Supports the "functional" view that it is the satisfaction of critical task requirements (or conditions), rather than the discussion procedures that are employed to do so, that actually determines whether a group will arrive at a low- or high-quality decision. (PD)

Examines explanations for college students' risky sexual behavior (placing them at higher than average risk for HIV infection). Tests a model of factors influencing college students' sexual behavior. Finds that sexual motives driven by concern for health have only an indirect effect on condom use and that interpersonal influence from sexual…

Supports the hypothesis that initial interaction has a greater positive influence on attraction to dissimilar strangers, than to similar strangers. Does not support the hypotheses that initial interaction has a positive influence regardless of attitude similarity or that attitude similarity is more attractive than dissimilarity regardless of level…

Findings suggest that (1) the effects of rehearsal on deceptive success vary depending upon certain characteristics of the communicator/deceiver and (2) a relationship exists between certain behavior correlates of deceptive communication and observer accuracy in detecting deception. (PD)

This study examined the context within which subjects (students) selected one of the following failure management strategies: silence, concession, excuse, justification, and refusal. Contextual variables included: relationship with the reproacher, the students' communicative goal orientation, moral severity of the failure, character of the…

Demonstrated that subjects receiving positive feedback from a highly expert source exhibited greater levels of intrinsic motivation than did receivers in any other condition. Discusses implications for organizational communication research and training. (PD)

A disqualification is a message that says something "without really saying it"--one that is evasive, indirect, or effectively ambiguous in some other way. This article describes the rationale for, and development of, an objective method for measuring the degree of disqualification in brief written messages. (PD)

Investigated cue leakage during deception. Demonstrated that during a prepared lie (one that is rehearsed or mentally prepared), liars exhibited shorter response latencies and message durations, less smiling, more affirmative nodding and body adaptors than truth tellers did. During a spontaneous lie, liars exhibited more body adapters than truth…

Documents the multiple goals and implications of advice among white, middle-class, college students. Identifies three dilemmas of seeking, receiving, and giving advice: (1) advice may be seen as helpful or as "butting-in"; (2) advice may be experienced as honest or supportive; and (3) seeking and taking advice may enact respect and…

Describes two studies that investigated patterns of nonverbal cues. States that in the first study, a game was played and it was found that satisfied couples were more likely to reciprocate their partners' positive affect. Explains that in the second study, couples discussed upcoming plans. Argues that reciprocity should be predicted in intimate…

Strongly confirmed the hypothesis that groups employing an interacting decision procedure would produce better decisions than groups employing procedures that are either nominal (Delphi) or "staticized" (individual judgments statistically pooled). Provides clear and consistent support for the value of social interaction in small group…

Investigated cognitive assembly processes underlying speech production. Reported results of two experiments demonstrating that when students used an organizing device (an abstract problem-solution sequence) in preparing, practicing, and delivering speeches, they exhibited less silent pausing. (PD)

Explored how much people remember from their conversations. Found that even after only five minutes subjects were able to recollect only about 10 percent of what was said. Also found that recall was affected by the mode of recall (written vs. oral) and the presence and type of memory goals. (PD)

Tested, in five hypothetical paper-and-pencil experiments, subjects' use of disqualification (ambiguous, indirect, or evasive massages). Concluded that a disqualification is not a failed communication, but rather a reasonable response to an impossible situation, one that permits the communicator to leave the field gracefully. (PD)

Findings indicate that lapses in conversation occur when one of the participants uses responses which fail to advance the topic. Analysis of the postlapse data indicates that subsequent to a lapse, the most probable strategy is for one of the participants to pose a question which the partner is obligated to answer. (PD)