Culture and information manipulation theory: The effects of self‐construal and locus of benefit on information manipulation

This paper offers a preliminary exploration into how culture and cultural orientation influence the perception of deceptive messages. Information manipulation theory (IMF) posits that covert violations of Grice's four conversational maxims give rise to messages that are functionally deceptive. This study (N = 323) attempted to replicate previous IMT results regarding the perceptions of information manipulation in an academic situation, and with a culturally diverse sample. Locus of benefit (self and other) was manipulated, and the respondents’ self‐construal was assessed. Previous IMT findings were replicated, and the effects for self‐construal on honesty ratings varied considerably by manipulation type. Explanations for these findings are provided, as are suggestions for future research.     

Sharing Good and Bad News with Friends and Strangers: Reasons for and Communication Behaviors Associated with the MUM Effect

People are reluctant to share bad news. Reasons include self-presentation and sensitivity to receiver emotionality. An experiment investigated these reasons during interactions between friends and strangers. Females (N = 330, 165 dyads) gave good or bad news to a close friend or stranger. Time to response was recorded. The MUM effect replicated for both friends and strangers. No main effects for friend/stranger or interaction between friend/stranger and news valence were found. Data were more consistent with a self-presentation explanation. Behavioral data were also analyzed to explore communicative behavior that accompanies the sharing of good and bad news. Limitations and implications are discussed.     

4. PROPAGANDA

RESIDENTIAL BROADBAND by George Abe (Indianapolis: Macmillan Technical Publishing “Cisco Press Design and Implementation Series,”; 1997—$55.00, ISBN 1–57870–020–5, 500 pp., charts, graphs, acronyms list [inside covers], appendix directory of companies, index)

INTRODUCTION TO TELECOMMUNICATIONS NETWORK ENGINEERING by Tarmo Anttalainen (Norwood, MA: Artech House “Communications Library,”; 1998—price not given, ISBN 0–89006–984–0, 297 pp., diagrams, chapter problem and review sets, references, index)

MOBILE TELECOMMUNICATIONS: STANDARDS, REGULATION, AND APPLICATIONS by Rudi Bekkers and Jan Smits (Norwood, MA: Artech House “Mobile Communications Series,”; 1998—$95.00, ISBN 0–89006–806–2, 467 pp., diagrams, tables, glossary, bibliography, notes, index)

HIGH PERFORMANCE NETWORKS, PERSONAL COMMUNICATIONS AND MOBILE COMPUTING by Dimitris Chorafas (Basingstoke: Macmillan “Business,”; 1997—£45.00, ISBN 0–333–66683–6, 340 pp., figures, tables, charts, list of contacts, index)

DIGITAL VIDEO BROADCASTING: TECHNOLOGY, STANDARDS, AND REGULATIONS by Ronald de Bruin and Jan Smits (Norwood, MA: Artech House “Digital Audio and Video Library,”; 1999—$73.00, ISBN 0–89006–743–0, 315 pp., diagrams, references, glossary, index)

FROM TALKING DRUMS TO THE INTERNET: AN ENCYCLOPEDIA OF COMMUNICATIONS TECHNOLOGY by Robert Gardner and Dennis Shortelle (Santa Barbara, CA: ABC‐Clio, 1997—$65.00, ISBN 0–87436–832–4, 355 pp., photos, diagrams, references, bibliography, index)

COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY UPDATE edited by August E. Grant and Jennifer Harman Meadows (Woburn, MA: Focal Press, 1998 [6th ed.]—$35.00, paper, ISBN 0–240–80326–4, charts, diagrams, tables, notes, chapter bibliographies, glossary)

ISDN EXPLAINED: WORLDWIDE NETWORK AND APPLICATIONS TECHNOLOGY edited by John M. Griffiths (Chichester, England and New York: John Wiley, 1998 [3rd ed.]—$74.95, ISBN 0–471–97905–8, 291 pp., charts, tables, notes, glossary, index)

DICTIONARY OF COMMUNICATIONS TECHNOLOGY: TERMS, DEFINITIONS AND ABBREVIATIONS by Gilbert Held (New York: John Wiley, 1998 [3rd ed.]—$160.00, paper, ISBN 0–471–97517–6, 672 pp., tables, charts, appendices)

RESIDENTIAL BROADBAND: AN INSIDER'S GUIDE TO THE BATTLE FOR THE LAST MILE by Kim Maxwell (New York: Wiley, 1998—$39.99, paper, ISBN 0–471–25165–8, 390 pp., diagrams, tables, bibliography, index)

MAKING MICROCHIPS: POLICY, GLOBALIZATION, AND ECONOMIC RESTRUCTURING IN THE SEMICONDUCTOR INDUSTRY by Jan Mazurek (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press “Urban and Industrial Environments,”; 1999—$30.00, ISBN 0–262–13345–8, 245 pp., charts, references, index)

UNDERSTANDING MODERN TELECOMMUNICATIONS AND THE INFORMATION SUPERHIGHWAY by John G. Nellist and Elliott M. Gilbert (Norwood, MA: Artech House, 1999—$49.00, ISBN 0–89006–322–2, 285 pp., photos, diagrams, charts, chapter bibliographies, glossary, index)

WORLD‐CLASS TELECOMMUNICATIONS SERVICE DEVELOPMENT by Ellen Ward (Norwood, MA: Artech House “Telecommunications Library,”; 1998—$59.00, ISBN 0–89006–922–0, 260 pp., diagrams, acronyms list, index)

UNDERSTANDING CELLULAR RADIO by William Webb (Norwood, MA: Artech House “Mobile Communications Series,”; 1998—$59.00, ISBN 0–89006–994–8, 283 pp., diagrams, glossary, index)     

3. PROPAGANDA STUDIES

CONSUMING ENVIRONMENTS: TELEVISION AND COMMERCIAL CULTURE by Mike Budd, Steve Craig, and Clay Steinman (New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press “Communications, Media, and Culture,”; 1999— $50.00/22.00, ISBN 0–8135–2591–8 hard, 0–8135–2592–6 paper, 225 pp., photos, tables, charts, bibliography, index)

PACIFICA RADIO: THE RISE OF AN ALTERNATIVE NETWORK by Matthew Lasar (Philadelphia, PA: Temple University Press, 1999—$34.95, ISBN 1–56639–660–3, 277 pp., photos, notes, index)

COPYCAT TELEVISION: GLOBALISATION, PROGRAM FORMATS AND CULTURAL IDENTITY by Albert Moran (Luton: University of Luton Press, 1998—£14.95, paper, ISBN 1–86020–537–2, 192 pp., illustrations, bibliography, index)     

6. FOREIGN AND INTERNATIONAL

TELECOM REFORM: PRINCIPLES, POLICIES AND REGULATORY PRACTICES by edited by William H. Melody (Lyngby, Denmark: Den private Ingeniørfond, Technical University of Denmark, 1997‐$39.00, paper, ISBN 7–7381–071–1, 557 pp., tables figures notes, index, glossary, appendix)

RADIO CANADA INTERNATIONAL: VOICE OF A MIDDLE POWER by James L. Hall (East Lansing: Michigan State University Press, “Canadian Series No. 7,”; 1997—$24.95, paper, ISBN 0–87013–420–5, 295 pp., photos, notes, appendices, bibliography, index)

BITS ACROSS BORDERS: POLICY CHOICES FOR INTERNATIONAL MULTIMEDIA AND DIGITAL SERVICES: A Report of the Second Annual Aspen Institute Roundtable on International Telecommunications, Berlin, Germany, June 19–22, 1996, by Kenneth G. Robinson and Charles M. Firestone (Queenstown, MD: The Aspen Institute, 1997—$10.00, ISBN 0–89843–208–1, 55 pp., appendix)

IT'S A WIRED WORLD by Anne C. Leer (Oslo: Scandinavian University Press [Universitetsforlaget], 1996—L27.50, ISBN 82–00–42310–7, 188 pp., figures, appendices, notes, glossary)

THE POLITICAL ECONOMY OF COMMUNICATION: RETHINKING AND RENEWAL by Vincent Mosco (Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, 1996—$39.95/13.95, ISBN 0–8039–8560–6 hard, 0–8039–8561–4 paper, 320 pp., figures, tables, notes, index)

EBU YEARBOOK 1997 (Geneva: European Broadcasting Union, 1997—free by contacting the EBU, no ISSN given, 52 pp., tables, charts, photos)

LIVE, DIRECT AND BIASED? MAKING TELEVISION NEWS IN THE SATELLITE AGE by Brent MacGregor (London: Arnold/New York: St. Martin's Press, 1997—prices not given, ISBN 0–340–66224–7 hard, 0–340–66225–5 paper, 234 pp., table, references, index)

GLOBAL INFORMATION AND WORLD COMMUNICATION: NEW FRONTIERS IN INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS by Hamid Mowlana (London: Sage, 1997 [2nd ed.] $29.95, ISBN 0–7619–5256‐X hard, ISBN 0–7619–5257–8 soft, 270 pp., figures, selected bibliography, index)     

International and comparative systems

SWITCHING CHANNELS: IDEOLOGIES OF TELEVISION IN INDIA by Nilanjana Gupta (Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1998—price not given, ISBN 0–19–564204‐X, 155 pp., tables, notes, reading list, index)

CRIME, THE MEDIA AND THE LAW by Dennis Howitt (Chichester, England: John Wiley & Sons “Wiley Series in The Psychology of Crime, Policing and Law,”; 1998—price not given, ISBN 0–471–96905–2 hard, 0–471–97834–5 paper, 233 pp., references, index)

GLOBAL MARKETING AND ADVERTISING: UNDERSTANDING CULTURAL PARADOXES by Marieke de Mooij (London: Sage, 1998—£40.00/17.99, ISBN 0–8039–5969–9 hard, 0–8039–5970–2 paper, 336 pp., tables, charts, tables, photos, index)     

Europe

YOURS IN SISTERHOOD: MS. MAGAZINE AND THE PROMISE OF POPULAR FEMINISM by Amy Erdman Farrell (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press “Gender &; American Culture,”; 1998—$39.95/16.95, ISBN 0–8078–2424–0 hard, 0–8078–4735–6 paper, 232 pp.)

WOMEN'S STUDIES SERIALS: A QUARTER‐CENTURY OF DEVELOPMENT edited by Kristin H. Gerhard (New York: Haworth Press, 1998—$49.95, ISBN 0–7890–0541–7, 263 pp.)

A HISTORY OF POPULAR WOMEN'S MAGAZINES IN THE UNITED STATES, 1792–1995 by Mary Ellen Zuckerman (Westport, CT: Greenwood Press “Contributions in Women's Studies, No. 165,”; 1998—$59.95, ISBN 0–3133–0675–3, 272 pp.)     

Group and individual accuracy in deception detection

Previous research examining the accuracy of deception detection judgments by individuals has concluded that the ability to detect deception is only slightly better than chance. Research has also found that individuals tend to be over‐confident, truth‐biased, and reliant on nonverbal behavior when making veracity judgments. This study (N = 129) tested if differences in deception detection accuracy, truth‐bias, judgmental confidences, and self‐reported cue reliance exist between individual judges and groups of individuals working in collaboration. No significant differences between groups and individuals emerged for accuracy, truth‐bias, or self‐reported cue reliance. Individuals within groups, however, were significantly more confident in their decisions than individuals working alone.     

What Research Tells Us About the Impact and Challenges of Smaller Learning Communities

In the United States, considerable financial and human resources have been devoted to breaking some large high schools into smaller learning communities (SLCs). This article reviews research that compares SLCs to comprehensive high schools on a variety of measures. Extant research neither supports nor refutes the promise of SLCs to improve academic achievement; however, research does suggest that SLCs can improve attendance, graduation rates, and students’ experience of high schools as supportive environments. The article also uses empirical research to identify three challenges SLCs must overcome if they are to improve academic achievement: focusing on instructional improvement, ensuring equity and rigor, and transcending school history.     

Student interests and undergraduate performance: the importance of student–course alignment

There has been a growing interest in the influences on undergraduate performance in recent years as a result of the increasing diversity of students entering third-level education and an ever increasing emphasis on the development of a robust knowledge economy. This paper investigates the influence of students’ dominant interest types and prior academic achievement on undergraduate performance in an Irish university. Holland's Self-Directed Search (SDS) interest inventory was completed by 308 students drawn from three, second year undergraduate programmes in engineering, nursing and teaching. The impact of dominant interest types and prior academic achievement on the performance of these students in their second year was then investigated using correlation and linear regression analyses. When combined, student interests and prior academic achievements were found to account for between 38% and 50% of the variance in undergraduate performance for students in these three undergraduate programmes.