Intent analysis

The method is quite young and was developed by the Psycholinguistics Laboratory of the Institute of Psychology of the Russian Academy of Sciences and is used to clarify the inner meaning of political propaganda texts. ^{[3] [5]}

The method is based on the idea that adults who have been socialized , when entering into communication, usually not so ingenuously express what they think, how much they build their speech in an appropriate way and strive to achieve goals that are sometimes difficult, sometimes hidden by the speaker and to provide the desired effect. hiding behind ostentatious intentions (intentions). The intentional orientation of the speaker develops in a rather complex structure and is aimed at influencing the audience. Moreover, intentions have various types of manifestation, which does not prevent them from being organized according to the laws of language so that listeners can perceive their general orientation and also feel different emotional mood in statements - approval, reprimand, threat, etc. The study of intentional forms provides an opportunity gain the key to understanding the ways of verbal influences and motives. Therefore, especially in cases of important oral or written statements, a good knowledge of the rules of intentional construction of verbal expressions will greatly assist the author of the text and discourse. The method of intent-analysis is in its nature psychosemantic , and therefore calculated on a subjective assessment from perceived statements. The methodical organization of the work consists in the step-by-step evaluation by experts (one or several) of the author's statements, taken from a certain selected text. Evaluation criteria throughout the study are unchanged: what caused this or that statement, what is its purposeful orientation, why is it generally necessary for the speaker? At the same time, it is necessary to understand that the technique is not devoid of subjectivity, and therefore needs careful study. This is best done by a group of three or four expert experts. This will make it possible in the event of any discrepancies to make agreed amendments to their judgments, as well as to obtain additional facts about the “zones of indistinguishability” or “difficult distinguishability” of the intentions. Good help can be operational dictionary of intentions, which is compiled on the basis of clear cases. In some cases it is useful to reformulate the analyzed statements with the obligatory preservation of the meaning of the original. ^[6]

In the course of research of the Laboratory of Psychology of Speech and Psycholinguistics of the Institute of Psychology of the Russian Academy of Sciences, it was established that under conditions of direct communication the intentional state of the interlocutors largely serves as a pointer to the speech partner and current communication. Moreover, along with the intentions that arise in the course of interaction (answer, clarify, confirm), the movement of the conversation is also influenced by more general aspirations, which, due to the practical activities of communicators, are formed outside the dialogue. The intentional orientation of the subjects is one of the most important psychological foundations on which the discourse is then built. In many respects, they determine how and what exactly is said, how the interaction with the whole audience or only the individual interlocutor goes. ^[7]

N. D. Pavlova, analyzing the dialogue of the television transmission of A. V. Karaulov “The Moment of Truth” and comparing discourses revealed the peculiarity of the dialogical intentions of the interlocutors of the presenter, as well as their influence on the development of the conversation. ^{[5] [8]}

• Content Analysis