Abused children who survived the trauma of their childhood and grew up to be well-adjusted were compared with a matched group who showed a high degree of psychosocial pathology. The variables which distinguished the two groups were fatalism, self-esteem, cognitive abilities, self-destructiveness, hope and fantasy, behavior patterns and external…

Presents results from two studies of how lower-back-pain patients communicate to health care providers. Suggests specific directions for future research. (MS)

Describes how the talk of legislative policy makers in public forums builds a system of justification for their actions. Uses observations from a case study of the Utah State Legislature and develops a sociopragmatic perspective of argument fields. (PD)

Presents two studies of the influence of group size, prior acquaintance, and gender composition on talking and silence in decision making groups (N=157). Results suggested that friends talked more than strangers, and leaders talked more than nonleaders. Group differences were reflected more dramatically in patterns of silence. (JAC)

Three myths about the cognitive processing of television and its effects on children and adults--television is a passive medium, viewing decreases creativity, and viewing is an addictive behavior--are discussed and compared with relevant research findings. (MBR)

Recounts observations of a bartender working in a lounge patronized during a rhetoric conference and notes that the composing processes the bartender exhibited are similar to those needed by writing students. (DF)

The importance of family assessment in the evaluation of preschool-age children is addressed. Approaches to assessment that include individual, family system, and community contributions to problem behaviors of preschool children are discussed. Factors that influence family interactions are presented within a theoretical framework of reciprocal…

Among findings from a comparison of 13 preschool hyperactive and control males assessed on receptive-communications tasks that required listening and delayed response were that Ss did not differ in task-related movements or verbalizations, but that hyperactive Ss verbalized impulsively during transitions and tasks requiring response delay. (DB)

Argues that factors that create a feeling of interactivity in the human situation--response time, spontaneity, lack of distractors--should be included as prime elements in the design of human/machine systems, e.g., computer assisted instruction and interactive video. A computer/videodisc learning system for cardio-pulmonary resuscitation and its…

Alternative models of the choice of retirement state are estimated on a sample of white married males from the Retirement History Survey, 1967-73. Findings suggest that the critical choice for a large number of older workers appears to be that of labor force participation first, with either partial or full-time employment determined conditionally…

Research indicates that principals who have clear goals for their schools, provide active, visible leadership, and closely monitor the school's progress in accomplishing the expected improvement, are consistently assessed as more effective, regardless of the criteria for judging. The article stresses the need to distinguish between principal style…

Examined similarity in the behavior tendencies of subordinates and their supervisors. Respondents were 66 department heads and branch managers in an Israeli banking organization. The overall pattern of results largely supported the applicability of Social Learning Theory to organizational modeling. (JAC)

Questions whether role loss significantly influences volunteering, based on data from a sample of 4,339 older adults. Findings suggested that other social characteristics such as socioeconomic status and gender have a greater influence on volunteer patterns. (JAC)

A familism scale was seen to contain two potential weaknesses. These two weaknesses have been remedied by cross-validation procedures and a test-retest rewording procedure. New results tend to support the scale's validity. (Author)

In an exploratory study, the family photographic record was expected to reflect more role learning behavior for the parents during their first transition to parenthood than during subsequent accession transitions. The possible value of the photos to families may be that they promote the transition to parenthood through role-playing and/or via…