Although much interest has been generated regarding the functions speaking centers serve and the effects consultations can have, minimal research has addressed the dynamics of consultations themselves. This study documents what speaking center clients and consultants identify as barriers in consultations and how they address them. Analysis of…

A study examined the effects of parental divorce on college students, comparing college students in five areas of social development according to parental marital status: evaluation of parent/child relationships; relationship commitment and satisfaction; dating frequency and satisfaction; attitudes toward marriage; and sexual activity and…

A study examined the trajectory of uncertainty about a partner (target uncertainty) and uncertainty about what to say and do (conversational uncertainty) during initial interaction, those factors of the interaction which impact uncertainty, and the extent to which uncertainty reduction is mutual and collects around "critical events."…

Documents the multiple goals and implications of advice among white, middle-class, college students. Identifies three dilemmas of seeking, receiving, and giving advice: (1) advice may be seen as helpful or as "butting-in"; (2) advice may be experienced as honest or supportive; and (3) seeking and taking advice may enact respect and…

Explores social support and community development among 17 members of a computer-supported distance learning program. Reveals the importance of community and its role in supporting the students. Recommends promoting initial bonding, monitoring and supporting continued interaction and participation, and providing multiple means of communication to…

Despite theoretical arguments that avoiding certain topics can be functional, there is consistent evidence that avoiding topics tends to be associated with dissatisfying relationships. This disparity between theory and empirical findings suggests a need to understand better the connection between topic avoidance and relational dissatisfaction. The…

Examines social perceivers' cognitive processing strategies when formulating deceptive attributions. Finds that deceptive attributions were based on the subject's relationship with the liar (friend or stranger) and the timing of the deceptive encounter (before or after truthful interactions). Notes that women formulated more severe deceptive…

Examines effects of a child's age on interpretation of a violent act. Notes subjects were showed clips that depicted identical violent acts in which punishment and provocation were manipulated to create four conditions. Finds that younger children thought that unpunished violence was more right than punished violence, and older children thought…

Predicating that undergraduate students' judgments of teaching ability are based on perceptions of the instructor's linguistic nonstandardness rather than on actual (or manipulated) language patterns, a study examined differences among students' perceptions of non-native English-speaking instructors (NNSI). Photographs of either a Chinese, a…

Thematic interviews of teachers and students in web-based courses described social interaction in terms of stage analysis and dramaturgy: role, stage, audience, script, and episode. Lack of nonverbal communication affects these elements. Even in the web medium, participants tend to continue roles from the face-to-face classroom. (Contains 20…

Children have much to teach educators about the kinds of group work that enhance their social, emotional, and cognitive development. Using children's own words, this playlet juxtaposes third-grade and fifth/sixth grade views of how group work helps and hinders their school experiences in literacy learning. Students in both age groups experienced…

Two studies were conducted examining the sex role stereotyping and status differentiation of college professors by their students. The first study examined student perceptions of college professors' ideal traits to ascertain possible influences of sex role stereotyping. A total of 184 students participated in a three-stage process of selecting the…

A study surveyed 972 college students for their preferences in classroom arrangement (tradition straight-row, horseshoe, and modular) and their seating preferences within each style. Results indicated that students' arrangement preferences are influenced by both attractiveness of the course and the individual student's communication apprehension…

This study focused on verbal and nonverbal immediacy behaviors of teachers, the relationship between immediacy variables and cognitive learning, as well as homophily, interpersonal solidarity, and student attentiveness at the senior-high school level. Subjects, 87 female and 73 male senior-high school students enrolled in interpersonal…

Examining how students respond to gender-related issues, a study observed six classroom discussions of Fundamentals of Interpersonal Communication, an introductory level college course which integrated gender issues. Four different classes, each consisting of 25-30 male and female students averaging 18-20 years of age, participated in the study.…