TY - JOUR

T1 - Different answers to different audiences

T2 - effects of social context on the accuracy-informativeness trade-off

AU - Martín-Luengo, Beatriz

AU - Shtyrov, Yury

AU - Luna, Karlos

AU - Myachykov, Andriy

PY - 2018/8/9

Y1 - 2018/8/9

N2 - Research on conversational exchanges shows that people attempt to optimise their responses’ relevance when they definitely know the correct answer (e.g., “What time is it?”). However, such certainty is often unavailable while speakers may still be under social pressure to provide an answer. We investigated how social context influences the informativeness level when answering questions under uncertainty. In three experiments, participants answered difficult general-knowledge questions placed in different social contexts (formal vs. informal). Participants generated their answers, then they were presented with a given context, and decided on the number of alternative responses they wanted to provide (single, with one alternative vs. plural, with several alternatives) and whether the answer should be reported or withheld (report option). Participants reported more answers in the informal context. In the formal context, single answers were preferred, and they were more frequently reported. We conclude that social context influences the level of informativeness in a conversation, affecting achievable accuracy. Our results also show the joint influence of the confidence and the social context on willingness to share information.

AB - Research on conversational exchanges shows that people attempt to optimise their responses’ relevance when they definitely know the correct answer (e.g., “What time is it?”). However, such certainty is often unavailable while speakers may still be under social pressure to provide an answer. We investigated how social context influences the informativeness level when answering questions under uncertainty. In three experiments, participants answered difficult general-knowledge questions placed in different social contexts (formal vs. informal). Participants generated their answers, then they were presented with a given context, and decided on the number of alternative responses they wanted to provide (single, with one alternative vs. plural, with several alternatives) and whether the answer should be reported or withheld (report option). Participants reported more answers in the informal context. In the formal context, single answers were preferred, and they were more frequently reported. We conclude that social context influences the level of informativeness in a conversation, affecting achievable accuracy. Our results also show the joint influence of the confidence and the social context on willingness to share information.

KW - answering questions

KW - conversational pragmatics

KW - Informativeness-accuracy trade off

KW - metamemory

KW - uncertainty

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85039167544&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1080/09658211.2017.1420196

DO - 10.1080/09658211.2017.1420196

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:85039167544

VL - 26

SP - 993

EP - 1007

JO - Memory

JF - Memory

SN - 0965-8211

IS - 7

ER -