A study was conducted to examine how different kinds of children's nonverbal behavior developed across grade levels. The six kinds of behavior studied were (1) proxemic, or observance of personal space; (2) haptic, or touching behavior; (3) oculesic, or gazing; (4) kinesic, or interpreting emotions from facial expressions; (5) vocalic, or…

Studies based on models of interpersonal coorientation have discovered regularities in communication behavior that coorientation theory cannot explain. On the other hand, rules-based theories of communication contain explanatory concepts seemingly applicable to these phenomena, but have not been articulated sufficiently to be applied to the…

A study that examined two speech events, "giving testimony" and "being interviewed," was conducted to test the relevance of the "ethnography of speaking" approach to communication research proposed by Dell H. Hymes. These speech events occur when someone seeks information from another for a formal purpose. The study…

Speech departments from 658 colleges and universities completed questionnaires in an investigation of the status, philosophy, content, methods, and materials of the interpersonal communication course as it is currently being taught. The study revealed that there is a consistent pattern in the nature of interpersonal courses. Generally, they are…

This collection of abstracts is part of a continuing series providing information on recent doctoral dissertations. The 23 titles deal with a variety of topics, including the following: the rhetoric of various reformers and reform groups; speech disorganization and information retention, credibility, and attitude; the concurring and dissenting…

Two studies were conducted to compare certain characteristics of high school students in Hawaii who take part in forensic activities with those not involved and also to compare groups of the forensic participants with each other. Three instruments were used: the Predisposition Toward Verbal Behavior Scale, the Fundamental Interpersonal Relations…

Research was conducted on the age and sex differences in raters' evaluations of job applicants' nonverbal behaviors. A ten-minute videotape of five interviews was shown to 28 members (7 females and 21 males) of the Industrial Personnel Association who had varying years of experience in personnel work. The simulations depicted job applicants whose…

A study was conducted to investigate censorship attempts in Tennessee during the period 1966-1975 by consulting issues of the "Newsletter on Intellectual Freedom" published by the American Library Association's Office of Intellectual Freedom. Tennessee's rate of censorship was found to be exactly the same as the national average. A total…

A study was conducted to investigate censorship attempts in Colorado during the period 1966-1975 by consulting issues of the "Newsletter on Intellectual Freedom" published by the American Library Association's Office of Intellectual Freedom. Colorado's rate of censorship was found to be close to but slightly above the national average.…

Research reports on the nature of speech, instrumentation for the investigation of speech, and practical applications of research are included in this status report for the April 1-June 30, 1980, period. The reports deal with the following topics: (1) the perceptual equivalent of two acoustic cues for a speech contrast is specific to phonetic…

A study was conducted to examine patterns of information processing over time in self-analytic groups. Communication patterns in two 25-member groups of college students that met for 32 50-minute sessions were categorized by means of the Systems Information Processing Analysis (SIPA) category system. Messages were coded on four dimensions of…

To examine the effects of the contextual variables of relationship intimacy and time on communication satisfaction, a study was undertaken involving 252 college freshmen. The subjects participated in one of two treatments. In the first, they were randomly paired and participated in social conversation for 15 minutes. Following the conversation,…

This paper analyzes the attitudes of three Swedish trade unions toward the press. Local representatives of the unions answered a questionnaire about their contact with the local press, the press's impact on public opinion, fairness of press reporting, the press's fulfillment of its duties in informing the public, and future control of mass media.…

The discussions of four family-related topics by 85 married couples were recorded and analyzed to test the validity of an expanded version of the relational communication coding system developed by L. Edna Rogers and Richard V. Farace. The expanded version of the system is based on the implicit intensity continuum that underlies the communication…

Taking the viewpoint of the receiver, this paper explores some differences between interpersonal transactions people have with each other and with the mass media. After addressing an orientation held by many communication scholars that the process of mass communication and interpersonal communication differ only in degree, the paper focuses on a…