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This article presents information regarding the problems faced by the developing countries in their course of development. The problems faced by the developing countries of the world are numerous and of critical importance. These problems include those of industrialization and economic development, of changing traditional social institutions such as stratification and power mechanisms so that they facilitate rather than inhibit modernization, and of providing ever-increasing percentages of citizens with an education that teaches the economic and social skills requisite to assuming rewarding roles in a changing society. However, in the array of social and behavioral sciences that have been brought to bear upon the problems of developing countries, social psychology has been noticeably absent. Anthropologists have carried over their interest in traditional societies to include concern with the problems these societies face in the processes of modernization and development, particularly as these processes affect values and institutions such as the family and religion.

The paper presents some strong, though limited, empirical generalizations about the effects of cohesiveness on a wide variety of behaviors: cooperation, competition, conformity, productivity, and learning among group members. There is also a more descriptive literature from sociology and anthropology which deals with cohesion and the ethnic organization of current and historic groups. In the paper, findings from these disparate sources are examined. When combined, these diverse sources of research data offer some insights into the internal characteristics of groups which have emerged from poverty. From this perspective the literature permits the prediction of some of the antecedents and consequents of changes in group cohesiveness and ethnic organization among those who are presently poor. Recent changes in the ideology and cohesiveness of poor blacks is used as an illustrative case. The present account includes: a selective discussion of experimental findings on group cohesiveness, some experimental results of the effects of ethnic identity, examples of ethnic and religious organization among current and historic disadvantaged groups (with ethnic cohesiveness among poor blacks used as a current illustration), and some conclusions and predictions.

In this paper, the author proposes a social psychology research, which may increase understanding of inter-personal relations in the U.S. The methods which seek to take account of the individual as a dynamic process are the clinical ones. These approaches will be best used when coordinated with other techniques already developed in the field of social psychology. An example of such coordination in the investigation of social psychological problems is to be found in the University of California Public Opinion Study. For the study of anti-democratic trends, projective techniques have been found valuable. Whereas in the area of internal economic tensions, an assessment center is needed to incorporate principles such as: basing of research upon a fundamental theory of personality; assessment of persons as wholes and as members of natural groups; use of multiform clinical procedures with the techniques of attitude and opinion measurements.

This paper attempts to integrate equity theory and specialized theories and data concerning the reactions of bystanders and victims caught up in emergencies. The authors first examine three factors which determine the bystander's response to emergency situations: whether or not bystanders attend to an emergency; how aroused bystanders become by the emergency; how the bystander responds to the emergency-i.e., by helping, by denigrating the victim, or by running away. Finally, they examine factors which affect how the victim will respond to the bystander who either provides or denies him assistance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the fall of 1952, a chronological study has been conducted to solve the problem of community action in the Springdale community in New York. For this purpose interviews were arranged with ten different adults who had played key roles in the action. The case study is based primarily in the weekly paper, observations made by the field workers at meetings of various organizations. Additional information was also gathered by field workers through informal contacts in the community. The roles of various organizations were also analyzed.

Lists books and other information resources related to human relations published in the May 1951 issue of the "Journal of Social Issues."

Changing environmental attitudes from an economic to a moral orientation are discussed in terms of the activation of moral norms to guide and evaluate behavior. In controlled experimental situations, increasing levels of two variables (awareness of the negative interpersonal consequences and ascription of responsibility) increased the likelihood that moral norms influenced behavior. Changes in the social system are discussed which have increased both our awareness of, and the actual adverse consequences stemming from, a strict economic approach to the environment. Other modifications have made decision-makers responsible for these consequences. These changes have fostered the current moral fervor concerning the natural environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The possibility exists that during the past decade some important social psychological theory and research and some salient social forces may have interacted to produce a subtle shift in the Zeitgeist from studies concerned with more negative to studies of more prosocial or positive forms of social behavior. The history of the term "prosocial" is first explored. Some different forms of prosocial behavior are indicated, along with the different research strategies and operational definitions involved, and a working definition of prosocial behavior is suggested. Finally, each chapter is overviewed and some indications are made of various intersections of agreement as well as countervailing arguments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper offers some critical comments concerning more general conceptual topics in psychological research in poverty. In passing, observations also will be made on empirical research in the field. In very general terms, the psychology of poverty can be seen as concerned with the relationship between environment and behavior. To put it another way, the psychology of poverty deals with the "interface" between the economic system and the individual: the relationship between a particular array of physical and interpersonal stimuli and psychological structure or overt behavior. Unfortunately, the researchers' theoretical and conceptual tools for analyzing such inter-level problems still are unsophisticated and unsystematic. Most extant psychological theories are woefully inadequate for dealing with the type of problems presented by poverty. A theoretical system bridging the psychological level and the level of the social (and economic) system within a single conceptual framework would seem to be most congruent with the nature of the problems encountered in research in poverty.

The paper explored the social reinforcement standard (SRS) model as a predictor of the responsiveness of Negroes to reinforcement. The study investigated the relative effectiveness of Negro peer group and white authority figure reinforcement in enhancing task performance and self-image of Negro youth. In addition, the relative effectiveness of positive and negative reinforcement was investigated. The relationship of the SRS model and other incongruity models such as dissonance and balance theories seems was discussed. In summary, what the authors have tried to do with the SRS model is to combine the stress on reinforcement history and reinforcement schedules of the operant conditioners with the insights of social psychologists concerned with: (1) the motivating effects of attitudinal inconsistency, and (2) the view of social interaction as involving social exchange and self-presentation. It may also be noted that the fact that the SRS model is a theory mediating between cognitive and reinforcement approaches is nowhere more clearly evident than in the view which SRS theory takes of how input-standard disparities are resolved. SRS theory assigns highest priority as a resolution mechanism to purposeful behavioral adjustments aimed at achieving stimulus control vis-a-vis tactics of interpersonal manipulation. The result is a kind of social psychological version of the cognitive behaviorism called for by Miller, Galanter, and Pribram (1960).

This paper is a preliminary report on how the possibility of sending a man into space or engaging in other forms of interplanetary travel has been translated into jokes in actual circulation. Such relatively informal data may provide clues to the perception of an innovation which may supplement more formal procedures. There have been no studies which examined how the reaction to any innovation was translated into popular humor. A content analysis of space jokes appeared to be one clue to how the public was responding to space. Another interesting problem in the popular culture of jokes is the identification of the anonymous creators of these jokes, which constitute such a staple of social intercourse.

This paper introduces articles in a 1961 issue of the journal "Social Issues," about the diversity of impacts of Man in Space (MIS) and of the theoretical and research opportunities involved. Gardner Murphy explores the changing nature of man himself over the long period of man's growth into space. Another author makes broad inventory of the diversity of impacts on contemporary institutions and activities and documents the extent to which they have already become part of life. The space crew is also examined as a laboratory for group living, which will pose questions for psychology. The diversity of MIS impacts also raises problems concerning the optimal strategy of social psychological research. The editors believe that MIS merits the knowledgeable awareness of those interested in the role of the social sciences in understanding and meeting social issues.

Actions agencies have been established in order to combat intergroup tensions present in the American society. Three states have set fair employment practice commissions and a variety of new agencies, privately supported, have been activated nationally. Some of these are the American Council on Race Relations, the Commission on Community Inter-relations of the American Jewish Congress and the Bureau of Intercultural Education. Thus far the newness of this action for unity initiative has hindered the development of a working relationship among various agencies. This article discusses techniques and methods for influencing intergroup relations in the U.S.

Focuses on the discussion regarding the conceptual analysis of altruism. Agreement on the emphasis of the other in altruism; Emphasis on the contention that helping behavior is the next most general term with altruistic being the special case rather than vice versa; Mistake on the inclusion of the paraphrase that leads the reader to the incorrect conclusion that the author was equating altruistic and moralistic behavior.

Focuses on the suggestion of the authors that the least adequate definitions in social psychology are those real definitions which state the essential nature or attributes of some entity or theoretical construct. Emphasis on the concept of altruism; Suggestion that the necessary components for a complete description of an intentional act include what the actor wanted, what he knew, what he knew how to do, his performance, and the actual achievement of his behaving; Problem on the explanation of the development and maintenance of altruistic behavior.

To investigate inter- and intragenerational influences in adolescent marijuana use, a survey was undertaken on a representative sample of public secondary school students in New York State. Independent data were obtained from adolescents, their parents, and their best- school-friends. These relational data document the crucial role which members of the same generation play in adolescent illegal drug use. Involvement with other drug-using adolescents is a more important correlate of adolescent marijuana use than is parental use of psychoactive drugs or alcohol (which provides a small influence). Inter- and intragenerational influences are synergistic, however. The highest rates of marijuana usage are observed among adolescents whose parents and best friends are drug users. Interactional generational factors influence levels of intragenerational influences. Implications of these data for parental and peer influence, the generation gap, and social change are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Three categories of tension are identified as potential correspondents of psychological forces: tension arising from own needs, from induced needs, from the need to satisfy impersonal demands. To these, a fourth is added in which tensions are coordinated to someone else's desire to locomote toward or away from a region in his life space. From this Lewinian perspective, altruism and other less dramatic forms of prosocial behavior are part of a general theoretical question: What conditions determine whether individuals develop tension systems coordinated to another's goal attainment? The process by which tension is coordinated to another person's goal attainment is here called promotive tension arousal. Conditions that determine whether promotive tension arousal produces behavior that facilitates or hinders another's goal attainment are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Norms are only one of a variety of determinants of prosocial behavior. The distinction between knowing and personally accepting a norm is stressed. Two specific norms of prosocial behavior are discussed: the norm of reciprocity, and the norm of social responsibility. Reciprocity seems to guide both return of benefits and retaliation of harm. However, the intent attributed to another, the degree of his self sacrifice, and other conditions affect the degree of reciprocity. The evidence that a norm of responsibility guides helping behavior is less convincing. In emergencies (and probably other situations), not only normative (generalized) expectations, but also (specific) expectations communicated by other people who are present and rules applicable to the specific situation seem to greatly affect behavior. This may be due both to people's concern about others' reactions to them and to a social definition of reality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Findings relating personality and demographic variables to prosocial behavior are reviewed. Original research results are then presented. These results show that different personal dispositions are related to various Forms of prosocial behavior in different ways. The traditional search for general correlates of prosocial behavior is viewed as short- sighted. Attention is drawn in the relation of situational payoffs to personal dispositions, interactions among predictors, assessment of independence among predictors, and to situational shuts in personality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article reviews current hypotheses and investigations concerning helping behavior. Two areas of helping behavior are focussed upon: donation and rescue responses. Studies concerning the impact of the social responsibility norm, experimenter demand characteristics, and proprieties are reviewed. Additionally, studies concerned with the subject variables associated with aiding activity are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents views of social scientist Muzafer Sherif on occasion of the nineteenth memorial session arranged by the Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues to honor the work of social reformer Kurt Lewin. Sherif believes that the potentiality of a scientific approach to the analysis of human relations, with applications based on it, has not yet had its due turn in court. Other modes of handling human problems have brought human relations to their present state, such as they are--fraught with tension, conflict, distrust, crises and the specter of a war that can destroy everything cherished in culture as well as the hope of human survival itself. Sherif further says that the marketplace, the government agency and the action program are not the only places to find social technicians. There is an understandable, if not justifiable tendency for each social science discipline to develop its respectable outlook, its genteel modes of approach and its acceptable research instrumentalities, and then to freeze into orthodoxy.

This article reports that it is the fashion these days for popular writers to exploit the subject of sex, due to the intrinsic interest it holds. This article uses the scientific frame of reference to analyze the subject of sex viewed in cross-cultural perspective. Sex is a sensitive phenomenon, not only in the public view, but also as a research focus for pointing up differences across cultures. This latter fact was a major consideration in selecting it as the substantive side of a project which sought to compare normative systems. The focus of this article is on the contemporary sex norms of Scandinavia and the U.S. The sex norms of Denmark are known to be highly permissive; those of Midwestern U.S., moderately restrictive; and those of Mormon Country, highly restrictive. In Denmark, which is broadly typical of all of Scandinavia, sexual intercourse during the engagement is a tradition that goes back three or four centuries at least, and in recent years the practice has spread to include the "going steady" relationship; now as earlier, many Danes tend to wait for pregnancy before going ahead with the wedding.

This article deliberates on whether sexual morality is declining. Varying views have been expressed, but one thing is clear, very foundations upon which sexual morality has rested, and which have governed the exercise of sexual behavior are being challenged. This, of course, is characteristic of a renaissance. If an increasing concern for sex as an interpersonal relationship is the trend of the sexual renaissance, then one must know how sex and sexual functioning are affected by relationships and vice versa. An extensive psychological literature has been developed to explain individual functioning; individual differences, individual growth patterns, and individual cognitive development. But relatively little is known about relationships as such-their components, or what precisely causes them to flourish, or to wither and die. A psychology more concerned with interpersonal relationships is now much needed. This also suggests the need to develop a field of research devoted to understanding sex and interpersonal relationships.

The article focuses on the interpersonal relations within formal organizations in Turkey. Since the establishment of the Turkish Republic in 1923, the country has been pursuing a course of deliberate economic development based on increasing industrialization. In spite of a rapid increase in new plant construction and increased mechanization, over 60% of the male labor force is employed in agriculture and more than 70% of the population lives in centers having less than 2,000 population. Turkey is very much in the process of transition from a traditional agriculturally based society to a modern technology based society. The data in the article were collected in 1958-59. The primary focus of organization in Turkish society has been the extended family with a tight family group characterized by strong emphasis on family loyalty. In the larger scale organizations, where the general manager cannot have direct knowledge of the behavior of every employee and where presumably universalistic standards would be especially important, it is find that the organization broken down into little sub-families with the relationship of the employees being one of extreme dependence on their immediate superiors.

The article focuses on personality dynamics and social conflict. A hereditary conception of aggression leads nowhere with regard to social conflict. If man is born with a given potential for aggression, one must apparently assume that in the course of his life he will act out this potential in some form. But aggression, as even the Freudians agree, may be channeled into face-to-face hostility, into competitive behavior, and even into work, or it may be vented in group competition and conflict of a non-violent nature. Thus, the theory cannot logically lead to any kind of prediction about the occurrence of violent social conflict, whether between nations, or classes, or races. As a practical problem neither an instinctivist nor an environmentalist theory of aggression has much value from the point of view of blunting or disarming social conflicts.

The author discusses the psychosocial implications of space exploration in the United States. While companionship can reduce the effects of physical and psychological stress and makes these more endurable, crew members will be the chief source of stimuli for one another. Under those circumstances, one's companions can also become a major source of stress. Psychologists should be able to contribute to the improvement of the social environments that space crews will encounter. Assuming that psychologists contribute meaningfully to the problems of how to develop and maintain sustained group cohesiveness and effective social psychological performance; the stature and prestige of the discipline will climb, thus attracting able people (and even funds), and providing inspiration for tackling other difficult applied problems. The phenomenon of group living in space, attacked perhaps more vigorously and directly because it is remote, removed from day-to-day problems, has much relevance for a large class of social relationships involving either affect or conflict or both.

The effects of imposed desegregation upon children's behavior and attitudes, in general, support a theory of social change which emphasizes the crucial role of the situation in which the individual is required to function. On the whole, the children's behavior is in conformity with the situational requirements, and there are some changes in attitudes and feelings toward compatibility with the situational norms. To understand some of the conditions which have modified adaptation to the requirements of the situation, this article gives more detailed consideration to a number of personal and situational variables. It investigates differences in responses to the camp "society" in terms of the variables of age, sex, and race.

Imposed desegregation offers a natural situation for exploring the hypothesis that change in the behavior of individuals and groups can be brought about by a change in the social situation in which they are required to function without preceding changes in attitudes and beliefs. Desegregation can be conceptualized as a social psychological problem involving a conflict between external forces and internalized norms. This article studies social situation in a total camp setting, with segregated and desegregated children's groups. To assess individual and group functioning, analyses were made in terms of different levels of response: (1) behavior; (2) social perceptions; (3) group properties; and (4) psychodynamics processes.

Research has dealt mainly with the end-products of social learning and their relation to various antecedent conditions. Only slowly have the process of learning and change been brought into focus. This article studies the adjustment of children to desegregation in a summer camp as a process of acquiring new behavior patterns, new attitudes and values, in a society that structured social relationships in an egalitarian way. It examines the individual's experience as he adapts to new requirements in interpersonal relationships, and with his changing psychological definition of the situation over time.

This article focuses on the study on the use of space within the cabin group in therapeutic camping. Exploration of how the cabin group operates is studied to know how social relationships formed and the evaluation of the members of the group. Relationships between social space and physical space have been studied extensively. The researcher suggest that the spontaneous use of cabin space indicates motives of friendship and protection are characteristics of the younger boys and power considerations outweighs simple friendship in older ones. Observation of the sociometric significance of bunking arrangements in the cabin suggests that social relationships have potent effect on the use of cabin space. Sociometric researcher claimed that through observation of their behavior they have been able to understand the way in which its power structure operates. Instabilities in the bunking arrangements contributes to the stirring of the resentment among the members of the group.

Presents an introductory statement to the May 1956 issue of "The Journal of Social Issues."

The article deals with the growing concern for emphasizing human relations and community leadership in the professional education of school administrators. The choosing and training of standard ideal school administrators who are interchangeable in many typical school situations is unrealistic. The stress now is on the unique personality of each who is chosen or who chooses to devote his life to school administration and the stress should include the unique personalities of the human beings with whom he deals. It is an emphasis on dealing with people as people rather than as things or statistics. It recognizes that feelings are facts and must be added to the sheer logic of intelligence if one is to understand motivation and the pattern of human behavior. The editors point out carefully that there is a difference in working relations when we view the internal direction of human behavior in terms of attitudes and perceptions as contrasted to the external compulsion of human behavior based on a rigid application of the S-R bond psychology.

The article describes how United Packinghouse union was able to achieve a non-segregation practice of members. The self-survey technique is consciously motivational, as well a fact-finding, in its objective. The nature of the survey, objectives, procedures had to be interpreted and re-interpreted to each group to be involved. The inauguration of a program designed to change behavior clearly must result in changes in structure, if the program is to be successful. Two developments are discussed: the internal innovations that were necessary to implement the union's anti-discrimination policy and the changes in human relations practices within the sphere of influence of the union.

The article presents some comments and reflections on the problem of group tensions in the New York dressmakers organization of the International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union. the New York dressmakers union offers a good opportunity for such a study because of its composition and because of the notable shifts in group relations. The present numerical strength and power of these organizations came with the rebirth of the union in the NRA period. In a New York dress shop, entry into the trade typically has been achieved through personal contact, through being brought up by a friend or relative. Union officers have on occasion made some effort to prevail upon older members to help their newer sisters advance in the trade.

This article studies the behavior of people in complex social organizations. It aims to discuss peoples' behavior by determining what organizational factors are associated with high motivation, productivity, and the opportunity for individual fulfillment, and by establishing definite casual relationships through the experimental manipulation of variables. The author attempts to determine the underlying principles applicable to the problems of organizing and managing human activity and studies how to change supervisor-subordinate relationships. The author further explores the concrete problems of creating social change in a complex, functioning organization and identifies the factors associated with the processes and determinants of social change.

This article discusses leadership within a hierarchical organization. It examines the effect of first-line supervisor to employee attitudes and productivity and determines the impact of organization factors on interactions within the work group. The author presents three successive analyses of supervisory leadership data. The results, in general, revealed that for the group of high influence supervisors, supervisory behaviors are correlated with employee attitudes. A supervisor's influence or power within the department does condition the way his supervisory behavior relates to employee attitudes. When an influential supervisor uses these practices, positive correlations are found between his behavior and employee attitudes.

The article reports that architect and planner have traditionally concerned themselves with supplying physical convenience and satisfying physical needs. They have, been able to specify minimum standards for things like the number of square feet of floor space necessary for a given size family. New housing is more and more being built in planned developments. Basic research on social processes, the behavior of persons in groups, and the effects of group membership has proceeded far enough to show the great importance of these things in the lives of people. Social life, interpersonal relationships, and membership in groups are important aspects of person's lives because so many goals and satisfactions are attainable most easily in groups and in some cases, only through association with other people. Many groups form simply on the basis of a common activity which the members like to engage in, and the attraction to this activity may remain one of the major sources of attraction to the group.

This article presents techniques for collecting data on social interaction explored in the Human Dynamics Laboratory, a research group dedicated to the study of social aspects of human behavior. The methods are: time-lapse photography; sound recording of discussion; noise level and outbursts; physiological measures; non-verbal and verbal interaction; feeling introspection; content and process records kept by the observer; and perceptions of group members. These are approaches applicable to the notion that theory is actually the set of intellectual rules for translating and reconciling material simultaneously gathered from at least two different frames of reference, providing inferential bridge between behaviors at two different times.

In this article the author attempts to present the framework of broad concepts, which appear to be guiding experimentation and interpretation in the Human Dynamics Laboratory. The major problem for education is to train people for effective need-meeting through inter-group cooperation, action problem solving in groups, and personal-group interaction. Basically this includes the development in each individual of a frame reference adequate to deal with physical, social and psychological reality. In this framework, the basic notions are concerned with: the nature of experiencing; of personal-social-societal interdependence; and of societal and psychological conflict and need.

This article develops and discusses a technique of group psychotherapy with illustrating various phases of a so-called "group therapy session." It is emphasized that group interaction and group decision are an integral part of this type of therapeutic session and that these interrelationships, as well as those relationships between therapists and members, are influential in personality change. Three phases of psychotherapy process has been identified and discussed here, which are: the period of resistance, the period of confiding, and the period of integration. Modern theorists see the therapeutic process as a social exchange in which two or more people are interacting. Findings of the study on which this article is based, reportedly, corroborate the primary importance of the interpersonal relationships in therapy. It is argued that an explicit theory of therapy is necessary for two reasons. First, the therapist must be certain of his own direction and motivation in responding to the group. He must be aware of the direction of the group development. A second advantage, suggestively, is the experimental value accruing from a detailed theory of group therapy.

It must be recognized at the outset that many aspects of the relationship between value interiorization and personality formation during the first few years of life remain unexplored. This article seeks to explore how social values become interiorized and organized as part of the personality. It seeks to determine the significant factor involved in the relationship between the interioration process and personality structure. The authors consider the relationships between the interiorization process and parental indulgence and deprivation, the nature of empathic communication, the socialization of the body functions, the identification process and ego development.

The article presents information on a research conducted by the National Training Laboratory concerning leadership in a small group. Leadership behavior occurs in quite a variety of situations and is determined, in no small measure, by the nature of the particular environment in which the leader perceives himself as functioning as well as by the characteristics of the person who is doing the leading. This article is concerned with leadership of Ray Andrews, the leader of the Basic Skill Training Group. Three aspects of leadership of Andrews are the focus of this article: First, there will be a summary of the underlying personality features which seem to comprise some of the major determinants of his behavior. Secondly, the leader himself will interpret his behavior in terms of the conscious purposes operating in his leadership role. He will also attempts to describe the perceptions he had of the group situation which led to his behavior. Finally, a detailed description of his behavior observed in the group situation is presented. In brief, the article attempts to point out some of the interrelationships among these three "levels," focusing primarily on the "determinants" of this leader's behavior.

The article analyzes the interpersonal relations in a discussion group and evaluates the course of the discussion, the development of the group, or the influence of group membership on individuals. Also, the article compares two contrasting Basic Skill Training groups with regard to the interplay of these factors. In both groups the faculty leaders exert a distinct influence on the participation pattern of the members. Both leaders were low on negatively. toned responses. The two discussion groups show consistent patterns of interpersonal relations under this type of analysis: They contrast in the stability of the interaction hierarchy, the distribution of participation, the type of contributions emphasized, and the direction of participation. The interrelations and the changes in these factors reveal that the status struggles of the members' and the influence of the leader are important in the dynamics of group growth and development. It is concluded that interpersonal relations in a discussion group are not only attributes of dashing or harmonious personalities. They can change substantially, and the discussion leader can influence the relations among members by his own behavior.

Training in group membership roles requires the identification and analysis of various member roles actually enacted in group processes. It involves further the analysis of group situations in terms of roles required in relation both to a schema of group production and to a conception of group growth and development. A group's self-observation and self-evaluation of its own processes provides useful content and practice opportunity in member training. Practice in enacting a wider range of required roles and in role flexibility can come out of member commitment to such practice with help from the group in evaluating and improving the required skills. Member training is typically re-training and resistances to re-training can be reduced by creating a non-blaming and objective atmosphere in group self-evaluation and by using role-playing of group processes for diagnosis and practice. The training objective of developing skill in the diagnosis of group role requirements and developing role flexibility among members also indicate important research areas for a science of group training. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a case study of a Basic Skill Training Group, which gives a picture of a training group in action. It shows what the faculty hoped to accomplish, how they hoped to accomplish it, and what they saw as key problems in making it a valuable learning experience. It gives a picture of the behavior of the faculty member, the behavior of individual delegates and their interactions with one another, and the content of the discussion. Also, the article emphasizes on how the group operated from day to day, with only incidental consideration of the actual curriculum covered by the group. The two major dynamic trends that seem important characteristics of the development of a training group are: (1) the major dimensions of group growth and development as indicated by increase in responsibility of the members for the operation of the group, and (2) the self development of individuals in the group as shown by their changing perceptions of their roles in relation to the group, by changes in the behavior of individual members, and by the increased participation of the members of the group.

This article examines the relations between education and human relations. Attempts to undertake more fundamental work in connection with human relations in the schools and their effect on personality development meet with the resistance which is to be expected to any study which threatens the status quo. The study of these resistances and of their methods for their dissolution constitutes a major task for action research and reveals a new role for the psychologist in education. A sketch is given on the character of the school system and of the principles on which action research should rely in seeking to modify it in the direction of democracy.