy

Answer 5

• Zaki, Bolger & Ochsner found a linear relationship between empathy and empathic accuracy when the other person is expressive.
• Empathic accuracy is consistent for individuals with low and high empathy if the other’s expression is unreadable.

Question 6

Empathic Accuracy and Relationship Satisfaction

Answer 6

• Mixed results in studies linking empathic accuracy to relationship satisfaction.
• Winczweski’s study on romantic couples showed the importance of empathic concern in perceived responsiveness.

Question 7

Threatening Thoughts and Empathic Accuracy

Answer 7

• Partners with empathic accuracy may face distress if the partner harbors threatening thoughts.
• The danger zone: Low empathic accuracy maintains satisfaction when partners conceal thoughts.

Question 8

Attachment and Empathic Accuracy

Answer 8

• Securely attached individuals are generally higher in empathic accuracy.
• Attachment avoidance may lower empathic accuracy, while attachment anxiety may heighten it in threatening situations.

Question 9

Sex Differences in Empathic Accuracy

Answer 9

• Sex differences are based on motivation rather than ability.
• Empathic accuracy’s impact on relationship satisfaction depends on various factors.

Question 10

Egocentric Bias in Senders

Answer 10

• Senders overestimate others’ ability to understand their thoughts, termed egocentric bias.
• The illusion of transparency: The belief that one’s feelings are transparent to others.

Question 11

Empathy Gap

Answer 11

• The empathy gap is the difference between senders’ estimated accuracy and actual receiver accuracy.
• The gap is more significant in close relationships where partners expect a deep understanding.

Question 12

Communication Medium and Empathy Gap

Answer 12

• The empathy gap is larger in email communication than face-to-face.
• Communicating ambiguous information via email can lead to misinterpretation.

Question 13

Awareness of Egocentric Biases

Answer 13

• Awareness of egocentric biases is crucial in reducing miscommunication.
• Senders often interpret receivers as misunderstanding due to egocentric biases.

Question 14

External Factors in Miscommunication

Answer 14

• Miscommunication is often influenced by external factors rather than mistakes by the sender or receiver.

Question 15

Inhibition of Retaliatory Responses

Answer 15

• Inhibition of retaliatory responses decreases rumination.
• Careful reading of questions is essential for understanding.

Question 16

Intrasexual Selection

Answer 16

• Intrasexual selection involves competition within sexes, including aggression against other males.
• Covered in the second lecture.