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)     

Validity of the self-disclosure questionnaire as a measure of counselor effectiveness.

Investigated the concurrent and predictive validity of the Self-Disclosure Questionnaire (SDQ) as a measure of counselor effectiveness by examining its relationship to measures of empathy and self-disclosure. 49 students enrolled in a techniques of counseling class served as Ss. Scores on the SDQ and rated scores of actual self-disclosure obtained from a training exercise were collected prior to the beginning of the training program. Pre- and posttraining scores were obtained on 2 measures of empathy: Affective Sensitivity Scale and Empathic Understanding in Interpersonal Processes. Overall, results fail to support both the concurrent and the predictive validity of the SDQ. Absence of predictive validity, however, was not due to lack of gain in skills as scores on both empathy measures increased significantly as a result of training. It was noted, however, that the behavioral measure of actual self-disclosure employed was highly correlated with 1 of the empathy measures. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Interpersonal skill training for dating couples: An evaluation of an educational mental health service.

In a previous study by S. Schlein (1971) of a preventative mental health program which stressed relationship improvement by maximizing empathy and self-disclosure, the efficacy of the program in improving communication and the general quality of the relationship between 48 college dating couples was demonstrated. The present reanalysis of Schlein's data shows that the experimental group, compared to the control group, also improved significantly on 2 key behavior rating scales by R. R. Carkhuff which are widely used to assess the efficacy of general helping relationship skills. As a result of less than 20 hrs of training, participants moved from providing levels of skills typical of college students to levels provided by typical counselors. The Empathy scale was highly correlated with 2 other Carkhuff scales, Respect and Immediacy. The trained Ss also showed a significantly greater increase in self-disclosure. (28 ref) (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     

Approaches to empathy training: Programmed methods versus individual supervision and professional versus peer supervisors.

Examined the effects of training method (programmed vs individual supervision) and supervisor experience (peer vs professional) on the learning of empathy. Eight supervisors (4 professional and 4 peer) were assigned 3 Ss in each of 3 groups: individually supervised, programmed, and control. Ss listened to 3 sets of recorded client statements and responded as counselors. The 2 experimental groups received training after the 1st and 2nd sets. The control group received no training. An analysis of recorded responses indicated that the individually supervised Ss achieved a significantly higher level of empathy than the controls. Ss receiving programmed training were intermediate in learning between individually supervised and control Ss. Supervisor experience was not found to be a significant factor as no posttraining differences were noted between professional and peer-trained groups. This result supports the use of peers in such interpersonal skills training. (22 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Microcounseling versus human relations training: Relative effectiveness with undergraduate trainees.

Randomly assigned 24 undergraduates to 1 of 2 counselor training systems. 12 human relations training Ss received training in R. R. Carkhuff's 7 core counselor conditions. 12 microcounseling Ss were trained in the use of attending behavior, minimal activity responses, verbal following behavior, open inquiry, and reflection of feeling. Pre- and posttraining interviews with standard clients were audiotaped for each S. Trainees were assessed on empathy and on 3 categories of counselor communication derived from the microcounseling training content. Compared to no-training control groups, all experimental Ss significantly improved on both sets of training criteria. However, the microcounseling Ss gained significantly more on empathy than did the human relations training Ss. Differences in the instructional techniques of the 2 systems are discussed. (31 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Neuroticism and disclosure reciprocity.

32 college males with either normal or neurotic MMPI profiles participated in a dyadic interaction via telephone with a confederate who disclosed at either a high or low level of intimacy. Following the confederate's disclosure, Ss disclosed as long and as intimately as they cared to. Ratings of Ss' disclosures revealed that (a) normal Ss exposed to a high-disclosing confederate spent significantly more time in intimate disclosure than those exposed to a low-disclosing confederate and (b) neurotic Ss spent very little time in intimate self-disclosure, regardless of the level of disclosure they received from a confederate. This failure of neurotic Ss to reciprocate highly intimate disclosure is examined via a model that views appropriate self-disclosure as requiring several intra- and interpersonal skills. (13 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of diagnostic information on empathic understanding by the therapist in a psychotherapy analogue.

Presented psychoanalytic, phenomenological, or no diagnostic information about 3 clients to each of 18 graduate students training to be psychotherapists. Ss' responses to a therapy tape of the client then were scored for empathic communication. Ss also completed a Q sort on how they thought the client perceived himself at the time of the interview. An index of accuracy of empathic inference was computed between the Ss' Q sorts of the clients and the clients' own self-sorts. No significant effects of the diagnostic information on empathy were found. Certain clients consistently elicited a greater degree of empathy from Ss. Degree of empathic communication was found to be a relatively stable therapist characteristic. (28 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Instigation to aggression as a function of self-disclosure and threat to self-esteem.

Examined whether self-disclosure would make a person more vulnerable to personal threat and thus increase instigation to angry aggression. 72 female undergraduates exchanged communications with 4 female confederates showing low or high self-disclosure or a control communication. Ss then commented on the communications, the confederates giving commentaries of neutral, critical, or derogatory tone. Subsequently, Ss had the opportunity to punish the confederate with what they thought were varying degrees of shock. As predicted, after high self-disclosure, Ss used significantly greater levels of shock than Ss in the control and low-self-disclosure groups. Criticism was more clearly effective than derogation in producing aggression. Findings indicate that high self-disclosure, followed by personal threat, is a potent antecedent of angry aggression. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Development and evaluation of a learning strategy training program.

Developed an interactive learning strategy system consisting of primary and support strategies. A set of training procedures was also created to facilitate the communication of this system to college-age students. This system was assessed in the context of a 15-wk (2 hrs/wk) learning skills course with 108 Ss. Results indicate that Ss receiving this training exhibited (p?     

The effect of therapist self-disclosure on patients' perceptions of empathy, competence and trust in an analogue psychotherapeutic interaction.

Psychodynamically oriented clinicians uniformly contraindicate the use of therapist self-disclosure, whereas practitioners disposed toward a humanistic-existential perspective often regard this practice as an essential condition of treatment. In the present study, 57 psychotherapy patients (aged 18–55 yrs) read 1 of 3 patient–therapist dialogs in which the degree of therapist self-disclosure was high, low, or nil. Ss completed the Relationship Inventory and Sorenson Relationship Questionnaire to measure perceived therapist empathy, competence, and trust. Findings confirm the prediction that greater therapist self-disclosure would be related to poorer evaluations of the therapist. Results question the use of self-disclosure as a psychotherapeutic technique and suggest that self-disclosure may adversely affect the perceptions on which the therapeutic alliance is based. (46 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of discussion and role-play activities in the acquisition of consultant interview skills.

15 graduate students in each of 2 experimental groups were enrolled in a consultation course in which they received a didactic explanation and viewed a videotaped demonstration of consultant interview skills. Ss in the 1st experimental group participated in role-play practice activities; Ss in the 2nd experimental group participated in discussion activities. 15 graduate students not enrolled in the course comprised a 3rd group, and they received no training. Interview skills of all groups were assessed by rating Ss' oral responses to simulated videotaped consultation interview segments. Results indicate that Ss in the role-play group made a significantly higher mean number of appropriate responses than Ss in either the discussion or control groups. No significant differences were found between Ss in the role-play and discussion groups on degree of satisfaction with the course. (7 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

L'Entra?nement à l'empathie et le style de valorisation.

Hypothesized that empathy training is effective and that the individual who values being expressive (active) in his/her environment will learn that skill more easily than the impressive (passive) individual. 29 undergraduate psychology students participated in a training program for enhancing helping relations skills. Three measures of empathy were administered both before and after training: an index of communication, an index of discrimination, and interviews rated on R. R. Carkhuff's (1969) empathy scale. Values were measured using the Questionnaire des Valeurs d'éducation (J. Perron, 1974). Outcome measures supported the efficiency of the training program, but the expressive values were negatively correlated with the learning of empathy. The ceiling effect in the results and their implications for the Carkhuff model are discussed. (English abstract) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Assessment and training of role-taking and referential communication skills in institutionalized emotionally disturbed children.

Evaluated 125 institutionalized emotionally disturbed 8-15-yr-old children in terms of their role-taking and referential communication skills. On the basis of this screening process, the 48 Ss who performed most poorly on these measures were assigned randomly to 1 of 2 experimental training programs intended to remediate deficits in either role-taking or referential communication skills. As a group these institutionalized Ss were significantly delayed in the acquisition of both role taking and referential communication when compared with samples of their normal age-mates. Pre- and postintervention comparisons indicated that Ss of both experimental groups improved significantly in their role-taking ability. Ss of the communication training program also demonstrated significant improvement in referential communication skills. A 12-mo follow-up showed a trend for improvements in both test measures to be associated with improvements in social adjustment as rated by institutional staff. (30 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Modeling and instructions in training for counselor empathy.

Assessed the relative contributions of modeling and instructions to training of counselor empathy in a factorial design incorporating 2 instruction conditions (instructions or no instructions) and 3 modeling conditions (high-empathy model, low-empathy model, or no model). Ss were 68 clergymen from various religious denominations. Ss wrote responses to a taped client in Phase 1, a training phase, and conducted an interview with a client (actor) in Phase 2, a generalization phase. Instructions had no effect on empathy offered by Ss, but Ss hearing a high-empathy model showed significantly higher empathy in Phase 1 responses than all other Ss. Findings were not significant in Phase 2. Reasons for lack of generalization and implications for further research and training are noted. (23 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of communication skill training on high school students' ability to function as peer group facilitators.

Conducted a study with 60 high school students to assess the effect of training vs nontraining on their ability to function as peer facilitators in a group setting. R. Carkhuff's Helping and Human Relations (1969) provided the basis for the training. Expert judges and peers rated training Ss significantly higher as group facilitators than they rated untrained students. In addition, trained Ss functioned at significantly higher levels of communication than did their untrained counterparts. (18 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Instructions, modeling, and rehearsal: Implications for training.

Studied the effects of instructions, modeling, and rehearsal in training 48 college students in empathic communication. Ss were assigned to 1 of 8 groups representing all possible factorial combinations of the variables which included instructions vs no instructions, modeling vs no modeling, and rehearsal vs no rehearsal. Training gains were assessed using written responses to the pre- and posttest administration of the Carkhuff Communication Index. Generalization effects were assessed using empathy ratings of a critical-incident interview. Analysis of written responses indicated that improvement in empathic communication occurred for all training groups. Specific instructions appeared to be a criticial factor in facilitating written performance. The interviews showed that a combination of training variables facilitated empathic responses during an interview more than each variable alone. Modeling seemed to be an effective procedure for the interview task. The instructional effect did not generalize very well. (31 ref) (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)