This study examines behavioral mediators which might possibly be associated with risk taking. Specifically, it is concerned with answering the question of whether there are attributes of a risk taking situation which make it more conducive for males to take greater risks than for females. The situation used in this experiment, a regulation…

This study investigates the interaction of three cognitive (functional, constructive, dramatic) and three social (solitary, parallel, group) dimensions of free play activities and their stability over time among boys and girls in a preschool setting. Subjects were 18 children attending a university preschool in Southwestern Ontario. Data for each…

This report statistically aggregates 230 studies on the effects of television viewing on social behavior. All empirical studies that measured a social behavior or attitude of subjects who had seen a non-educational television film or videotape and which had a program comparison group were considered appropriate. Pre-post comparison studies and…

The papers collected in this volume were originally presented at a conference, funded by the University of Wyoming humanities program, designed to stimulate discussion of the issues surrounding the role of communication in establishing healthy human interaction. Section one contains the major position paper of the conference: John Stewart's "Where…

This study attempts to compare the perceptions and self-reported behavior of high, middle, and low authoritarian advertising executives, business executives, and members of the general public concerning the social effects of advertising. For the advertising sample, a total of 393 men and women were selected according to their executive positions…

This study examined the effects of age and sex on the degree to which altruistic behavior could be manipulated in a laboratory setting. The 192 children who participated were divided equally by sex into three age groups: 5-6 years, 7-9 years, and 10-12 years. Sex was varied both as a recipient and a benefactor characteristic. The experimental…

This study examined the social labels which are first used by infants, social differentiation on the basis of labeling behavior, and overgeneralization of social labels. Subjects were 81 infants from 9 to 36 months of age. The 9- to 24-month-olds were shown slides of themselves, their mothers, their fathers, and unfamiliar children, babies, and…

This paper describes and reports research on a model of the determination of behavioral intention by belief structures, derived from a theory proposed by Don Dulany in 1968. The new model construes "belief structures," and defines message variables, in ways suggestive for communication research. Findings reported support several…

The care or neglect which people bestow on the appearance and cleanliness of the public places in which they live and work is the central focus of this paper. Basically the phenomenon that is studied is that encountered when people who are usually law abiding, orderly, and responsible citizens deviate from the prescribed and insituttionalized…

People take their folk gestures seriously, which is illustrated in the fact that several folk gestures, such as raising the right hand and kissing the Bible, are used in religious and legal ceremonies. These and other gestures, such as making the sign of the cross and knocking on wood, are folk gestures used today which have their roots in early…

Frequency of aggression in 5- to 8-year-old children was examined in relation to frequency of helping, comforting and sharing. Subjects (39 boys and 40 girls attending a summer day camp) were each observed for two hours and their aggressive and prosocial behaviors recorded. This study differed from previous investigations of this issue in two…

The purpose of this study was to determine the predicted differences in the effectiveness of social approval and disapproval cues. Three hypotheses were tested to determine what the effect on communication is if the source of the cue is a peer, family member, or society and what the response will be when a message advocates a position discrepant…

The aim of attitude measurement is to derive indices of socially significant behavior. It is therefore necessary to broaden the basis of measurement to include data derived from a variety of sources. The widening gulf between the increasing sophistication of measurement and the relatively crude conceptualizations on which it is based is likely…

To investigate the effect of modeling on altruism, 156 third and fifth grade children were exposed to a model who either shared with them, gave to a charity, or refused to share. The test apparatus, identified as a game, consisted of a box with signal lights and a chute through which marbles were dispensed. Subjects and the model played the game…

Social control and human engineering are vital factors in providing balanced, controlled, planned directions for educational decisionmaking. Designed to encourage individual growth, these factors are morally neutral; the way in which they are implemented determines their worth. (Author)