The Conference Role Semantic Differential (CRSD) is a behavior rating scale for evaluation of individual staff member behavior in a conference. Part 1 of the 12 item draft and the 15 item revised version contains personal behavior characteristics to be rated along a seven point continuum. Part 2 contains two open-ended questions asking what is…

Social pressures in the United States are explained in the context of group identification and group behavior. The urban scene is made up of a number of groups, or subcultures, which have parallel structures along socio-economic, and nationality-color-ethnic lines. These groups act as if they had a structured plan. It is shown how this plan is…

This study examined the effects of a unique form of team competition involving competition among individuals and teams on a variety of classroom group processes. A 3 x 2 (treatment x teacher) design was employed using intact high school social studies classes over a 12-week period. When compared to individual competitions, the team competition…

This paper proposes a model for the long-term scientific study of encounter, T-, and sensitivity groups. The authors see the need for overcoming major methodological and design inadequacies of such research. They discuss major methodological flaws in group outcome research as including: (1) lack of adequate base rate or pretraining measures; (2)…

This paper describes two experiments involving a game in which the effects of a strategy upon attraction are investigated. The first experiment investigated the role of one's partner's strategy and the subject's own strategy upon attraction among the players of a mixed-motive game; the second experiment was carried out as an extension and…

Argues that delinquency is an expression of intergroup conflict and that both ethnic minorities and youth are in conflict with the dominating elements in society. (Author/RK)

Examined the effects of (1) two levels of risk-taking disposition and (2) four types of pregroup preparation on early group development. High risk takers exposed to the behavioral structure condition were more involved in self-disclosure and interpersonal feedback, reported higher levels of group cohesion, and reported greater perceived depth of…

Effective groups differed from less effective groups in the areas of shared values, adherence to norms related to participation, methods of participating in the work and in the areas of satisfaction with the human and material resources that affected their group behavior. (Author)

The authors consider the necessary conditions for group members and their consultants to study group processes together and summarize how consultants pass tests of the meaning and strength of their collaborative intentions. (Author/MLF)

Analyzed group discussions associated with 68 high-quality and 29 low-quality decisions made by comparably informed groups using cross-contact comparison. Found vigilance, second-guessing, and accurate information processing associated with high-quality decisions; faulty information processing and improbable fantasy chains with low-quality…

Discusses observations of a group of boys who formed a study group under direction of a local charismatic rabbi in an Israeli slum. Discusses boys' transistion from delinquent to nondeliquent behavior in terms of reference group theory. Found major attracting factors of group to be warmth and caring with order and discipline. Discusses…

Metaphorical analysis of small group interactions enables researchers and practitioners to isolate, identify, and intervene with the current social reality of the group. This heuristic study offers one view of the specific meaning structures which account for the development of group cohesiveness. (BL)

Observed the ways in which norm formation and social conformity are engaged in the joke setting. Despite the "cautious" operational definition of the convergence concept, the basic finding of convergence nevertheless seems fairly absolute and pertinent to the individual's day-to-day social relations. (Author/BL)

Examines the nature of development of a self-analytic seminar through stages and its impact on sex-role stereotypes and gender interactions among participants and with the seminar leaders. Explores relationships between feminist thought and psychoanalysis and supports the positive influence on recognition of mutual needs among the sexes.…

Discusses the development and description of a comprehensive framework to explain small group behavior labeled the Matrix Model. Argues that a synthesis of knowledge from the adaptive, developmental, structural, transactional, and gestalt points of view will provide a more meaningful and useful understanding of small groups. (LLL)