Discusses a study based on the assumption that change of meaning is, under certain circumstances, of fundamental importance to the information integration process. (MH)

Demonstrates the value of the concept of social cost in analyzing the cognitive processes underlying the encoding of convergent speech acts. (MH)

Two models for research on teacher thinking are discussed: the decision-making model and the information-processing model. Research on teaching guided by the decision-making model focuses upon explaining and understanding deliberate teacher activity and is deemed more appropriate for situations in which the teacher has sufficient time and…

Discusses a study designed to measure the effects of message threat level, message quality, and initial receiver attitude on attitude change and evaluations of source credibility. (MH)

Examines research which indicates that in the first days of life infants are able to elicit and respond to their mothers' behavior, however, it appears that the newborns exert more influence over the mothers' actions than the mothers exert over the infants' actions. (MH)

Repeats an earlier study by the authors concerning informants' ability to report their communication accurately and confirms results indicating that people do not know those with whom they communicate. Expands the original experimental design and offers recommendations for future research. (MH)

Offers support for the idea that dissonance is aroused only if the consequences of a discrepant action are known in advance and responsibility freely assumed. Graphs, tables, and bibliography. (RW)

The four studies presented show how expertise, from the cultural-historical theory of activity, is constructed interactively in everyday problem situations. They also demonstrate that purely situational analyses of discourse are insufficient as attempts to explain expertise. The four studies are presented as individual chapters: (1) Expertise as…