Effect of therapist note-talking on perceived competence.

Abstract

A study was conducted to assess the effect of therapist note-taking on competence as perceived by others. The participants were 69 college undergraduates (22 men and 47 women) enrolled in a course in developmental psychology at a small, midwestern university. Two groups of subjects each viewed 1 of 2 5-minute videotapes in which a client and therapist interact. The tapes were identical, except that one contained several shots of the therapist taking notes during the therapy session. The first group of subjects viewed the version in which the therapist does not take notes; the second group viewed the tape in which the therapist takes notes. After viewing the videotape, subjects rated the therapist on 11 Likert-type scales which reflect a therapist's competence and credibility. A separate analysis of variance CANOVA) was performed for each of the 11 measures, and in each case no effect was found for the variable of therapist note-taking.