The cognitive and performance benefits of group work in undergraduate courses depend on understanding how to structure groups to promote communication and comfort while also promoting diversity and reducing conflict. The current study utilized social network analysis combined with self-reported survey data from 555 students in 155 groups to…

This paper introduces the concept 'mutual experiences' to highlight how a researcher's sensory experiences may contribute to producing knowledge concerning children's bodily play in a natural environment. The article also demonstrates how photo-interviews can give a researcher virtual access to places and events where s/he cannot be present. The…

Neighborhood and parenting influences on early behavioral outcomes are strongly dependent upon a child's stage of development. However, little research has jointly considered the longitudinal associations of neighborhood and parenting processes with behavior problems in early childhood. To address this limitation, this study explores the…

This study investigated the effect of brainstorming experience on the ability of groups to subsequently select the best ideas for implementation. Participants generated ideas either alone or in interactive groups and with either the regular brainstorming rules or with additional rules designed to further increase the number of ideas generated. All…

This prospective study investigated the impact of group composition on the outcome of 2 forms of time-limited, short-term group therapy (interpretive, supportive) with 110 outpatients from 18 therapy groups, who presented with complicated grief. The composition variable was based on the patient's level of quality of object relations. The higher…

This brief article contains classified listings, without annotations, arranged according to: the consumer; groups and their procedures; and general information on group work. (CJ)

In an effort to determine the effectiveness of group counseling with student nurses, 76 students enrolled in their first professional nursing course were randomly placed either in a counseling group or in a control group. As hypothesized, those students participating in the group counseling sessions received significantly higher grades in the…

To date most models of empowerment have focused on teachers' personal empowerment, which is defined as intrinsic task motivation reflecting an employee's orientation to his or her work role. Interestingly, little scholarly attention has been turned to the interaction of empowerment and work-team membership, that is, to empowerment acquired from…

The term "risky shift" is used to describe the tendency of groups to make a collective decision that is less conservative than the members might make as individuals. Previous research on this subject has been based on three analytical categories: demographic makeup of groups, group familiarity with the task and information, or individual…

A field investigation of 32 groups of communally reared children utilizing 10 categories of group behavior reported group behavior forms and child socialization in groups of toddlers and preschoolers 18 months to 42 months of age. The groups were equally divided (16 each) among "total" and "day care" types and were age-homogeneous. Group forms…

The author reviews the research conducted on dyadic interaction and its role in the development of creative thinking and problem solving. Earlier research has shown that children at a certain stage prefer to work alone rather than with other children. However, empirical data have shown on the whole that dyadic interactions result in better…

A course designed to enhance the growth of students was recently introduced in the occupational therapy curriculum of the University of Washington. (CB)

Graphic family therapy based on changing family dysfunctioning through self-discovery is described. The stages of this design are discussed and specific graphic excercises for eight categories of family dysfunction are described. Two illustrative cases are presented. Conclusions regarding results, future research, training and other clinical…

The author presents a short history of the Marriage Encounter movement. He discusses the underlying theory of the movement which involves a faith in God and developing dialogue between the husband and wife. Weekend encounter sessions are also described. (EJT)