A study examined the narrative structures present in one young girl's writing and the way those themes were incorporated into a group's oral story creation. Stories were collected during a summer reading and writing group as part of a qualitative study exploring narrative structures being used by preadolescent girls. Subjects were 14 girls from…

Reading response groups are an outgrowth of theories which suggest that: (1) meaning derived from text is highly individualized and personal, and (2) reader understanding is deepened through interactions among peers. A study examined the non-participation in one reading response group composed of four high-achieving adult readers who were…

A study examined how collaborative writing groups functioned in a Madison, Wisconsin high school classroom. The class in the study was ninth-grade English "Academically Motivated" (which is neither high nor low tracked). The researcher spent the first 9-week quarter in the classroom observing, taking field notes, teaching some of the classes that…

One aspect of organizational work groups has been ignored by both group and organizational communication researchers. The concluding period or termination of an organizational work group is disregarded while research focuses on the assignment, development, and maintenance of groups. In the organizational context, how work groups process the…

Noting that it is important in communication classes to devise ways to help students to be comfortable with each other, this paper maintains that icebreakers and group builders are strategies that are vital in creating openness and trust in such classes. The paper offers eight icebreakers (activities designed to help students feel comfortable with…

In many ways young people appear to be using and abusing alcohol as a ritual in their "rites of passage" to adulthood, perhaps as a symbolic means to demonstrate their "adultness." Anthropologists have documented the importance of rites of passage rituals for marking the successful passage from one position in a social…

This study investigated information needs and use by groups in decision-making processes. Problem contexts were varied by conflict, quality, and time conditions and presented to 89 graduate level education students who simulated school board members making decisions about educational programs. The research hypotheses were: (1) there are no…

The nature and process of participatory discussion are discussed, and reference is made to the British system of tutor-led groups. It is suggested that discussion is the essence of university life, since it can be used to discover the ways in which students view the knowledge and principles that the scholar presents. Discussion also provides the…

Ten weeks of assertion training was provided to eight mental hospital paraprofessionals. These trained subjects served as either counselor or counselee in a microcounseling session with eight paraprofessionals who were untrained in assertion training. Assertion-trained counselors were superior to untrained counselors on a set of…

Subjects responded to risk and caution life-dilemma problems in either a group discussion or a control procedure. Before and after experimental treatment, subjects filled in a questionnaire involving whether or not the character in the dilemma should take the risk. Results are discussed. (Author)

This article examines the idea that social norms are not permanently incorporated into a person's personality. The author presents the argument that in a group situation subjects are conditioned toward similarity while afterward, the individual's behavior gradually returns to an "operant level". Tests show this argument to be essentially true.…

Describes the use of the Pattern Variable Coding Method for classifying communication themes found in small groups. (MH)

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of the differential application of reinforcing and punishing light cues in the manipulation of verbal behavior and leadership status in small groups. (Author)

A technique for assisting students in selecting and organizing data for compositions is explained. (JH)