Descriptive assessments are necessary to identify social norms and establish a foundation for experimental analysis. Much of the social skills intervention literature involves goals that have been selected through interviews and direct observation of behavior without a reference to desired outcomes. The purpose of the current study was to extend research on descriptive assessments of conversations by including additional measures and examining conversational behavior across contexts. We conducted a descriptive assessment of social skills exhibited by 16 neurotypical young adults. Participants had 10-min conversations in groups and 1-on-1 with friends and novel individuals. We then assessed variability within and across participants on a wide array of relevant measures. Throughout the conversations, participants shared the conversation time equally, spent most of the conversation time making on-topic comments, and gazed at their conversation partner more frequently while listening than while speaking. These descriptive data extend current research, inform future experimental analyses, and may guide clinical decisions.

中文翻译：

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对话技能的描述性评估：为有社交缺陷的年轻人制定基准

描述性评估对于识别社会规范和建立实验分析的基础是必要的。许多社会技能干预文献都涉及通过访谈和直接观察行为而选择的目标，而没有提到预期的结果。当前研究的目的是通过包括额外的措施和检查跨上下文的对话行为来扩展对对话的描述性评估的研究。我们对 16 名神经典型的年轻人表现出的社交技能进行了描述性评估。参与者以小组形式进行了 10 分钟的对话，并与朋友和新人进行了 1 对 1 的交谈。然后，我们评估了参与者内部和参与者之间的各种相关措施的可变性。在整个对话过程中，参与者平均分配对话时间，大部分谈话时间都在进行主题评论，并且在听时比在说话时更频繁地凝视他们的对话伙伴。这些描述性数据扩展了当前的研究，为未来的实验分析提供信息，并可能指导临床决策。