Federal Bills and Resolutions

The introduction of federal legislation, mandated by Article I, Section 7 of the United States Constitution, is in the form of bills and joint resolutions. This article reviews aspects of the lawmaking process in the context of constitutional amendments; commemorative legislation; pork-barrel measures, including logrolling; and a bill about the United coinage system. Throughout, the examples given show the difficulty of passage from bill to law, made deliberately arduous by the framers of the Constitution.     

Measuring patients' communication apprehension about interacting with physicians: Instrument development

The purpose of these studies was to develop an instrument to measure patients' perceived communication apprehension in patient/physician interactions. In the first stydy, a five item Patients' Report of Communication Apprehension with Physicians (PRCAP) was developed. The scale appears to be a reliable, unidimensional scale which shows a moderate positive correlation with the Personal Report of Communication Apprehension (PRCA), a moderate negative correlation with willingness to communicate (WTC), and a moderate negative correlation with self‐perceived communication competence (SPCC). In the second study, designed to assess the predictive validity of the PRCAP, those who scored one standard deviation above the mean on the PRCAP reported being less satisfied with their interactions with physicians than those who scored one standard deviation below the mean on the PRCAP. It appears the PRCAP is a reliable and valid instrument that can be employed to pursue issues involving the role of CA in patient/physician interactions.     

Information sources and voting in a primary and general election

There is a considerable variance in audience perceptions of media use and credibility between primary and general elections. The authors are in the School of Journalism and the Department of Speech, respectively, at Southern Illinois University, Carbondale. They gratefully acknowledge the assistance of Drs. Robert 0. Hirsch and Larry Kokkeler in the collection of data for this report.     

Two empirical tests of a videotape designed to reduce public speaking anxiety

These studies were designed to determine: 1) if a videotape could be used to help people cope with public speaking anxiety; 2) how this videotape compared with other interventions; 3) whether the video could be used on a self‐help basis; and 4) whether the video would be effective over time. These issues were addressed in two separate studies. These studies indicated that the videotape reduced self‐reported levels of trait CA, state CA, and negative thinking. The first study linked the videotape to reduced rigidity while the second linked the videotape to reduced agitation. The second study also found trait CA to be reduced over time. Meta‐analysis was used to compare these data with other interventions. That analysis revealed this videotape was generally more effective than other interventions in reducing trait CA in study one. The videotape was found to reduce state CA and negative thinking more than other interventions in study two. These and other results are discussed at the conclusion of these studies.     

Developing Creativity and Related Attitudes

Sixteen fifth-grade teachers and 377 pupils served as Ss in experimental classes. The Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking were used as pretests and posttests and the Childhood Attitude Inventory for Problem Solving was given as a posttest. Eight of the experimental classes used the Purdue Creative Thinking Program (PCTP) for five weeks and eight used the Productive Thinking Program (PTP). Eight teachers used relevant discussion, eight did not; eight teachers were high and eight low in creative ability. Pupils in all conditions made significant gains on verbal and nonverbal originality and nonverbal fluency. Teachers who were low in creative ability had lower means. There were several significant interactions among the three independent variables.     

Human Sciences,Sport Sciences,and the Need to Study People “In the Round”

The current orthodoxy regarding science within sport science is rethought so as to enable the social sciences to enter the field and allow for a debate over the nature and purpose of the sport sciences. An alternative vision of the potential of the sport sciences is proposed: A more “scientific” picture of human beings may be produced if human beings are studied “in the round,” capturing them as whole selves, not as isolated physiological or psychological units. If a multidisciplinary synthesis were adopted, the subject, via its component disciplines, would provide a model for the reintegration of disciplines in the urgent need to study people in human-development and not performance-efficiency terms.