Although skilled social performance has been defined as a sequential, two-stage process involving both social cue discrimination plus skillful performance, investigators have de-emphasized cue discrimination in favor of skill performance. The relationship between cue discrimination and skill performance was investigated among undergraduates who…

A study was undertaken to determine the relationship between assertiveness and communication apprehension by examining common factors that exist between the items on the Rathus Assertiveness Schedule and the Personal Report of Communication Apprehension. The two instruments were administered to students at a large midwestern university. Responses…

This study, part of a larger project called "Project Competence," explored the relationship between two aspects of social-cognitive ability (interpersonal awareness and social problem-solving) and three aspects of manifest competence in children (social, behavioral, and academic). In a series of hierarchical multiple regressions, social-…

A study investigated the effects of mass media, interpersonal communication, and sociolinguistic background on adults' political, cultural, and economic attitudes and agendas. Data for the study came from two earlier research efforts: one conducted in Minnesota, involved 414 adults who were interviewed concerning their media use, interpersonal…

A study examined the relationship between rhetorical sensitivity and self-disclosure. Subjects were 419 college students who completed the Rhetorical Sensitivity Scale and the Self-Disclosure Situations Survey. The results indicated that rhetorical sensitivity and self-disclosure were inversely related. Rhetorically sensitive individuals did not…

A study investigated the degree of association between supervisor and subordinate perceptions of the supervisor's leadership style, use of power, and conflict management style. Subjects were 87 supervisors and 432 subordinates from five service-oriented, publicly supported organizations. The supervisors completed measures of leadership style, use…

Critiques and studies have found the traditional two-step flow model of social influence inadequate to describe and explain relationships between interpersonal and mass communications during political campaigns. A study was undertaken to incorporate a wider range of variables pertinent to both kinds of political communication behaviors to redefine…

Given that a community is defined by the common interests of a group of people and that community development involves the joint efforts of these people in addressing shared problems, the most important component of the community development process is instruction in the skills needed for effective political and social involvement. Yet society…

Two studies examined the incidence of and the relationship between teacher enforcement of school standards and their warmth in responding to typical classroom problems. In the first questionnaire, the problems posed were those of hypothetical students. In the second questionnaire, the problems were applied to students in the teachers' classes. The…

Systematic human relations training can enhance interpersonal effectiveness, but student reaction to this type of training is mixed. In a study of students enrolled in systematic human relations training, two videotapes dealing with classroom discipline were created. One tape portrayed a non-facilitative interaction, while the other depicted a…

This practicum describes a videotaped growth group/learning community experience designed and facilitated by a counselor as a practical application of Carl Rogers' theory on encounter groups. The goal was to increase students' interpersonal effectiveness. The purpose of the practicum was fourfold: (1) to form a learning community and videotape…

The paper describes some of the major demographic differences between hearing impaired students with normal-hearing parents and those with hearing-impaired parents, based on Office of Demographic Studies data, and attempts to illustrate the complex interaction involved between these variables, academic achievement, and early parent-child…

Two communication training programs--the Communication Skills Workshop (CSW) and the Couples Communication Program (CCP)--and a wait-list control group were compared on measures of communication effectiveness, problem solving and relationship satisfaction. Subjects were 54 volunteer couples randomly assigned to conditions. Highly distressed…

After discussing the rhetorical nature of physician/patient interactions, this paper describes and analyzes six medical interviews to illustrate the evolution of interpersonal and role relationships between physicians and patients, the sorts of information that are shared, and the way problems are resolved. The interviews that are described…

Two studies of a total of 17 preadolescent emotionally disturbed children were undertaken to observe children's reflective and naturalistic social cognition, and to utilize a developmental sequence of levels of interpersonal understanding to evaluate the interpersonal problem solving skills of emotionally disturbed children. Individual interviews…