Background: Historically, significant advances in scientific understanding have followed advances in measurement and observation. As the resolving power of an instrument increased, so have gains in the understanding of the phenomena being observed. Modern interactive systems are potentially the new "microscopes" when they are…

Instructional activities based on online discussion strategies have gained prevalence in recent years. Within this context, a crucial research topic is to design innovative and appropriate online discussion strategies that assist learners in attaining a deeper level of interaction and higher cognitive skills. By analyzing the process of online…

Student motivation is an important factor for the successful completion of an e-learning course. Detecting motivational problems for particular students at an early stage of a course opens the door for instructors to be able to provide additional motivating activities for these students. This paper analyzes how the behavior patterns in the…

College students (N=18) participating in personal growth groups completed questionnaires about consistency, consensus, and distinctivenesses of feedback received from the group. Findings argue that consensus is an important variable in determining whether feedback is accepted and in channeling attributions of reasons for why particular feedback is…

Three studies investigated the purposes of teasing and the reaction to it. The first study asked 26 college students to describe one instance when they were teased and one when they teased someone else. In addition, they were asked to explain why the teasing had occurred and why they categorized it as teasing. The second study, involving 24…

Uses an analysis of children's interpretations of a complex episode of social interaction to illustrate three features that distinguish them from robot plans and that form a basis for a theory of the development of social action: human plans (1) are social, (2) operate on interpretations, and (3) are used, not just executed. (FL)

Examined whether couples could accurately report on asymmetrical interaction patterns and whether particular patterns were associated with relationship distress. Undergraduate couples (N=55) completed a questionnaire describing interaction patterns. Agreement on pattern occurrence between couples was low but significantly greater than chance.…

Defines uni-comm as mediated interpersonal behavior which transmits an individual's values to others through the use of nonelectronic media. Specific types of uni-comm such as clothing, hair styles, bumper stickers, graffiti, buttons and decals are discussed. (MH)

Reports on a study designed to investigate the variables of greeting behavior. (MH)

A study investigated whether the interaction patterns of high consensus groups differed significantly from the patterns of low consensus groups in the final stage of a decision-making task. Eighty-four college students placed into 19 groups were told to select a social problem, investigate it, and develop a solution. At the end of the three-week…

The present study investigated how type of interaction between groups affects intergroup hostility and how this intergroup hostility may be reduced. In the first phase of the study groups were led to believe that they were either competing, cooperating, or having no interaction with a second group. The results indicated that competition led to the…

The study investigated the nature of appropriate and inappropriate interaction behaviors between 91 college professors (74 with experience teaching disabled students) and 38 physically disabled students. Among findings was that professors who had taught disabled students were more comfortable with such students and interested in teaching them in…

Deals with the nature of communication apprehension and self-report instruments designed to measure it. (MH)

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…

Suggests conditions or "cues" that provoke the process of second- guessing, and describes an experimental study confirming that interactants do second-guess when confronted with those cues. (MS)