Empirical research to support the claim of advocates of laboratory training as an effective means of training leaders and managers in communication is lacking. Further, there are some who raise serious questions about this methodology which need to be answered. This paper reports an experiment designed to investigate four questions revolving around these claims and counter claims. These are (1) the impact of laboratory training on leadership attitudes and skills, the values affecting these attitudes and skills and the concept of self as a communicator; (2) whether this impact differs from the impact of other training methods; (3) whether the results of laboratory training affect different types of people in different ways; and (4) whether there is an optimum time period for laboratory training. (Author/LG)