Of the many intellectual models available for conceptualizing the communication process, one of the most appropriate is cybernetics. The logical and empirical requirements of a cybernetic model of communication are presented. Based upon a review of relevant findings in the social science literature, these requirements are utilized to create a…

This research was intended to examine whether or not treatment, sex, grade level, environmental concern level, and the interactions of these variables were important factors in the assignment of importance to environmental concept statements. In addition, the study was intended to determine whether or not the pattern of responses of junior high…

A comparison was made of the effects of systematic desensitization, a "sensitization" treatment (designed to increase awareness of anxiety) and no-treatment on the reduction of beginning counselors' anxiety. Forty-one counseling graduate students, assigned to one of the three conditions, served as subjects. With treatments intervening, the…

People's incessant struggles to exercise self-control have been hindered by their misconceptions about its nature. Self-control is viewed here as a complex behavior--i.e., as a sequence of specific acts influenced by conditions both internal and external to the person. A person can exercise self-control when he has learned how to manage these…

The early development of wariness toward unfamiliar persons and novel objects is examined. Data are based upon the reactions of 32 infants who were repeatedly observed, over the age period 3 to 9 months, as they responded to the near approach of a stranger, and to a variety of new objects. Signs of wariness toward unfamiliar persons began to…

Each item in this questionnaire lists a pair of sets of payment (consisting of money, grade points, and opportunity to waive some required reports) for experimental participation in psychological research. The subject must choose the preferred act. (See TM 001 310.) (MS)

The development of a psychology of instruction calls for qualitative, as well as quantitative, information about curriculum components. An analysis of selected instructional sequences of the New Primary Grades Reading System, a reading acquisition curriculum for five and six year olds, was performed by applying appropriate category systems from…

Recent worldwide studies on the viewing habits of children emphasize the large amount of time spent viewing television and the potential influence that television has to shape the behavior of children. Extensive research has investigated the short and long term effects of viewing television violence, and the results, though complex, suggest that…

This investigation, based on the phenomenological philosophy of Alfred Schutz, was an attempt to determine how people view films by determining the meaning that the action has for them. Twenty college freshmen and sophomores and two seniors viewed the film "Tilt," a production of the National Film Board of Canada. All subjects were asked…

The technique of behavioral contracting is recommended as a highly effective, readily applied technique for use in efforts to strengthen the control of family and school over the behavior of delinquents. A behavioral contract is a means of scheduling the exchange of positive reinforcements among two or more persons. The use of behavioral contracts…

A cognitive-style map was prepared for each of seven instructors and 125 college students drawn from those enrolled in a course in interpersonal communications. Students were partitioned into low-match, moderate-match, and high-match subgroups, on the basis of the degree of cognitive match with their instructors, before completing a communicaton…

Examines three dimensions of credibility from a multivariate listener perspective and concludes that dynamism is the most important variable with trustworthiness second and competency third. (MH)

Examines intrinsic individual differences in conceptual behavior with a multivariate model, three mode factor analysis. The analyses yielded five individual difference performance factors, three stage factors, and four response components indicating the importance of a multivariate representation of complex behavior. (Author/DEP)

Investigates the relationship between the amount of learning which occurs in children during home television viewing and the presence of parental interaction during this period and concludes that parental interaction enhances incidental learning. (MH)