A field investigation of 32 groups of communally reared children utilizing 10 categories of group behavior reported group behavior forms and child socialization in groups of toddlers and preschoolers 18 months to 42 months of age. The groups were equally divided (16 each) among "total" and "day care" types and were age-homogeneous. Group forms…

Sensitivity training is one type of experience-based learning in which participants work together in a small group over an extended period of time learning through analysis of their own experiences. The primary setting is the T Group (T for training) in which a staff member sets up an ambiguous situation which allows participants to choose the…

Marathon groups offer individuals an opportunity to engage in intensified, authentic personal encounter with each other in a small group setting, usually with 10-15 persons in a group. This is a report of tentative findings at the Student Life Center, University of Colorado. There were three matched groups, each with nine sophomores. The first…

Fourteen papers delivered at the 1976 national forum on residential services sponsored by the National Association for Retarded Citizens are presented. Among topics addressed are historical perspectives on institutional change and normalization, a continuum of residential alternatives, deinstitutionalization, funding resources, funding strategies,…

This booklet is one in a series designed to bridge the gap between theory and practice by suggesting specific classroom activities based on current educational theory and research. Approximately half of the booklet is devoted to a review of current research and theory concerning small group discussion and interaction. The second half presents…

The purpose of the 1973 Pilot Literacy Project (Victoria, Australia) was to explore the nature of the problem of nonmigrant adults who had attended school but who considered themselves illiterate or functionally illiterate, to discover what sort of people were illiterate and to what extent, and to examine home influences and educational…

This booklet serves as a basis for an experience-based group guidance workshop for school counselors. By providing activities, practice in methodology, and feedback, the workshop aims at the following objectives: (1) to equip counselors with specific techniques appropriate to group leaders; (2) to encourage counselor creativity in group guidance…

This study sought to discover how 91 counselor trainees felt about participating in an encounter group as part of their program. Subjects responded to pre-course, post-course, and followup questionnaires dealing with their attitudes toward groups and the actual group experience, and behavioral change attributable to the group experience.…

In a description of two kinds of undergraduate courses involving development groups, the author differentiates between one course format that alternates a lecture-laboratory approach and one that makes no distinction between lecture and laboratory components. Both categories, cover a variety of cognitive material such as personality theory,…

This book is divided into three parts. Part I discusses the art of Group Conversation per se. It is the art of face-to-face sharing of meaningful experiences--such as memories of Christmas as a child--in a spontaneous atmosphere that quickly breaks down hostilities and produces rapport. Part II discusses the techniques of this art. Basically,…

The author reviews the research conducted on dyadic interaction and its role in the development of creative thinking and problem solving. Earlier research has shown that children at a certain stage prefer to work alone rather than with other children. However, empirical data have shown on the whole that dyadic interactions result in better…

This study investigated the basic question of whether there is actually measurable change in personality characteristics occurring during or subsequent to the encounter group experience. The study examined instruments which may prove useful in the detection of change in an objective and quantifiable mode which can be subjected to statistical…

Based on the premise that therapy is a way of learning, two Field Centers were developed: (1) a small group in New Mexico who studied geology, botany, wilderness survival skills and themselves, the latter using group dream study methods and (2) a group in Switzerland to study Jungian psychology including individual analysis. (JT)

Describing the advantages of "mini-group homes" established for adolescents in rural Wisconsin, this article examines the feasibility of small-group foster homes as applicable to social work in rural areas. (JC)

An analysis of the interaction between social competence and type of environment showed that residents of low-rise dormitories were significantly more satisfied and established more dormitory-based friendships than residents of a high-rise mega-dorm setting. A number of interactions were found between social competence, type of environment, and…