Persuasive messages about a complex political issue were constructed in various ways of manipulation of three message variables: Source Label (Republic/Neutral), Amount of Use of Slogan (No Slogan Repeat/Slogan Repeat), and Format (Question-Answer/Straignt Descriptive). These produced eight message versions. The purpose was to determine if changes…

The present research focused upon responses of three- and four-year old children to communicative demands posed in four common kinds of question situations. There were also manipulations of the object about which the question was asked, to test dependence of young children upon the presence of such objects. Children's responses were scored for two…

In comparing the pretest-posttest scores of student teachers, it was discovered that the group which had been exposed to the Flanders Interaction Analysis significantly increased their self-concept scores, whereas the control group not so treated did not. This result occurred whether the instrument measured self concept of the individual or self…

The purpose of this research was to assess the criterion-referenced validity of student ratings of instructors. A total of 480 undergraduates rated their instructors using a special rating scale designed to parallel the Flanders Interaction Analysis Categories. Expert observers also rated the instructors using the standard form of the Flanders…

Thirteen papers given by language specialists are presented. These analyze special linguistic (semantic) problems that occur when interconnected strings of sentences constitute data base; they also analyze special psychological problems (of memory, inference, and motivation) that occur when human subjects are exposed to discourse materials in…

The fundamental differences in classroom social structure and the effect of teaching behavior on the unique patterns of classroom social structures were studied. Subjects included fifth-grade classrooms with female teachers in a small city school system. Eighteen classrooms with a total of 576 children fit these criteria. Instrumentation included…

Abstracts of papers presented to the 45th Annual Meeting of the National Association for Research in Science Teaching are arranged according to the topic for the session at which they were presented. Series of sessions were devoted to test and instrument development, evaluation, learning theory, verbal behavior, instructional methods and…

An examination of language arts instruction for the elementary school child, this paper reviews the failures of traditional methods of teaching grammar to develop language competence. As an alternative, the author proposes the oral method, which focuses upon student-centered interaction situations. Such situations would provide the student with…

The study elicited stereotypes of female and male speech behavior. The results give strong evidence that the speech of females and the speech of males, as perceived by women and by men, do not have the same subject matter, or the same manner of delivery. Of the 51 speech characteristics considered by the participants, 36 were rated as…

Surveys the language problems encountered by teachers and students when the vehicle of instruction is not their native tongue and groups these according to five ad hoc headings. Outlines five parameters which offer a solution to the language problems. (GS)

An examination is made of the specific language used in giving advice and the fine difference possible between what the speaker says and the effect of what he says on the actions or thoughts of the person receiving advice. (JD)

The process of value clarification may be defined in terms of specific patterns of language which students use and from which the teacher may reasonably infer that valuing is occurring. Provides an introduction on how one may incorporate a wide variety of media into valuing activities consistent with this approach to value clarification.…

Experimenter modeled affectionate physical contact in group of preschool children who imitated the behavior. This induced significant increase of affectionate behavior during free-play period. A group which imitated "neutral" physical contact and another that had imitated "warm" verbal contact did not show significant increase in affectionate…

Argues that certain distinctions drawn by philosophers and linguists concerning implication do not have behavioral consequences and, thus, are not appropriate constructs in a theory of the psychology of implication. The distinctions discussed are directly asserted versus implied meanings and logical versus pragmatic implications. (Editor)

Teaching and learning can take place only when teacher and pupil understand and share beliefs in the basic concepts of what is being communicated. (JD)