Plans and the development of listener skills.

Research on children's referential communication has focused primarily on the role of the speaker; the listener's role has remained largely unexplored. The development of listener skills during childhood and the effects of introducing a brief plan for effective listening on children's listener performances were investigated in this study. 24 children at each of 4 ages (4, 6, 8, and 10 yrs) played the role of listener in a referential communication game. The speaker was an adult confederate, who produced messages of varying informational adequacy. After 12 pretest trials on the communication game to assess baseline listener performance, half of the Ss were given a plan for effective listening. All Ss then participated in 12 additional trials. Significant development of listener skills was observed; older Ss asked more questions and chose more correct referents than younger Ss. The plan facilitated the performances of all but the 4-yr-olds. These findings suggest both the importance of the listener within the referential communication situation and the relevance of plans for efforts to facilitate the development of communication skills. (22 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Training adolescents in self-disclosure and empathy skills.

Conducted a study to develop, implement, and evaluate a communication skills training program for adolescent high school students. 25 students were given 16 hrs of training in the skills of self-disclosure and empathy, and 23 other students served as a contact control group and received no formal skills training. Ss completed both a behavioral and paper-and-pencil assessment prior to and immediately following training. Ss who received training demonstrated significantly higher self-disclosure and empathy skill levels than did the untrained Ss. Results are discussed in terms of the high skill level attained by Ss and the implications for training adolescents or younger populations in communication skills. (7 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Elaboration d'un instrument de mesure des habiletés socio-cognitives chez l'enfant de cinq à dix ans.

To assess social cognitive skills in children, a special test was constructed with cognitive and linguistic demands adapted to young children. The test consisted of 4 tasks that were submitted to 200 children, aged 5–10 yrs. Three tasks were devised to measure cognitive role-taking and the 4th to measure referential communication. Results show a significant increase in performance with age for each task and a significant increasing order of difficulty in the tasks. Thus, each task corresponded to specific levels in the development of role-taking skills. (16 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Cognitive and behavioral interventions: A comparative evaluation with clinically distressed couples.

Compared the effects of communication skills training (CST) and cognitive therapy (CGT) in 32 severely distressed couples. Ss receiving CST showed significant improvement on main targets, the Communication Questionnaire, and a relationship beliefs inventory. CGT resulted also in significant improvements on these measures. On the direct behavioral observation measure, CST was superior to CGT. A direct comparison between both conditions indicated that CGT was more effective on the main targets, whereas CST was more effective on direct behavioral observation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Rules as tools: Effective generalization of verbal self-regulative communication training by first-grade speakers.

Tested whether referential communication training of young speakers can be generalized to novel tasks. 19 1st graders were taught to use 2 general communication rules through a verbal self-regulation procedure. Three groups were tested: a practice control and 2 training groups. In the 1st training group, Ss were trained on 2 tasks. In the 2nd group, Ss received the same training but in only 1 context. Results show that both training groups performed better than the controls on both direct training posttests and novel generalization tasks, immediately as well as 2 wks later. However, there were no significant differences between the 2 training groups. It is concluded that verbal self-regulation training appears to be a promising means of obtaining generalizaion of speaking skills in young children, in support of findings by D. Meichenbaum and J. Goodman (see record 1971-23785-001). (23 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Communication skills training for divorcees.

Examined the effects of a weekend training program in communication skills for divorced persons. 13 experimental Ss—5 males, 8 females 24–50 yrs old, separated for 1–24 mo—received 2 days of interpersonal skills training, while 14 control Ss—5 males, 9 females 25–50 yrs old, separated for 1–26 mo—received no training. After training, the experimentals increased their perceived level of social support and their self-disclosure and empathy skills significantly more than the controls. (9 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Expert modeling, self-observation using videotape, and acquisition of basic therapy skills.

Self-observation and observation of an experienced therapist were evaluated as aids in learning listening skills. 48 female college students interviewed mock clients before and after training. Training groups observed a videotape of an experienced therapist lecturing about listening skills, an experienced therapist modeling listening skills, a novice therapist attempting to use listening skills, or the S's own pretraining interview. All groups' skills improved significantly. Ss completed measures regarding feelings during interviews and about training. Trends indicated that Ss observing themselves improved least on all measures of both skill and feelings, and yet expressed most positive reaction to their training. Ss observing the experienced model improved most of all the groups in use of skills. Results raise questions about the usefulness of videotaping and support greater use of expert modeling. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Successful interpersonal skills training with schizophrenic inpatients.

Studied the effectiveness of a set of techniques for increasing the interpersonal skills of 16 nonassertive (Wolpe-Lazarus Assertiveness Questionnaire) male schizophrenic inpatients (average age 29 yrs). Ss participated in 12 sessions of interpersonal skills training. The effectiveness of the procedure was evaluated with both self-report (Subjective Units of Discomfort Scale) and behavioral measures. The behavioral measures involved ratings of S performance during both role-played and spontaneously enacted interpersonal situations. Several of the situations were used in training, and others were used only during the assessment sessions. To promote extrasession generalization of behaviors, dyads were formed and were given homework assignments to complete. Compared to a control group matched on age, length of total hospitalization, and pretreatment level of skills, the interpersonal skills training group significantly improved on measures of loudness, fluency, affect, latency, eye contact, content, and self-reported assertiveness. These improvements were apparent across both role-played and spontaneously enacted situations and across trained and untrained situations. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Process training to improve children's referential communication: Asher and Wigfield (1981) revisited.

Presented 20 3rd- and 65 4th-grade Ss with a referential communication task in which they were required to generate a clue for an imaginary listener that would allow the listener to know which of 2 similar words (e.g., baby-child) was the referent. The optimal strategy for the task involved (a) generating an associate to the referent, (b) comparing the candidate clue with the referent and nonreferent, and (c) evaluating whether the clue was more highly associated with the referent than with the nonreferent. Children do not spontaneously carry out the comparison and evaluation components of this optimal strategy. Ss in the present complete instruction condition were taught to both compare and evaluate; their performance exceeded control performance for both easy and difficult materials. Comparison or evaluation training alone produced better clue production only for easy materials. Results are relevant to theoretical claims about referential communication and to the hypothesis that strategy instruction with schoolchildren should be elaborated and complete. (19 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Influence of comparison training on children's referential communication.

Assessed whether teaching children to engage in comparison activity improves their referential communication performance. In contrast to previous communication training studies, the training focused on a specifiable unitary skill, employed a teaching procedure with known effectiveness, and controlled for practice and other familiarity effects. Two training experiments with 3rd- and 4th-grade children were conducted. Results from Exp I indicate that 33 trained Ss improved more than 32 control Ss in communication accuracy. Furthermore, gains were maintained at the 1-mo follow-up. Exp II (20 undergraduates; 43 children) examined training effects on message appraisal as well as message production. Results indicate significant training effects on both tasks. Results demonstrate that inadequate comparison processing contributes to children's poor communication performance. (21 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effect of role-taking experiences on role taking, empathy, altruism, and aggression.

Investigated the effect of 2 types of role-taking experiences on role taking, empathy, altruism, and aggression in 30 6- and 30 9-yr-old boys. In the role-taking condition each S assumed the perspective of 1 character in a story. In the role-switching condition the Ss assumed the perspectives of different characters by changing roles approximately every 5 min. The same stories were used in the control condition, but the experimenter did not promote role taking. Although there were no significant differences between the role-taking and role-switching conditions, there was a significant increase in role-taking performance following both training conditions as compared to the control condition. Altruism in 6-yr-olds was significantly greater following both training conditions, and there was a significant difference in the effect of the 2 training conditions. Role-taking and role-switching conditions did not have a significant effect on either aggressive or empathic behaviors. These results demonstrate the importance of a sociocognitive skill such as role taking for better understanding of social behaviors and the process by which cognitive and social behaviors interact. (19 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Referential communication and reading performance in learning disabled children over a 3-year period.

Examined the ability of 30 learning disabled (LD) and 30 non-LD (NLD) 6- and 7-yr-olds to understand a sequence of instructions, communicate the steps in a sequence to others, and rephrase their verbal messages across a 3-yr period using a referential communication task. In order to perform the puzzle-box task correctly, Ss had to execute 6 steps in an invariant sequence. After Ss demonstrated a perfect nonverbal enactment of the sequence, they were asked to communicate all information about how to open the box to a puppet. Upon completion, the puppet feigned poor memory and asked the Ss to explain the step-by-step process again. Subsequently, the puppet requested that Ss rephrase their explanation of each step by either a verbal or nonverbal rephrase request. Results reveal that LD children differed from NLD peers consistently on referential communication over the 3-yr period in terms of listener competence and speaker competence. For LD Ss, the ability to produce competent verbal messages was highly related to reading comprehension both concurrently and 3 yrs later. By the 3rd yr, NLD Ss were better able to rephrase information, indicating a growing awareness of the speaker's responsibility in communication. Findings suggest that the communication measures studied play very different roles for LD and NLD Ss with regard to reading achievement. (27 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Improving the social skills of males in a maximum security psychiatric setting.

34 male patients (mean age 26 yrs) in a maximum security psychiatric hospital, selected on the basis of their low ratings on role-play situations, the Communication and Social Contact subscales of the MACC Behavior Adjustment Scale, and the Social Adjustment Rating Scale, were assigned to either social skills training (SST) or client-centered therapy (CCT) and were given either contingent or noncontingent reinforcement for social behavior. Ss in the SST condition received 10 wks of SST; Ss in the CCT condition participated in 2 90-min nondirective group psychotherapy sessions per week for 10 wks. Ss in all conditions showed dramatic improvements on the assessment battery when tested postintervention. Consistent with other studies of SST, Ss in the SST condition showed significant improvements in role-play measures of social skills during treatment, while Ss given CCT did not. However, there was no evidence of transfer of training onto the ward nor evidence that the effects persisted at 1-mo follow-up. Thus, the data question the application of SST in maximum security settings. (French abstract) (24 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Social skills and cognitive-relaxation approaches to general anger reduction.

Inductive social skills training (ISST), skill assembly social skills training (SASST), and cognitive relaxation coping skills (CRCS) training were compared with a no-treatment control condition for general anger reduction. At 4-wk follow-up, compared with the control group, all treatment groups showed equivalent reductions of the amount of anger experienced in a wide range of situations. ISST and CRCS Ss reported less anger in their worst ongoing provocation than did control Ss, whereas SASST Ss did not differ from Ss of other groups. Treatment groups enhanced anger control equally relative to the control group, but only the CRCS group significantly lowered outward, negative expression of anger, and only the ISST group reduced anger suppression, although active treatment groups did not differ from one another on these measures. The ISST group lowered day-to-day anger more than other groups. No treatment effects were found for nontargeted trait anxiety and assertiveness. Results are discussed in terms of prior findings and the efficacy and flexibility of ISST. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Cognitive rehabilitation of memory functioning in amnesiac alcoholics.

Compared a multicomponent program of intensive memory skill practice for amnesiac alcoholics with a control program in which patients received only nonspecific cognitive activation to assess the extent to which improvement would generalize to memory tasks dissimilar to those used during training and to determine how long treatment gains would be maintained. 12 amnesiac patients (mean age 57.1 yrs) were randomly assigned to either the experimental memory training or the control program. DSM-III diagnoses showed that Ss included 7 with alcohol amnesiac disorder, 2 with dementia associated with alcoholism, 2 with alcohol dependence, and 1 with amnestic syndrome. Five of the experimental Ss and all of the controls completed their respective therapy programs and progress monitor assessment; 4 of the experimental Ss and 5 of the controls completed the entire outcome assessment. Results indicate that the control group showed improvement on most measures, and both groups improved significantly on several of the outcome measures that assessed generalization of memory skills. It is concluded that memory training designed to achieve specific learning goals is likely to be more effective with chronic amnesiacs than is a program of general memory skill rehearsal. (9 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Knowing and telling: Type of rule and level of knowledge about messages in children's use of self-regulative communication training.

23 1st- and 2nd-graders were assigned to 3 training groups: a practice control group, a comparison rule-only group, and a 2-rule group that received training on both a comparison rule and a rule that required the Ss to identify the listener's set of potential nonreferents. Ss were trained on a complex picture message task and tested for generalization of speaker training on another referential task; knowledge about message ambiguity in communication situations was measured pretest. Results show significant training effects on immediate and delayed (10 days later) posttest only for the 2-rule group; some generalization of training was observed for this group to a novel task. Training and generalization effects were correlated with the Ss' initial knowledge about the role of messages in communication. (French abstract) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Training effects on the development and generalization of Piagetian logical operations and knowledge of number.

Investigated the effects of 2 training sequences on the development of logical operations and number in 45 middle-class preschool children (mean age 4 yrs 6 mo). Ss were randomly assigned and trained for 8 wks in 1 of 3 conditions: logical foundations (classification and seriation), number skills (counting), and control. Each of the experimental treatments was based on either of 2 broad perspectives: the logical foundations model of Piagetian theorists or a skills integration model. Instruments measuring number abilities and logical operations were designed as pre- and posttest measures. Findings show that (a) both experimental groups significantly outperformed the control group on both tests, (b) the number skills group significantly outperformed the logical foundations group on the number test, and (c) there was no significant difference between the experimental groups on the logical operations test. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Role taking and self-image disparity in children.

Related the development of the self-concept to L. Kohlberg's (1969) and G. M. Meade's (1934) theories on the importance of role taking, language, and the generalized other. 68 4th, 5th, and 6th graders were administered a role-taking task, a communication task, a self-image questionnaire, and the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test. Results indicate that nonegocentric Ss had more positive ideal self-images and a greater disparity between real and ideal self-image than egocentric Ss. Referential communication was not related to any of these self-image measures or to role taking. Findings are interpreted as supporting a cognitive/developmental theory of the self-concept as the elaboration of the ideal self-image and differentiation of the self-concept through the process of taking the role of others toward the self. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of desensitization treatment on core-condition training.

Tested the prediction that training for helping skills when paired with desensitization treatment will improve significantly the posttest ratings of the trainee's helping function. 2 groups of 9 male and 7 female adult trainees each were matched systematically and trained over a 6-wk period to function in a helping role. Ss received preliminary training in empathy, respect, concreteness, and genuineness. Following preliminary training, the experimental group received 1 wk. of desensitization treatment; the control group did not. Both the control and experimental Ss proceeded to a 6-wk advanced training in empathy, respect, concreteness, and genuineness. Results of pre- and posttest ratings on measures of helping skills in the preliminary and advanced training indicate a significant training effect was obtained for both groups. Desensitization treatment was a significant source of variance for the experimental Ss in training (p