How do children learn to communicate, and what do they learn? Traditionally, most theories have taken an associative, compositional approach to these questions, supposing children acquire an inventory of form-meaning associations, and procedures for composing / decomposing them; into / from messages in production and comprehension. This paper…

This study (N = 143) examined the effects of freedom threat on cognitive structures, using recycling as its topic. The results of a 2(Freedom Threat: low vs. high) x 2(Postscript: restoration vs. filler) plus 1(Control) experiment indicated that, relative to the control condition, high freedom threat created a boomerang effect for the targeted…

This article traces the development of the theory and practice of what is known as "community of inquiry" as an ideal of classroom praxis. The concept has ancient and uncertain origins, but was seized upon as a form of pedagogy by the originators of the Philosophy for Children program in the 1970s. Its location at the intersection of the…

Theory-building in any field of inquiry is essential and utilitarian. This paper argues two points: that a concern for theory could redirect some of our typical approaches to rhetorical criticism; and that generic criticism must, by its nature, fully respond to this call for theory-building. Four important areas of rhetorical criticism are…

Discusses J. L. Austin's treatment of perlocution and extends it to an analysis of five types of perlocution. Proposes a set of conditions necessary and sufficient for consummation of any perlocutionary act. (JMF)

An act of rhetoric has attitudinal significance; that is, a part of rhetoric involves persuasion. Further, attitudinal frames of reference relate to and result from the retrieval of stored information (memory, etc.) and the generation of arguments. By studying the relative strength that subjects use in arguing an "issue-concept," the…

Applies prevailing conceptions of proper argument to Burke's advocacy of the comic frame. Concludes these common conceptions cannot explain the power of Burke's arguments. Examines Richard Rorty's "edifying discourse" and Burke's "perspective by incongruity" as they illuminate the purpose of Burke's argumentation method. (NH)

Responds to a paper by Brant Burleson and continues the dispute regarding whether argument-as-product or argument-as-interaction should be regarded as the paradigm case or exemplar of argument. Defends the primacy of the interactional view by reference to the shortcomings of the serial predicative view. (JMF)

Focuses on the function of metaphor in argument. Compares the positions of Kenneth Burke and Paul Ricoeur on the function and evaluation of argument, concluding that Ricoeur's position supplements Burke's view of tropological argument. (NH)

The use of computer simulation to aid instruction in speech-communication will be investigated. A computer program called ARISTOTLE will be employed in the teaching of concepts of audience analysis to students enrolled in an advanced communication theory course. The program works as follows. The user first encodes a set of issues associated with a…

This research sought to determine the persuasive impact of Toulmin's categories of message development. Specific hypotheses were formulated after a review of the literature related to "backing for the warrant" (evidence), "rebuttal" (two-sided messages), and "qualifier" (message-receiver discrepancy). Results from a…

Paper Read at the Fourth Biennale on French held in Paris, France, on September 24, 1971. (DS)

A message-centered dramatistic theory of communication was used in conjunction with Q-sort technique and factor analysis to build and test a message-centered foreign-policy inventory that contained three dramatic interpretations of U.S. involvement in foreign affairs: cold war, power politics, and neo-isolationism. Analysis of results from two…

The purpose of this study was to measure possible differences in comprehension, retention, and attitude change resulting from presentation of three versions of an oral persuasive message which varied in organizational structure to subjects differing in organizational ability as determined by the Goyer Organization of Ideas Test and an intelligence…

A general framework for viewing the relationship between attribution processes and perceived source credibility is proposed. Based upon this framework, an experimental study was conducted examining perceived source credibility as a function of causal attributions in messages. Three independent variables were incorporated into a 2x2x2 factorial…