The purpose of the author's contribution to this colloquy was to spark conversation on the theoretical nature of communication processes and the evidentiary requirements for testing their relationship to group outcomes. Co-discussants have raised important issues concerning the philosophical basis of the socioegocentric model (SM) and dual-level…

This study observed the communication behavior within ad hoc and established groups and compared the two types of groups on several indexes of interaction patterns. Ad hoc groups were individuals who had no in-group activity with each other prior to the experiment. Established groups were individuals who had nine 50-minute sessions of ingroup…

Speech communicators need to return to applied research, developing theoretical statements about how groups might work better and testing the validity of those statements. Among the tasks that group communication researchers might take up are determining the range of applicability of generalizations concerning different kinds of groups, studying…

Fifty volunteer undergraduate students majoring in speech pathology and audiology at the University of North Dakota tested the following hypotheses: (1) leaders exhibit significantly more nonverbal cues than do nonleaders in task-oriented and informal small groups; (2) members of task-oriented small groups exhibit significantly more nonverbal cues…

Article analyses the nature of artificial barriers which a technological society sets up between people by emphasizing product rather than product-as-a-part-of-process. Author looks at encounter groups attempts to break down these barriers. (HB)

This investigation sought to learn what communication behavior, if any, differentiated high- from low-Machiavellians. Two independent variables were examined, Machiavellianism (high and low) and experimental condition (naive and confederate). Dependent variables included the 12 categories of Bales' Interaction Process Analysis. The results suggest…

An example of how the quality of research on small groups could be enhanced is to develop a framework of scholarship around a series of hierarchical guiding questions concerning the functions of communication in the small group, the characteristics of the behavior and of the producers of that behavior that determine the extent to which particular…

A conceptual approach toward more effective small group functioning is undertaken in this paper to provide a basis from which empirically relevant hypotheses can be drawn and tested. This analysis views actualizing individuals as possessing the unique ability to perceive and utilize the types of behaviors which are conducive to personalizing group…

To study the effect of democratic and autocratic leadership styles upon the commitment and productivity of voluntary adult groups, eight tenant councils, composed of approximately six persons each, were selected to serve as experimental groups. Trained researchers acting as discussion leaders for each council functioned as either democratic or…

Examines the relationship between patterns of communication (in groups) and group outcomes. Specifically, it attempts to reveal contrasts in the structure of communication between groups whose consensual outcomes are dissimilar. (Author/HMV)

Provides an insight into the group process of therapy and compares and contrasts the T-group process with therapy group process. The here-and-now orientation was present in T-group and therapy-group interaction. Greater relational conflict was present in the T-group. Members of the therapy group were much more defensive than members of the…

The focus of this work is the introduction and description of a quasi-new concept called socio-communication. In chapter 1 the term "socio communication" is defined as "human interaction, among and between different classes of people, by means of verbal and nonverbal expression in day-to-day social situations." In chapter 2 social communication…

An instrument was developed and tested which would measure intermediate interaction behavior in small-group communication. The study was designed to uncover the several dimensions of such behavior and produce a reliable, valid measure for each dimension that would yield data amenable to parametric statistical analysis. Analysis of two experiments…

The purpose of this study was to generate descriptive statistical estimates regarding the expected proportion of occurrence of each of the PROANA 5 (Process Analysis) variables (line usage, clique group, detrimental clique group, leadership, and dominance) in small group communication. A second purpose was to determine the expected pattern of…

Urges that students be given an opportunity to study the language of group negotiation. (DD)