Examines how any utterance or activity can be opposed in order to better understand the origins of children's disputes. Shows that children analyze others' moves not only verbally but nonverbally as well. Thus, bodily action and presupposition are necessary components in the analysis of how arguments are started. (SED)

Suggests that dominance can be defined as asymmetry in predictability in social variables of importance, and bidirectionality as symmetrical predictability. Procedures which address the concepts of cyclicity within a person and synchronicity between people and which assess asymmetry and symmetry in social interaction are discussed. (Author/RH)

A description is presented of the aspects and interpretations of the haptics of the English handshake in order to raise consciousness among native English speakers and to provide directions for non-native English speakers who might wish to learn or teach these aspects of the handshake. (SW)

An analysis and comparison of two frames, "conventioneering" and "game," as experienced by convention goers is presented to provide a partial explanation of convention behavior and stress response. Many of the concepts discussed come directly from books by Erving Goffman. Frames are principles of organization that govern…

The notion of symmetrical communication and its application in course teams at Deakin University, Australia, are considered. Symmetry in communications is evident in groups characterized by mutual recognition by members of one another as persons accepted and appreciated in their common striving for mutual understanding and consensus. The technique…

Offers a theoretical and methodological approach to study of children's socio-cognitive interaction. Observation of object-centered activities among three age groups of children showed different modes of collaboration. Processes were similar across age groups; roots of basic peer interaction patterns reach back into infancy. Similarities across…

Comments on Verba's ideas about collaboration in peer interaction in this issue. Praises Verba for setting new direction in the study and understanding of social processes in cognitive development and for establishing important continuities in how children communicate with peers. Notes that Verba's analyses suggest natural categories of…

Based on an examination of the organizational features of editing during collaborative computer writing in a combined first and second grade classroom in a Catholic school during the 1985-86 school year, this paper argues that there is a fundamental difference between collaborative and solo computer writing, and that collaboration during computer…

A cognitive theory about the representation and processing of ethnic attitudes is presented, and strategies people use to express ethnic attitudes in conversations are discussed. Recent developments in cognitive and social psychology and in microsociology have shown that ethnic prejudices or attitudes are both cognitive and social results of…

This paper reviews the literature concerned with the effect of various social systems (e.g., the family and the school) on the growth of social competence in the individual child and makes suggestions for further research. The discussion employs the contemporary view of socialization which emphasizes reciprocal causality (i.e., the reciprocal…