Gender and Institutional Affiliation as Determinants of Publishing in Human Communication Research

Women in academia generally publish fewer articles than do men; also, many women traditionally have not been attracted to quantitative methodologies. Therefore, this study investigated whether female authors have been underrepresented in Human Communication Research (HCR) as compared to their representation in the communication field and as compared to a more qualitative communication journal that publishes articles employing different methods. The results indicated that the difference between the percentage of female authors in HCR and the percentage of women in the field was not significant for 4 of 6 sample years. The difference between the percentages of female authors in HCR and Quarterly Journal of Speech was not significant for any of the 6 years; however, there was a significant difference in the number of female sole or lead (first) authors in 3 of the 6 sample years. Institutional affiliation was also examined because, in most fields, a small percentage of scholars produce a majority of research. The 10 highest ranking programs in Communication Theory and Research (as determined by a survey conducted by the National Communication Association) contributed more than one third of all HCR articles. Overall, the journal seems to have represented the work of a relatively diverse group of scholars during the past 25 years.     

How to Bootstrap a Human Communication System

How might a human communication system be bootstrapped in the absence of conventional language? We argue that motivated signs play an important role (i.e., signs that are linked to meaning by structural resemblance or by natural association). An experimental study is then reported in which participants try to communicate a range of pre‐specified items to a partner using repeated non‐linguistic vocalization, repeated gesture, or repeated non‐linguistic vocalization plus gesture (but without using their existing language system). Gesture proved more effective (measured by communication success) and more efficient (measured by the time taken to communicate) than non‐linguistic vocalization across a range of item categories (emotion, object, and action). Combining gesture and vocalization did not improve performance beyond gesture alone. We experimentally demonstrate that gesture is a more effective means of bootstrapping a human communication system. We argue that gesture outperforms non‐linguistic vocalization because it lends itself more naturally to the production of motivated signs.     

Surveying the Effect of Media Effects A Meta-Analytic Summary of the Media Effects Research in Human Communication Research

This is a unique investigation that is particular to the needs of this special issue of Human Communication Research (HCR). Specifically, this study analyzes the media effects research that has been published in HCR during the past 25 years via meta-analysis. Numerous significant findings point to various themes and trends regarding media research in HCR. First, age is related to processing ability, understanding, and attending to media such that as children age, they better understand media messages. Second, the mass media are a significant source of learning. Third, the media can influence attitudes, which in turn, may influence or shape behaviors. Political, social, and educational implications of the findings are discussed. In addition, directions for future research, including the use of meta-analysis as a methodological tool, are discussed, as is the social responsibility of scholars in exploring the positive effects of media as opposed to ones with potentially antisocial outcomes.     

Generalizability in Communication Research

In communication research, attempts to enhance external validity usually focus on techniques to enhance the surface representativeness attained in a particular study. Such surface representativeness is a useful tool. However, a larger ability to generalize emerges from a constantly evolving scientific discourse across multiple studies about how social meanings and social behaviors impact outcomes. The resulting conceptual knowledge enables us to generalize about communication across a much wider range of persons, settings, times, and messages than does surface similarity. The findings of a study should be examined in light of its contribution to theory. The surface representativeness of a study is usually not a good indicator of contribution to theory. The discipline of communication, particularly journal editors and reviewers, bears a heavy responsibility to think about generalizability in the complex ways the topic requires.     

父母-青少年亲子沟通的研究

父母-青少年亲子沟通已成为家庭与青少年心理发展研究中的一个重要课题,从上个世纪70年代起,西方研究者就开始对亲子互动的内在运行机制——亲子沟通展开了研究。该文研究从亲子沟通的特点（如沟通内容、频率、主动性、沟通问题等）,影响亲子沟通的因素（沟通对象、青少年年龄、家庭环境等）,亲子沟通与青少年的社会适应（自尊、学业、心理健康）、问题行为（犯罪等问题行为）的关系、亲子沟通的研究方法方面进行综述,为我国开展该领域的研究提供一些借鉴。     

Universal Principles of Human Communication: Preliminary Evidence From a Cross‐cultural Communication Game

The present study points to several potentially universal principles of human communication. Pairs of participants, sampled from culturally and linguistically distinct societies (Western and Japanese, N = 108: 16 Western–Western, 15 Japanese–Japanese and 23 Western–Japanese dyads), played a dyadic communication game in which they tried to communicate a range of experimenter‐specified items to a partner by drawing, but without speaking or using letters or numbers. This paradigm forced participants to create a novel communication system. A range of similar communication behaviors were observed among the within‐culture groups (Western–Western and Japanese–Japanese) and the across‐culture group (Western–Japanese): They (a) used iconic signs to bootstrap successful communication, (b) addressed breakdowns in communication using other‐initiated repairs, (c) simplified their communication behavior over repeated social interactions, and (d) aligned their communication behavior over repeated social interactions. While the across‐culture Western–Japanese dyads found the task more challenging, and cultural differences in communication behavior were observed, the same basic findings applied across all groups. Our findings, which rely on two distinct cultural and linguistic groups, offer preliminary evidence for several universal principles of human communication.     

Human Enhancement and Communication: On Meaning and Shared Understanding

Our technologies have enabled us to change both the world and our perceptions of the world, as well as to change ourselves and to find new ways to fulfil the human desire for improvement and for having new capacities. The debate around using technology for human enhancement has already raised many ethical concerns, however little research has been done in how human enhancement can affect human communication. The purpose of this paper is to explore whether some human enhancements could change our shared lifeworld so radically that human communication as we know it would not be possible any longer. After exploring the kinds of communication problems we are concerned with as well as mentioning some possible enhancement interventions that could bring about such problems, we will address some of the ethical implications that follow from these potential communication problems. We argue that because of the role that communication plays in human society, this issue deserves attention.     

西方婚姻沟通研究进展述评

目前西方婚姻研究领域的主流—— 婚姻沟通研究表现出三大进展：从个体研究视角转向互动视角; 从单一维度划分沟通类型转向功能性的划分; 从人格影响因素的探索转向权力结构的探索。该领域未来的研究趋势应集中在关注积极互动、扩展研究范式、探索调节或中介机制、探讨夫妻权力的不同层面以及重新评价人格因素的影响等方面。     

Human Affection Exchange: II. Affectionate Communication in Father-Son Relationships

Abstract

The father-son dyad might be the most socially significant male-male relationship in the life course, yet its negative qualities have been the sole focus in most research on the relationship. One communicative aspect that has received little scholarly attention is the expression of affection between fathers and sons, despite the strong correlation of affectionate communication with positive involvement, closeness, and relational satisfaction for fathers and sons. In 2 studies, the authors tested hypotheses about father-son affection that were derived from affection exchange theory (K. Floyd, in press). Results indicated that U.S. men are more affectionate with biological sons than with stepsons or adopted sons and that they are more affectionate with their biological sons than their biological sons are with them.     

攻击性研究方法

1　引言攻击性是人发起攻击的心理特征 ,即人格中所具有的产生攻击的内在可能性。一直以来 ,对攻击性的研究主要通过考察个体外显的攻击行为来进行 ,其使用的方法多是直接的、外显的 ,忽视了也不可能探讨人类攻击性的潜在性。自2 0世纪 80年代以来 ,人们借鉴内隐社会认知的研究方法对人类攻击性进行探讨 ,认识到攻击性更具有内隐性 ,使得我们对人类攻击性的认识出现了新的进展。在此我们对攻击性的研究方法做一个简要的述评。2　攻击性研究的常规方法2 1　调查法调查法是研究攻击性的常用方法 ,它通常又包括以下三种方法 :2 1 1　案卷法 (…     

论生命伦理学中的人的尊严概念

人的尊严概念亟需得到清晰说明。在生命伦理学语境中,人的尊严可以在三种意义上合理地使用,即人类物种的尊严、普遍尊严和获得性尊严。人类物种的尊严是作为一个整体的人类物种所拥有的尊严,它的基础是人类物种的典型本质,它的道德要求是保护人类的本质不受侵蚀。个体层面的尊严分为普遍尊严和获得性尊严。普遍尊严是每个人平等具有的道德地位,为全体人类成员赋予了平等的基本权利。获得性尊严是每个人通过体现了人类卓越性的行为在不同程度上获得的。它不是一种道德地位,但可以给人树立更高的道德目标。     

人类疼痛表情研究进展

疼痛表情是人类疼痛表达的行为方式之一,具有重要的生存适应和社会交流价值。疼痛表情研究应当遵循行为观察方法,基于面部运动编码系统（Facial Action Coding System, FACS）的表情编码有助于疼痛表情的量化分析。年龄、性别、社会因素、文化背景等多种因素会影响疼痛表情表达,使疼痛表情在不同个体之间表现出共性和个性并存的特性。在不断改进研究方法的基础上,未来可对疼痛表情的生理心理机制作出更多阐述,并有望建立完备的人类疼痛表情信息库。     

日本的人类胚胎干细胞研究

干细胞研究的进展体现了人类智慧的一个胜利,但同时也对人类的生命提出了极大的挑战,因为这意味着无论是作为一个整体的社会还是个体,都将面临严肃的伦理、法律及社会问题.通过成人干细胞临床研究原则草案论纲,讨论日本的人类胚胎干细胞研究.