Anxiety,
Alcohol, Aphasia, and Ums
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Nicholas
Christenfeld and Beth Creager
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| Abstract |
| Although several studies have documented
a link between anxiety and filled pauses (ums, ers, and uhs), numerous failures make it
impossible to believe that the two are linked in any simple way. This article
suggests anxiety may increase ums not when it makes the speech task harder but when it
causes the speaker to pay attention to the speech. Two experiments examined this
idea. One manipulated evaluation apprehension, and the other manipulated
self-consciousness. Both showed dramatic increases in ums. Two more studies
examined the real-world implications of this approach. Alcohol, which makes speaking
harder but also makes speakers care less about what they say, was found to reduce ums.
The second study found that Broca's aphasics, who produce simple speech but must
deliberate over every word, produce many ums. Wernicke's aphasics may not talk well,
but do not mind, and manage with few ums. |
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| Christenfeld,
N. & B. Creager 1996 Anxiety, Alcohol, Aphasia, and Ums. In Journal of
Personality and Social Psychology 70/3: 451-460. |
