Interactive tasks designed to elicit real-life problem-solving behavior are rapidly becoming more widely used in educational assessment. Incorrect responses to such tasks can occur for a variety of different reasons such as low proficiency levels, low metacognitive strategies, or motivational issues. We demonstrate how behavioral patterns…

Examined couples' punctuation of their own interactions. Punctuation was defined as a way of grouping sequences of interactions. Results suggested that the nature of relatedness, as defined by degree of distress, was associated with the punctuation of interactions by the communicators. (Author)

Verbal behavior in transcripts of psychotherapy was coded according to Stile's taxonomy of verbal response modes. Therapists of different theoretical persuasions used different mixtures of verbal techniques. Common elements that make verbal interaction psychologically therapeutic lie in client behavior. (Author)

Recent investigations of the cognitive components of human-environmental interactions owe much to the work of city planner Kevin Lynch, who hypothesized cognitive mapping as a two-way interactive process between individuals and their environment. Lynch identified five elements which individuals used in the construction of cognitive maps,…

Explores the relationship between intimacy, conflict and disputing styles in familial and nonfamilial relationships. Results supported the hypothesis that disputing styles tend to be more extreme in more intimate relationships. Intimacy differences do not account for a great deal of the variation in disputing styles. (JAC)

Examined the regulation of personal space in preschool children by studying adult-child dyads. Detailed analysis of simultaneous movements revealed a highly significant behavioral pattern consisting predominantly of approaches and withdrawals by both members of the dyad. (Author/DB)

Observers can decide what kind of relationship exists between two people by identifying cues provided by the pattern of benefits given and received in relationships and the type of relationship, either communal or exchange. Communal relationships, i.e., friendships or romances, are characterized by feelings of responsibility for each other's…

In a study of relative priorities for interaction in groups containing adults and children, 570 family groups in public settings were observed for 10-second time periods. There was far more adult/child touching than adult/adult touching. Adults tended to talk more than children and talking was reciprocated at higher rates in adult/adult dyads than…

This interactive theory of drug use posits that drug-taking behavior is caused by several constellations of intra- and extra-individual forces. Influences interact to modify each other while determining the presence of a variety of lifestyle behaviors including drug and alcohol use. The model grows as new data are collected. (Author/BEF)

Numerous childhood activities and relationships have been studied within the context of socialization, but one form of interpersonal experience has not yet been investigated by social researchers: the carpool. This paper investigates the types of interaction which take place within the carpool setting, both between children and adults and among…

Some research has found that observers believe overt mimicry is socially unacceptable and embarrassing in the presence of a stranger. It was hypothesized that observers would inhibit their mimicry of learned pairs of gestures in the presence of a stranger, and that their learning would be adversely affected unless they compensated for the…

Applied a behavioral model of marriage to premarital couples to assess predictive validity of an exchange measure. Results provide evidence that unrewarding communication patterns precede development of relationship distress. Implications for the behavioral model of marriage and development of programs designed to prevent marital distress are…

Subject pairs (N=18) participated in an alternating question-and-answer session at one of two interactional distances utilizing questions which increased in their intimacy content. Results indicated topic intimacy, but not distance, affected the embarrassment potential of the situation. Increases in embarrassment caused changes in nonverbal and…

Previous research indicates that social beliefs can act in a self-fulfilling manner, affecting responses to individuals and thereby constraining these individuals to behave in ways that spuriously confirm attitudes about them. The possible role of self-perception, i.e., whether targets of such self-fulfilling prophecies not only alter their…

Several theoretical approaches have been offered to explain the phenomenon of reciprocity: trust-liking, social exchange, and modeling. The emphasis of previous research on self-disclosure reciprocity (descriptive reciprocation), the intimacy of the facts an individual reveals about him- or herself, stems largely from the fact that these…