Argues that studies focusing on the functions of movements would increase understanding of social movements. (PD)

Employs Kenneth Burke's sociological criticism to study the discourse of the 1984 nominating conventions. Finds that the parties organized narratives that followed distinct assessments of political reality as the Democrats told a story following a "fear and fairness" theme, while the Republicans relied on a "prosperity and…

Investigates the private criteria people use in judging whether or not to make particular arguments. Determines the relationship between self-monitoring and the use of editing criteria. Finds that person-centered issues and discourse competence rules are extremely important, and that the self-monitoring scale has serious psychometric problems. (MS)

This keynote address to the 1984 Central States Speech Association Convention uses the convention theme--the interesting question--to define communication research, review recent scholarly developments, and exhort scholars to integrate their fields of study. (PD)

Sees rhetoric or "languaging strategies" as central to the perception that a social movement exists. (PD)

Disagrees that "dialectical enjoinment" and "collective behavior" are necessary characteristics of a rhetorical study of social movements. Prefers a focus on individual perceptions or consciousness of movement. (PD)

Contends that only after a significant amount of historical research has been conducted will it be possible to develop a theory of social movements. (PD)

Examines the extent to which subjects discriminate among their equal, unequal, and best friendships on the basis of values exchanged--stimulation, ego support, and utility--and perceived attraction of the other--physical, task, and intimate. Discusses implications of the results for communication research. (NKA)

Investigates whether children attempt to persuade an interactant or initiate compromise when their interests conflict. Concludes that older children are more likely to spontaneously initiate compromise than are younger ones. (RS)

Argues that Lincoln modeled certain major speeches on a chiasmus, and that this stylistic device governs the integration of form and function in Lincoln's presidential rhetoric. Argues that the chiasmus reveals that Lincoln saw himself as called by God to fulfill a special messianic mission. (MS)

Examines the 1982 film "The Year of Living Dangerously" to illustrate how an explicit argument may be implicitly enacted in a rhetorical artifact through a rhetor's rhetorical choices. (MM)

Tests two hypotheses: (1) that cued recall elicits significantly more conversational information than free recall; and (2) that conversational interactants recall more of their partner's utterances than their own. Finds cued recall produced significantly higher amounts of remembering than free recall. (MS)

Argues that it was the failure of the decision-making process, rather than the mode of risk assessment, which led to the decision to launch the Space Shuttle Challenger. Identifies the phrasing of the decision question and a shift in the burden of proof as specific problems of the process. (MS)

Investigates differences between networks, based on importance, response satisfaction, and frequency within the same functional communication network. Finds few differences in networks generated by these different methods for determining strengths of linkages, and a number of difficulties associated with current methodologies for examining more…

Reviews research concerning the role played by variations in the timing of communicator identification as one aspect of the effect that communicator credibility has on persuasive communication. Claims that variations in the timing of the identification of the source of a persuasive communication can produce substantial differences in persuasive…