Examination of the relationship between viewing motivation and viewing patterns among young adult television viewers identifies nine motivational categories: relaxation, companionship, habit, time passing, entertainment, social interaction, information, arousal, and escape. Two basic types of television use are described as time consumption and…

Investigated the relationship between verbal behavior patterns and supervisor (N=9) and trainee (N=30) judgments of satisfaction in the supervision interview. Results confirm the predictive validity of verbal behavior. Negative social emotional behavior added to the discomfort experienced. Use of excessive supportive communication is in question…

Analyzes and categorizes directional factors, and exploratory sequences related to them, via videotaped sessions of two teenage school work groups. Shows stimuli which initiate exploratory sequences are found for all directional factors in problem solving or decision making. Reveals rule-governed or routinized behavior relates to directional…

Business letter-writers are advised to develop reader empathy and benefit before they ask a favor. The author analyzed two model 16th century letters of request to determine if similar advice was given in the past, and found that the request was subordinate to building a mutually beneficial relationship. (PD)

A procedure was developed for assessing interaction between parents and children enrolled in the Parent Education Program (PEP), an early intervention program for parents of hearing impaired children aged 3 years and younger. The PEP has used the videotape assessment procedure successfully for nearly 3 years. (SB)

Investigates the ways in which primary school-aged children engage a teacher's attention through active solicitation. Argues that examining these interactions reveals both what the children do and allows for a redefinition of a conceptualization of "talk engagement." (FL)

Supports the hypothesis that interaction processes connected with the Valence Distribution Model mediated the effect of decision schemes on group decisions. Substantiates the assumptions that interaction is a crucial factor in group decision making. Although input conditions may also have an impact on decision outcomes, they are mediated by…

Research findings indicate that children who are unpopular with their peers play in less emotionally mature cognitive and social ways than do children who interact well socially. It is suggested that noncompetitive play in familiar environments may promote a behavior change in unpopular children. (JN)

Argues that studies on how and why humans talk, however precise the methodology, do not have the quality of science. Contends that these studies contain the essence of criticism and should be regarded as such. (PD)

Studied the process of child psychotherapy by means of analyses of client verbal behaviors. Analyses of variables demonstrated the nature of each client's verbal responding as well as their pattern of change. Summarized the overall verbal response behavior of each client best through the factor analyses. (Author)

Examines social differences in expectations of indirectness in conversations between married couples, both Greek and Greek-American. Concludes that Greeks are more likely to expect indirectness in the context presented and that Greek-Americans have retained the Greek communicative patterns. (FL)

Deaf children and hearing mothers using oral only communication spent significantly less time engaged in interaction than did mothers and children in the two groups using sign language or the hearing group. The major finding affirms the similarities between the deaf mother/deaf child pairs and the hearing mother/hearing child pairs. (Author)

Summarizes six instruments for coding who offers and who accepts control in a relationship. Discusses the instruments in terms of their conceptual strengths and compares the construct validity and predictive validity of each. (JMF)

Presents a model of meanings in coherent conversation taking the form of a hierarchy of levels of cognitive interpolations between the stream of behavior and archetypal patterns in conversations. A study of indirect responses in conversation is reported which supports the hierarchical structure of the model. (JMF)

In the first of a series of papers describing social relationships among mentally disabled adults who worked in four sheltered workshops, procedures for observing and interviewing clients and for interviewing staff members are reported and data on reliability and general levels of social behavior are cited. (Author/SBH)