The role of returns to a prior topic in the negotiation of topic change: A developmental investigation

Abstract

Returns to a prior topic occurring in the conversations of small groups of acquainted peers were examined to learn more about how topic is organized in such settings and how it changes with age. Twenty-five discussion groups were formed, five at each of the following grades: second, fifth, ninth, twelfth, and college. The eighth meeting of each group was examined, comprising 13,811 speaking turns total, which includes 502 returns other than those occurring after side sequences. There are three main findings. First, at all ages, returns were frequently used to counter attempts at topic change. This finding warranted the creation of a model for the negotiation of topic change that includes returns. Second, there were no age differences in the means used for negotiating topic change, but there were substantial age differences in the way these means were actually employed. These differences suggest that adolescents and young adults adopt a consensual orientation to topic negotiation. Third, other results suggest that that consensual orientation to topic negotiation is a generalization of the consensus orientation to topic maintenance that is acquired during childhood.