Memory for conversation

Memory for conversation is treated as a source of coherence in social encounters and its connections with social competence are tested in a study of problem-solving conversations. As predicted, accurate recall is found to correlate positively with social competence and negatively with social anxiety. Partners have better memory for their own contributions than for each other's, and this difference is exacerbated by topic importance. Differences in recall are also found for differing amounts of involvement in the conversations. Results are explained in terms of resource allocation during conversation.