Purpose: To examine the extent to which sentences retain their levels of spoken intelligibility relative to other sentences in a set (the "sentence effect") across different types of signal distortion. Method: The Central Institute for the Deaf (CID) sentences were rendered difficult to understand through the addition of broadband noise. These…

Research on graphic symbol learning suggests that symbols with a greater visual resemblance to their referents (greater iconicity) are more easily learned. The iconicity hypothesis has not yet been explored within the intervention protocol of the Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS). Within the PECS protocol, participants do not point to a…

Asserts that earlier investigations of the organizational communication failures that led to the space shuttle Challenger explosion asked the wrong question. Notes an erroneous focus on why the shuttle was launched despite widespread knowledge of technical problems. Concludes that sociology of technology and new rhetoricians can help form better…

Distinguishes between medical interaction and health communication, maintaining that the latter is found in four major determinants of American health: individual behavior, social relationships, physical environment, and economic status. Argues that the chief malady of low-income people is powerlessness, and asserts that they must be empowered to…

Presents a model of social confrontation (communication episodes initiated when one participant signals that the other's behavior violates a rule or expectation for appropriate conduct). Describes issues arising during social confrontation. Concludes that negotiating expectations or relational rules within a problematic situation is the crux of…

A study tested a delivery skills method of instruction for reducing public speaking anxiety. Subjects were 59 male and 71 female undergraduates (ranging in age from 17-49) enrolled in a basic public speaking course at a midwestern university during the 1986-87 academic year. The Personal Report of Public Speaking Apprehension (PRPSA) which…

Communication apprehension (CA) refers to a family of related terms: (a) reticence, (b) shyness, (c) unwillingness to communicate; and (d) stage fright. One pervasive but not totally substantiated assumption in current literature is the relationship between the level of communication apprehension and the level of communication skill demonstrated…

The research audit is an effective means for providing undergraduate students with relevant organizational experience through which they can integrate theory and practice. A course was designed to teach students to apply basic concepts in the field of organizational communication to "real life" communication problems in organizations.…

A study examined Japanese-American intercultural communication at the beginning stage from the perspective of Japanese participants. Data were collected in interviews with 50 Japanese visiting students to a large southwestern university for their account of their short-term (5-week) experience in America, which consisted of incidents, events, and…

A study examined intervention activities for students identified as having high communication anxiety (CA). The study utilized 2 group interventions. Of 61 students in an introductory speech class invited to participate, the 8 who accepted were divided into 2 groups of 4. The groups met for 5 weeks. Group 1, facilitated by a female counseling…

In order to identify causes of spousal abuse, current research efforts have attempted to reconstruct the communicative components of physically aggressive encounters within the family. An interactionist model of intrafamily violence, proposed by D. A. Infante, suggests that the interaction of personal, situational, and societal conditions may lead…

A study looked at an agricultural extension project in south India to examine comprehension of the extension team's intentionality by the poorest farmers. Subjects, 50 farmers in the village of Porandla in the state of Andhra Pradesh, were interviewed and measured to see if their knowledge and comprehension approximated a constant across all…

A study examined communication skills essential for small work groups and whether the quality of small group teaching and research is in decline. The study reviewed small group research done previously by others and the problem of existing pedagogy and research in small group communication which does not provide practical solutions to real life…

Using an evaluation of a hospital-based hospice as a case study, this paper analyzes problematic issues surrounding health care teams (HCTs) in light of findings revealed in the literature concerning HCT structures and processes. The factors of coordination and role definitions in HCTs and their manifestations in a particular hospice HCT in terms…

Three experiments from the late 1970s concerning second language communication strategies are studied for evidence supporting their classification as either avoidance or achievement strategies. The experiments had as subjects native English-speaking children in a French immersion program, adult second language learners of English who were native…