A study examined the effects of television on dyadic interaction. Subjects, 41 dyads (mostly same sex dyads) consisting of a student in an introductory communication course (students were given extra credit for participation in the research) and a friend, were randomly assigned to one of four treatment conditions and were videotaped by a hidden…

A study assessed the effectiveness of the Pennsylvania State University (PSU) Reticence Program as a treatment for individuals with communication difficulties, such as communication apprehension, reticence, and shyness. Several standardized tests of social communication problems were used in a pretest-posttest design with a control group and two…

This paper presents an in-depth look at semantics and how it has been and continues to be studied in mass communication. The paper notes that modern communication scholars have largely ignored the importance of semantics to mass media research. The paper examines the historical roots of semantics, noting that the 1930s saw the intellectual…

This paper presents materials related to an introduction to communication studies course, a sophomore-level course at Concordia College, Minnesota. The paper begins with discussions of the course philosophy and implementation, noting that the course design is based on a trajectory through three major units of study--definitions and processes of…

Although scholars know a great deal about how argument works in the small group process in general, little is known about the role of argument in the jury decision making process. A study used R. A. Meyers' (1991) coding scheme to analyze the argument in 80 juries. Subjects were 209 males and 203 females enrolled in communication courses at a…

The integration of micro-macro variables is critical to the development of organizational communication as an academic field. Mixed-level analysis is inherent in organizational phenomena, and its neglect perpetuates the gap in and fragmentation of organizational communication theories. Three of the many ways to design mixed-level analyses are…

A study focused on the effects of forensic participation on two specific traits--argumentativeness and verbal aggression. Two hundred eighty-one high school forensic students participating at a large western forensic tournament in the beginning of the 1990 academic year completed D. A. Infante's Argumentative and Verbal Aggression Scales. Results…

A study explored the motivational patterns of public relations (P.R.) professionals and the qualities sought in new employees by these professionals. A representative sample of public relations professionals was surveyed with a questionnaire that included Likert scales of motivational statements and skills sought. Common factor analysis with…

A study quantitatively summarized the literature examining the association between acceptance of rape myths and exposure to pornography to address disputes in the academic community regarding the consistency of such research. The entire collection of "Psychological Abstracts" and "Sociological Abstracts" was manually searched…

Noting that children of alcoholic parents come from home settings similar to those identified as potential sources of communication apprehension, a study compared communication apprehension scores of adult children of alcoholics (ACoA) with those of non-ACoAs. Subjects, 85 men and 109 women, were drawn from a local church, undergraduate and…

Touch is an important and powerful form of communication that is often avoided for fear of negative interpretations. However, touch has also been associated with positive relational and educational outcomes. In this study, descriptions of touch that occurred between teachers and undergraduate students were elicited from students and then sorted…

Touch is an important and powerful form of communication that is often avoided for fear of negative interpretations. However touch has also been associated with positive relational and educational outcomes. In this study, descriptions of touch, elicited from students, that occurred between teachers and students were sorted using S.E. Jones' (1994)…

A study compared the effectiveness of three different story-telling strategies on a preschool disabilities population. Participants were exposed to stories through oral story telling using auditory cues only, story telling with illustrations such as Big Books, or story telling using illustrations and puppets. Participants were asked to retell the…

As academic associations and their annual conventions have grown in size, the poster session has become a common format for presentation of scholarly work. Little is known, however, about how communication educators perceive poster sessions and their value to career advancement. Poster sessions have been criticized as poorly structured and…

A study examined whether published texts and studies being used in the speech communication classroom adequately address the needs of students when they go into the laboratory setting of forensic tournaments. Published studies in speech communication, selected textbooks used in the basic speech course, and selected studies and textbooks in…