A courtroom stenographer transcribes spoken testimony. Which effect results when a speaker's intended emotional state and intonation strongly diverge during a key statement?

💡 Explanation

When intonation contradicts the semantic content, the Interpretation ambiguity increases significantly because the listener must reconcile conflicting cues from both channels using cognitive dissonance resolution. Therefore, meaning is less clear, rather than more, and credibility is potentially undermined rather than boosted.

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