Feedback (communication)
Feedback ( Engl. For, feedback, feedback information ') referred to in the communication of people's return transmission of information by the recipient of a message to the sender of that message. This information tells the sender what the recipient has perceived or understood, and enables the sender to react to the recipient's feedback by correcting the behavior. This can be communicated verbally or in writing.
Communication theory classification
The basis for the classification and importance of feedback in language and communication theory is the explanation of the psycholinguist Herbert H. Clark , according to which language in dialogue is a cooperation between the people involved. Using the Yngvean extension of the signal-theoretical model of information transmission by Claude E. Shannon and Warren Weaver , feedback can be specified as any information of the back channel that influences the behavior of the transmitter.
This means that partly unconscious processes such as facial expressions and gestures as well as motor mimicry are to be classified as feedback.
Allwood's concept of classifying feedback in speech production or speech reception is divided into three areas. The first area comprises the language management functions, linguistic mechanisms such as "planning" or "repair", with which the speaker tries to handle his communicative involvement. The second area comprises interactive functions that provide mechanisms for coordinating the flow of communication. In addition to concepts such as sequencing and turn-taking , feedback also falls into this category. As a third area, Allwood introduces the focused or main message functions . This area collects any language production or language reception functions that cannot be assigned to either of the above two areas.
Categorization of feedback
The categorization of feedback is a complex task, as there are many parameters that influence this categorization. In addition to prosodic properties of a feedback signal such as emphasis, pitch, etc., facial expressions and gestures during the utterance also have an influence on its interpretation. The central aspect is and will remain the semantics and pragmatics of that feedback signal.
A feedback signal also always contains a typification of the reaction to the previous utterance to which the feedback signal relates, whereby the following types can occur:
- Contact - information about the willingness and ability to continue the interaction
- Perception - information about the willingness and ability to process the message
- Understanding - information about the will and ability to understand the message
- Attitudinal reactions - information about the will and the ability to react meaningfully to the message
These types are interdependent because information about a type implies information about all of the previously listed types . Furthermore, every feedback signal contains a communicative status. The information communicated by the signal can be categorized according to their status as follows:
- Indicated information - information that is communicated unconsciously
- Displayed information - information that is communicated consciously and intentionally
- Signaled information - information that is consciously communicated as displayed and should be perceived as such
It is also possible to use feedback signals to send a request for feedback on the feedback that has just been given in addition to continuing communication. This possibility is called an evocative function of feedback signals and is mostly achieved by the feedback signal indicating surprise at the previous utterance.
Context sensitivity of feedback
In addition to these general aspects, the analysis and interpretation of feedback also includes the difficulty of a possible high level of context sensitivity. It is true that a standard characterization of certain specific feedback signals can be made for individual modalities , for example that a “yes” [nod] mostly means acceptance, while a “no” [shake of head] signals rejection or an “ok” confirmation.
- example 1
- Feedback signaling acceptance
A: „Es regnet!“ B: „Ja.“
- Example 2
- Feedback signaling rejection
A: „Es regnet!“ B: „Nein.“
However, this characterization is by no means generally valid, since the interpretation of the feedback is usually inextricably linked with the previous statement.
- Example. 3
- Influence of polarity - acceptance or rejection?
A: „Es regnet nicht!“ B: „Ja.“ (Es regnet! / Du hast Recht!)
In particular, the type of previous statements (information, question, request, offer, etc.) as well as the polarity (formulation positive or negative) and the information content of the same (information unknown / known, uninteresting / interesting, etc.) change the above standard characterization to a large extent .
- Example. 4th
- Influence of information content - acceptance of known information
A: „Es regnet!“ B: „Ja, es regnet!“ (lange Betonung auf dem „Ja“)
However, there are also completely context-independent feedback signals, so-called generic responses, which can make the interpretation of feedback more difficult. These signals are only intended to convey the above reaction types Contact , Perception and Understanding , but differ from context-dependent feedback signals only in that their occurrence is timed differently . An example of such generic signals is e.g. B. a constant nod of the receiver during the utterance of the sender.
Reception in science
Especially in human-machine interaction , the importance of feedback in the above sense can now be described as very high. There is an increasing number of projects in which the “machine” is to be provided with feedback that is natural for humans. Those projects mostly deal with verbal communication, with the goal of developing a natural dialogue system . Linking several modalities with regard to feedback is slowly moving into the focus of research.
In addition to those IT aspects, feedback also influences the analysis of other communication science concepts, such as B. of grounding .
application areas
- Feedback from customers in business and public service, see feedback management
- Feedback from users of a website, see Feedback Analytics
- the feedback to a person about their behavior, see feedback (group dynamics)
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ Herbert H. Clark: Using Language. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press 1996, chap. II, III and V.
- ↑ Allwood, Nivre, Ahlsen: On the Semantics and Pragmatics of Linguistic feedback. In: Journal of Semantics , 9: 1-26, 1992, p. 3.
- ↑ Allwood, Nivre, Ahlsen: On the Semantics and Pragmatics of Linguistic feedback. In: Journal of Semantics , 9: 1-26, 1992, p. 2.
- ↑ Janet N. Bavelas, Linda Coates, Trudy Johnson: Listeners as Co-Narrators , in Journal of Personality and Social Psychology , Vol. 79, no. 6, 2000, p. 951
- ↑ Jens Allwood, Joakim Nivre, Elisabeth Ahlsen: On the Semantics and Pragmatics of Linguistic Feedback , in Journal of Semantics , 9: 1-26, 1992, p. 4.5
- ↑ Allwood, Nivre, Ahlsen: On the Semantics and Pragmatics of Linguistic feedback , in the Journal of Semantics , 9: 1-26, 1992, p 6
- ↑ Allwood, Nivre, Ahlsen: On the Semantics and Pragmatics of Linguistic feedback , in the Journal of Semantics , 9: 1-26, 1992, page 7
- ↑ Allwood, Nivre, Ahlsen: On the Semantics and Pragmatics of Linguistic feedback , in the Journal of Semantics , 9: 1-26, 1992, page 9
- ↑ Staffan Larsson: Generating Feedback and Sequencing Moves in a Dialogue System , in AAAI Technical Report SS-03-06 , 2003
- ↑ Sàmer Al Moubayed et al .: Multimodal feedback from robots and agents in a storytelling experiment , in QPSR of the numediart research program , Vol. 1, No. 3, 2008
- ↑ Pierre Dillenbourg: Collaborative learning: Cognitive and computational approaches , Oxford, UK: Pergamon / Elsevier Science, 1999, chap. 3