Implicit theories of communicative competence: The semantics of social behavior

Observers evaluating the competence of communicators use both observed behaviors and traits inferred from these behaviors in their evaluation. In order to understand the process by which these evaluations are made, the manner in which the beliefs about trait/behavior relationships that underlie this process must be understood. Based on analysis of judgments of prototypical “communicators” of different skill levels and of actual people, trait/behavior relationships are, with one exception, similar across competence level and communicative situation.     

11. JOURNALISM

THE AMERICAN BOOK BUYERS STUDY “conducted and prepared”; by Bruno and Ridgway Research Associates for Publishers Weekly and the Book Industry Study Group (New York: Cahners Publishing Company, September 1997—$295.00, paper [additional copies $60.00 for BISG voting Members, $80.00 for BISG non‐voting members], ISBN 0–940016–68–0, approximately 550 pages [various pagings], tables, charts, appendixes)

BOOKS, BRICKS &; BYTES: LIBRARIES IN THE TWENTY‐FIRST CENTURY, edited by Stephen R. Graubard and Paul LcClerc (New Brunswick, NJ and London: Transaction, 1998—$24.95 paper, ISBN 1–56000–986–1, 361 pp.)

BOOKNOTES: AMERICA'S FINEST AUTHORS ON READING, WRITING, AND THE POWER OF IDEAS by Brian Lamb (New York: Times Books, 1997— $15.00, paper, ISBN 0–8129–3029–0, 426 pp., illustrations, appendix, index)

EXPERIMENTATION AND COLLABORATION: CREATING SERIALS FOR A NEW MILLENNIUM: Proceedings of the North American Serials Interest Group 12th Annual Conference edited by Charlene N. Simser and Michael A. Somers (New York: Haworth Press, 1998—$69.95, ISBN 0–7890–0525–5, 442 pp., index)     

Media Production

Barrie Redfern's Local Radio (London and New York: Focal Press, 1978—$8.95, paper)

Norman Crowhurst's How to Select and Install Your Own Speakers (Blue Ridge Summit, Pa.: TAB Books, 1979—49.95, and also in paperback)

Hindman, Janes, Larry Kirkman, and Elizabeth Monk. TV Acting: A Manual for Camera Performance (1979—$15.50/7.95 , 191 pp.)

Williamson, Daniel R. Newsqathering. (1979—$13.50/7.50 , 250 pp.)

Stonecipher, Harry W. Editorial and Persuasive Writing: Opinion Functions of the News Media (1979—$13.95/7.95, 256 pp.)

Richard Robinson's The Video Primer: Equipment, Production, and Concepts (New York: Quick Fox, 1979—$14.95/6.95)

Marshall Lee's Bookmaking: The Illustrated euide to Design/production/editing (New York: R.R. Bowker, 1979—$25.00)

Lenny Lipton's Lipton on Filmmaking (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1979—$7.95, paper, with a hardback also available)

Philip C. Geraci's Photojournalism: Making Pictures for Publication (Dubuque, Iowa: Kendall/Hunt Publishing, 1978—$12.95, paper)     

The somatic marker as a “short cut” to verbal immediacy

This study examined the relationships between the somatic‐marker hypothesis, developed by Damasio (1994) as it relates to homophily and verbal immediacy in the classroom. Damasio has hypothesized that when particular events occur in one's life, there is a “memory” of that event in the brain. As a result, when a similar event occurs, the somatic marker recreates that first event. Students were provided three different scenarios about the first day of a communication class. In the scenarios, the instructor presented information about himself. One instructor provided only autobiographical, demographic data (the control). Another provided information hozu he had had difficulty with public speaking (the selfish marker). The third provided information about how the instructor had helped someone else who had difficulty in public speaking (the altruistic marker). The results indicated that while homophily differences were not significant, there was a significant difference between the control group and the altruistic marker.     

Teacher’ use of humor,self‐disclosure,and narrative activity as a function of experience

This investigation reported normative data for experienced (N = 20) and less‐experienced (N = 20) college teachers’ use of humor, self‐disclosure, and narrative activities. Results indicated that both groups of teachers observed in the study incorporated the three behaviors within their 50‐minute lectures. Experienced teachers, however, used humor, self‐disclosure, and narrative activities more frequently than the less‐experienced teachers. Additionally, the experienced teachers used the behaviors to clarify course content.     

Identity Challenges in Field Research: Three Stories

We tell of our struggles in completing ethnographic field research by showing the hurdles and difficult interactions we faced on our different projects. We interpret the obstacles as threats to our identities and show how we responded to them. Our conclusion shows how we preserved the independence of our interpretations while completing the data collection and interpretation.     

Moral Education at Religious Research Universities: Exploring Faculty Attitudes

This article presents the results and an analysis of 1,728 survey responses from faculty at four top tier religious research universities regarding their support for moral and civic education. The results demonstrate that a majority of faculty members at these schools supported both the general goals of moral and civic education and specific suggestions for integrating moral and civic education into the curriculum. Nonetheless, three major concerns emerged about its actual implementation into the curriculum.     

A psychological pattern of anxiety in public speaking

In previous research, a physiological pattern of speech anxiety has been established for the periods before, during, and after delivering a public speech. However, no corresponding psychological pattern has been reported. Although strong correlations between psychological and physiological measures have not been found, it seemed reasonable to expect public speakers to exhibit a psychological pattern of speech anxiety similar to the physiological pattern. The results of this study support that hypothesis. The observed pattern is a monotonic function decreasing from the beginning of the speech through the post speech period.     

Everyman a scop: The shape of undergraduate curriculum

THE COSTS AND RESOURCES OF LEGAL EDUCATION by Peter deL. Swords and Frank K. Walwer. New York: Council on Legal Education for Professional Responsibility, Columbia University Press, 1974. x + 345 pp. $15.00.

HIGHER EDUCATION IN AMERICA by Algo D. Henderson and Jean Glidden Henderson. San Francisco: Jossey‐Bass, Publishers, 1974. xi + 282 pp. Bibliography and index. $12.50.

THE SOCIALLY DISADVANTAGED edited by Earl J. Ogletree. 2 vols. New York: MSS Information Corporation, 1973, 1974. 402 pp.; 313 pp.

NOT FOREVER ON EARTH: PREHISTORY OF MEXICO by Shirley Gorenstein, with photographs by Lee Boltin. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1975. xvi + 134 pp. $7.95.

THE EVOLUTION OF THE COMMUNITY COLLEGE by Robert S. Palinchak. Metuchen, New Jersey: Scarecrow Press, Inc., 1973. 373 pp. $10.00.

SHAPING THE AMERICAN EDUCATIONAL STATE: 1900 TO THE PRESENT edited by Clarence J. Karier. New York: The Free Press, 1975. xxiv + 439 pp. $10.95 cloth; $5.95 paper.

UNIVERSITIES IN THE URBAN CRISIS by Thomas P. Murphy. Cambridge, Mass.: University Press, 1975. xix + 418 pp. $16.50.     

Maintaining a Social‐Emotional Intervention and Its Benefits for Institutionalized Children

This article reports the maintenance of one of the largest interventions conducted in St. Petersburg (Russian Federation) orphanages for children birth to 4 years using regular caregiving staff. One orphanage received training plus structural changes, another training only, and a third business as usual. The intervention produced substantial differences between these institutions on the Home Observation for Measurement of the Environment (HOME) Inventory and on the Battelle Developmental Inventory scores for children. These institutional differences in HOME scores (N = 298) and Battelle scores for children (N = 357) departing the institutions for families in St. Petersburg and the United States were maintained for at least 6 years after the intervention project. This result may be associated with certain features of the intervention and activities conducted during the follow‐up interval.