This "position statement" concerns the relevance and utility of laboratory training techniques in facilitating group problem-solving participation. Neither the sensitivity nor T-group experiences should be assumed a priori to be applicable to problem-solving activity. The article compares the various group experiences on five major…

This paper examines the process of interpersonal communication across cultural boundaries, through a combination of the cross-cultural approach (from international communication research) and the interpersonal approach (from sociological research). The paper presents data on friendship patterns in a multi-cultural group. The experimenter observed…

This manual is intended primarily for use by small groups that must accomplish tasks within specified periods of time. Chapters, directed toward groups in business, industry, education, religious organizations, politics, government, or virtually any situation where a cooperative effort is required, discuss the following areas: group work as…

This study was designed to compare the effects of residential and nonresidential laboratories in transfer of training. Subjects were middle-level managers. The results indicated no differences in transfer in the two groups. Both groups underwent substantial changes in their perspective on work problems and in their use of work-related skills. (NG)

This article discusses the use of a "group helper" to minimize anxiety about audio-taping and role-playing experiences for counselor trainees. Results of this training technique are presented. (Author/HLM)

Effective family problem solving was studied in 97 families of elementary-school-aged children with definite- and indefinite-solution tasks. Incentive and task independence were manipulated. It was found that definitions of effective problem solving based on directly observed measures of group interaction were more valid than definitions based on…

Examined the skill and gender of individual group discussants and the sex composition of the group as factors potentially influencing perceptions of emergent leadership. Confirmed that task competence, more than gender, was crucially related to an individual's emergence as the group's leader. (PD)

Investigates the impact of interpersonal relationships on decision-making success in small groups using a business simulation game as a research vehicle. The study concludes that group decision making may be unfavorably affected by personality conflicts. (Author/JJD)

Focuses on personality as a predispositional factor which is predictive of the direction of both persuasive argumentation by group members and, subsequently, decision shifting. Tends to validate the value theory of polarization by showing that persuasive argumentation can mediate the effect of personality on decisional shifting. (PD)

Found that of five "task-achievement functions" examined, two serve as accurate predictors of group problem-solving effectiveness. Specifically, found that (1) a negative relationship exists between group effectiveness and attempts to "establish operating procedures"; and (2) a positive relationship exists between group…

Studies the sequence of phases in group decision making. Compares the unitary sequence model, which assumes that all groups follow the same sequence of phases, and the multiple sequence model, which assumes that different groups follow different sequences. Results support the latter model and suggest revisions in current decision development. (PD)

Traces the development of an approach to studying face-to-face interaction that proposes to expound the rules or procedures of interaction and to account for observed behavior in terms of how it functions as a communicational system. A selective literature review and recommendations for further study are included. (EJS)