A study was undertaken to separate elements of maternal speech heavily influenced by the children's language levels from those representing the mothers' consistent style or strategy for "teaching" language. A striking similarity was found between speech mothers used with their daughters and that used with their daughters' friends. (MSE)

Suggests conjoint reading aloud as an initial assignment in behavioral marital therapy. The spouses are directed to read a book on marital conflict and communication five times during the week following the initial interview. Conjoint reading addresses the experientially salient problems of verbal conflict. (Author/JAC)

Uses examples from higher education to present a taxonomy of discourse, classifying verbal interchanges into three minor modes (rote pronouncement, passing time, and gossip), a transitional mode (true conversation), and three major modes (rhetoric, dialectic, and deliberation). (JAC)

The effectiveness of behavioral consultation with secondary-age students is evaluated. A differential reinforcement of low rates procedure is applied within the context of an independent group contingency to decrease negative verbal interactions of adolescents in a resource room setting. (PN)

Describes the deterioration of literacy and of linguistic and academic standards. Discusses the importance of language to civilization and suggests content and methods for liberal education that will develop literate, intelligent human beings. (SK)

Examined the relationship between subjective and objective performance measures for vocational/rehabilitation counselors. No relationship was found between subjective and objective measures. Evidence suggests that the subjective measure reflected more the quality of the interpersonal relationship between the supervisor and the subordinate.…

Drawing on research literature concerning administrative support of educational change and on findings from two research projects, the author defines administrative support to include promoting project interests through verbal statements, providing clarity and steadiness to participants, definding project goals and activities, and giving projects…

In two studies, sixth graders (Study 1) and fourth graders (Study 2) listened to or read a text. Some students were asked to imagine pictures of the material. Oral presentation of the material produced better results than written-only forms. Fourth graders benefited more from mental imagery than did sixth graders. (Author/JJD)

Studied subliminal symbiotic stimulation as a treatment aid in conjunction with counselor self-disclosures in group counseling. Results showed that subliminal exposure to MOMMY AND I ARE ONE stimulus would lead to more client self-disclosures in group counseling. Suggests impact of symbiotic stimulus can be affected by counselor behavior. (RC)

Tested effects of client-counselor racial similarity on perceived counselor social influences and client satisfaction and effects of differing communication channels on perception of counselors of different races. Results indicated four communications channels produced differences in ratings of counselor behavior but the differences depended on…

Discusses children's acquisition of non-nominal, abstract words and argues that the use of these words parallels the child's cognitive development in trial-and-error problem solving and in development of insight. (EKN)

Subjected Shostrom's films of Rogers, Lazarus, and Shostrom working with a patient to a content analysis using the system developed by Zimmer and Cowles. Differences in verbal activity on the part of therapist and patient were noted, appearing consistent with the principles of the various therapies. (Author)

Investigated the extent to which response length influences Holtzman Inkblot Technique (HIT) scores in (N=102) elderly. Results suggest that response length has a pervasive effect on HIT scores and bears out the productivity of effects found in previous research with younger age cohorts. (JAC)

Compared verbal response mode use by male students with measures of clients' psychological distress, disturbance, and change. Results indicated more distressed clients used a higher percentage of disclosures and lower percentage of edifications, clients who improved more participated more, no relationship between improvement in psychotherapy and…

Reviews and discusses experimental and observational research on the function of the social environment of the child in the mastery of syntactic regularities during language acquisition. Theories based on modeling, imitation, and reinforcement are addressed. A 73-item reference list accompanies the text. (Author/JL)