Group interaction research typically focusses on behavior under "laboratory" conditions rather than in less contrived situations. Observation of natural group behaviors at different ages can effect a better understanding of their occurrence and patterning at various developmental stages. Knowledge of age-related group behavior tendencies could…

A behavior therapy program was designed to teach new coping skills to child abusing parents. Specific training procedures focused on child management techniques and subsequent sessions included training in communications skills, marital counseling and assertion training skills as required to attain specified client goals. Training was carried out…

Reactions of men and women to failure in sex-appropriate and sex-inappropriate tasks were examined through performance records, self-ratings of learning progress, and attributions of performance to effort and ability. Fear of success studies show that individuals may avoid success where success is sex-inappropriate. It was thought that failure…

This report presents a synthesis of a day-and-a-half interactive conference on research and development in reading attended by a group of reading specialists from Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas representing their state departments of education. It includes the two presentations "A Sampling of Research Within Reach"…

To determine if imagery mediates memory for signs and words, 80 sign-language-fluent Ss -- half of whom were congenitally deaf and half of whom were normal-hearing -- were tested by varying the imagery values of stimuli. The relative efficacy of word and sign codes in processing and retrieving information was studied by systematically varying the…

Several alternative methods of presenting written material within a graphic were evaluated to provide empirical data on how technical writers and artists might improve the comprehensibility of graphics. The number, location, and sequence of "callouts"--the pictorial part references using arrows--were systematically varied in a series of…

A model that allows for the assessment of alternative funding formulas for postsecondary educational systems is described. The need for a practical planning model to fit the changing context of higher education funding is emphasized. The importance of a relatively simple funding model that will allow consideration of the aggregate impact of…

Problems relating to program discontinuance and the role of institutional research are discussed, drawing on a study supported by the Exxon Foundation of 10 predominantly large public universities that have either reviewed and closed programs or have gone through recent financial difficulties. Careful analysis is necessary to know that savings are…

The Departmental Enrollment Projection Model (DEPM), which is based on the assumption that enrollments are essentially influenced by economic and social forces, is described. Under the model's approach, the department, rather than the institution as a whole, is seen as the focal point of both the enrollment projection and, by implication, the…

An analysis and comparison of two frames, "conventioneering" and "game," as experienced by convention goers is presented to provide a partial explanation of convention behavior and stress response. Many of the concepts discussed come directly from books by Erving Goffman. Frames are principles of organization that govern…

This collection of reports provides the objectives, background information, project descriptions, and evaluations for 16 public library programs funded through the Library Services and Construction Act in Massachusetts during FY 1976. The projects reflect the efforts being made by librarians to provide services to segments of their population who…

The Michigan State University Institute for Research on Teaching, an aggregate of public school teachers and full-time investigative personnel, came under review by a one-day conference of teachers, teacher organization representatives, educational researchers, and state and federal government officials. Discussion topics that arose from the…

Although teacher effectiveness research has to date been primarily concerned with class level statistics, valuable information regarding a teacher's proficiency can be gleaned from the analysis of within class data. The relationships between teacher behavior and student achievement vary at the differing levels of analysis. Nine variable patterns…

The tenability of the equipercentile growth assumption was investigated. This assumption is the basis of the norm referenced evaluation model (Model A) for Title I program evaluations, and supposes that a cohort of students, given no special educational intervention, will maintain the same percentile rank over the course of a school year, as…

A project was conducted to validate program standards and performance standards for four postsecondary occupational areas--fashion merchandising, fashion design, apparel, and window treatment services. Returns from 117 questionnaires from postsecondary institutions in fifty states were used to develop program standards statements and to provide…