A study examined the relationship between communication apprehension (CA) and student achievement among elementary and middle school students. It was hypothesized that students high in CA would demonstrate lower academic achievement than students moderate in CA who, in turn, would demonstrate lower levels of achievement than students low in CA.…

Compares self-reports of speech preparation activities by high and low public speaking apprehensive individuals. Finds that high communication apprehensives spent more time on non-communication-oriented activities and more time preparing their speeches but received lower grades than low apprehensives, while low communication apprehensives spent…

Examines levels of trait communication apprehension (CA) among students enrolled in college-level office administration (secretarial) programs. Posits that the CA level of these students would be higher than norms reported for other college students. Finds that office administration students are more anxious about communicating than are college…

Compares the effectiveness of systematic desensitization (SD), rational emotive therapy (RET), and visualization (VIS) in reducing communication apprehension (CA). Concludes that, while all treatment modes reduce CA, no significant differences were found in their effectiveness. Emphasizes that VIS is a relatively simple technique that can be used…

Tested public speaking anxiety of university students at the beginning and end of the semester. Treated one group with skills training, visualization, and Communication-Orientation therapy; another received skills training and visualization; another received only skills training; fourth group served as control. Found that the 2 groups receiving…

Noting that children of alcoholic parents come from home settings similar to those identified as potential sources of communication apprehension, a study compared communication apprehension scores of adult children of alcoholics (ACoA) with those of non-ACoAs. Subjects, 85 men and 109 women, were drawn from a local church, undergraduate and…

Tests three rival measurement models of a common measure of trait communication apprehension, the Personal Report of Communication Apprehension (PRCA-24). Finds that the second-order factor model better fits the data in terms of conceptual implications, psychometric properties, and empirical evidence than the linear, unidimensional model or the…

A study compared adult learners and traditional undergraduate students in terms of three communication traits that may affect the quality and quantity of communication in the classroom. The study investigated whether adult learners differed significantly from traditional undergraduate students in terms of communication apprehension, willingness to…

Defining communication reticence as anxiousness due to a lack of basic communication skills, a study was conducted to determine (1) whether significant differences exist in the distribution of sex roles between reticent and nonreticent populations, (2) whether reticents and nonreticents differ in masculinity and femininity, and (3) which qualities…

Perceptions of interpersonal communication skills of participants in the Women in Community Service (WICS) program, an initiative of Tennessee JOBS, were assessed to examine the relationship between WICS skill blocks training and improvement in communication competence and communicator style flexibility while decreasing communication apprehension.…

Although previous research has explored the differences between Personal Report of Communication Apprehension (PRCA) scores and Receiver Apprehension Test (RAT) scores, no studies have focused on the relationship between PRCA scores, RAT scores, and Telephone Apprehension Inventory (TAI) scores for the United States and Australia. A study…

A special section of a public speaking class at the Universtiy of Tennessee was developed in the spring of 1977 for speech anxious students. The course was designed to incorporate the basic spirit of the regular classes and to provide special training in techniques for reducing nervousness about speaking and in methods for coping with the…

In the first two years (1982-84) of a projected 5-year longitudinal study of communication apprehension and academic achievement, data were collected for 1,884 incoming college freshmen at West Virginia University. The Personal Report of Communication Apprehension was administered to the subjects during freshmen orientation. For each semester…

Two hypotheses were posed in a study that examined the communicative consequences of structured versus nonstructured tasks on subjects with varying levels of communication apprehension (CA): (1) task structure and level of CA will interact to predict behavioral disruption in dyads, and (2) CA and evaluation will interact to predict behavioral…

Results indicate that (1) Puerto Rican college students are much less apprehensive about communication in their native language than are U.S. students; and (2) apprehension in a first language is a much better predictor of apprehension in a second language than is self-perceived competence in that second language. (PD)