This study asks whether placing students in small, cooperative work groups results in redirecting student norms, climate and student interaction. Using a post-test only design, students in classes which daily used cooperative groups for the entire academic year were compared with comparable students from classes which used the lecture-discussion…

An investigation of a theory of "idiosyncrasy credit" which was developed by Hollander (1958) as a framework for understanding status and conformity, was undertaken in the community college setting. Idiosyncrasy credit represents status and allows for behavior which may exceed the "limits" set by the common expectancies of a group. The specific…

The relationships between locus of control and other personality variables were studied, using the Nowicki-Strickland Scale. The broad hypotheses were that internal locus of control would be related to a number of other competence-type behaviors and adaptive social functioning. Results of various studies are presented, and it is concluded that the…

A series of conferences on theatre research were held with the following specific goals: (1) to establish the limits of the major areas of theatre research and to determine the nature of the several theatre disciplines; (2) to arrive at preliminary statements affecting methodologies, areas of specialization, research materials, centers of research…

The author discusses a study designed to examine a communications problem from a cognitive processing viewpoint, to determine if a change in the amount of cognitive processing time available to a listener could affect his response to a given message. To specify the internal sources of input brought to a message receiving situation, the author used…

This study reports an analysis of the effects of moderate levels of noise on task performance of an interacting group. Groups of students first interacted in information-sharing discussions under varying conditions of noise and then responded to an objective test over the shared information and to a series of semantic differential scales designed…

The author reports a study conducted to explore the role of mass media in creating source commitment, which he defines as a type of public commitment to content of a message produced under conditions in which a person encodes a message for others. The major hypothesis predicted that greater commitment would be produced within persons who encoded…

Chapters contained in this volume, each with a list of references appended, are: "Scientific Psychology in Transition" by Gregory A. Kimble; "Higher Mental Processes as the Bases for the Laws of Conditioning" by Eli Saltz; "Reification and Reality in Conditioning Paradigms: Implications of Results When Modes of Reinforcement are Changed" by David…

The process of explanation as defined by the covering law model of science contains stringent criteria which often cannot be met by communication scientists. An alternative model, less powerful but more obtainable--the system paradigm--should be adopted. Four types of explanation provide a context for a discussion of the system paradigm…

The effects of performance feedback of success and failure given by partners to 96 subjects of the same or opposite racial groups were measured in terms of subsequent performance on a paired-associate learning task and number of negative and positive adjectives checked for self and partner. Analysis of variance showed that the procedure yielded a…

By and large behavioral scientists, particularly in education and psychology lack the sophisticated mathematical understanding necessary for adequate statistical analysis, especially multivariate analysis. And incompetent use of measurement theory, psychometry, and statistics cannot but lead to bad research. The remedy for this is better…

Two computer programs for computer-assisted performance training were developed to give the students the opportunity for concentrated practice of troubleshooting and procedural tasks in naval electronics. In contrast to the usual approach taken in computer-assisted instruction (CAI), these programs simulate essential aspects of devices and tasks…

The author reports on an investigation of the variations in total verbal output and in verbal variety noted from interview responses of eighteen persons, each involved with a specific issue or topic at one of three levels. He defines the levels as: (1) observer, or someone who is aware of the issue but passive about it; (2) participant, or one who…

The twenty-seven original essays in this book were compiled in honor of Professor Elwood Murray, former Director of the School of Speech at the University of Denver. The essays expand Professor Murray's concept of "communication methodology"--the link between knowledge and practice. The nine different fields of academic specialization represented…

It was the purpose of this study to assess the effects of films on children, using a measure of interpersonal aggression. It was anticipated that modeling effects would depend simultaneously upon the degree of realism of the model's performance (on a reality-fantasy dimension) and the similarity between the observer's task and the model's…