Clinically depressed persons and dysphoric normals have a negative impact on others. This study attempted to identify what about the dysphoric paralinguistic style creates the aversive impact experienced by others. Results suggest that soft, flat tones, with long pauses and variable loudness and pitch were significant. (Author/KS)

Presents an analysis of the speech practices of preschool children engaged in daily play and interactions, by adopting a perspective that recognizes young children organizing social membership through talk and activity. A reading based on traditional early childhood practices is contrasted with an alternative reading showing children constructing…

This study compared 29 females with Turner syndrome and 21 females with fragile X syndrome (ages 6-22) on a videotaped role-play interaction with 34 females in a comparison group. Three of eight behavioral measures of social skills differentiated the participant groups. Fragile-X subjects required more time to initiate interactions and Turner…

Social context and maternal style of requesting and responsiveness were examined in teaching and social interactions in relation to 28 Down's Syndrome (DS) and 28 mental-age matched normal children's cooperation and social initiative. Compliance for DS children was similar to that of normal children for child-initiated exchanges but decreased…

Three seven-year-old males with autism included in social skills groups with nonhandicapped peers were successfully trained in such social skills as initiating, responding, keeping interactions going, greeting, conversing, giving and accepting compliments, taking turns and sharing, asking for help and helping others, and including others in…

This study analyzed the social information processing of 26 secondary students with behavioral disorders following assignment to in-school suspension. Analysis of student responses indicated that the interaction between students' perceived hostile intent of teachers and reactive aggression predicted the number of assignments to in-school…

Comparison of social initiations by 18 children with autism and 13 verbally matched children with mental retardation found autistic children's social initiations were more ritualized and the retarded children's were more playful. Autistic initiation to peers was unrelated to severity of autism, but was related to cognitive skills, whereas retarded…

Explores the predictability of friendly, cooperative behavior of school children over a 5-week period. The basis for the predictions was the children's others-concept, as measured by the Paired Hands Test. In three tasks out of five the high others-concept children showed a higher frequency and greater proportion of task-related and friendly…

A study examined the relationship between interaction involvement--a kind of communication competence--and communication behavior in a negotiation setting. Subjects, 120 college students, completed the Interaction Involvement Scale and were placed in same-sex dyads of three types: (1) mixed dyads of one high- and one low-involved subject; (2)…

Using data gathered by way of ethnographic research techniques in an intensive collaborative investigation of the classroom practice of two experienced teachers, each teacher's uniqueness is deliniated, and it is illustrated with examples of classroom practice, what it means for each teacher to know what to do in spontaneous practice.…

Gestalt therapy in groups is not limited to individual work in the presence of an audience. Describes several ways to involve gestalt groups interactionally. Interactions described focus on learning by doing and discovering, and are noninterpretive. (Author/EJT)

Ninety-six male students participated in an experiment studying the relationship between reciprocity and compensation in dyadic communication. The subjects were asked to solve a hypothetical problem and, depending on their pretest instructions, were given an orientation toward competition or cooperation with their partners. Time was used to test…

A perceiver's knowledge of a target person (T) can be seen as active, initiatory cognitive structures or conceptual schemas that guide and influence: (1) information processing about T; (2) search for and interpretation of new information about T; (3) remembrance and interpretation of previously-learned information about T; (4) social interaction…

An analysis of questioning strategies considers the kinds of responses that can be made to a question (different kinds of questions and their customary responses, and different kinds of response to the same kind of question). Additionally, the advantages/disadvantages to the use of the reproduction criterion in a sociological study are assessed.…

The purpose of this research was to determine how interactive style influences effectiveness and interpersonal attraction in groups. After college student volunteers completed the Communicator Style Measure (CSM), 72 subjects were selected from three style profiles and assigned to triads that contained high, mid, and low communication style…