Interrelated conceptual and methodological suggestions for the future study of mother/infant interaction as a form of communication are given. (MP)

Discusses the results of a survey of faculty at a southern university regarding the specific skills communicators will need in light of increasingly mechanical communication methods. Offers suggestions for dealing with the aesthetic and humanistic concerns of computer-based communications. Includes the questionnaire. (HTH)

Tested, in five hypothetical paper-and-pencil experiments, subjects' use of disqualification (ambiguous, indirect, or evasive massages). Concluded that a disqualification is not a failed communication, but rather a reasonable response to an impossible situation, one that permits the communicator to leave the field gracefully. (PD)

Concludes (1) that the relationship between consensus and decision quality tends to merge when the group approaches its task in a systematic and rational manner and (2) that group communication scholars need to be careful about assuming that consensus decision-making necessarily results in more decision-making satisfaction among group members. (PD)

Findings indicate that lapses in conversation occur when one of the participants uses responses which fail to advance the topic. Analysis of the postlapse data indicates that subsequent to a lapse, the most probable strategy is for one of the participants to pose a question which the partner is obligated to answer. (PD)

Focuses on explaining the variations in levels of information adequacy reported by organizational members. Emphasizes the importance of communicating sufficient information to employees regardless of task-related communication needs. Supports an expanded information processing model of organizational communication and proposes a revised model. (PD)

Locates and analyzes the following verbal alignment devices in job interview talks: accounts, formulations, meta-talks, and qualifiers. Results reveal--among other important implications for the job interview process--that interviewees, by assuming a timid, powerless role, may be yielding in a way that jeopardizes their being hired or future job…

Presents an approach that seeks to understand the sociocultural context of communication analysis among deaf children. The discussion has three parts: (1) identification of components of an anthropological approach and discussion of its relevance to deaf communication research; (2) description of a current research project; and (3) discussion of…

Findings from two studies indicated that (1) conversations with silences were evaluated more negatively, along a number of dimensions, than conversations without silences; and (2) when silences were accompanied by an activity--for example, sculpting--conversations were rated more favorably. (PD)

Investigates the syntactical level of spontaneous and echolalic utterances of 26 autistic boys at different stages of phrase speech development. Speech samples were collected over a 90-minute period in unstructured settings in participants' homes. Imitations were not deliberately elicited, and only unprompted, noncommunicative echoes were…

Examined frequency of verbal attention-seeking responses (VASRs) as an indication of level of social confidence. Veteran drug addicts received communication skills and assertiveness training. Comparison of VASRs indicated communication training was effective in improving social confidence. (RC)

Found that communication journal articles cite studies in psychology as often as in communication and that, since 1965, most of the citations to articles outside of communication were no longer current. Discusses nonreciprocity in information exchange, selective borrowing, information lag, and the influence of psychology on communication. (PD)

Offers the results of a survey taken at the College of Charleston in South Carolina indicating that faculty members, recent graduates, and employers all feel that college education in communication should stress training in oral communication skills. (JL)

Contends that inconsistent judging often leaves contestants more confused than educated. Analyzes the effects of training and experience on judges' agreement in oral interpretation contests. (PD)

Reinvestigated questions raised by Sidney Jourard's early research on self-disclosure. Specifically investigated the effects of gender, target, and topic on several dimensions of self-disclosure. Found little support for Jourard's conclusions. (PD)