Understanding how relationships between instructors and students develop is important for understanding the undergraduate student experience. We expect the development of positive relationships is related to the social practices (e.g., greetings, using names, sympathizing, or empathizing with students) that instructors use in the course of normal…

The authors review several case studies of children engaged in rule-governed play and conclude that the process of learning rules--and of breaking them and making new ones--promotes what they call gamesmanship. They link the development of gamesmanship to the theory of Machiavellian intelligence, which considers social interaction primary in the…

It has been a well-accepted axiom that the behavior of an individual is related closely to his perception. This research with children demonstrates the value of objective assessment of an individual's perception of social interactions in order to be able to predict more precisely some aspects of his interpersonal behavior. (Author)

In this study of early peer interaction, 32 first born infants (16 boys, 16 girls) were videotaped in pairs at 6, 9 and 12 months. Each 15 minute session consisted of Toys Present (TP) and Toys Absent(TA) conditions counterbalanced across dyads. Three questions were addressed: (1) Are infants as young as 6 months capable of interacting with a…

Findings of two field studies of lower and middle class black and white school children contradict the contention that cross subcultural groups display proxemic behavior. (Author/KM)

Some research has found that observers believe overt mimicry is socially unacceptable and embarrassing in the presence of a stranger. It was hypothesized that observers would inhibit their mimicry of learned pairs of gestures in the presence of a stranger, and that their learning would be adversely affected unless they compensated for the…

Present research explored whether crowding effects are caused by subjects or by those with whom they are crowded. In one experiment, 45 male, female, or mixed-sex pairs of subjects discussed a legal case, each pair seated first five feet apart and then almost touching. All subjects reacted more negatively when crowded with males than with females.…

This paper reports data from two studies on the behavioral assessment of social competence in college males which look at how well the male initiates interaction with a female in a "boy meets girl" situation. The goal is to determine the types of social behavior which will differentiate between a group of anxious, non-dating, or low…

To obtain a comprehensive understanding of the nature of deception and how it functions in interpersonal relationships, this paper explores deception as a valid and essential part of human interaction processes. The paper includes an in-depth review of social science literature on deception, specifically, R. E. Turner, C. Edgley, and G. Olmstead's…

The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of group size on toddlers' peer interactions and social interactions with mothers. In particular, the study sought to answer the following questions: (1) When both mothers and peers are available to the child, with whom does he/she prefer to play? and (2) Are there differences in the types of…

Compared 75 adolescents' experience in daily interactions with family and friends, using self-reports. When with their friends, these adolescents reported a situation more conducive to enjoyment. However, those adolescents who spent more time with friends than with family showed poorer school performance and wider mood variability. (JAC)

People in interaction with others organize their perceptions of a social situation in terms of plans even when the others' plans are poorly formulated. They use their models of others' plans in formulating their own. Much of what occurs in discourse centers on a continual communication about and reformulation of one's own plans and one's own…

This paper discusses the conceptualization of interpersonal power and offers a relational definition and measure of power. A distinction is made between "power attempts" (domineering message behavior) and "power" (transactional patterns of dominance). To test this distinction, 45 husband/wife dyads were randomly sampled from a…

Attempts to determine the degree to which communication may be viewed as structured sequences of behavior. Includes an analysis of discussion groups, teacher classroom behavior, speech therapy sessions and police-civilian telephone calls. See CS 703 503 for availability information. (MH)

Generational differences in the balance of power contribute to varying patterns of influence strategy use within cohorts of young, middle-aged, and older adults. The self-report Likelihood of Influence Tactic Use Scale was administered to 10 males and 10 females in each of three cohort groups to investigate the influence tactics used at different…