This biographical sketch of Barton Warren Stone, an early American advocate of the Restoration Movement, describes and interprets some of the innate and environmental factors that must have been to a large measure responsible for his leadership of what has been called the largest indigenous American religious movement. It details some of the…

Four age levels of 80 learning disabled (LD) students (7.5-8.11, 9.0-10.5, 10.6-11.11, and 12.0-13.5 years) participated in an examination of syntactic maturity and vocabulary richness in their oral language. Ss were shown two films without the sound turned on, and were then tape recorded as they told the story of the film in their own words.…

A 112-item Multi-Modal Articulation Analysis test was administered to 116 Head Start children ranging in age from 4 years, 6 months to 5 years, 5 months. The test involves presenting to the subject an object, or representation thereof, requiring a one-word response. Four modes of stimulus presentation were used: (1) actual objects, (2) black and…

In an exercise designed to make students aware of their tendencies to examine a persuasive message from a single perspective, students were given a "Saturday Review" letter urging opposition to a bill. They were then told it was a hoax. Next, they were asked to specify "believable" and "unbelievable" features of the…

This report summarizes two studies conducted as part of a continuing research program designed to examine relational perceptions in dyadic communication contexts. A mutual-causal, relational paradigm tested the nature of interpersonal solidarity in dyads consisting of acquaintances, co-workers, family members, and friends. Results of both studies…

This document reports and interprets the survey data produced by the National Center for Education Statistics regarding course offerings and enrollments in secondary speech communication courses in 1961 and 1973. The purpose of assessing this data was to help identify the states with model programs, identify the values shown in standard-setting…

Previous research has demonstrated that 11 linguistic indices discriminate between truthful and deceptive language behavior. On the basis of subjective judgment, the original researchers arranged these indices in clusters (dimensions) of deceptive language behavior: uncertainty, vagueness, negative affect, and reticence. The present study sought…

This document begins by discussing several conflicting opinions on the distinction between historical scholarship and rhetorical criticism. It then compares and contrasts historiography and rhetorical criticism in an attempt to define a role for historical research in the field of speech communication. Both areas of scholarship use comparable…

A new method for the measurement of consensus in small groups is proposed. The method allows for the study of the dynamic formation of consensus and, with the aid of some mathematical manipulations, reveals the development of subgroup relations over time. In a pilot test, the method was used to study groups of students choosing a topic which they…

Subjects were given three trials to speak and to write as fast as they could both the alphabet and a set of two-digit numbers. The speed or oral responding was approximately 6 syllables per second for letters and 7 syllables per second for digits. The speed for writing was approximately 2 items per second for both digits and letters. Correlations…

Acceptance of responsibility for their written expression can be encouraged in college students through oral games which emphasize the linguistic sensibility they possessed as children. The basic elements of good written language (pleasing sounds, repetition, word play, surprise, climax) are often paralleled in riddles, game rituals, and other…

This study examined the effects of differential time pressures on small group members' rankings of one another based on vocal activity. Vocal activity was operationalized as observed frequency of interaction. Time pressure was manipulated by allowing either six minutes or no time limit on a group problem-solving task. Main effects were…

This paper reports on a study designed to investigate the kinds of responses people produce during wrong-number telephone calls and to discover the rules that appear to govern the choices of the responses and their relationships. Fifty-seven calls were placed at different times during the day over a period of several weeks. The sentences used to…

The structure and organization of the first four levels of the Southwest Regional Laboratory (SWRL) Drama and Public Speaking Program to be tried out in 1972-1973 are described in this paper. The program structure is defined in terms of skill, content, and assessment areas. Specific subareas of content are listed and are to be used to guide lesson…

This booklet deals with the unique problem of writing and preparing news for the electronic media where it will be presented orally. The contents of this monograph include "The United Press International Broadcast Newswire,""The United Press International Audio Network,""Broadcast…