This paper presents a training model, Skill Development in Teaching (SKIT), designed for use in improvement programs for inservice teachers and in teacher education programs for preservice trainees. An introductory section notes the early use of Flanders' interaction analysis as a feedback tool for teachers, outlines a 1962 model in which it was…

Confrontation, or aggressive verbal behavior, has been defended as a rhetorical tactic by some communication theorists on five bases: biological, psychological, sociological, rhetorical, and intellectual. Proponents of "rhetorical sensitivity," however, differ from those who would accept confrontation uncritically. Confrontation is not…

Theoretical and methodological developments in the psychologies have had an effect on the direction of research and training in speech. To continue to benefit from association with the psychologies, speech teachers would do well to familiarize themselves with the philosophy-psychology of the humanistic movement. The humanistic approach proceeds…

A report is presented of the findings of an investigation into the development of compliance, dependence and independence of two-year-old boys in the context of parent-child interaction, as well as in relation to genetic factors. The three techniques used in assessing children's and parents' characteristics and for studying the parent-child…

The principal objective of this study was to develop a classification system for the elements of student and teacher evaluative dialogue which would account for (1) the content area--task centered versus peripheral, and open versus closed; (2) psychological tone--accepting versus rejecting, and neutral versus judging; (3) possibility for…

While the traditional role of television has been to transmit messages to mass audiences, more recent uses of television which allow face-to-face interaction may lead to new kinds of behavior by the parties involved. In an interactive situation, an individual's two types of tasks are presentational (presenting his own "line" or image)…

The purpose of this study was to broaden the aptitude by treatment interaction paradigm. The relationship between memory span and performance in two different transfer conditions was examined, and task involvement and anxiety were considered as they contribute to the relationship between aptitudes and performance. (CK)

This report explicates the concrete group development of a cadre of persons from Simeon High School, the University of Chicago, and the Board of Education in the summer sector of the Ford Training and Placement Program. The report is organized around crucial indices of group development, i.e., the problem of leadership. Data were collected from…

The basic question under examination is the underlying force that brings forth changes in cultural and social organizations. By employing general system theory and communication systemic analysis, the author concludes that communication, especially human communication, is the main vehicle of change. Human interchange, it is suggested, is constant…

This paper examines interaction in a school class through the factor-analytical P-technique, considers the behavior of the factor scores in combination with certain other variables included in the interaction matrix, explores the formation of homogeneous groups of lessons in a grouping analysis based on the factor scores, and compares this latter…

This study examines quantification of the instructional process through the use of Markov chaining, and by considering the transition probabilities within a framework provided by the taxonomy used, attempts to obtain information about behavior sequences common to all lessons. (Author/DLG)

This study reports an analysis of the effects of moderate levels of noise on task performance of an interacting group. Groups of students first interacted in information-sharing discussions under varying conditions of noise and then responded to an objective test over the shared information and to a series of semantic differential scales designed…

The investigators assume that in a social power relationship, where one person has the power to reward or punish another for the latter's behavior, the social inferior will tend to conceal from a superior information he possesses or attitudes he holds which, if shared, might cause the superior to censure the inferior. To test this hypothesis, two…

The "diffusion of responsibility" hypothesis as an explanation of helping behavior (or lack of same) is qualified by suggesting that the hypothesis applies only in non-interacting situations. It is hypothesized that interacting groups who are aware of a help-demanding situation actually focus the responsibility and, therefore, take action as a…

This study explores the effect that divorce has upon interpersonal influence in family communication directed at children. A paradigm utilizing Woefel's Forced Aggregate theory was developed for exploration of the problem area. A number of practical and theoretical implications are presented. The research is intended to have far-reaching…