Electronic communication can either facilitate or sabotage decision-making contexts. This article formulates recommendations about when and how to use electronic communication to enhance decision making and describes various decision contexts. Solutions to communication problems such as groupthink, social deadlock, bureaucratic isolation from…

Compared adult children from dysfunctional families (with and without alcoholism) and adult children of functional families to gauge current relationship satisfaction. No significant differences emerged between the two dysfunctional groups. Analyses connected dysfunction in the family of origin to global distress and to difficulties with…

A survey of 81 adolescents with hearing impairments, 31 teachers, and 30 peers found adolescents who wore hearing aids reported communication difficulties more than half of the time when listening unaided in challenging listening environments. Teachers and peers perceived the adolescents experienced less communication difficulty than reported by…

This paper discusses some cultural differences that may affect cooperation in Europe. It maintains that it takes a least one year before a multinational working group begins to be productive, if no special provision is taken to minimize communication problems and to integrate the different cultures involved. (MLW)

This study examined repair strategies used by boys with language impairments, in response to clarification requests following conversational breakdowns. Five subjects, aged four-five, were compared with five age-matched controls and five controls matched for verbal competence. Results showed that all three groups overwhelmingly used revisions to…

Verbal outbursts of one school board member can undermine everyone's effectiveness. The risk of an outburst can be reduced by taking a few basic precautions that include distributing materials prior to the meeting. If the outburst happens, ideally the whole board will work as a unit to set the meeting back on the proper course. (MLF)

Autistic children were tested on three tasks that were within the capability of three-four-year-old normal children and that involved the abilities to understand a mistaken belief, infer contents of a container from looking or not looking inside, and adjust answers to provide new information. (PCB)

An informal survey of college editors via electronic mail (e-mail) found that many felt inter- and intrainstitutional e-mail was an efficient method of communication but also elicited some concerns. Some respondents noted it did not replace face-to-face communication; flaming and overload were also noted as negatives of e-mail. (MSE)

Effective communication is sending a message so that it is received the way it was meant. Barriers to effective communication, or "noise," may include mental blocks, technical jargon, social norms, or values. Feedback, paraphrasing, impression checking, and behavior description are ways to improve communication and facilitate learning…

Following training in a communication repair strategy (showing), 10 children (ages 4 to 9) with hearing loss showed a greater (but not statistically significant) tendency to use this repair behavior than similar untrained subjects. The children used more explicit repair behaviors when asked questions that requested more information. (DB)

Focuses on the historical origin of the African American male-female relationship dilemma and contemporary forces that impact intimacy and marriage opportunities for African American women. Examines loss, communication, and stereotypes as counseling issues. Implications for counseling and research are discussed. (Author/CH)

Marketing professionals offer these suggestions to college communicators: segment audiences; convey the campus' position on issues; express the same theme in various communications; frame the message in the context of meeting the audience's needs; let editorial content guide design; use sophisticated but cost-effective design; solicit opinions;…

"Tissue rejection," rejection of an instructional innovation because of poor fit, is analyzed to demonstrate the problematic nature of appropriate information collection and the need for ethnographic "means analysis" to inform project design. Tissue rejection is attributed to informal orders within a host educational environment and communication…

Analysis of the communication of eight preschool children with deafness found that frequent causes of communication breakdowns in the listening role were attention, comprehension, and absence of mutual desire; causes in the speaking role were intelligibility, informativeness, and inadequate volume. Few repairs were self-initiated; frequent repair…

Challenges of teaching graduate nursing students for whom English is a second language include language and communication problems, writing difficulties, and social and cultural sensitivities. (SK)