Describes characteristics of immature, or regressive groups, including avoidance of conflict, abdication of responsibility, and psychic numbness; and characteristics of mature, or generative groups, including group transcendence. Examines the notion of group mind and concludes that the evolution of mind is dependent on the group's psychological…

Analyzes the way task proceedings engender emotional reactions, the conditions under which these are expressed in positive and negative socioemotional behavior, and the effect of such behavior on the status hierarchy in informal task groups. Suggests that the expression of socioemotional behavior in task groups is deeply intertwined with the…

Describes the use of four-person task assessments which were designed as a means of examining children's social interaction outside the classroom setting. Provides information concerning tasks and information obtained. Concludes that these tasks can be repeated over a period of years in order to evaluate the growth and maturity of subjects. (KO)

Investigated self-disclosure in college students (N=144) who were assigned to groups of four receiving either a self-disclosure or placebo treatment. Found self-disclosure intervention resulted in significantly higher group cohesiveness, commitment to task and productivity; females demonstrated greater cohesiveness and commitment to task than did…

Addresses the potential of camp to promote self-esteem and nurture a sense of community. Summarizes articles in this journal issue that focus on individual and group behavior including homesickness, how camps can promote positive attitudes toward disabled campers, and a camp program that provides respite care for families of children with AIDS.…

Presents study results examining social pressure within sexually homogenous groups. Explains that cohesiveness, based on common beliefs, was established in half of the sample while prevented in the remainder. Reports that groups were required to reach consensus after conflict was introduced. Concludes that low cohesion groups showed the greatest…

Female students in a graduate journalism program in Britain failed in a common attempt to counter sexist treatment during their training in this male-dominated profession resulting from the priorities of the school and demands of the program. (DM)

A study investigated behaviors, interactions, and learning outcomes of 22 children with learning disabilities who participated in structured and unstructured group activities. Children in the structured groups were more involved in group activities, provided more directions and help to others, and obtained a significantly higher performance on a…

Describes research used to develop an original instrument, the Workforce Diversity Questionnaire, to assess interactions in diverse workgroups. States that a set of proposed dimensions was developed theoretically from literature on cultural diversity, discrimination, and intergroup processes. Explains how validity was tested through confirmatory…

This study examined the peer social behaviors of 38 deaf or hard of hearing (D/HH) and 44 hearing children (preschool through grade 1) during free play in small integrated groups. Videotapes were analyzed for peer interaction, play, peer initiations/child responses, and child initiations/peer responses. D/HH and hearing children showed similar…

Tests the use of modeling and wait-time as guided-tour procedures and their use by docents as a strategy for increasing visitor questions. Modeling and wait-time seemed clearly important in encouraging visitors to begin to ask questions. Visitors asked an average of seven times more questions than had been asked on pre-experimental tours. (PVD)

Investigated how Greek kindergartners construct and negotiate the context of their shared beliefs, experience, and interests through the form and meaning of their social behavior. Found that prosocial behavior in the form of empathy was a commonly accepted peer culture concern. Empathy forms either a friendship criteria, which questions the issue…

In this article, we elaborate methodologies to study construction of knowledge in argumentative activities. For this purpose, we report on a quasi-empirical study on construction of knowledge through successive argumentative activities on a controversial issue. A group of 120 fifth grade students participated in successive argumentative…

Peer groups matter more than we think. In this paper we assert that peer group commitments and affiliations are often the primary social reference in determining the way young people think about and practice risk. It is, we argue, inappropriate to impose adult constructions of risk-taking and anti-social behaviour when trying to assert influence…

This article reports the group equivalents to deep and surface learning approaches by individuals. The learning behaviour of out-of-class student groups was examined through 57 individual and 15 focus group interviews with university students in Hong Kong. A number of types of learning activities were identified and most had variants with…