Disentangling Listening and Verbal Recall Related But Separate Constructs?

This study examines the relationship between verbal recall and listening, using measures of listening behavior as a criterion. Three possible models of the verbal recall-listening relationship are examined: isomorphic, confounding, and recall ability as antecedent to listening. Seventy-three participants were videotaped while interviewing a confederate, and the videotapes were coded for observable listening behaviors. Participants also completed a conversation-based listening test and a verbal recall test. The results indicated that, although related, listening and the ability to recall verbal stimuli are not isomorphic. The data were also inconsistent with a model specifying verbal recall ability as a confound of listening. A model stipulating verbal recall ability as antecedent to listening provided the best fit to the data. Implications of this model for past and future research are discussed.