No abstract

This field study represents the continuing effort to identify the determinants of learning within experiential small study groups. Thirty-seven training groups from the 1996 Institute of the American Group Psychotherapy Association were studied. Three process measures (Group Relationship Questionnaire [GRQ], Leader Adjective Measure [LAM], and Group Climate Questionnaire [GCQ]) were administered to 434 group members after the first two of four group sessions. Process variables were used to predict learning (measured by the Learning Evaluation Form [LEF]) at the end of the training groups. The factors derived from each of the measures showed good to excellent correspondence with previous studies employing the same instruments. Results suggest that perceptions of the leader and the group, rather than perceptions of one's own relationship to other group members, are more robust predictors of learning in these short-term training groups. Specifically, perceptions of an emotionally engaged group willing to confront conflict, and perceptions of a skillful leader, proved to be significant predictors of learning. Implications for the training of group therapists and group therapy research are discussed.

The present study was designed to examine some interpersonal correlates of the field dependence construct within a naturalistic setting. By means of a factorial design, 40 field independent and 40 field dependent female participants in a weight reduction clinic were individually counseled by a male interviewer; these interviews were systematically varied in terms of (a) the verbal feedback (accepting vs. neutral) offered for clients' self-disclosing statements and (b) the physical proximity of the interviewer to the client (personal vs. social distance). Behavioral and self-report measures of affect and a measure of longterm behavioral compliance were taken. During the interviews, field dependent clients were found to be less distancing vis a vis the interviewer and more willing to comply to his dieting recommendations; over a S-week dieting period, however, they were less successful in losing weight. Other findings suggested that these field dependent clients were more sensitive to the emotional climate of the setting. Results were interpreted in terms of contrasting means of coping with dependency feelings.In over two decades of published research, the field dependence construct has demonstrated powerful potential for predicting a wide range of psychological phenomena. In particular, it has found application to a second construct introduced by Witkin, namely, self-differentiation (Witkin, Dyk, Faterson, Goodenough, & Karp, 1962). This variable designates the degree to which an individual perceives his attributes and activities to be distinct from those of others, a sense of "separate identity" (Witkin et al., 1962). Further reflected in this construct is the degree to which an individual regulates and controls his interpersonal transactions. The individual with a field dependent or relatively undifferentiated perceptual style is characterized as developing relationships in which others assume some responsibility for his words and actions; with-This article is based on a doctoral dissertation submitted to the Department of Psychology, Yale University. The author wishes to thank his thesis advisor, James C. Miller, and committee members,

To study the independent and combined impact of a counselor's verbal (i.e., evaluative feedback) and nonverbal (i.e., interpersonal distance) communications on behavioral compliance, 80 female clients were individually interviewed in the context of a weight-reduction clinic. In a 2 x 2 factorial design, a counselor offered either accepting or neutral verbal feedback for a client's self-disclosures and sat either at a "personal" or "social" distance from the client. A significant interaction obtained, which showed that physical proximity strengthened adherence to a counselor's dieting recommendations when accepting feedback was offered and lowered compliance when neutral feedback was expressed. Results are discussed in terms of the notion of consistency in communicative channels. Recently, Bordin (1974) has stressed the need for more investigations of the interactions between verbal and nonverbal channels of communication in counseling research. Generalizations from the relatively few studies reported to date are difficult to make other than to note that the effects of the content component of a message can be modified-at times, enhanced, and at other times, discounted-by accompanying paralinguistic and nonverbal cues. Most of these studies have focused upon person perception and clinical judg-

One of the arguments frequently offered for the more deliberate and extensive involvement of adolescents in the workplace is that such experience may have a significant impact on a youngster's occupational development. Indeed, the notion that a young person's attitudes toward working, occupational interests and values, work habits, and knowledge about the world of work are all shaped by early work experience has pervaded, often implicitly, but occasionally explicitly, each of several &dquo;blue-ribbon&dquo; commission reports on AUTHORS' NOTE: This study is part of a large-scale investigation of the costs and benefits of part-time employment during the high school years.