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…

A study compared the newly developed Interpersonal Complexity Sort (ICS) with the widely used measure of cognitive differentiation, the Role Category Questionnaire (RCQ). Both measures were tested for relationships between the two measures and between each measure and previous associated impression structure dependent measures. Using a trait…

A study measured student agreement or disagreement with statements related to G. Hofstede's dimensions of culture and compares those responses with various cultural characteristics of the respondents. A 40-item Likert-type questionnaire was administered to 535 university students (301 females, 234 males) enrolled in business and communication…

A study examined system design factors and communication norms which combined to affect perceptions of televised instruction. Subjects, 206 proximate and 73 distant students enrolled in communication courses, received the same instruction in two modes (face-to-face and at a distance) and their perceptions were compared. The four instructors were…

To examine the importance of being literate in the technology of telecommunication, the attitudes of three populations were studied: college students, academics, and industry professionals. Altogether 266 names and addresses were compiled. Using a quota strategy, industry professionals were drawn from several segments of the telecommunication…

A survey was conducted of students participating in the 1982 Cross Examination Debate Association (CEDA) tournament to uncover the reasons why they were competing in CEDA, whether they had ever participated in the National Debate Tournament (NDT), and which style of debate they preferred. Of the 133 respondents, 83 males and 50 females, 42%…

This study did not support the following hypothesis: more sexually-oriented jokes will reflect a sexist bias against women than against men. Instead, the findings indicate that joke-tellers of both sexes were more likely to select sexual jokes that discriminated against males. (PD)

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…

Focuses on correlations of New Zealand college students' scores on the Talkaholic Scale, finding that compulsive communication was associated with decreased communication apprehension, and increased argumentativeness and self-monitoring. Notes that the results are similar to the findings reported in the United States, lending further support for…

The originator of the communication apprehension (CA) construct has consistently maintained that communication apprehensive people should not be expected to exhibit anxious behaviors. On the other hand, inept and incompetent communicative actions constitute the reticence syndrome, clearly a construct defined through behaviors. Noting that it is…

An exploratory study focused on United States and Japanese college students' perceptions of their communication apprehension, willingness to communicate, and sense of humor in various communication situations. Subjects, 110 students selected from several scientific and technical communication classes at the University of Minnesota and 108 students…

A study of the relationship between irrational beliefs and communication apprehension (CA) sought to determine (1) if CA is related to a person's irrational beliefs as defined in research by Ellis; (2) to which, if any, of the CA contexts (group, meeting, dyadic, or public speaking) the irrational beliefs are most related; and (3) whether the…

A study examined the impact of high school sophomore students' mastery of public speaking skills through sociodrama. Student attitudes toward role-play was also surveyed to provide more background information on sociodrama's impact upon student learning. A class of 26 students in southern Cook County, Illinois, prepared role-play characterizations…

A study was conducted to examine pronominal usage by college students, with particular reference to the use of the generic "he." Subjects, 25 students in a nonverbal communication class and 30 students in an organizational communication course, completed essays describing the behaviors of a high status individual in response to a question worded…