Abstract
Previous studies have shown that confirmatory questions enhance the understandability of an explanation. Examples include asking a degree of understanding of the listener and current state of the description target in verbal explanation. In the current study, we examined the effect of two types of confirmatory question by the speaker on the degree of understanding of the listener. We manipulated the types of explanation: (a) the speaker asks a degree of understanding of the listener, (b) the speaker asks a current state of the description target, and (c) the speaker simply repeats the explanation. The highest understandability score was attained when the explanation was repeated. Accuracy scores of the drawing were high in all three situations; we therefore conclude that confirmatory questions are not effective in every situation of verbal explanation. Repetition of the explanation is sufficient to increase the listener’s understanding if the content of the description is simple.
