When subjects learned paired associates that, on the study trials, consisted of a stimulus (cue) and its correct (target) response plus two other (distractor) responses from within the list, the presence of the distractor items interfered with learning, especially when overtly pronounced as opposed to silently studied. (Editor)

Seven situations are suggested for role playing exercises, with facial and physical movement emphasized as well as oral skill development. Possibilities for improvisation, props, variations, and linguistic objectives are outlined for each situation. (MSE)

Tested, in five hypothetical paper-and-pencil experiments, subjects' use of disqualification (ambiguous, indirect, or evasive massages). Concluded that a disqualification is not a failed communication, but rather a reasonable response to an impossible situation, one that permits the communicator to leave the field gracefully. (PD)

Reports on a study testing the assumption that communication apprehension is a stable trait not influenced by situational factors. Results indicate that communication apprehension scores are determined by situation, in this case anticipated speech performance, raising questions concerning the use of state-trait distinction in speech anxiety…

This experiment demonstrated that people can utilize relative situational frequency of occurrence to differentiate similary categorizable target items in paired-associate learning. (Editor)

The effects of another person's gaze on physiological arousal were investigated by measuring skin conductance responses (SCR). Twelve able children with autism and 12 control children were shown face stimuli with straight gaze (eye contact) or averted gaze on a computer monitor. In children with autism, the responses to straight gaze were stronger…

In two experiments employing female and male subjects, respectively, social reactions to "success" were manipulated in an attempt to assess the validity of Horner's Fear-of-Success (FOS) concept as a motivational construct. The use of a single-criterion, dichotomous scoring procedure on a fantasy-based measure of the construct produced…

To determine to what extent listeners respond to the vocal content of "how" of spoken messages, this study investigated the effects that the two vocal variables or rate (speed) and intensity (loudness) had on the responses made by 445 English-speaking high school students to messages spoken in an unfamiliar tongue. The basic messages were recorded…

The present experiment provided a test of Fiedler's (1967) Contingency Model of Leadership Effectiveness, i.e., the relationship of leader style to group effectiveness is mediated by situational demands. Thirty-two 4 man task groups composed of military academy cadets were run in the experiment. In accordance with the Contingency Model, leaders…

Test anxiety is of particular significance in education in light of its debilitative effect on test scores and the implications and longranged effects of test results on the individual lives of the school children. This research is concerned with test anxiety of children under different test conditions. Subjects were 4th and 6th grade students who…

The position is developed that much of interaction dynamics between blacks and liberal whites is situationally determined. Such interaction is characterized by strong situationally specific cues, both internal (e.g., anger, fear, guilt) and external (e.g., color of other). (Author/AM)

Attitudes toward homosexuality, perceived similarity to the target homosexual, and type of prior contact with the target homosexual were found to interact in influencing such aggressiveness. The implication of these findings to the "personal threat" and "scapegoating" hypotheses of aggression toward homosexuals is discussed.…

Explores whether or not systematic attributional differences between active and passive observers occurs similar to those that exist between actors and observers. (Author/RK)