Examined effect of positive and negative feedback on number of personal and interpersonal variables for 32 teacher trainees completing Tafoya's Motivation Game. Production of ideas decreased under both conditions, more distinctly so under conditions of positive feedback. Increase in self-confidence and decrease in anxiety occurred under both…

Observed 28 toddlers' reactions to an adult's programed play overtures. Coordinated responses and alternative overtures increased with age. Words were increasingly used to regulate activity between toddler and adult. (RJC)

Analyzes the visual and verbal content of the 1984 televised debates between Walter Mondale and Ronald Reagan. Asserts that the televised depiction of the debates visually structured portions of them in a manner inconsistent with their verbal content. Focuses on clash, when candidates engaged in arguments of attack or defense. (MS)

Examined relationships among word comprehension, word production, and enactive and gestural naming by 136 infants of 12-16 months. Results indicate that infants can use adult speech as an aid in the reproduction of modeled gestures. (RJC)

Explores a language model based on the various forms of messages exhibited in both visual and verbal communication. Argues that although several differences in levels of meaning exist between verbal and visual message format, combining features from each message mode strengthens the comprehensibility of communication. (RS)

Expressive-language-delayed (ELD) families were substantially similar to families with normal younger children and different from families with normal older children in their pragmatic interactions. Mothers' mean length of utterance did not differ among the groups. Pragmatic language interactions in the ELD families were determined largely by…

Presents a unit for teaching students to understand and control verbal aggression in their interpersonal relationships. Focuses on enhancing students' understanding of verbal aggression, helping students develop strategies for controlling verbal aggression, and providing activities to stimulate internalization of knowledge and strategies. (SR)

Uses hierarchical cluster analysis to develop a typology of verbal aggression as experienced by undergraduate students. Reveals three broad domains of attack: group membership, personal failings, and relational failings. Demonstrates reliability, predictive validity, and content validity for the typology. Reveals that aggressive messages can be…

This paper discusses the referential communication model, offers explanations for communication failure, presents evidence that even older elementary school children have difficulty in detecting ambiguity in messages, argues the need for a standardized test in this area, and surveys work with language-impaired groups and approaches to…

Suggests that the central focus of the article by Raver and Leadbeter (PS 521 712) in this issue is the ways individuals know. Examines two ways of knowing, verbal responses to questions and action without verbal response; and outlines a four-level developmental sequence of knowing that develops from one's own knowing to having a perspective on…

Investigated the role of talk in peer collaborations using a computer-based scientific reasoning task. Analysis of children's talk showed that talk dyads produced more talk overall and more interpretive types of talks than talk-alone subjects. Results suggest the importance of peer collaborations as a social context that supports interpretive…

Evaluated the extent to which infants' expressive modalities of face, gaze, voice, gesture, and posture form coherent affective configurations and whether these modalities are related to specific interactive contexts. Found four distinct affective configurations: social engagement, object engagement, passive withdrawal, and active protest. (MDM)

Two studies involving 177 undergraduates examined the effects that mental representations derived from maps and verbal descriptions have on the recall of facts from a text. Findings suggest that there may be fundamental differences between visual and verbal representations of the same space. (SLD)

Correspondence between verbal and nonverbal behavior in an exercise room was taught to 4 13-year-old boys with moderate mental retardation. Subjects were taught to state their exercise intentions before exercising and report, after exercising, what exercise they had performed. (Author/DB)

Describes the Interpersonal Perception Task (IPT), a videotape of brief scenes for teaching about verbal and nonverbal communication. Reports that the IPT includes all communication channels, several categories of interaction, and an objective criterion of accurate judgment. Discusses communications cues, using the IPT to introduce research…