This paper traces the development of the functionalist position chronologically through its major permutations, from the defining contributions of Emile Durkheim, Bronislaw Malinowski, and A. R. Radcliffe-Brown in its anthropological phase through its development in American sociology by Talcott Parsons and Robert K. Merton to its explicit…

Speech plays important and complex roles in self-regulation and is experienced in several distinct forms: as a social-discursive mode of communication and direction (social speech), as vocalizations directed to the self rather than to others (private speech), and as the phenomenologically subjective "interior dialogue" through which the…

Studies of listening in the past have almost consistently been of the observer type, where participants watch a videotape and/or listen to an audio tape as stimulus material. However, a more accurate measure of true listening ability can only be done in an interactive setting. A study measured relational listening (an individual's ability to…

A study examined whether a person's ability to accurately identify a voice is influenced by factors similar to those proposed by the Supreme Court for eyewitness identification accuracy. In particular, the Supreme Court has suggested that a person's prior description accuracy of a suspect, degree of attention to a suspect, and confidence in…

Protocol analysis, a technique that uses people's verbal reports about their cognitions as they engage in an assigned task, has been used in a number of applications to provide insight into how people mentally plan, assess, and carry out those assignments. Using a system of networked computers where actors communicate with each other over…

In recent years, movement theorists have examined how rhetorical movements acquire legitimacy from established orders. The focus of past research has been the rhetorical dilemma of noninstitutional movements seeking recognition. David Zarefsky conceptualized establishment social movements as being rhetorically indistinguishable from…

A reply to "Beyond Rhetorical Relativism," a 1982 article written by E. Croasmun and R. A. Cherwitz, this paper suggests that that article suffers from a poor choice and unclear usage of language, a weak line of argument, and a faulty conceptualization of the issues. The first section of the paper reviews the arguments presented by…

A survey was conducted of the personnel directors in the "Fortune" 500 listing of top American corporations to determine their current communication policies and practices. A follow-up survey focused on the 98 companies that had indicated that they employed a communication director. Among the major findings of the survey are the…

A study suggests a new approach for evaluating debate techniques. Previously used paradigms all have some disadvantages. Application of the policy-making paradigm, which involves isolating a problem, having one side propose a solution, then having the opponent point out the solution's disadvantages, is difficult because the paradigm does not…

A study examined the impact of structure and organizational ideology on organizational communication and the efficacy of that communication behavior with reporters. To do this, a model was formulated and tested. A random sample of articles focusing on non-elective organizations was drawn from seven Maryland, Delaware, and District of Columbia…

This study investigated the contributions of fundamental frequency, formant spacing, and glottal waveform to talker identification. The first two experiments focused on the effect of glottal waveform in the perception of talker identity. Subjects in the first experiment, 30 undergraduate students enrolled in an introductory psychology course,…

This edition of the public relations annotated bibliography (approximately 950 entries) contains titles published in 1986 and 1987 and includes books, magazines, master's theses, and doctoral dissertations that pertain to the practice and analysis of public relations. Among the extensive list of topics covered in the bibliography are: (1) business…

Focusing on the status, progress, instrumentation, and applications of studies on the nature of speech, this report contains the following research studies: "The Role of Psychophysics in Understanding Speech Perception" (B. H. Repp); "Specialized Perceiving Systems for Speech and Other Biologically Significant Sounds" (I. G. Mattingly; A. M.…

Several theories exist to explain the differences in the interruptive behavior of men and women. Early research suggested that men interrupt more than women, and this finding was attributed to the dominant/submissive relationship traditional in relationships among men and women. Later studies, however, found that either there were no significant…

Cross examination has become a standard and important feature of contemporary debate and a great deal has been written concerning its tactical aspects. Very little, however, has been written about the fundamental strategic problem which is created by the three-minute time limit--specifically, how to use that limited period of time to its best…