ABSTRACT

The Communication Skills Test (CST) assesses the communication and problem-solving proficiency exhibited by partners when they interact together to resolve a disagreement or solve a relationship problem. The coding system focuses on the process of the dyadic interaction and judges the quality of the behaviors in terms of the goal of solving a relationship problem. The system is used by assigning a rating to each speech turn, defined as all behaviors by one person that occur between floor switches. The turn is rated very positive, positive, neutral, negative, or very negative, depending on how facilitative the statement is in meeting the problem-solving goals of the conversation. The choice of a rating is based on a set of guidelines about levels of problem-solving proficiency outlined in the manual. When the coding is completed, the ratings can be summarized and analyzed in several ways, including (a) the frequency of each of the five ratings given to each partner, which indicate the rates of negative and positive behaviors by the partners; (b) the mean of all ratings given to each partner, which indicates the general level of communication proficiency exhibited during the interaction; or (c) sequential patterns of positive, negative, and neutral exchanges between the partners.