Addresses the following question: Do one-session meetings remain "aggregates" or can they develop some "group" forms? Considers the literature on phases of group development, one-session meetings, and the role of the worker in one-session meetings. Concluded that the one-session meeting can develop specific group forms.…

Reviews Bale's view on relations between instrumental and expressive structures and ensuing work on legitimacy of instrumental structure. Conceptualizes this legitimacy in terms of integration of distribution of members' skills and instrumental structure. Discusses Bale's conception of primary and secondary differentiation and inequality…

Presents problems associated with process analysis with a specific focus on definitional and methodological concerns. Discusses the need for a comprehensive system that will help researchers to separate and comprehend the individual parts of a group and their relationship to the whole group. (Author/LLL)

Used meta-analysis to examine duration of group experience and structure provided by leader in counseling groups from 26 studies. Group composition appeared to have greatest effect in unstructured group which was relatively long in duration. Leaders using short-term, structured groups may be less concerned with composition, as its potential effect…

The results suggested group space boundaries increased with group size (from groups of one to two to four) if group members were strangers, but not if group members were friends. The only nonspatial variable found to correlate with boundary size was personal identity. (Author)

Contrasts open and closed therapeutic groups in the context of group development research, and reanalyzes data applying the Hill Interaction Matrix. Results supported the existence of a discernable process of development in the closed groups, while open groups with residual members showed counterproductive activity. (LLL)

Study operationalizes small group structure (n=6) into democratic, authoritarian, and unstructured forms and seeks to determine which form of small group structure is most conducive to group production of creative behaviors. (Author/PD)

Earlier reviews have asserted the superiority of structure versus ambiguity in the practice of group therapy. This review specifies the dimensions that lead to this asserted superiority and examines method and timing of presentation and content of pregroup training. A model is proposed that links content and timing with issues in group…

This study first investigates the effects of group structure on collective projections in groups, then examines how collective projections feed back and affect group structure. It examines the effects of having a deviant in a group on group projections and responses. (Author)

Examines the proposition that the "leader" role is an unconscious myth invented by members of a group to ward off anxieties and uncertainties associated with day-to-day exercise of interpersonal power. Focuses on describing the myth, its consequences for the involvement of group members, and researchable propositions derivable from the myth.…

The four papers presented here include a study of group communication process among college students, a developmental analysis of social interaction, an analysis of environmental impact on interaction, and a methodological discussion of ways of studying interaction. These papers are followed by series of three discussion papers. (PS)

Eight "myths" about small group processes and outcomes are presented and matched against research and practice. Conclusions are drawn concerning benefits of group experience, group composition, leader impact, role of structural exercises, function of the "here-and-now," self-disclosure and feedback, understanding group processes, and the long-term…

Uses a laboratory experiment involving role-playing groups to show that an assigned majority rule is likely to lead to higher-quality solutions than unanimity and no-decision rule. Results indicated under majority rule workers resistance to the foreman's power often resulted in a successful search for a better solution. (JAC)

Examined applicability of Bednar, Melnick, and Kaul's model of early group development to college student self-help groups using undergraduates (N=101) who met in high-structure or low-structure groups. Found amount of group structure was positively related to ownership of group functioning; importance of performing group behaviors was positively…

This paper analyzes development of group structure in terms of the stimulus-sampling perspective. Learning is the continual sampling of possibilities, with those reinforced possibilities increasing in probability of occurance. This contingency learning approach is tested experimentally. (NG)