These facilitator's skill packets contain seven individual packets related to advanced social skills: (1) asking for help; (2) joining in; (3) giving instructions; (4) following instructions; (5) apologizing; (6) convincing others; and (7) making a decision. Each packet contains the following sections: definition of advanced social skills;…

Social competence promotion has emerged as a promising strategy for the prevention of adolescent antisocial behavior. However, although evaluations of social skills training interventions consistently have shown improvements in participants' skill levels, the evidence for long-term behavioral improvements is equivocal. Variables such as social…

An increasing number of corporations are using some form of experience-based outdoor training and development. Most of these programs follow a general process that includes: (1) introduction of the activity by the facilitator; (2) the experiential activity (during which the facilitator is observer or safety monitor); and (3) debriefing or…

Peer helping is a system of delivering service to young people who do not seek it from traditional sources. The peer helping program teaches young people to help fellow students solve personal problems, to demonstrate positive social skills, and to serve as role models in social situations. Training, which initially uses discussion and group…

Understanding how people choose their work and educational environments and the dynamics that lead to satisfaction in these environments is critical to optimizing productivity and self actualization. The Strong Interest Inventory and the Social Skills Inventory were administered to 113 undergraduates to test the hypothesis that social types…

Training managers from Fortune 500 companies were sent standardized instruments for the assessment of the psychological, interpersonal, motivational, and demographic makeup of excellent trainers. These training managers were asked to describe, by completing standardized instruments, the best trainers in their organizations. Results were analyzed…

Adulthood for females is a complex maturational process, rooted in the mother-daughter relationship. To investigate the dynamics of the mother-daughter relationship and its influence on maturing, 20 women, ranging in age from 30 to 75, were interviewed for 6 to 8 hours over a 1-month period. The subjects were chosen for their self-reflective…

Previous research has suggested that behavioral differences between shy and not shy persons may be explained by differences in inhibition rather than differences in interpersonal skills. To investigate the behavior of high and low social anxiety subjects in both ambiguous social situations and in explicitly structured ones, three studies using…

Examined were preschoolers' naturally occurring behaviors during their attempts to gain, maintain, and regain materials, space, and peers' attention/interaction in the classroom. The major question addressed was, Are there differences between "most" and "least" competent preschoolers in terms of (1) frequency and type of…

Embarrassment is an aversive state which occurs when the public image a person is trying to maintain during an interaction is abruptly discredited. When people are embarrassed, they try to salvage the situation by offering positive information about themselves to restore their endangered identities. To examine responses to the threat of impending…

The use of sensory awareness training and the place of training were systematically controlled in four fourth-grade classrooms. Analysis of variance produced significant effects of intervention training in both settings. This supports the hypothesis that sensory awareness and personal contact promote lessening of social distance within groups.…

This study investigated whether learning a second language (French) affected the social skills and verbal communication abilities of English-speaking kindergarten, first grade, and second grade children. (JMB)

Social behavior skills were taught to 7- and 8-year-old resource room students through controlled simulation of real-life situations in which students were encouraged to think of various solutions to a problem, evaluate them, and apply the best one. (CL)

A three-day training course in delegating provides an analysis of the principles involved, simulates many inherent difficulties, and provides feedback to junior managers who are learning how to delegate tasks and responsibilities to subordinates. (AJ)

Papers from the meeting "Prevention Research: Deterring Drug Abuse Among Children and Adolescents" which focused on social skills and social inoculation approaches and also included a contrasting cognitive-developmental approach are presented in this document. These papers are included: (1) "Overview of Drug Abuse Prevention Research," (Catherine…