This paper reports on a research study which attempted to determine whether competition could generate the same enthusiasm in the classroom (for learning) as it does on the playing field (in sports). Ninth grade world cultures students at Concord-Carlisle High School, Concord, Massachusetts were led to believe that they were competing in an…

To analyze the usefulness of forensics judges' written comments and to understand how to improve ballots, a content analysis of 175 ballots from schools in a competition district was conducted. Categories for analysis included the following: (1) quantity of comments; (2) format of the ballot; (3) types of comments (including selection,…

For many outsiders, Japanese education evokes a picture of exaggerated competitiveness. The whole educational process tends to be aimed at the university entrance examination, and this emphasis imposes formidable psychological pressure on young adolescents. Preoccupied with preparation for the upper schools, Japanese educators seem to have…

This study was designed to determine forensics students' ability to predict accurately how judges they knew from previous tournaments would rank them in rounds of competitive individual events. The study examined the following hypotheses: (1) contestants can predict how they will do in rounds of competition; and (2) contestants in prepared oral…

In order to realize the full potential of this evolving information age and make its capabilities available to the greatest number of consumers, the telephone companies must be permitted to participate fully in the information and information-related markets. Indeed, a principal issue during this period of rapidly changing market conditions is the…

The perennial issues of which historians remind us are issues of pressure - those we experience as adults and those we put on our children. The recurrent ambivalences concern progress. Every generation imagines itself the first to be forced to confront the pellmell pace of modern life. History is nothing if not a study in unintended consequences.…

As women enter nontraditional occupations and training programs, tokenism may develop and its side-effects of visibility, contrast, and assimilation may appear. Each of these effects was encountered by the first class of women cadets at the United States Military Academy, West Point, in 1976, who received great visibility from the news media. This…

Ninety-six male students participated in an experiment studying the relationship between reciprocity and compensation in dyadic communication. The subjects were asked to solve a hypothetical problem and, depending on their pretest instructions, were given an orientation toward competition or cooperation with their partners. Time was used to test…

Multiple regression techniques were used to examine the business side of local television news operations for November 1978. Research questions examined the effect of several variables on local television news prices (advertising rates), including type of ownership, network affiliation/signal type, market size, cable network penetration, market…

H.R. 13015, the proposed revision of the Communications Act of 1934, is consistent in many aspects with Federal Communications Commission (FCC) trends toward greater reliance on marketplace forces than on regulation, but some portions of the bill should be reexamined before the final rewrite. First, the new bill would shift from a "public…

This study develops an action research approach to the investigation of children's games and sports activities. Eight hypotheses concerning the differential effects of participation in organized sports and participation in child-directed games are generated from a review of theory and research. Hypothesis 1 postulates that participation in…

Coaching students for excellence in the individual events of forensics should encompass the contexts of education, rhetoric, art, and competition. Coaches must keep in mind that forensic events are built on the principles of communication theory, not the rules of contest, and that an effective individual event experience will be the result of…

How games influence the psychological and social development of children is examined. It is pointed out that the current emphasis on competition and winning at all costs is harmful and that competition is not instinctive but a learned response to society's expectations. Other cultures such as the Eskimo and Chinese are presented as examples of…

A two-year interinstitutional study among 15 cooperating universities was conducted to determine whether significant differences exist in teaching loads among the selected universities as measured by student credit hours produced by full-time equivalent faculty. The statistical model was a multivariate analysis of variance with fixed effects and…

Research examining the effects of sports participation on children and youth is reviewed from the perspective of psychological and physical development. Statistical information regarding the participation rate in different kinds of youth sports is given. The effects of prolonged athletic activity on bone, muscle, and adipose tissue growth is…