More Evidence that Cognitive Complexity Is Not Loquacity: A Reply to Beatty and Payne
Document Type Article
Published in Communication Quarterly, volume 35 issue 4, 1987. Bryant users may access this article here.
Abstract
Beatty and Payne (1984) recently presented data allegedly demonstrating that assessments of cognitive complexity based on Crockett's popular Role Category Questionnaire (RCQ) are severly confounded by "loquacity," the simple amount of verbal response to stimuli. The present paper responds critically to the claims of Beatty and Payne, arguing that these researchers employed a flawed measure of loquacity and inappropriate data analytic procedures. In order to better clarify the influence of loquacity on sophisticated social-cognitive and communicative functioning, two empirical studies are reported in which alternative measures of loquacity were employed. In neither of these studies was loquacity found significantly associated with social-cognitive or communicative abilities.