AN EMPIRICAL APPRAISAL OF THE PRCA FOR MEASURING ORAL COMMUNICATION APPREHENSION

Since 1970 about 80% of the research on oral communication apprehension has used one of two versions of McCroskey's Personal Report of Communication Apprehension. The original 20-item PRCA was introduced for the purpose of measuring apprehension beyond the traditional public speaking context. Although the PRCA-20 is reliable, some serious criticism of it has centered on its ability to tap interpersonal behavior outcomes. In an attempt to bolster its interpersonal applicability, five “interpersonally-oriented” items were added to form the PRCA-25. The studies reported herein demonstrate that both versions fail to possess sufficient reliable variance to be applicable to contexts other than public settings. In addition, it was found that the interpersonal items are a separate component of the PRCA, and as such, do not justify being treated equal in terms of additivity and, therefore, reduce the construct integrity of the PRCA.     

A STUDY OF THE GRAPEVINE IN A GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATION

The purposes of this investigation were to replicate a classic study of the grapevine reported by Davis in 1953, and to extend the results by obtaining personality data (Bass Orientation Inventory scores) on the subjects. The present study was carried out in a state government unit with 79 employees. Davis’“ecco analysis” method was used to study the flow of information through the grapevine. Nine grapevine items were investigated with respect to where, when, and how the subjects had learned of the information. Two of Davis’ findings–the relatively small percentage of in-dividuals functioning in a liaison capacity in disseminating any particular item of information, and the positive relationship between grapevine knowledge and an individual's level in the organizational hierarchy–were confirmed. Two other findings of Davis–relating to the degree of within-unit vs. between-unit spread of information, and the degree of individual consistency in functioning as liaisons–were not confirmed. Again, it should be stressed that, while Davis’ study was concerned with communication within the managerial force of a manufacturing concern, the present study was carried out in a governmental organization and involved personnel from both the managerial and the rank-and-file levels. Thus, because of the particular nature of the samples in each of the two investigations, any generalizations about the operation of grapevines in organizations need to be stated with extreme caution.     

Exploring the Meaning of Spirituality and Its Implications for Counselors

This article is one counselor's personal exploration of the nature of spirituality and its relevance to counseling practice. The personal and immediate experience of the spirit is emphasized as the foundation of any counselor's effective engagement of this issue with clients. Those clients whose encounter with the spirit is sudden and nonconsensual have a particular need for counselors who are knowledgeable of the processes of spiritual emergence and emergency.     

The impact of television,print, and audio on children's recall of the news.

Recent research has shown that children remember more from television news than from print news, a finding that has been explained by the extra mnemonic support offered by redundant television pictures (the dual‐coding hypothesis). The present study was designed to examine three alternative explanations, which attribute children's superior recall of television news to (a) underutilization of the print medium, (b) a recall advantage of listening compared with reading, and imperfect reading ability. A sample of 192 fourth and sixth graders was presented with children's news stories, either in (a) their original television form, (b) a bare print version, a print version supplemented with photo material or in (d) an audio version. Results indicated that the television presentation was remembered better than any of the other three versions. The results of the study were consistent with the dual‐coding hypothesis, whereas no support was found for the alternative explanations tested in the study.