Dialogue as psychological method - a study of training interviewing and communication skills in psychology students

Verbal interaction is at the heart of many helping professions. This is often reflected in the curriculum of professional training. Somewhat surprisingly, there is a dearth of research regarding the assessment and training of students in these skills, not least of those about to become psychologists. The present study focused on communicational microskills in psychology students. We were interested in generic skills that should be observable across different training tasks focused on training interviewing skills. Video-taped interview segments, where the students acted as interviewers, were rated by their instructors using an eleven-item assessment of active listening skills. A total of 206 students were included, of whom 63 were assessed on five consecutive occasions over three semesters. The assessment showed satisfactory overall homogeneity. An investigation of the factor structure identified three principal components: Attention and exploration; Structuring skills; and Direct relating. In the subsample that was studied over repeated sessions, a marked progression was observed over time. The results are discussed in terms of implications for assessment and training within an educational context.