Describes experiment designed to illustrate the potential of multidimensional scaling (MDS) in illustrating the perceptions of those in a group regarding one another, specifically of coalitions. Participants were 35 students enrolled in a graduate business course. Suggests positive results of the exploratory research show MDS holds promise as an…

Examined relationship among amount of conflict experienced, the style of its management, individual satisfaction, and decision quality of small, task-oriented groups using 129 college student subjects in 24 groups. Data suggest a curvilinear relationship between the number of conflict episodes experienced by group members and the subsequent…

Examined effects of a structured learning time interval (SLTI) in growth groups on member self-esteem, perceived level of group interaction, and verbal participation in 81 undergraduate college students. Found use of SLTI had no significant effect on self-esteem, perceived interaction, or verbal participation. (Author/ABL)

Presents a study designed to contrast the effects of task-based and interpersonal cohesiveness on group performance of students. Concludes that high task cohesion helped group performance, while interpersonal attraction had no apparent effect. Finding that increased interpersonal cohesion improved task commitment, the authors suggest that…

Investigated reliability and dimensionality of Bales's Interpersonal Rating Forms (IRF) using volunteer subjects (N=266) enrolled in undergraduate communications course. Results documented shortcomings of IRF as a measuring instrument finding the subscales neither reliable nor dimensionally structured; only 2 of 18 items in each subscale are…

This article discusses the nature and problems of group interaction among American students participating in overseas study programs, with specific reference to a Junior Year program offered by the University of Connecticut in Rouen, France. (CLK)

A model of the generation of initial trusting attitudes toward groups by individuals who were not members of those groups was developed from the literature on interpersonal trust. The model proposed that perceptions of situational threat would be preconditions to the saliency of trust as a concept. Given that trust was a salient concept, the model…

Study (n=62) at suburban community college tested method of conceptual change in which treatment students worked in small cooperative groups on tasks aimed at eliciting their misconceptions so that they could be discussed in contrast to scientific conception that had been taught in direct instruction. Treatment group had significantly lower…