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A study was conducted to identify the independent and conjoint influence of attitude similarity and initial interactions on interpersonal attraction to relative strangers. The 124 college students who were participants in the study were informed that they would be working on a project with either an attitudinally similar or dissimilar stranger (based on an attitudinal measure previously administered). Half of the participants were then allowed to engage in an initial interaction with their partner and the other half were not. All of the participants completed a measure of interpersonal attraction. The results indicated that initial interaction and attitude similarity combined to influence attraction to relative strangers. Initial interaction had a positive impact on attraction, but only for individuals paired with attitudinally dissimilar partners. Individuals paired with attitudinally similar partners were more attracted to their partners than were inidividuals paired with attitudinally dissimilar partners, but only when they had not engaged in an initial interaction with the partner. (Author/FL)

This is a final report on a series of research studies conducted to determine the effects of videotaped testimony on information processing and decision making in jury trials. The report is divided into the following sections: descriptions of the research methodology and technological aspects of the videotaped stimuli; summaries of eleven studies under two general categories, information retention and trial-participant credibility; a discussion of the general conclusions; and the research team's efforts at grant information dissemination. The research team concludes that use of videotape does not adversely affect juror responses and can even result in higher retention levels. Appendixes provide information on the videotape equipment used and tables of data for both the information retention and the trial-participation credibility studies. (RL)

The major concern of this report was to identify some of the problems which arise when educational accountability models are introduced into a state and to begin placing those problems within a communication context. It was suggested that there are problems created by the definition of the term "accountability", the term "assessment," the term "testing," and the equation frequently made between them. While large segments of the public can frequently agree on the desirability of "accountability," that agreement disappears when the specific operational definition of accountability is finally introduced. The experience of Michigan in its Michigan Educational Assessment Program was used as an extended example, although other states report problems similar to those of Michigan. Many of these problems were in the area of communication. (RC)

Some systematic procedures are suggested that can be utilized by states as they move toward the development of educational accountability programs. Each of the steps outlined: (1) identification of the appropriate message sources, (2) specification of communication objectives, (3) analysis of relevant publics, (4) determination of particular dissemination techniques, and (5) evaluation of communication outcomes is an essential ingredient of a recipe calculated to produce maximum communication effectiveness. While each procedure is discussed serially and in detail, it must be remembered that communication within large, complex organizations is not a linear process; it is an interactive process. Careful analysis and reseach may help insure the eventual success of an information dissemination program about state accountability models. Some of the major questions that must be asked if a successful dissemination model is to be developed are specified. For a state department of education to be able to answer some of these questions, however, will demand the systematic collection of data that does not seem to be currently available. (RC)

Findings suggest that (1) the effects of rehearsal on deceptive success vary depending upon certain characteristics of the communicator/deceiver and (2) a relationship exists between certain behavior correlates of deceptive communication and observer accuracy in detecting deception. (PD)

This experimental examination of the effects of close-up, medium, and long camera shots on jurors' perceptions of "strong" and "weak" witnesses found few effects, none of them direct. (PD)

Surveyed 190 adolescents to investigate adolescent perceptions of parental persuasive communication. Argues that adolescents base their attributions of parental power on their parents' attempts to control their behavior. Results indicated that adolescents' age and gender and communicative context affect how they perceive parental persuasive message strategies. (JAC)

Uniting research on parental control techniques with studies examining adolescents' perceptions of conjugal and parental power, this study investigates adolescent perceptions of parental persuasive communication. One hundred ninety adolescents from two small midwestern high schools were asked to complete a questionnaire. The first four sections of the questionnaire described situations involving some conflict of interest between a student's parents and the student. Students were asked to role play in each situation and to decide which parent would be most likely to invoke the 16 persuasive message strategies from a theoretical typology. These sections also contained items assessing the validity of each compliance-gaining situation. The fifth section was composed of an additional seven items assessing adolescent perceptions of conjugal power for use in another study. The final section contained questions requesting students to supply demographic information. Results indicated that depending on age, gender, and context, adolescents report fathers or mothers invoke a variety of persuasive messages that cannot be classified in two-dimensional space: coercion and induction. More specifically, a host of persuasive messages emerged as indicators of the dimensions underlying adolescent perceptions of parental influence. (HOD)

An assumptive, theoretical, and empirical foundation for the development of a formal dissemination model to apply to the introduction of information about educational accountability programs is set forth. If a dissemination model is to be effective, the fundamental assumptions underlying it must be spelled out explicitly. Existing communication problems can often be traced to mistaken assumptions about the nature, and purpose of the communication process. The success or failure of a formal dissemination model also hinges upon identification of relevant sociological, psychological, and communication theories. A useful theory allows transcendence, at least to some extent, of the exigencies of a particular communication situation and allows prediction of the probable outcomes of a specific communicative strategy in other similar situations. Although not an inventory of research findings, certain studies are described and certain results are cited when they are perceived as bearing upon: problems associated with present attempts to disseminate information about educational accountability and/or dimensions of the formal dissemination model being developed. (RC)