Past and future research on learning hierarchies 1

Several areas of research on learning hierarchies are identified. It is proposed that the first of these, investigating the validity of hierarchies, should now be considered virtually at an end because of the increased support for hierarchies provided by the evidence of recent studies. A brief discussion is given of the few studies that have been performed in six other areas. General recommendations are made for future research on hierarchies, and some plans are suggested for specific investigations.     

Difficulties in co‐opting a complex sign: Our Lady of Guadalupe as a site of semiotic struggle and entanglement

The Cult of Our Lady of Guadalupe, the product of appropriations authored by both the Aztecs and the Roman Catholic Church, has served as a tool of empowerment, dominion, and accommodation. Central to this contested cult is an indigenous reinvention of the Virgin Mary that is simultaneously index, icon, and symbol. This study demonstrates the difficulties in attempting to selectively appropriate the desirable features of such a sign while excluding those deemed undesirable. In attempting to appropriate certain features of the Virgin it deemed desirable, the authors argue, the Church also annexed aspects of the Aztec religious tradition at odds with the teachings of Catholicism. While Catholicism's attempt to co‐opt this Virgin extended the influence of the institutional Catholic Church, the authors suggest, it also undermined the integrity of the faith the Church promotes by fostering a form of popular Catholicism contrary to the teachings and practices of orthodox Catholicism. This study is grounded in data obtained through interviews conducted with pilgrims in the vicinity of the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe immediately prior to, during, and after the Virgin's annual feastday (December 12). The authors also draw upon anthropological, historical, and religious studies scholarship to make sense of the pilgrims’ beliefs and place them within the broader historical and religious contexts in which they operate.     

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The purpose of this‐study was twofold: 1) To quantify the nature and extent of in‐house communication training, and 2) To collect such data from those individuals who actually conduct in‐house training. Data were obtained from questionnaires mailed to 118 members of the Pittsburgh chapter of the American Society for Training and Development. This sample represented 97 different corporations, some of which are the largest and most successful in the world. Results focused on the following major topics: 1) The relative importance of various communication skills, 2) The number of respondents offering training in the various communication skills, 3) The goals of communication training, 4) The barriers in implementing communication training, 5).The target groups receiving communication training, and 6) The attitudes of trainers towards communication training.     

Communicative adaptability: A measure of social communicative competence

The purpose of this research was to reassess the validity and increase the variance accounted for by the Communicative Adaptability Scale (CAS). Previous research produced two factors, social confirmation and social experience, accounting for 28% of the variance. The present study tested the inclusion of four additional dimensions: social composure, articulation, wit, and appropriate disclosure. The Communicative Adaptability Scale was administered to adult and student populations. The relationships among the dimensions of the CAS, self‐esteem, and communication apprehension were investigated. This project indicated a stable factor structure and consistent results across samples.     

Editor's page, 2001–2003

On August 8, 1974, having been toppled from power by the Watergate scandal, Richard M. Nixon became the first President to resign his office before completing his term. In his resignation speech, Mr. Nixon attempted to vindicate himself before the American people. Analysis of Mr. Nixon's address reveals that his strategies of denial of intent and transcendence to a larger context were largely unsuccessful in securing closure with his audience.