In 1968 a telephone service called Hotline began operation in Los Angeles. The concept was planned and implemented by a committee of various community representatives in association with the Division of Adolescent Medicine, Children's Hospital, Los Angeles. The Children's Hospital Hotline is one of 300 existing throughout the country, with a…

A field study was conducted to determine whether a general systems model was applicable to an antipoverty agency. The primary criterion for auditing the effectiveness of such an agency was "communication adaptation." The uniqueness and universality of the methodology employed allowed for accurate auditing. Ideal and empirically-derived…

This monograph first reviews a theory of individual communication behavior and points out the similarities between that theory and the observed activities of public relations practitioners. It then reviews the literature of formal organizations to extend the theory to more complex systems. Next, it operationalizes this expanded theory and reports…

Points out that writing errors of journalism students can result from faulty thought patterns involving thinking in sentence fragments, personifying objects, using bureaucratic abstractions, and condensing complex ideas; examines ways of dealing with sentence fragments and personification. (First of a two-part article.) (GT)

Lists six steps to the systems approach, illustrating their use in resolving written business communication problems. (RL)

Notes that cooperative goal structures, which imply that a student can reach his/her goal only if other persons within the structure can meet theirs, seldom exist in university classrooms. Outlines a process for setting up such a structure and notes consequences for students and teachers. (KC)

Contains an interview with journalist Edwin Newman in which Newman urges that students be taught to use language with greater precision, and a response to Newman by John S. Mayher and Rita S. Brause. (DD)

In this essay, some thinking and research about language is discussed in relation to the socialization of children and to the shaping of the school curriculum. The author concludes that the communication gap between schools and students, an important force for socialization, grows larger every day. (JMD)

A review of the research pertinent to hearing subjects is provided as background for understanding recent studies which indicate that an early severe hearing loss can influence the lateral organization of the brain for processing language and other types of information. (Author/BD)

Recordings were made of Canadian and Mexican actresses reciting contradictory messages in their respective languages (i.e., English and Spanish). The younger children in the experiment in both cultures interpreted the contradictory messages more negatively than the older children. (Author/AM)

Examines the important role that communication can play in the implementation of organizational change and discusses the case history of a personnel-oriented change in a specific organization from the perspective of the communication model to illustrate its proper use. (TA)

The language usage by students of various health professions in groups composed either of their professional peers or of a number of different professions was examined. Observed differences between written and spoken concepts associated with "illness" were found that indicate barriers to effective interdisciplinary communication among health…