Discusses methods for using the Relationship World Index--Version 2, (RW1-2), as a classroom discussion exercise and as a means of understanding communication processes in dating or marital relationships. (RW1-2 is a q-sort procedure for measuring the extent to which a couple has constructed a shared view of the world.) (PD)

Interview data from 336 mothers of elementary school children were used to examine the relationship between mothers' comments to children about the content of television programs and family communication styles (emphasis on free inquiry and expression for all family members vs. emphasis on family harmony and obedience to parental authority). (PD)

Findings suggest, among others, that argumentativeness is an important variable in the perception of leadership, with the highly argumentative individual chosen leader over the moderate or mildly argumentative individual. Highly argumentative individuals were also rated as more influential on the group's decision. (PD)

Focuses on personality as a predispositional factor which is predictive of the direction of both persuasive argumentation by group members and, subsequently, decision shifting. Tends to validate the value theory of polarization by showing that persuasive argumentation can mediate the effect of personality on decisional shifting. (PD)

Found that of five "task-achievement functions" examined, two serve as accurate predictors of group problem-solving effectiveness. Specifically, found that (1) a negative relationship exists between group effectiveness and attempts to "establish operating procedures"; and (2) a positive relationship exists between group…

Reviewed research on the relationship between health, family communication, and support systems. Described a project encouraging family members to support each other's attempts to alter their diet and exercise patterns. Demonstrated that promoting social support for change among family members can encourage changes in diet and, less effectively,…

Studied communication effects--whether the content of the message as exemplified in reinforcing and informative material has more significance in helping requests than do other factors such as the sex of the requester and responder. (PD)

Suggests areas of future research for communication educators: (1) communication functions, (2) learning systems, (3) classroom communication, and (4) speech teacher education. (PD)

Presents aspects of three classroom contexts established between the teachers and the students in organizing instructional situations. (HOD)

Investigates the relative effects of directing adolescents' attention, either toward the "correctness" of their speech or toward the expression of their attitudes, on the amount, fluency, and syntactic structure of speech produced in a subsequent standardized interview. (HOD)

Results suggest that family communication structures affect adolescents' perception of the communication process. Adolescents from pluralistic families are more likely to have greater knowledge about consumer matters, are more likely to perform socially desirable consumer behaviors, and are less likely to hold materialistic attitudes. (PD)

Examines the effect of redundancy of information on the intelligibility of hearing and deaf children's speech. Based on intelligibility scores obtained for a set of words presented both in context and in isolation, suggests that the children do not use the same production strategies to assist listeners. (Author/MES)

Hypothesized that college students' learning from a videotaped lecture will be enhanced by the instructors' nonverbal expressiveness. Results support a positive effect for affective learning and suggest that nonverbal expressiveness directly influences attitudes toward the lecturer and the videotaped message. (PD)

Case study confirms that a teacher's classroom communication behavior is affected by concerns about communication. Identified three types of teacher concerns about communication--self, task, impact--and then established a relationship between these concerns and patterns of behavior. (PD)

Examines research on cultural literacy (knowledge of what others know) and relates this research to writing skills and the teaching of writing. (RL)