Organizational change often involves the creation of work teams. This research examines how the creation of self-managed work teams within a particular organization affects perceived communication. Previous research suggests that self-managed teams would socially construct a different view of the organization especially as it relates to power than would those in traditional organizational departments. Attitudes about communication and power within the organization are analyzed in nine self-managed teams and five traditional departments. This analysis is conducted through both qualitative and quantitative means. Group comments and discussions are used in a qualitative analysis. Multidimensional scaling is used to reveal underlying attitudinal differences the self-managed teams and traditional departments may have about others within the organization. Two different scales are used to measure perceived attitudes about relationships to management and others within the organization. The first scale is modified from a family communication patterns instrument and is used to measure the analogous equivalent of the supervisor/subordinate (parent/child) relationship within the organizational family. The second scale explores the perceptions of cooperativeness, competitiveness, and independence between groups. Finally, a value ranking is used to measure perceptual differences the groups have about the organization's view of the customer. The results of this research suggest some differences exist between the two groups regarding perceptions of power and management Differences about perceptions related to boundaries suggests self-managed teams will construct a different reality as a function of their group. Results regarding perceptions of others and perceptions of the organization's view of customers were mixed. It cannot be strongly concluded that these differences exist as a function of the self-managing teams or because of the types of jobs members in self-managing teams hold. Due to a number of constraints researching in this particular organization, further examination and validation of findings were not possible. Most of the teams, for example, had been together for only two months. A possibility for future research may include some longitudinal studies.

This study addressed a need to identify the effectiveness of in-branch, employee administered training programs. A comparison of various training methods and a ranking of the effectiveness of those methodologies would enable managers to make informed training design and purchase decisions. The purpose of this study was to determine the differences between four training methods as evaluated by post-training assessment scores. This study also sought to determine the following: 1) did all four methods significantly impact short term material recall?, and 2) did gender impact training effectiveness? The training methods studied were: video; study guide; video plus study guide; video and study guide plus reinforcement meeting. A control group was used to obtain a pre-training baseline. One hundred eighty two employees who worked at one of twenty randomly selected Portland, Oregon branches of a large, regional bank participated in the study. Each branch utilized one of the five randomly assigned methods in a scheduled staff meeting. After completing the training, each participant completed a post training assessment testing material recall. The control group completed the assessment without participating in training. Analysis of Variance tests were used to determine if significant differences existed between: 1) the mean scores of the control group and the training methods, 2) the mean scores of the training methods themselves, and 3) the mean scores of males and females. A significant difference was found at the .05 level between the mean scores of the control group and every training method except video. There were no significant differences between the mean scores of the four training methods. There was not a significant difference between the mean scores of males and females. There was also no significant difference in method effectiveness based on gender.

Previous research has indicated that speech and linguistic variables develop concurrently. When one aspect of speech and linguistic development is delayed, there are typically associated delays in another area as well. This interactive relationship has been studied extensively in the context of phonological and syntactical development, as well as fluency and syntactical development. The relationship between intelligibility and linguistic proficiency has not been studied as extensively. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between varying levels of intelligibility and length and complexity of language in preschool-aged children. Mean length of utterance was correlated with the mean percentage of intelligible words in a continuous speech sample. The following questions were addressed: 1. Does a significant positive correlation exist between MLU and percentage of intelligible words in a continuous speech sample? 2. Are there significant differences in the correlations of MLU and percentage of intelligible words between four groups of young children with a range of intelligibility levels: mild, mild-moderate, moderate-severe, and severe? A continuous speech sample was collected from each of the subjects. Children were separated into four groups based on intelligibility ratings of mild, mild-moderate, moderate-severe, and severe. These ratings were based on the percentage of mean intelligible words in a continuous speech sample. Correlations between mean length of utterance (MLU) and the percentage of intelligible words (PIW) were obtained using the Pearson Product Moment Correlation. Regression analysis was used to determine whether a significant difference exists between the correlations for the four groups of intelligibility. An overall significant positive correlation was found between MLU and PIW when the four groups of subjects were combined. Significant correlations were also found between MLU and PIW for the groups with intelligibility ratings of mild and mild-moderate. No significant correlations were revealed between the two variables for the moderate-severe or severe groups. Regression analysis indicated no significant differences in the correlations for the four groups of intelligibility. This resulted in a failure to reject the null hypothesis that the correlations among the four groups of intelligibility levels will be the same.

Children with slow expressive language development often catch up to their normally developing peers in expressive language, but may still exhibit difficulties with metalinguistic skills. Research shows that children who have difficulty with phonemic awareness also have difficulty with reading, which is important for success in school. Speech-language pathologists assist children who have difficulty with expressive oral language and facilitate language development in children who have difficulties with learning metalinguistic skills, such as phonemic awareness. The purpose of the present study was to compare the phoneme segmentation skills in three groups of children: (a) children with a history of oral expressive language delay (HELD) (n= 22) who were identified as toddlers with slow developing expressive language, but caught up to their normally developing peers by first grade; (b) children identified as toddlers with slow developing oral expressive language and by first grade still maintained the expressive language delays (ELD) (n= 7); and (c) children who were identified at age two as developing normal oral expressive language and maintained normal oral expressive language development (NL) (n= 23) in first grade. The children participated in a phonological segmentation test. The study answered four questions: Is there a significant difference among the three groups of children in the number of correct responses on a phonological segmentation test at ( 1 ) the one phoneme level, (2) the two phoneme level, (3) the three phoneme level, and ( 4) the total number of correct responses. Utilizing an ANOVA test, a significant difference was found among the groups at the two phoneme level, with a trend toward a significant difference at the one phoneme level. Other significant differences were not found. The difference at the two phoneme level was between the ELD group and the normal group, as well as between the ELD group and the HELD group.

The purpose of the study was to evaluate the sensitivity of the CID Everyday sentences, with competing cafeteria noise, as a measure of the real life receptive communication difficulty experienced by subjects with hearing loss limited to frequencies above 2000 Hz. In order to establish normative data the speech discrimination test w~s given to 38 normal hearing subjects (aged 19-46). Second, the discrimination test was given to 12 hearing impaired subjects (29-64), who also completed a self-assessment questionnaire, the Hearing Handicap Inventory for Adults (HHIA). The results were analyzed to determine: (a) if there was a significant difference between the mean scores of the normal hearing and the hearing impaired subjects, and (b) if there was a significant correlation between the hearing impaired subjects' scores on the discrimination test and those obtained on the HHIA. The investigation revealed that a statistically significant difference (p=0.04) existed between the mean scores of the two subject groups on the discrimination test. The hearing impaired subjects averaged about 9% below the normal hearing subjects. Although there was a weak to moderate correlation between the hearing impaired subjects' scores on the discrimination test and their scores on the HHIA, it was not statistically significant. It was concluded that, with further research, the CID Everyday sentences, with competing cafeteria noise, have potential merit as a speech discrimination procedure to quantify the hearing handicap produced by a high frequency hearing loss.

This thesis investigates metaphoric structure revealed during discussions about conflict, and poses the general question: What conceptual metaphors do married individuals use to structure their marital conflict? Theoretical issues of metaphor analysis and general issues of conflict management are reviewed, providing a background for the study's approach to data collection and analysis. Eight married individuals were interviewed. Interviews were tape recorded. The interview schedule was structured around issues of topic, setting, process, response, and communication of typical, as well as a most recent, marital conflict. More specific probing followed respondents' comments. Using techniques of interpretive analysis, transcripts from the interviews were analyzed for emergent metaphors. Data from the transcripts coalesced around the topics of structural, ontological, and orientational metaphors. Implications for conflict management and marital counseling are discussed. Finally, in view of the study's limitations and strengths, the thesis concludes with suggested directions for future research.

The study of self-disclosure has been developed and elaborated mainly in the United States, and only a few studies have directly examined self-disclosure in the Japanese cultural context. This study was designed to extend the study of self-disclosure to Japanese culture, and using the concept of ingroup and outgroup relationships, examine the relationship between the level of self-disclosure and perceived social attraction in initial interaction between Japanese strangers. Based on the literature on self-disclosure and features of Japanese culture and communication, two hypotheses were constructed: Hl: For the ingroup members, the high discloser will be perceived to be more socially attractive than the low discloser. H2: For the outgroup members, the low discloser will be perceived to be more socially attractive than the high discloser. As respondents, a total of 328 Japanese college graduate and undergraduate students living in the Kansai area in Japan participated in the research. The data collection instrument consisted of McCroskey and McCain's (1974) social attraction scale and a culture-specific scale of social attraction constructed by the researcher. A two-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and ~ tests were used to test the two hypotheses and interaction between the two variables. In addition, to test gender effects, the data were analyzed by using three, three-way ANOVAs. The results of the data analyses revealed that in initial interaction between Japanese strangers, the level of self-disclosure was a main factor in determining the stranger's perceived social attraction. Low self-disclosure led to positive evaluation of perceived social attraction, and high self-disclosure led to negative evaluation of perceived social attraction. The results also suggested that the stranger's group identification mediated the relationship between the stranger's level of self-disclosure and perceived social attraction. Ingroup membership produced greater perceived social attraction than did outgroup membership. Thus, the highest perceived social attraction was produced by the low disclosing stranger identified as being an ingroup member. Further, Japanese subjects distinguished ingroup and outgroup membership for low self-disclosure, but not for high self-disclosure. No significant effects due to gender were found in this study.

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between cognitive skills as measured by Piagetian tasks at approximately 2 years of age and expressive and receptive language scores from tests administered to the same children 2 years later. The questions this study sought to answer were: 1. Is there a significant difference in the performance of normal children and late-talking children on Piagetian cognitive assessment at age 2? 2. Is there a significant relationship between the cognitive scores at age 2 and language scores at age 4 in each of the two diagnostic groups? Sixty-four subjects participated in this study, 27 children with normal language and 37 children considered to be late talkers. These children are part of the Portland Language Development Project, a longitudinal study being conducted at Portland State University, Portland, Oregon. The instruments used to gather data for this study were the Uzgiris-Hunt Scales of Infant Psychological Development, the Test of Language Development (TOLD), and the Developmental Sentence Score (DSS). No significant difference was found between normal children and late-talking children on Piagetian tasks. No significant correlation was found between cognitive scores at age 2 and language scores at age 4. The only significant difference found between the groups was in relation to expressive language. The DSS and the expressive language score on the TOLD were significantly different between the normal and late talkers.

While the approaches for providing aural rehabilitation to the hearing impaired are well documented, no research and only a few articles addressed the comprehensive application of these approaches in the private sector. Therefore, a survey of audiologists was conducted to determine how extensively the approaches are being utilized in this setting and what, if any, unmet client needs may exist. Sixty certified, dispensing audiologists who work in the private sector and reside in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming participated in the study. Participants were identified from membership lists provided by the five states' Speech-Language and Hearing Associations. A questionnaire was constructed to determine the extent that 14 topics, 32 methods, and 18 barriers, which were identified in the literature, are being used or encountered when providing services to these clients. The survey results indicated that once the standard hearing aid evaluation has been completed, 45% of the respondents are spending less than 60 minutes in providing aural rehabilitation to each client. Only 5% of the respondents were dissatisfied with this amount of time, indicating that 40% believed that comprehensive aural rehabilitation services can be provided satisfactorily in less than one hour. Eighty-six percent of the topics listed in the questionnaire are being discussed with a majority of the respondents' clients. On an average, the respondents discussed topics relating to Audiogram Results, Hearing Aid Orientation, and Expectations for Hearing Aids with over 90% of their hearing impaired clients. They discussed Trouble Shooting and Communication Enhancement with 76-83% of their clients, and they also discussed Hearing Loss Information and Listening Devices with 58-60% of them. Community Resources was discussed with only 33% of this clientele. Only 25% of the methods listed in the questionnaire are being utilized with a majority of the respondents' hearing impaired clients. On an average, respondents utilized methods relating to Oral Instruction with 99% of these clients. They utilized Counseling, Skill Practice, and Support with between 49-64% of them. Respondents utilized the remainder of the methods, including Written Materials, Visual Aids, Referral, Audio-Visual Aids, Structured Classes, and Programmed Instruction, with less than 30% of this clientele. Sixty-three percent of the methods that respondents estimated using with a majority of their clients rely solely upon the ability to hear and comprehend the spoken word, and only 37% of these provide opportunities for repeated exposure to the educational concepts being conveyed. None of the barriers listed in the questionnaire were perceived by respondents as having a high degree of influence on the services they provide. Only 1/3 of the barriers were perceived as having a moderate degree of influence, including audiologists' lack of time to research or develop instructional materials and clients• a.) denial, b.) vanity or self-consciousness, c.) lack of interest, d.) reluctance to participate in an aural rehabilitation program, and e.) ability to afford a hearing aid.

Problem-solving abilities of individuals with aphasia have received limited attention in their assessment and remediation. At this time, there is substantially more information available on the linguistic performance of persons with aphasia than on their cognitive processing performance. Assessment of problem-solving abilities in this population has typically used tasks with low verbal loadings. However, both linguistic and cognitive competence are required for effective communication and activities of daily life. The purpose of the present study was to determine if mild-to-moderate subjects with aphasia differed in their question-asking strategies as compared with normal subjects. A modification of Mosher and Hornsby's (1966) Twenty Questions task was used. The Twenty Questions task is considered a verbal problem-solving task that requires a cognitive strategy. Subjects were 12 adults with mild-to-moderate aphasia recruited from the out-patient intervention groups at the Portland Veterans Affairs Medical Center and 12 non-brain-injured adult controls from the Portland community. The experimental task required subjects to ask "yes" or "no" questions to identify a target item that the examiner was thinking of in a JO-picture array. Items in the array were selected from common categories of transportation, furniture, tools, animals, foods, and clothing. Subjects were told that the object of the "game" was to use as few questions as possible to guess the item the examiner was thinking of. Subjects were administered the experimental task three times. Aphasic subjects were found to be significantly impaired in their use of question-asking strategies. They needed significantly more questions to identify target items than the normal controls. Their question-asking strategies used significantly fewer and less efficient constraint seeking questions than normal subjects. Some aphasic subjects used no constraint-seeking questions at all, but only hypothesis-scanning questions that targeted only one item. These results are consistent with the question-asking strategies of other brain-injured populations as assessed by the Twenty Questions task. Results suggested that individuals with aphasia may have cognitive difficulties in addition to their specific linguistic impairments.