The effectiveness of two variations of elaborative interrogation for group settings was investigated in an experiment in which 88 college students, aged 18 to 50 years, learned factual sentence information and responded, orally or in writing, to questions about the information. Subjects met in groups of eight to 12 members that were randomly…

To develop adult learning groups in formal educational settings, the educator must understand the nature of learning in groups. Three types of group learning are instrumental, communicative, and emancipatory. The type of learning that occurs in groups varies according to the learning tasks and goals. Group learning that has as its goal the…

This paper discusses leadership styles and the stages of development of a group. Situational leadership is based on the amount of direction (task behavior) and the amount of socio-emotional support (relationship behavior) the leader must provide given the situation and level of maturity or readiness of the followers. Having gauged the maturity…

This document examines the function of social conventions among strangers. Conventions are regularities in behavior, sustained by an interest in coordination and an expectation of cooperation. Such regularities may arise temporarily or fall just as temporarily; they may exist in a particular time or place and may take time to evolve. From the…

The organizational development strategy of the W. T. Grant Company, an overlapping group teamwork approach, is directed toward accountability, planned change, individual recognition, experience-based behavior, group morale, smooth information and communication flow, and decision making. (EA)

The Nominal Group Technique (NGT) is one of several structured, small group approaches that can be used in the evaluation process. It has most often been used in needs assessment, to generate categories of potential need and/or alternative solutions to perceived specific problems. The process is based on a set of rules and uses silent idea…

Aimed at community planning groups, this guide has been developed to help clarify the role and responsibilities of a facilitator involved with community planning. The booklet maintains that a facilitator's purpose is to help a group reach its own goals and to encourage those involved in community planning to contribute positively. It explains how…

The aim of this article is to review Cronbach and Gage's discussion of the artifacts in accuracy experiments, to suggest that they are not such serious obstacles as has been thought, to outline a method of studying the problem, and to present some data showing how the method works. (Author)

The hypothesized effect of a person-group attitude similarity on one's desire for leadership status was confirmed in an attitude survey of 48 college students. (Author/KM)

Research supported by grants from the National Science Foundation and the National Institute of Health.

This booklet is about planning for citizen involvement; it suggests both a framework and a process for planning, after interest in an idea is evident but before resources for implementation are available. Experience with citizen involvement efforts suggests that successful planning has three elements. The first is a shared vision of potential:…

Negro and Caucasian secondary school counselors from the school districts of North Florida and South Georgia were given the opportunity to extend their knowledge of each other's race. The counselors were provided with actual experience, through interracial group processes, that enabled them to increase their skills in communicating with persons of…

A collection of six papers presented on separate occasions to practicing administrators deals with the need for better leadership in administration. The authors and titles of the papers are (1) R. B. Howsam, "Administering Tomorrow's Schools," (2) H. W. Kitchen, "Recent Studies Relating to Leadership," (3) Alan F. Brown, "Reactions to Leadership,"…

Twenty-five groups, each consisting of one superior and three subordinates, participated in a problem-solving exercise to test the hypotheses that subordinates who are exposed to external conflict, in conjunction with their immediate superior, will perceive their immediate superior as more credible and more homophilous than those who are not…

Many variables relate to the successful functioning of groups, but one that is fundamental is the size of the group. Part 1 of this bibliography includes a selection of studies from small-group research in experimental social psychology. Part 2 of this report represents an attempt at a rigorous review of the feelings of clinicians and counselors…