Two experiments examined the restriction of referential domains during unscripted conversation by analyzing the modification and online interpretation of referring expressions. Experiment 1 demonstrated that from the earliest moments of processing, addressees interpreted referring expressions with respect to referential domains constrained by the…

Using the biology faculty of one high school (n = 9) and the mathematics faculty of another (n = 16), this study tested the hypothesis that constructivist teachers play an active role within teacher communication networks (the constructivist-teacher hypothesis). This hypothesis contrasts with the view that constructivist teachers operate alone and…

Virtual environments, such as online games and web-based chat rooms, increasingly allow us to alter our digital self-representations dramatically and easily. But as we change our self-representations, do our self-representations change our behavior in turn? In 2 experimental studies, we explore the hypothesis that an individual's behavior conforms…

This experiment examined what situational and dispositional features moderate the effects of linguistic gender cues on gender stereotyping in anonymous, text-based computer-mediated communication. Participants played a trivia game with an ostensible partner via computer, whose comments represented either prototypically masculine or feminine…

This paper describes ethical considerations in the use of strategic ambiguity in organizational communication. Ambiguity is defined as "experienced ambiguity" and is distinct from uncertainty and equivocality which are properties of a stimulus. Strategic ambiguity is the use of "calculated ambiguity" in organizations to achieve…

This paper describes a four-dimensional model for the science of knowledge acquisition and a classification system in terms of these dimensions. A summary of the state of the art in terms of the cells generated in a four-dimensional representation of this classification system is presented. The need for better tools for conducting knowledge…

This paper traces the development of the functionalist position chronologically through its major permutations, from the defining contributions of Emile Durkheim, Bronislaw Malinowski, and A. R. Radcliffe-Brown in its anthropological phase through its development in American sociology by Talcott Parsons and Robert K. Merton to its explicit…

Speech plays important and complex roles in self-regulation and is experienced in several distinct forms: as a social-discursive mode of communication and direction (social speech), as vocalizations directed to the self rather than to others (private speech), and as the phenomenologically subjective "interior dialogue" through which the…

Studies of listening in the past have almost consistently been of the observer type, where participants watch a videotape and/or listen to an audio tape as stimulus material. However, a more accurate measure of true listening ability can only be done in an interactive setting. A study measured relational listening (an individual's ability to…

A study examined whether a person's ability to accurately identify a voice is influenced by factors similar to those proposed by the Supreme Court for eyewitness identification accuracy. In particular, the Supreme Court has suggested that a person's prior description accuracy of a suspect, degree of attention to a suspect, and confidence in…

Protocol analysis, a technique that uses people's verbal reports about their cognitions as they engage in an assigned task, has been used in a number of applications to provide insight into how people mentally plan, assess, and carry out those assignments. Using a system of networked computers where actors communicate with each other over…

In recent years, movement theorists have examined how rhetorical movements acquire legitimacy from established orders. The focus of past research has been the rhetorical dilemma of noninstitutional movements seeking recognition. David Zarefsky conceptualized establishment social movements as being rhetorically indistinguishable from…

A reply to "Beyond Rhetorical Relativism," a 1982 article written by E. Croasmun and R. A. Cherwitz, this paper suggests that that article suffers from a poor choice and unclear usage of language, a weak line of argument, and a faulty conceptualization of the issues. The first section of the paper reviews the arguments presented by…

A survey was conducted of the personnel directors in the "Fortune" 500 listing of top American corporations to determine their current communication policies and practices. A follow-up survey focused on the 98 companies that had indicated that they employed a communication director. Among the major findings of the survey are the…

A study suggests a new approach for evaluating debate techniques. Previously used paradigms all have some disadvantages. Application of the policy-making paradigm, which involves isolating a problem, having one side propose a solution, then having the opponent point out the solution's disadvantages, is difficult because the paradigm does not…