The use and effects of a CSCL-tool are not always predictable from the properties of the tool alone, but depend on how that tool is appropriated. This paper presents the findings from a case study about the appropriation of a graphical shared workspace. When students are presented with a new tool they may encounter competing constraints and…

Metaphorical analysis of small group interactions enables researchers and practitioners to isolate, identify, and intervene with the current social reality of the group. This heuristic study offers one view of the specific meaning structures which account for the development of group cohesiveness. (BL)

Investigates the nature of small-group social interactions in the mediation of children's science learning. Reports that the teacher mediated the children's small-group science learning through discourse that negotiated children's status, actions, and meaning, as well as through discourse that established the normative structure of the small…

Outlines some of the advantages in using a group approach for the treatment of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD). Reviews the published literature on group behavioral treatment for OCD and discusses the unique therapeutic factors associated with group treatment that provide a rationale for developing a group approach for this disorder. (RJM)

Three studies investigated the determination of social discrimination by the valence of stimuli that are allocated between groups. The studies were based on either the minimal group paradigm or a more reality-based laboratory intergroup setting, with stimulus valence, group status, and group size as factors and with pull scores on Tajfel matrices…

Social identity theory holds that social group memberships become part of the psychological self, affecting thoughts, feelings, and behavior. However, tests of this hypothesis have mainly involved judgmental dependent measures. A method is suggested that can provide more direct evidence. Discusses use of that method. (KW)

A study assessed the validity of applying the Spitzberg and Cupach dyadic model of communication competence to small group interaction. Twenty-four students, in five task-oriented work groups, completed questionnaires concerning self-competence, alter competence, interaction effectiveness, and other group members' interaction appropriateness. They…

This collection of abstracts is part of a continuing series providing information on recent doctoral dissertations. The 24 titles deal with a variety of topics, including the following: (1) the relationship between changing sex-role attitudes and behaviors and changing decision-making patterns among married couples; (2) a comparison of the effect…