Indicates that prime-time television presents a remarkably consistent portrayal of the world across program genres and that it offers few scheduling alternatives to avoiding violence-laden adventure programs. Finds that the average viewer has little opportunity to exercise any kind of choice in viewing. (JD)

Indicates that (1) less affluent, less educated, and divorced and separated respondents are more inclined than others to watch television to avoid the negative moods that often coincide with solitude and unstructured time; and (2) personality dispositions and internal states are more likely to dictate media use than vice versa. (JD)

Analyzes some of the most frequent deceptive interactions as rendered through case histories of male con artists and their victims taken from police records. Discusses the recurrent elements in both the con-games strategies and victims' way of interpreting those strategies. (JMF)

Recounts a study designed to determine the age at which sex differences first begin to appear and relates various aspects of children's behavior to the level of humor responsiveness. (MH)

Provides support for the hypothesis that a causal relationship exists between exposure to television violence and aggressive behavior in children. (MH)

Reviews various current experimental attempts to induce a form of human language in chimpanzees and concludes that research results indicate that only Homo Sapiens are capable of mastering human forms of communication. (MH)

Explores how adolescents process information in making decisions about risk behavior. Explains two developmental aspects of adolescent egocentrism: personal fable and imaginary audience, along with individual difference variables. Concludes the deep elaboration message was partially effective in changing message perceptions and adolescents'…

Indicates that younger married couples were both more communicative and satisfied than younger cohabiting couples or older married or cohabiting couples. Suggests that verbal and sexual communication practices of intimates are influenced more by their chronological age than by whether they are married or cohabiting. (JD)

This paper considers what the author believes to be weaknesses in Donald Cushman's and Gordon Whiting's analysis of rules, which represent an important movement from monadic to dyadic concepts in explaining patterns of communication behavior. (Author/RK)

Examines written, visual and sound messages directed toward children and suggests that there is a significant difference among various mediums capacity for stimulating creative thinking. (MH)

Probes the hidden element of space behind phenomena such as privacy, group speech, television, facial behavior and literacy in terms of North American culture. (MH)

Describes the historical context of a systems approach to the family; defines basic systems concepts with emphasis on their application to the family; and describes some axioms of human communication theory and the role they play in understanding family communication from a systems viewpoint. (PD)

Data analysis from television-viewing surveys suggests that people are not "glued to the box." Rather, the level of repeat-viewing of television--about 60 percent--suggests that television fills the gap between other activities and that the reason people watch television is that they have "so much time to kill." (PD)