Confrontation, or aggressive verbal behavior, has been defended as a rhetorical tactic by some communication theorists on five bases: biological, psychological, sociological, rhetorical, and intellectual. Proponents of "rhetorical sensitivity," however, differ from those who would accept confrontation uncritically. Confrontation is not…

This report explicates the concrete group development of a cadre of persons from Simeon High School, the University of Chicago, and the Board of Education in the summer sector of the Ford Training and Placement Program. The report is organized around crucial indices of group development, i.e., the problem of leadership. Data were collected from…

This study reports an analysis of the effects of moderate levels of noise on task performance of an interacting group. Groups of students first interacted in information-sharing discussions under varying conditions of noise and then responded to an objective test over the shared information and to a series of semantic differential scales designed…

The investigators assume that in a social power relationship, where one person has the power to reward or punish another for the latter's behavior, the social inferior will tend to conceal from a superior information he possesses or attitudes he holds which, if shared, might cause the superior to censure the inferior. To test this hypothesis, two…

The "diffusion of responsibility" hypothesis as an explanation of helping behavior (or lack of same) is qualified by suggesting that the hypothesis applies only in non-interacting situations. It is hypothesized that interacting groups who are aware of a help-demanding situation actually focus the responsibility and, therefore, take action as a…

This annotated bibliography contains more than 500 citations from sources in various subject areas that relate to small group communication. The sources, all published between 1950 and 1969, include discussion textbooks, expository articles, theoretical writings, experimental studies, and works on the teaching of discussion. The bibliography is…

The workshop discussed was designed to initiate skeptical school personnel to the T-group approach, while providing a safe and non-threatening atmosphere for exposure. Workshop participants consisted of 24 "teachers of the gifted." An attempt was made to integrate procedures from a wide variety of group approaches so as to provide the participants…

Twelve groups of five to seven college students each were randomly formed and assigned one of two decision-making tasks as part of a study of the relational, or control, dimension of interpersonal communication. Group discussions were recorded and transcribed for analysis of act, interact, and double interact patterns. Results indicated…

Third in a series of workshops for personnel dealing with severely multiply handicapped students, the inservice package is intended to teach potential trainers to provide effective inservice programs. The package focuses on group process skills (four modules) and organizational skills needed for planning and conducting a workshop (six modules).…

Immediately before their second group therapy session, 10 newly formed inpatient therapy groups were randomly assigned to complete either collective or individual art projects. The members of a group in the collective-project condition completed a single art project as a group. Each member of a group assigned to the individual project condition…

The author describes an experimental group activity designed in England for 13 to 14 year olds which allowed participants the freedom in the art of building of social relationships. Discussed are the rules for the self-directed group activity, the group pressures and processes experienced by the adolescents, and the teacher's role. (Author/RM)

This study of group process evaluated the relative effectiveness of facilitator-directed (FD) and self-directed (SD) personal growth group treatments in inducing change in the level of group member interaction. Examination of treatment effectiveness was accomplished through an interaction process analysis approach, the Hill Interaction…

The purpose of this investigation is to compare the descriptions of group process obtained from the Hill Interaction Matrix (Form G) and the Bonney Scale in rating an extended counseling group of psychiatric residents (N = 10). (Author)

Analyses in this study revealed trends that bear some similarity to other coorientation research on the variables of agreement, accuracy, and congruency between individual members and their group, but the small amount of variance accounted for by time spent communicating suggests a need for measurement revisions in further research. (PD)