Developed and tested encompassing and utilitarian measure of small group consensus using 48 small groups involving 234 college students. Pilot study of 14 groups and 61 subjects used instrument to test consensus stability over six-week period. Results showed no significant change in consensus levels over that time. (Author/NB)

The transdisciplinary approach to intervention with handicapped infants is described. The joint team, staff development, and role release characterize the approach. Sections consider effective team functioning and remedies for team dysfunctions including problems in interpersonal relations, developmental process, team structure, and role release.…

People do not know instinctively how to interact effectively with others. For cooperation to succeed, students must get to know and trust one another, communicate accurately and unambiguously, accept and support one another, and resolve conflicts constructively. A seven-step recommended procedure is outlined. Includes nine references. (MLH)

Committees can be effective in helping accomplish organizational goals including affirmative action and non-discrimination goals. The most effective affirmative action committees are proactive and assertive. (MLW)

Assesses Persuasive Arguments Theory (PAT) assumptions about argument and argument influence. Reviews and critiques PAT, advancing five hypotheses to test its assumptions. Finds little correspondence between cognitive and discussion arguments in number, content, or persuasiveness. Discusses implications for PAT and for the role of communication in…

Investigated the relationship of group cohesiveness to empathy, self-disclosure, acceptance, and trust, and compared three different groups (personal growth, driving under the influence, psychotherapy), with a total of 65 subjects, on measures of cohesiveness. Found all factors correlated significantly with cohesiveness and with one another.…

Examines proposition that covert roles within a group are assigned to individual group members based on their propensity to verbally or nonverbally express certain patterns of unwanted, disowned, and projected emotions that are experienced as threatening by other members. Focuses on articulating a model, describing a method, and presenting…

Explores the effects of computer-mediated communication (CMC) and face-to-face (FTF) media on group performance of college students. Finds that CMC groups generated a greater number of unique ideas than FTF groups but that CMC groups took longer to reach consensus than FTF groups. Discusses implications and recommendations for media combination…

Explores the effects on other group members of positive and negative responses directed by one member of a discussion group to another. Finds significant differences between treatments for members' attitudes toward their group, but mixed support for the predicted sequence of treatment effects. Notes that the results differ notably from those…

Presents refections about learning technology based on the philosophies of John Dewey and group learning processes. Topics discussed include collaborative inquiry; current conceptions of learning and technology, including the use of multimedia, telecommunications, and computers; distinguishing inquiry from use and enjoyment; and implications for…

Presents 14 different ways to say "Achoo" in many languages as a light-hearted classroom exercise. The students are asked to match the sneeze with the language and to follow it up with what North Americans say after a sneeze. (CK)

Investigates factors that members of organizational work teams (school administrators and personnel who volunteered to work with students with ongoing drug and alcohol problems) believe facilitate and inhibit group performance effectiveness. Finds that compatible work schedules, motivated group members, adequate informational resources, competent…

Describes the use of caring groups in which nursing students and faculty learn to give and receive care, develop self-awareness and empowerment, and strengthen coping skills. Discusses the centrality of caring in nursing. (SK)

Argues that Kenneth Burke made advances in adapting two of Freud's processes of identification for the analysis of public communication, but that Burke's reading of Freud on identification in groups submerges important conceptual aspects. Discusses the consequences to rhetorical criticism (and to those studying small group ties within…

Summarizes a study investigating the relationship of group openness and group trust, based on self-report data collected from staff at 24 western Kentucky elementary schools. The Group Openness and Trust Scale proved a reliable, valid measure of trust and openness concepts in group settings. There is a positive, if somewhat weak, relationship…