One of the problematic features of the "skills discourse" is the view that skills are decontextualized bits of knowledge and disposition. Instead, how skills such as communication are defined and used are shaped by cultural, political, and situational factors. In this article, we integrate theory from communication studies, critical…

Tests a model of question answering called WHEN, which explains the answer descriptions that are generated when college students answer "when" questions. Finds that the answers given systematically varied as a function of temporal interval in a fashion that supported most of the production rules of the WHEN model. (RS)

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…

A study revisited the question of the causes of interpersonal equivocation, arguing that, although the previous research of Bavelas and associates has shown conclusively that interpersonal communicators in avoidance-avoidance binds equivocate to avoid the bind's dilemma, researchers have largely ignored other conceivable antecedents of…

Compared two theories of logical processing: the Atmosphere Effect and the Logical Ambiguity Hypothesis. Found that the Atmosphere Effect was significantly more successful in predicting the most likely response to premise pairs. Concludes that the Atmosphere Effect remains the best empirical theory of how people respond to deductive reasoning…

Focuses on gendered modes of collaboration in a chemical engineering design course. Identifies three modes of collaboration (dialogic, asymmetrical, and hierarchical) and suggests that the first two are liberating, whereas the third is oppressive. Illustrates these modes by describing the collaborative interaction of two groups of students. (SR)

Two studies examined the effectiveness of a model designed as an instructional aid in teaching college students how to respond to potentially discriminatory employment interview questions. Subjects in the first study, 91 students enrolled in communication classes in a mid-size Wisconsin university who were told that they would be asked to respond…

Builds on previous research with this detailed analysis of multiple decision sequences in two sets of groups: students performing a ranking task and physicians performing a program planning task. Finds support for the Multiple Sequence Descriptive System and isolates types of conflict and idea development patterns. (PD)

Experiment dealt with selecting political candidates. Results provide some limited support for the hypothesized importance of matching information presentation formats to decision-making strategies. However, the most effective pattern of matching turned out to be in the opposite direction of the prediction. Discusses methodological issues. (PD)

Extends previous modality and source cue studies by manipulating argument quality. Randomly assigned college students by class to an argument quality by source attribute by modality factorial experiment. Finds the print mode produces only argument main effects, and audio and video modes produce argument by cue interactions. Finds data inconsistent…

Developmental studies have primarily focused on what takes place within the confines of a given interpersonal system (first order development). What has been neglected is second order development, the interpersonal communication that alters the system itself. From this particular developmental perspective, a model can be used that illustrates and…

A study tested several different cognitive models of the way people use supporting arguments to arrive at belief in a claim. The models tested were (1) the model based on the assumption that human information processing is essentially logical; (2) R. S. Wyer's model; (3) the message-plus-context model; and (4) the weighted average model. One…

A study was conducted as part of a program to develop and test an individual level communications model. The model proposes that audience members bring to communications situations a set of learned cognitive processing strategies that produce cognitive structural representations of information in memory to facilitate the meeting of the various…

Results of the testing of Hample's cognitive model of argument suggest that the model's validity is greater than previously indicated. (PD)

Outlines the nature of the Toulmin approach, reviews relevant research, and reports on two experiments that tested whether developing a persuasive argument by adding combinations of Toulmin's elements produced significant effects on attitude change. (PD)