SOME EXPLORATIONS IN INITIAL INTERACTION AND BEYOND: TOWARD A DEVELOPMENTAL THEORY OF INTERPERSONAL COMMUNICATION

This paper provides a theoretical perspective for dealing with the initial entry stage of interpersonal interaction. The seven axioms and 21 theorems presented suggest a set of research priorities for studying the development of interpersonal relationships. The paper concludes with a discussion of some of the problems to be considered if the theory is to be extended beyond the initial stages of interaction.     

COMMUNICATION RESEARCH AND THE ATTITUDE-VERBAL REPORT-OVERT BEHAVIOR RELATIONSHIP: A CRITIQUE AND THEORETIC REFORMULATION1

Although communication theory provides a significant rationale for the relationship of messages to both attitudes and behaviors, relatively few researchers have examined systematically the effects of communication on attitude statements and related behaviors. Those studies which have assessed communication effects on both classes of behavior have yielded conflicting findings concerning verbal report-overt behavior correspondence, as well as the role of communication and mediating variables in underlying attitude-verbal report-overt act relationships. It is argued that inconclusive results have been the product of: (1) inadequate theoretical formulation of the relationship of attitudes to behaviors, and of communication to both attitudes and behaviors; (2) inadequate conceptual and operational definitions of these and other relevant variables; (3) inadequate control of factors influencing the relationships. Theoretical reformulations are suggested in each of these areas, hypotheses are offered concerning conditions for verbal report-overt behavior compliance correspondence, and a path analytic model is proposed for empirical test.     

ASSESSING PETER OCHS THROUGH PEIRCE, PRAGMATISM AND THE LOGIC OF SCRIPTURE

This article provides an interpretive, critical overview of Peter Ochs' Peirce, Pragmatism and the Logic of Scripture , and raises four thematic criticisms. The first considers Ochs turn to language, and its implications for pragmatism and understanding Peirce. The second interrogates the tension between Ochs' particularism and Peirce's universalism. The third concerns the relation between science and religion implied by Ochs, and its adequacy in relation to Peirce, pragmatism and modernity. The final question regards the scope of the community of inquirers Ochs seems to have in view, in light of pragmatism's seemingly more general concern with an inclusive democracy.     

THE MEASUREMENT OF VERBAL PREDISPOSITIONS: SCALE DEVELOPMENT AND APPLICATION

A self-report instrument (PVB), designed to measure Predispositions toward Verbal Behavior, was found to have acceptable internal reliability, content validity, moderate construct validity, and strong criterion-related validity. Subjects were found to have a generalized cognitive orientation toward their speech patterning that correlated positively with number of words and duration of talk in both highly-structured interviews and unstructured discussion situations.