Online discussions tend to be more effective when they are purposefully structured. In this article, we describe how the design of a photo-based protocol influenced community interactions within an online discussion in an undergraduate course. Students were asked to take and share a photo related to a course concept, respond to a peer's photo, and…

Although most people acknowledge the importance of interactions in class, it is commonly seen some students still rarely actively participate in face-to-face interactions, especially those from a Confucian cultural background. Previous research focused on many factors to understand this phenomenon, yet social anxiousness has not been given enough…

Children prefer learning from, and affiliating with, their racial in-group but those preferences may vary for biracial children. Monoracial (White, Black, Asian) and biracial (Black/White, Asian/White) children (N = 246, 3-8 years) had their racial identity primed. In a learning preferences task, participants determined the function of a novel…

The exchange of self-disclosures was studied in a experimental setting and was found to function in a manner consistent with social exchange theory in both male and female groups of strangers. A positive relationship was found to exist between self disclosure and liking patterns. (Author)

An in-depth interview format was used to explore gender and age differences in friendship patterns. Groups described friendship in superficially similar ways. However, in the taped interviews, large gender differences appeared that followed conceptually along instrumental/expressive dimensions. Age differences also appeared. (Author/ABB)

Questionnaires were administered to a sample of adults to assess the extent of social distance between people of different ages. The findings suggest that the greater the age difference (younger or older) between people, the greater the social distance they feel. (Author)

Two experiments are reported: one in which presentation of external information about a stranger evoked significantly higher attraction ratings than available psychological information; and a second where similarity of Subject and Other on external characteristics had greater effects upon attraction scores than did similarity of psychological…

The behavior of 304 mentally disabled adults was observed in five settings (one residence, four sheltered workshops) during periods when they were free to affiliate with peers. In total, the findings indicated that the variables most predictive of affiliation in the present community settings were also the ones most amenable to personal or…

In the third in a series on the social behavior of mentally disabled clients in community facilities, social choice for various cognitive and physical characteristics and for exposure to others was investigated in five settings. (Author/SBH)

Group play increased and solitary play decreased during the nine-month period children were studied, while parallel play did not vary much in overall occurrence. (CM)

Examines some of the conditions associated with dissolution of the friendship tie. Subjects were 232 boys and girls between the ages of eight and 15 at a summer camp. The hypothesis that reduction in social interaction would be associated with increased probability of dissolution was not conclusively supported. (Author/HMV)

It was predicted that the amount of satisfaction following an interpersonal exchange will be higher when the resource given is similar to the one reciprocated and lower when they are dissimilar. Interpersonal exchange situations were experimentally created in which two independent variables were manipulated. (Author)

Describes a method for determining the effects of sex (or any other dichotomous characteristic) from the individual correlated behavioral responses observed in dyadic interactional situations. (Author/MP)

This observational study of the social interactions of 16 children with autism or Down syndrome in their homes found that differences in the frequencies and complexities of children's behaviors depended on behavioral intent in both groups. Socially intended behaviors were less frequent, less self-initiated, and less complex in children with…