A previous version of expectation theory assumed that the likelihood that evaluations will be accepted and used to assign performance expectations for group members depends upon the perceived ability level of the evaluator. An extension of the theory asserts that, in the absence of knowledge of the evaluator's ability, acceptance of his…

The booklet, designed as a practical guide, deals with the preparation of instructional objectives for teaching and testing. Emphasized are the statement of instructional objectives as learning outcomes and the definition of the objectives in terms of specific types of behavior (knowledge or skills) expected of students at the end of the learning…

This study examined the extent of children's awareness of the semantic subtleties of the word "promise" and their comprehension of sentences following an atypical syntactic pattern using "promise" as the main verb. Subjects included children within three months of being six-and-one-half, eight-and-one-half, nine-and-one-half, and ten-and-one-half…

The results of several research studies designed to evaluate different theories of work motivation are presented. Graen (1967), through hiring 169 high school girls to do a clerical task, showed that ability measures can account for far more performance variance than motivation variables such as expectancy and instrumentality. Similar results were…

A review of the literature indicates that measures of the McClelland-Atkinson need-Achievement (nAch) construct are weak in terms of both reliability and validity. The most serious weakness of the model's validity is the lack of evidence for the hypothesized positive relationship between nAch and performance. In addition, the inverse relationship…

This report deals with the effects of an individual's expectations regarding how he will be tested on what he does during learning and what gets stored in memory. It is maintained that essay exams requiring recall are preferable to objective (recognition) tests. There are some bits of empirical evidence as well as some theoretical reasons to…

A test group of 78 students in advanced journalism courses at Ohio University were assigned the role of "editor" in an attempt to determine whether newspaper editors can predict the preferences of their readers. Seventy-eight other students from classes in mass communication, introductory psychology, and journalism were assigned the role of…

A study was conducted to find whether race, socio-economic status (SES) and language cues of speakers modify the ratings of white experienced teachers. Subjects were 250 white male and female experienced teachers whose responses were recorded on a semantic differential designed to assess teacher expectancies on two concepts: speaker and speaker's…

Laboratory research and initial studies of the effects of goal setting in the classroom indicate that goal setting increases achievement. Thus, goal setting may prove to be an effective motivational technique for use in the schools. Goal setting, however, is influenced by many factors such as knowledge of results, explicitness of goals, difficulty…

This paper describes a laboratory experiment which was a replication and extension of an earlier study, both of which are part of an effort to synthesize the findings of two somewhat different approaches to the study of interpersonal attraction. The first of these approaches is a secondary reinforcement interpretation and in general assumes a…

A program designed to provide prospective secondary speech teachers with intern experiences in addition to those received during the formal student teaching program was initiated at Michigan State University. Objectives of the program are to: (1) analyze the classroom situation from a communication process point of view, (2) observe a variety of…

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the process of change within a construct as it undergoes either weakening by invalidation or strengthening by validation. Furthermore, this process was considered in terms of affective versus nonaffective constructs in order to determine whether invalidated affective constructs are more subject to…

Responses to a questionnaire administered to 24 Black and 27 White elementary school teachers indicated there were no significant differences in attitudes toward disadvantaged youth and poverty. Both groups expressed pessimistic expectations. (JC)

Concludes that expectancy-violation (when audience does not expect the position a communicator advocates) enhances persuasive effectiveness more than similarity or unexpected similarity. (RL)