Considers how argumentativeness is linked with several managerial qualities, such as group leadership, better decision-making, and enhanced credibility. Surveys nearly 300 full-time employed men. Shows that men at all levels exhibit the full range of argumentativeness. Finds the mean argumentativeness of supervisors at all levels is significantly…

Finds developmentally based systematic age changes in four of six persuasive-message practices in middle childhood: creating consensus about a problem, advocating a proposal, motivating the other to act, and building the other's self-concept. Notes that these age effects reflect children's evolving views about communication and messages as they…

In a peer interaction task involving controversial topics, 30 undergraduate psychology students identified strengths and weaknesses of various items of evidence. Participants could make some appropriate criticisms of evidence and were most positive about research-based evidence. However, generalizations were most frequently used to bolster…

Describes a class activity in which students analyze the ways in which marketers use emotions in direct mail solicitations for sales, promotional, and fundraising purposes. (JOW)

The personal relevance of several academic and public policy proposals was manipulated in two studies using surveys and two laboratory studies. Results generally showed that high personal relevance attitudes differed from low personal relevance attitudes, and that personal relevance directly affected attitudes in the absence of any persuasion…

Reviews the history of the National Debate Tournament (NDT) and discusses its positions regarding fundamental issues confronting intercollegiate debate. Suggests that participation in the NDT may not be appropriate for all schools. (PA)

Examines an exchange in a journal between critical legal scholar Richard Fischl and mainstream legal thinker Calvin Massey. States that their argument typifies the sorts of disputes between scholars who perform deconstructions and more traditional scholars. Concludes that the power of argument may reside in its dialectical function, and that…

Proposes a theoretical framework for analyzing the effect of MUD (Multi-User Dungeons) playing on users' self-efficacy by applying Bandura's social learning theory, and introduces three types of self-efficacy: computer self-efficacy; social self-efficacy; and generalized self-efficacy. Considers successful performance, vicarious experience,…

Claims the argumentation or argumentation and debate course in American colleges and universities would be bolstered by a dual focus on possibilities for argumentation. Suggests a unit on negotiation would provide students with instruction and activities of clear potential benefit for public-sphere deliberation and professional development. (NH)

Argues role-play simulation (1) delivers valuable opportunities for learning about the dynamics of public argument; (2) provides substantial opportunities for graded assessment; and (3) frees students to conceive of important alternative modes of deliberation. (NH)

Discusses the distinction between understanding and belief, illustrating that teachers' interpretations of what students have learned can be seriously incorrect when they do not consider both understanding and belief. The article presents examples showing that students' understandings and beliefs often diverge, making it necessary to consider both…

Introduces a laboratory experiment for determining blood alcohol content using a combination of instrumental analysis and forensic science. Teaches the importance of careful laboratory technique and that experiments are conducted for a reason. Includes the procedure of the experiment. (Contains 17 references.) (YDS)

Extends the debate concerning the discussion about the possibility of ethics on the present configuration of a social ethos based on the reflection of the circumscription of morality within contemporary culture. Turns to the internal debate in psychology, for clarification. (BT)

Within a synchronous computer-mediated discussion, teachers used a prescriptive framework of Socratic interventions together with dialogue moves which challenged students to justify their opinions or which presented a devil's advocate line of counter-argument. This paper examines the effectiveness of different teacher strategies and presents…

Despite unfolding as it did during the sexual revolution of the 1920s, Leopold and Loeb's "trial of the century" elicited a deluge of constitutive discourse that struggled against overt articulation and circulation of the boys queerness. In this essay, I argue that those discourses--dominant reportage, in camera courtroom conferences, and Clarence…