INTERPERSONAL COMMUNICATION SKILLS IN PSYCHOLOGY STUDENTS

Abstract

The development of interpersonal communication skills is a fundamental aspect in the training of psychologists, which seeks to promote interactions with those with whom they will work in the future. The purpose of this research was to evaluate the impact of an Interpersonal Communication Workshop, aimed at Psychology students, in increasing their communication skills and whether, in addition, these were maintained later. Data was collected on the communicational performance of 68 participants (27 men, 41
women), from four different promotions, a performance that was recorded through three video recordings of ten - minute dialogues: the first at the beginning of the Workshop, the second at its end, and the third video - recording, two years after the workshop was given, with a group of student volunteers. The videos were evaluated through a Communicational Performance Observation Guideline, by pairs of trained judges, averaging the scores assigned by each one. The indicator used to evaluate the skills was the
frequency of the communicative expressions that the participants showed in five parameters: verbal and gestural feedback, use of comprehensive responses, use of propositional expressions, and use of communication blockers. Likewise, the judges weighted positive indicators, such as attitudes of empathy, attunement and warmth that the participants presented in front of their interlocutors. Through an ANOVA Analysis of Repeated Measures, the data obtained at the three moments were compared. The results
showed that the subjects significantly increased communication skills, from the first to the second measurement, and that these skills subsequently remained in the third measurement, with a slight decrease in the parameters with respect to the second measurement.