The report studies the effects that the achieved status of the principal (power figure) has on the productivity of a heierarchically differenitiated group (participants have unequal ascribed status relationships) when all of the group members have an equal share in making decisions. The study tests two hypotheses: (1) as leader achieved status…

An instrument was developed and tested which would measure intermediate interaction behavior in small-group communication. The study was designed to uncover the several dimensions of such behavior and produce a reliable, valid measure for each dimension that would yield data amenable to parametric statistical analysis. Analysis of two experiments…

This paper describes a study which was carried out to examine the intra-group verbal behavior of "person-oriented" and "non-person-oriented" individuals. Extrapolating from conceptual systems theory, it was expected that the "person-oriented" (conceptually abstract) individuals would deal with different referents,…

The relationship of 2 important variables -- group composition and time -- to the verbal behavior of sensitivity training groups, using 2 recently developed assessment procedures, is investigated. Sensitivity groups were composed according to the interpersonal skills of participants, as measured by a structured behavioral technique, the Group…

This book is a general report on aspects of group processes in elementary and secondary schools with reference to appropriate research. Group processes are defined as changes in the social unit known as the group that take place over a period of time; the expected changes occur in three domains--cognitive, psychomotor, and affective. The book…

This investigation used social psychological concepts in analysis of social processes among pupils engaged in a cooperative task. It explored several ways of increasing interdependence among participants and determined the effects of such conditions on pupil performance. The subjects were 228 randomly selected fourth and fifth grade students. The…

A study was conducted to examine social behavior by one-year-old boys over the course of a three-month playgroup experience. The "clusters" chosen for examination consisted of temporary groups (often less than a minute) the toddlers formed to focus on a single activity. Socially directed behavior is defined here as vocalizing, laughing and…

High attrition in technical training courses in Army Service Schools was found to be a major problem during the years 1962 to 1965. Data obtained at the U.S. Army Air Defense School showed that students who volunteered specifically for their training had significantly lower attrition rates than students of comparable aptitude who were assigned to…

This study examined the effects of different degrees of task structure on leadership between 18 married parents, 18 childless married spouses, and 18 unmarried men and women who comprised newly acquainted couples. Each couple completed three tasks which varied along the dimension of task structure and the order of task presentation. Analysis of…

Results do not support the characterization of the radical activist student as the brighter, better adjusted, more task-oriented individual, and supports previous finding that these students are neither the social and psychological elite nor misfits of their time. (Author/AM)

This study conducted on policy committee meetings demonstrated a relationship between committee members' seating distance from the chairman and their participation rates in meetings. As a member's participation increased, he began to sit nearer the chairman. A model is proposed interrelating participation, interpersonal spacing, communication…

Examines conditions which predipose group members to seek redress for a perceived injustice by forming an alliance against a group leader. Predicts that: (1) coalition attempts will be more frequent in unfair cases than in fair ones; (2) members of a revolutionary coalition will attempt to restore equity under specified conditions; and (3)…

People who have less prior knowledge of others in a group give more personal information. In dyads low-prior knowers give and receive more personal statements than high-prior knowers. Therapists can support confiding personal information about his/her self. (MFD)

It is concluded that research has failed to confirm the causal role of deindividuation in releasing antisocial behavior. Research strategies are suggested which will help more quickly to verify or disconfirm the existence and causal role of the construct. (Author)

A dialectical approach is used to explore the relationship between individual specialization, collective adaptation, and rate of environmental change for both higher and lower organisms. The nature-nurture controversy and the "generation gap" are discussed in terms of this interrelationship. (BD)