This paper reports a methodological study in which live communication between young married spouses was compared with a self-reporting of their communication processes. Results support the use of observational research as a methodological tool in the search for an understanding of marital communication patterns. (Author)

The study was designed to assess the impact of a structured communications skills workshop of self-referred clients who expressed problems in feeling uncomfortable, awkward, or isolated in their relationships with others. (Author)

The author examines: (1) the relationship between individual family member self-concept and the communication patterns of parents and their adolescents; and (2) sex differences in communication patterns and self-concepts pertaining to intra-family relationships. (MJB)

Presents S. Jackson's and S. Jacobs' theory of conversational argument and demonstrates flaws in the representational validity of their research from the perspective of face-to-face interaction. Describes characteristics of a "paradigm case" of interactional argument that extends Jackson's and Jacobs' ideas about argumentation in…

Thirty male and twenty female students were used to investigate the strategies of topic management. In pairs, they were told that the male (or female) would like to become friends with the female (or male), and were assigned a dialogue which created a positive or a negative context. Then the subject assigned as the initiator was given one of three…

Although most information exchanged in an initial interaction is superficial, relationships often develop or terminate depending on the evaluations made during the first three to four minutes of a conversation. In order to investigate the content and process levels of the information exchanged during the initial interactions, 90 subjects watched…

Presents an overview of how the computerized group analysis technique using PRONANA5 is aiding group communication instruction at the University of Oklahoma. (JMF)

Outlines conceptual and operational definitions that distinguish between the control movements and control patterns of domineeringness and dominance. The evidence suggests that (1) domineeringness and dominance are, in actuality, different phenomena and (2) different patterns of role strain, system satisfaction, and interaction styles are…

Systematic observation methods were used to investigate the nature of communication in a cross-sectional study of 80 dating and engaged couples that were grouped into dating stages of various degrees of commitment. Results indicate more communication of the critical kind was in evidence at later stages of dating. (Author/EJT)

A study explored the relationship between the functional communication patterns occurring in conflict and post conflict impressions of relational concern. The first part of the study involved the development and testing of an instrument to measure perceived relational concern, while the second part investigated whether varying styles of functional…

Step-group therapy is a program designed to help adult impatients increase their interpersonal communications skills. Using microcounseling formats, psychiatric patients have been taught the skills of eye contact, verbal following, relaxed pasture and eventually, the use of feedback and self-disclosure. (Author)

Taking the viewpoint of the receiver, this paper explores some differences between interpersonal transactions people have with each other and with the mass media. After addressing an orientation held by many communication scholars that the process of mass communication and interpersonal communication differ only in degree, the paper focuses on a…

The testing of proficiency in interpersonal communication is a challenging problem in an age in which people from all over the world, speaking different languages and speaking the same languages differently, must produce useful exchanges of cognitive, behavioral, and affective information. The beginnings of a system for testing and teaching…

The purpose of this paper is to examine the independence-involvement approach to interpersonal communication as a method for assessing participant satisfaction in social interaction. The author provides definitions of satisfying social interactions in both empirical and value-oriented terms and further attempts to determine behaviors that both…

Presents a model of meanings in coherent conversation taking the form of a hierarchy of levels of cognitive interpolations between the stream of behavior and archetypal patterns in conversations. A study of indirect responses in conversation is reported which supports the hierarchical structure of the model. (JMF)