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ABSTRACT
INCREASING EMPATHIC CAPABILITIES OF EDUCATIONAL

CHANGE AGENTS: EVALUATION OF THE EFFECT OF
A THREE-PHASE INSTRUCTIONAL STRATEGY

BY
Arthur L. Savage, Jr.

The present research was an attempt to adapt an exist-
ing instructional strategy to the training of instructional
developers relative to the improvement of their interpersonal
communication skills with emphasis on their empathic capa-
lxilities. The adaptation was evaluated as to its effective-
ness in increasing the affective sensitivity and co-orienta-
tional accuracy of the subjects.

The experimental treatment was administered in three
gfiuases: (l) a filmed lecture-demonstration dealing with the
abiliiy'of the subjects as interviewers with emphasis on the
identification of interviewer responses as exploratory or
non—exploratory, listening or non-listening, honest labeling
or distorting, and cognitive or affective. The lecture was
followed by a practice session in response discrimination
with feedback. (2) Videotape Recall of Affect Simulation
(VRAS) during which the subjects viewed and responded to six

stimulus films illustrative of various kinds of remarks or

Arthur L. Savage, Jr.

comments typical of communication between the instructional
developer and his client. The subjects were videotaped dur-
ing the viewing of and responding to the vignettes; later
they were assisted by a trained recall worker to analyze and
understand their cognitive and affective reactions to the
films while viewing a playback of the videotape. (3) Inter-
personal Process Recall (IPR) in which one subject in the
role of an instructional developer conducted a simulated
interview with another subject in the role of an instructor-
client. This activity was also videotaped and the same re-
call process described in Phase II (above) was conducted. In
the recall process, the recall worker encourages the subject
to stop the playback frequently and comment upon any thought
or emotional feeling which the subject experienced during
the original activity. Though the recall worker urges the
subject to critique his own behavior, at no time does he
offer evaluative comments on the subject's responses.

The subjects (N = 13) were doctoral candidates in In-
structional Development and Technology in the Department of
Secondary Education and Curriculum at Michigan State Univer-
sity. They were also Fellows in two special media institutes
funded by the United States Office of Education. The sub-
jects were not randomly drawn from a defined population, but
were selected for the study upon the basis of the Fellowships

held in the two institutes. The research was begun in the

Arthur L. Savage, Jr.

Winter Term and concluded in the Spring Term of the 1972-73
academic year.

The subjects were given two pre-tests and two-post-
tests with the experimental treatment as an intervening
variable. The pre-tests were measures of affective sensi-
tivity and co-orientational accuracy. The findings permitted
the rejection of the null hypothesis relative to affective
sensitivity, but would not permit the rejection of the hy-
pothesis relative to co-orientational accuracy beyond the
.05 level of confidence. It was inferred that the experimen-
tal treatment increased the subjects' ability to assess the
affective state of another. It was not determined whether
the failure to reject the null hypothesis relative to co-
orientational accuracy was due to inadequacies in the experi-
mental treatment, inadequacies in the measuring instruments,
or to limitations inherent in the design of the study.

Two conclusions were made from the findings summarized
above.

1. The subjects' ability to accurately assess the affec-
tive state of another did increase from pre-test to post-test.
The precise cause of the increase is not known.

2. The subjects' ability to predict the Opinions and
belief system of another (co-orientational accuracy) did not

increase from pre-test to post-test.

INCREASING EMPATHIC CAPABILITIES OF EDUCATIONAL
CHANGE AGENTS: EVALUATION OF THE EFFECT OF

A THREE-PHASE INSTRUCTIONAL STRATEGY

BY

Arthur L. Savage, Jr.

A DISSERTATION

Submitted to
Michigan State University
in partial fulfillment of the requirements
for the degree of

DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY

Department of Secondary Education and Curriculum

1973

‘ DEDICATION

MOTHER AND DAD

Most of my early formative years were spent
during the Depression of the 19305. Many in
our small Mississippi town lost much in the
way of material possessions. This proved to
be rigorous support for their contention that
education, once attained, was something that
could never be lost. Though she did not live
to see this symbol of ultimate attainment, I
strongly feel that she knows that one of her
greatest ambitions for me has been realized.

and

BONNIE

Climbing with another may be prompted by a will
to reach peaks that a person cannot reach alone.

--Walter Kaufmann

ii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

So many participated in this study and made such self-
less contributions, that the researcher has taken great care
to see that no one who made a contribution to its achievement
is omitted.

First, the Guidance Committee:

...Dr. Erling S. Jorgensen, the major professor, whose
sage counsel and advice and ready wit made the project not
only a scholarly work ... but a pleasure to do;

...Dr. Kent L. Gustafson whose dissertation served as
a model for this one and who provided the original idea;
who as teacher and friend helped shape much of my academic
career;

...Dr. Ronald G. Rex who before this project was under-
taken had become a close friend, and who I hope will remain
such long after it has been put away;

...Dr. Norman Kagan who initially developed the experi-
mental treatments herein utilized, and whose scholarly back-
ground in interpersonal relations provided a major source of
knowledge and in-put for this study;

...and Dr. Thomas F. Baldwin, the cognate advisor, who
has served as a model for me from the outset of my academic

career, and who epitomizes for me scholarly inquirer,

iii

dedicated researcher, outstanding teacher, and dear friend;
... to these gentlemen belong the major credit for whatever
appears herein. The researcher was merely a medium through
which they all expressed themselves.

Deep appreciation goes to the faculty members who
served as actors for the stimulus films. Mr. Barry D.
Bratton, Dr. Sarah Boling, Dr. Nicholas J. Fiel, Dr. Ronald
G. Rex, Mr. Richard E. Snoke, Jr., and Dr. Robert C. Ward
endured incredible problems and complications ... and turned
in most professional performances. With reference to the
making of the films, most sincere thanks goes, also, to
Mr. James R. Respress, without whose expert technical knowl-
edge of both film and electronic recording technique, the
films would not have been possible.

Grateful thanks goes also to those Michigan State Univer-
sity faculty members who served as interviewees for the pre-
tests and post-tests: Dr. Robert Schlater, Dr. J. Colby
Lewis, Jr., Dr. J. David Lewis, Professor Arthur Weld, Dr.
John D. Abel, Dr. Robert M. Babe, Dr. Kenward Atkin, Dr.
Bradley S. Greenberg, Dr. Lawrence Sarbaugh, Dr. David Ralph,
Professor Donald Cushman, Professor Yvonne Waskin, and Dr.
Thomas F. Baldwin were all most generous with their time.

The subjects in the study probably endured as many hard-
ships and inconveniences as any involved in the project. In

Spite of heavy demands on their time by classes, projects,

iv

field trips, and their own research commitments, they always
found time to do what was asked of them ... and most always
on time. They were Sister Mary Ann Brady, Mr. David Broski,
.Mr. Charles Brown, Mr. Larry Donahue, Mr. David Gillmore,

.Mr. Joel Fleming, Mr. Randy Gross, Mr. Adelbert Jones, Mr.
Oswell Person, Mr. Robert Price, Mr. Lawrence Redd, Mr. John
Stamper, and Mr. Paul Woodworth. They were, indeed, the very
heart of the study, and much gratitude is due them.

The recall workers volunteered their time and consider-
able talents, and the researcher is deeply grateful to Dr.
Michael J. Doyle, M.D., Mr. John Casbergue, Mr. Sam Ramtu,
and Mr. Harold J. Spooner.

All those noted above played essential roles in the
study itself, but there were those who made major contribu-
tions to the study without being directly involved in it.
Specific reference is made to Dr. Paul W. F. Witt for whom
the researcher worked as graduate administrative assistant
during the course of the research, and who always saw to it
that duties and responsibilities never interferred with the
research; to Virginia B. Foster who has pulled more thanbone
doctoral candidate through his program with ready words of
encouragement and genuine concern; and especially to the
late Professor Leo A. Martin who served as friend, teacher,

and sagacious advisor for more than a quarter of a century,

and without whose assistance and support this project would
never have become a reality.

Finally, to Katie and the late George Smith who gave
me she who means more to me than life itself ... and who
probably paid more dearly than anyone for the attainment of

this goal.

vi

TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER Page
I. INTRODUCTION AND THEORY OF STUDY. . . . . . . . 1
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Importance of the Study. . . . . . . . . . . 2
Definitions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Theory Underlying the Study. . . . . . . . . 8

Elements of Interpersonal Communication . 8

Change Agent-Client Relationship. . . . . 10

Hypotheses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

Summary. . . . . . . . .’. . . . . . . . . . 14

II 0 REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE O O O O O O O O O O O O 15

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Scales and Measurements. . . . . . . . .‘. . 16
Empathy Training . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Related Studies in Empathy . . . . . . . . . 25

III 0 DESIGN OF THE STUDY 0 O O O O O O O O O O O O O 34

The Sample . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
The Treatment. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
Phase I . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
Phase II. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
Phase III . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
The Recall Workers . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
Instruction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
Affective Sensitivity . . . . . . . . . . 46
Co-orientational Accuracy . . . . . . . . 48
The Experimental Design. . . . . . . . . . . 52
Statistical Hypotheses . . . . . . . . . . . 53
Analysis of the Data . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
Limitations of the Study . . . . . . . . . . 57
Summary. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60

IV. FINDINGS O I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O 62

Findings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
Discussion of the Findings . . . . . . . . . 67

vii

TABLE OF CONTENTS--Continued

CHAPTER

V.

SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS. . . . . . . . . .

Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Conclusions . . . . . . . . . . .
Implications for Fu ure Research.
Implications for Education. . . .

O O O O
O

BIBLIWRAPHY. O O O O O O O O O I O O O Q 0 O O O

APPENDICES

A. SCRIPTS FOR THE FILMS. . . . . . . . . . .
B. VIDEOTAPE RECORDER, MONITOR AND EQUIPMENT

ARRANGEMENT. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
C. DIAGRAM OF EQUIPMENT ARRANGEMENT . . . . .
D. SAMPLES OF TEST ITEMS. . . . . . . . . . .
E. FACULTY INSTRUMENT OF ATTITUDE . . . . . .
F. FACULTY INSTRUMENT OF ATTITUDE . . . . . .

viii

Page

72
72
81
84
90

92

96

99
100
101
113

117

LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURE

TABLE Page

1. Comparison of Pre-test and Post-test Means and
Mean Difference of the Affective Sensitivity
Scale. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
2. Comparison of Pre-test and Post-test correla-
tion Means, Including Comparison of Partial
Correlation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66

3. Comparison of Pre-test and Post-test Mean and
Mean Difference of Measure of Co-orientation . 67

FIGURE

1. A General Model of Co-orientation. . . . . . . 48

ix

CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION AND THEORY OF STUDY

Introduction

The research reported in this report was conducted at
Michigan State University during the winter and spring
quarters of the 1972-73 academic year. The primary purpose
of the study was to develop an instructional strategy that
would increase the interpersonal communication skills of
doctoral candidates in Instructional Development and Tech-
nology within the Department of Secondary Education and
Curriculum in the College of Education. An additional pur-
pose of the study was to evaluate the proposed instructional
strategy as to its capability to assist the subjects to
enter into a more empathic, or accurate, relationship with
another.

The experimental experiences included a filmed lecture
and demonstration dealing with the identification and classi-
fication of various types of responses characteristic of
interpersonal communication between two individuals. In a
second experience, the subjects viewed and reacted to special-
ly designed and produced stimulus films which simulated

specific affects on the part of faculty members. During the

viewing sessions, the subject was videotaped to assist him
in later recalling his feelings and emotions while viewing
and responding to the films. A third experience involved
the simulation of a two-person interview during which the
subject attempted to identify and react to the cognitive and
affective dimensions of the comments of the interviewee.
This process was also videotaped to assist the subject in
appraising his reactions to the interviewee during subsequent
playback of the videotape in the presence of a recall worker.
If the experimental strategies employed in this study
enable practitioners of instructional development and tech-
nology to enter into more empathic relationships with their
clients and to establish more open and facilitative channels
of communication, the instructional developer's mission to
assist in the solution of instructional problems and to pro-
vide alternative modalities of instruction will be consider-

ably enhanced.

Importance of the Study

 

Students who enroll in the study of Instructional
DeveloPment and Technology at Michigan State University come
to the academic program from varied backgrounds of education-
al and professional experience. Some come directly from
master's degree programs in education or other disciplines
with no practical experience as classroom teachers; some

come as former classroom teachers or administrators in

elementary and secondary school systems; and some have been
librarians or audio-visual co-ordinators. Their previous
experiences as students or educators are investigated and
documented prior to their acceptance into the doctoral pro-
gram. Proposed programs of study have as a referencial base
the candidate's cognitive and psychomotor skills derived
from previous educational and/or practical experiences. Upon
these bases, the candidates' academic programs are designed
and formulated to bridge the perceived gaps between entry
behavior and competencies and desired terminal behavior and
competencies. The constituent experiences of each student's
academic program are intended to expand cognitive skills and
competencies, and, to somewhat a lesser degree, psychomotor
skills and competencies. There are, however, no provisions
made in the academic programs, as they are presently consti-
tuted, to deal with the students' deficiencies in empathic
capabilities, especially as such deficiencies are related to
interpersonal communication skills. By and large, the student
leaves the academic program with essentially the same inter-
personal communication skills, or lack of skills, that he
brought to the program. He receives no instructional experi-
ences which are specifically designed to assist him to func-
tion successfully as a change agent within an educational
system, which is what many perceive a large portion of his

role to be.

Thiagarajan (1973) indicates that the need for highly-
developed interpersonal communication skills by instructional
developers is critical in forming productive relationships
with those who come to him for assistance. Further, he indi-
cates that lack of training in interpersonal communication
skills is common. With specific reference to his cooperative
endeavors with subject matter experts, he says:

Ever since my early days in the programmed instruction

business, I have been trained to function as an instruc-

tional developer (ID) along with a subject matter

expert (SME). The advantages of such team work have

been repeatedly pointed out to me. But nobody warned

me about the problems of working with all those insecure

and paranoid teammates. None of the programming

courses, workshops, or other textbooks seem to have as
an objective the improvement of interpersonal communica-
tion skills so vital for an SME and an ID to work to-

gether (p. 1).

It is not intended that the previous citation reflect the
divers negative psychic conditions of subject matter experts,
but rather to point up the critical need for highly-developed
interpersonal communication skills by instructional devel-
Opers.

Further support for this position is contributed by
Davies (1973). He notes that the field of instructional
develOpment is a design form which involves systematic inter-
vention into an on-going operational system, and comments as
follows regarding the importance of an open and facilitative

relationship between the instructional developer and his

client organization:

Instructional developers and evaluators, therefore,
need to develop a special relationship with their
client organization--whether it be a complete school,
college within that school, division, department or
small team of instructors responsible for teaching a
specific course. This relationship, if it is overlook-
ed or undervalued, can threaten, undermine, and even
nullify the very accomplishment of the task itself.
Creating and nurturing healthy, helpful and enriching
relationships between developers/evaluators and their
clients does take a great deal of time and effort, but
the investment yields a very high return indeed in the
form of goodwill, cooperation and general feelings of
satisfaction (p. l).

The successess of alumni of the Instructional Develop-
znent and Technology emphasis at Michigan State University
bear strong witness to the general excellence of the academic
program as it has been constituted for the past several years.
These persons, as students, did not have the benefit of
training in interpersonal communication. One wonders what
might have been accomplished in the intervening years had
such experiences been available to them as students as they
passed through the program.

The experimental training techniques utilized in this
study have had a measure of success in training personnel
counselors, psychologists, and physicians in establishing
facilitative rapport with their clients. If these techniques
can be adapted to the setting of professional educators, and
instructional developers in particular, then the current
academic program in Instructional DeveloPment and Technology

can be improved by academic experiences that will train

instructional develoPers to function in their perceived roles.

That is the main potential of this particular piece of re-
search. The techniques which were utilized are simple enough
to be adaptable to any academic program which has as its pur-

pose the training of instructional develOpers.

Definitions

 

A number of terms used in the subsequent discussion
require Specific definition. Such terms as "empathy" and
"affect" are more commonly found in the literature of psycho-
logical inquiry; terms such as "change agent" are more
applicable to the literature in the field of communication
theory. Inasmuch as these terms may not be commonly employed
in the standard vocabulary of the educator, it is deemed

advisable to establish a common referent.

Affect
The feeling, emotions, or mental state of an individual,

especially during interpersonal communication.

Affective Sensitivity

 

The quantifiable ability of one individual to assess
and personally identify with the mental state of another.
The term is usual;y synonymous with other such terms as
"empathy," "co-orientation,” "co-orientational accuracy," and

"'real"accuracy."

Recall Worker
Kagan's term for a specially trained individual to aid
subjects in recalling feelings and emotions during video-

tape playback of simulations.

Simulation
Use of film and projector to create situations of pre—
determined and demonstrated affect to subjects; also refers

to the assumption of specified roles in dyadic communications.

Simulator

 

Small room containing two chairs, film projector, film,
screen and partially concealed television camera, monitor,

videotape recorder, and microphone.

Accuracy

Term employed by Wackman referring to a comparison of
individual A's prediction of individual B's rating of any

given Object (O). Represented: ApBrO.

Agreement

Term employed by Wackman referring to the comparison of
individual A's rating of any given Object (O), and indi-
vidual B's rating of the same object. Represented as ArO and

BrO respectively.

-~\

5%

Congruence

 

Term employed by Wackman referring to the comparison of
individual A's prediction of individual B's rating of any
given Object (0), represented ApBrO, and A's own rating of

the Object (0).

Theory Underlying the Study

In order to establish an adequate theoretical base for
the study, it is necessary to identify and more closely
examine those elements involved in interpersonal communica-
tion. The theoretical position is that an instructional
developer functions, in part, as a change agent, and that his
ability to bring about change, including the adoption of
innovation, is a direct function of his ability to enter into
a facilitative relationship with his client. This may be an
individual instructor or the collective members of an instruc-
tional organization, viz, an academic department or college.
The balance of this section is devoted to a discussion of the
role of the instructional developer and the dimensions of his

relationship with his clients.

Elements of Interpersonal Communication
Even the most intuitive kind of observation would indi-
cate that there are many elements involved in successful

interpersonal communication. One of the most obvious is a

commonality of language. Unless dyads in interpersonal rela-
tions speak the same language, the likelihood of them estab-
lishing an effective relationship through interpersonal
communication is remote. The same kind of observation might
reasonably be made with regard to writing skills. The more
effective communication will result if the initiator of a
communication in written form is capable of putting his
notions on paper in a lucid and cogent style.

Commonality of language and fluency of writing are per-
haps the more basic elements involved in effective inter-
personal communications. There are, however, other
sophisticated elements about which one should be concerned.
The concepts extroversion and affiliation were determined by
Lorr and McNair (1965) to be main dimensions of interpersonal
interaction. Titus and Hollander (1959) studied the dominr
ance-submission relationship in dyads and found that comple-
mentarity between these two factors enhanced communication.

Argyle (1969) writes extensively of what he refers to
as "social competence." It is his contention that it is
comprised of cognitive skills which people can be trained to
perform or to utilize in interpersonal transactions. He
states, for example, that social anxiety is incapacitating,
and that techniques have been devised to modify it. Training
is available, also, to heighten awareness of both verbal and

non-verbal elements of interaction. He further indicates that

10

the "poised and self-confident performer" should be able to
present himself clearly to others without concealment,
exaggeration, or embarrassment; that in so doing, his inter-

personal relationships will be of a very positive nature.

Change Agent-Client Relationship

It has been previously noted that Davies suggests that
the instructional develOper systematically intervenes in an
on-going operational system. He states that the purpose of
such intervention is to increase the effectiveness of the
instructional system. The inference is clear that his inter-
vention is accompanied by the introduction of change. Miller
(1971) and Davis et 2l° (1972) support the notion that the
introduction of innovation into instructional systems is a
prime function of the instructional developer. Nord (1973)
states: "It means the instructibnal developer must act both

in the capacity of product developer and change agent in a

 

people world." (p. 8ff) (Italics supplied).

In further consideration of the instructional developer
as change agent, Rogers and Shoemaker (1971) supply the
following definition:

A change agent is a professional who influences innova-

tion-decisions in a direction deemed desirable by a

change agency. In most cases, he seeks to secure the

adoption of new ideas.... (p. 227).

It is the present contention that the interpersonal

communication between the instructional developer, functioning

11

in the role of change agent, and his client is dependent on
identifiable variables; that the relationship between the
instructional developer and his client has a direct bearing
on the regard that the client will hold for any proposed
innovation or change. Newcomb (1953), in introducing his
now widely-noted A-B-X theory of co-orientation, holds that
the communication between individuals is not separable from
their orientation toward the object of their communication.
He said:

... communication among human beings performs the essen—

tial function of enabling two or more individuals to

maintain simultaneous orientation toward one another as

communicators and toward objects of communication (p.

393).

Rogers and Shoemaker (1971) also note that the change
agent and his innovation are perceived in essentially the
same light. It is their belief that unless the change agent
is able to effect a facilitative relationship, the elements
of which are notable, his chances of securing adoption of his
proposed innovation are diminished. Their treatment of this
relationship is specifically:

Once a need for change is created, a change agent must

develop rapport with his clients. He may enhance his

relationship with his clients by creating an impression
of credibility, trustworthiness, and empathy with their
needs and problems. Clients must accept the change
agent before they accept the innovations he promotes

(p. 229).

It is perceived, therefore, that empathy plays a most highly

contributory role in the establishment of a facilitative

12

interpersonal relationship between the change agent and his
client. It seems reasonable to assume that change agents
can anticipate a greater degree of success in their efforts
to effect change if they are capable of establishing an
empathic relationship with their clients.

Two other factors play important roles in productive
interpersonal communication: homophily and heterophily.
Again, Rogers and Shoemaker provide an apt definition:
"Homophily is the degree to which pairs of individuals who
interact are similar in certain attributes, such as beliefs,
values, education, social status, and the like" (p. 240).
Heterophily is noted to be an angnymn for homophily. They
also provide a comment as to how homophily bears on communi-
cation:

More effective communication occurs when source and

receiver are homophilous. When they share common mean-

ings, a mutual subculture language, and are alike in
personal and social characteristics, the communication
of ideas is likely to have a greater effect in terms of
knowledge gain, attitude formation and change, and
overt behavior change. When homophily is present in
communication, therefore, interaction is likely to be

more rewarding to both source and receiver (p. 15).

The implication is plain that homophily-heterophily are
naturally-occurring states. One might readily suppose that
a state of artificial homophily might be created for the
express purpose of facilitating a more productive relation-

ship, but this is not likely to produce a lasting relation-

ship of increasing productivity over the long haul. In fact,

13

if the artificiality of the relationship is discovered by
the client, dysfunctionalism is likely to occur.

The implications for the instructional deve10per as re-
gards homophily are apparent. If he and his client are in
a state of homophily, his expectations of success are
enhanced; if the state of the relationship is characterized
by heterophily, the instructional developer must exert greater
effort in establishing a productive relationship with his
client. The fact that homophily-heterOphily are uncontrol-
lable variables in interpersonal communication processes makes
the empathic capabilities of the change agent that much more

critical to the adoption of innovation.

Hypotheses
The preceding discussion generates the following hypothe-
ses for testing. Identical hypotheses, stated in stastically
testable form will be found in Chapter III.

H1: Subject candidates in Instructional Development and
Technology receiving the experimental treatment
will have a significantly higher mean score on a
measure of affective sensitivity from pretest to
posttest.

H : Subject candidates in Instructional Development and
Technology receiving the experimental treatment
will have a significantly higher mean score on a
measure of co-orientational accuracy from pretest
to posttest.

14

Summary

The foregoing sections outlining the theory underlying
the study have attempted to present a framework for the
study. Briefly, the researcher has attempted to indicate
the importance of interpersonal communication skills in
the professional activities of the instructional developer
as he functions in the role of change agent within an educa-
tional system. Some elements which have contributory capa-
bilities toward successful interpersonal relationships be-
tween the instructional developer and his clients have been
noted. These were empathy, accuracy, and homophily. The
noted absence of training for future instructional developers
in the improvement of interpersonal communication skills,
and the importance of having these skills developed to a
productive, functional level establishes a need for the
development of an instructional strategy in this area. The
design and testing of such a strategy should be apprOpriate

objects of fruitful research.

CHAPTER II

REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE

Introduction

In the previous chapter, it was pointed out that one
who functions as an instructional developer is often per-
ceived as an innovator or change agent. As such, the prob-
abilities of his success are directly tied to his ability
to establish a facilitative communication relationship with
his clients. It was also pointed out that his ability to
establish an empathic relationship with those with whom he
is professionally involved is a positive ingredient in
facilitative communication. At the core of the instructional
system herein prOposed and tested is a treatment, the purpose
of which is to heighten the subject's capabilities of enter-
ing into an empathic relationship with another--to increase
his affective sensitivity. Affective sensitivity is only one
aspect of the more global skill, empathy, which is character-
ized by Kagan 25 31. (1967) as the "ability to detect and
describe the immediate affective state of another, or in terms
of communication theory, the ability to receive and decode
affective communication” (p. 463). This review of the liter-

ature will deal with studies in empathy as they relate to

15

16

measurements and scales designed to detect the amount and
presence of empathic capability. It will also deal with

systems and devices designed to heighten empathic capability.

Scales and Measurements

One of the earlier and more notable attempts to devise
a scale to measure empathy was undertaken by Dymond (1949).
She set forth her concept of empathy as "the imaginative
tranSposing of oneself into the thinking, feeling, and acting
of another, and so structuring the world as he does. (p.
127). A six-item, five-point rating scale was constructed.
Different groups were given problemponiented tasks to solve
and were asked, during the problem-solving sessions, to note
the structure and function of the group. Person A was asked
to rate himself on the scale, to rate person B on the scale,
and to indicate how he thought person B would rate him, A,
on the scale. She found on test and re-test that empathy
could be isolated and measured.

Chapman (1966) used a videotape recording technique to
playback scenes of personnel counselors and their clients in
which identifiable emotions were displayed. Subjects noted
the presence or absence of empathic reaction, and responded
to a three-choice multiple item instrument dealing with
counselor effectiveness with regard to each emotional display.

It should be noted that most of the work done in the

development of empathic scales and training has been

17

accomplished in the area of personnel counselor training.
It was in this area that Campbell (1971) developed and vali-
dated a scale to measure affective sensitivity in personnel
counselors. The videotape recording technique was again
utilized employing actual counselor-client interviews. The
subjects in the study were shown the recorded interviews
and were asked to respond to multiple choice items consist—
ing of one correct answer and two distractors dealing with
the client's feelings about himself and his feelings about
the counselor. The conclusion was reached that affective
sensitivity is a measurable trait and that it can be de-
veloped through training.

It has been noted that the presence of empathy in dyadic
communication is a facilitative ingredient, but it is neces-
sary that the empathy offered by one member of the dyad be
perceived by the other. This was the subject of a study by
Caracena and Vicory (1969) in which they attempted to dis-
tinguish between empathy objectively offered and empathy
achieved or successfully communicated. Utilizing VTRs of
twenty-two counselor-client interviews, subjects were asked
to rate the interviews as to empathy offered, considering such
factors as verbal patterns in interchanges and verbal domi-
nance. Other subjects rated the same interviews as to sub-
jective behavior. Findings indicated that many factors enter

into the perceptive realization of the empathic relationship,

18

and that the presence of empathy can be explicitly indicated,
e.g., decreasing verbosity is associated with the presence
of empathy.

As the counselor-client relationship has been the set-
ting for studies of empathic relationships, the physician-
patient setting has also been studied. When the patient
presents himself at a clinic or a physician's office for
treatment, he must be able to communicate to the physician
the nature of his malady and other important data which the
physician requires to arrive at an accurate diagnosis and sub-
sequent treatment. It is important to note, however, that
the burden of establishing a communicative relationship be-
tween the physician and the patient is most frequently on the
physician rather than on the patient.

The physician-patient communication system was the sub-
ject of a study by Hawes (1971) in which interview styles
between physician and patient were able to determine criterion
behavior, and to establish whether interview styles had in-
fluence over the process of interviewing. Four physicians
each interviewed four patients to obtain personal medical
histories and to make preliminary diagnoses of possible dis-
orders. Results of the interviews were later correlated with
personal histories of the patients as they recorded them on
self-administered questionnaires. Diagnoses were later corre-

lated with actual clinical findings. The study concluded

19

that those physicians who conducted the interviews in a
facilitative manner, i.e., one in which empathy was exhibited,
obtained a significant correlation between both the personal
medical history questionnaire completed by the patient and

by the clinical findings of physical disorder.

Among communication researchers, predictive tests for
empathic capability (co-orientational accuracy) have been the
most popular in the literature. In such tests one person is
asked to make predictive statements as to another's feelings
about himself or a third party or object (see Dymond, 1949,
above). Astin (1967) devised a situational test to assess
empathy. The subjects estimated the value structure of
others on the Allport-Vernon-Lindzey Study of Values. Other
subjects responded to recorded statements by others. The two
procedures were then compared by trained psychologists for
ranking in terms of the amount of empathy represented in the
A-V-L Study of Values and the responses to the recorded state-
ments° It was found that the latter ranked higher in the
quantity of empathy present.

The importance of empathy as an element in successful
communication has been previously noted. One might naturally
wonder if there are conditions, situations, or feelings which
might inhibit the ability of a member of a dyad to exhibit
empathy to the other. Zimmer and Anderson (1968) selected the

construct of positive regard as a possible deterent to the

20

exhibition of empathy, and attempted to investigate a pos-
sible connection between them. Specifically, they sought to
determine whether positive regard and empathy as constructs
are influenced by isolated factors, and to discover whether
positive regard and empathy can be described as one con-
struct on a single dimension. A VTR counseling session with
a client was rated by one set of judges for positive regard
and by another set of judges for empathy-understanding. It
was determined that positive regard and empathy are ortho-
gonally—related factors, and that when they are looked at in
terms of multiple factors are definable and public rather
than undefinable and private. The implication is that where
there is an absence of high positive regard, the likelihood
of establishing an empathic relationship is diminished.

The multi-dimensional concept of empathy was studied by
Greenberg 25 11. (1969) in an attempt to isolate individual

factors, or dimensions, of empathic judgment. Thirty-one

professional clinicians viewed eleven counselor-client sessions

on VTR. Each rated the client's exhibited feelings on a
twenty-six-item bi-polar scale of opposite adjectives which
were descriptive of connotative or emotional qualities.
Three empathic dimensions emerged from factor analysis:
Dependency, Anger-Hostility, and Avoidance; these appeared in

over fifty per cent of the ratings.

Several different methodologies for detecting the presence

of empathy and for attempting to quantify it have been

21

produced, as will be noted. One of the more widely noted
of these is the Bennet-Lennard Relationship Inventory. It
was designed in 1962 as a measure of empathic understanding
and unconditionality of regard. The reliability of the
scale was established by Walker and Little (1969), through
factor analysis. Subjects were divided among and inter-
viewed in a therapeutic setting by sixteen counselors. The
subjects then rated the counselors on a seven-point Likert-
type instrument of sixty-four items selected from the B-L
Inventory. The responses to the items were then intercor-
related using principle-component analysis with unity in the
diagonals. Fifteen items were retained and rotated in the
Equimax method. It was found that the unconditionality
dimension of the B-L Inventory and the regard dimension define
separate factors; that empathy and congruence are explained
by a single factor, and that this is consistent with correla-
tion data obtained by Bennet-Lennard. Low and non-significant
correlation between unconditionality and level of regard
supported the theoretical and operational separation of these
two variables. High correlation between empathic understand-
ing and congruence was found. The findings tended to support
Dymond's (see above) findings of positive relationship between
self insight and ability to understand others.

Perhaps the most notable of the empathy scales was de-

vised by Truax in 1961 to be used in the training of personnel

22

counselors and is known as the Truax Accurate Empathy Scale.
Its initial usage was to assist students in counseling to
assess their own empathic capabilities in order that they
might be able to enter into a more productive relationship
with their clients. Truax comments on the importance of
empathy in the counselor-client setting:

Accurate empathy involves more than just the ability
of the therapist to sense the client's or patientfs
"private world" as if it were his own. It also in-
volves his ability to know what the patient means.
Accurate empathy involves both the therapist's sen
sitivity to current feelings and his verbal facIIIty
to communicate this understanding in a language attun-
ed to the client's feelings (p. 15).

 

A scale for the measurement of empathy has recently been
developed by Kagan e£_al. (1971). Their instrument is
called the Affective Sensitivity Scale. It provides that
the subject watch videotaped sessions between counselor and
client. At the conclusion of each exchange of comment be-
tween the two, the subject selects from among three choices
a statement which most accurately summarizes the client's
feelings with regard to himself. He then selects from among
three choices a statement which most accurately summarizes
the client's feelings with regard to the counselor. It is
this instrument which was used in this study. Details of its

application will be found in Chapter III

Empathy Training
Those involved in the design of various instructional

systems and devices usually hold opinions as to the value of

23

feedback during or after the instructional sequence is

concluded. This topic and its relationship to empathy train-
ing was investigated by Reddy (1969). The students involved
were engaged in empathy training as a part of a personnel
counseling program. The specific purpose of the study was

to determine what effects were observable and differentiated
when feedback was either immediate or delayed in teaching
empathic capability. As a pre-test, the Truax Accurate
Empathy Scale was administered. The subjects were divided
into two groups. Each group viewed and verbally responded

to a simulated psychotherapy training film. One group was
given immediate feedback from a trained personnel counselor
as to the quality of the response to each vignette. The other
group saw the same training film, but no feedback was given
until the entire array of vignettes had been viewed. Both
groups were again given the Truax Accurate Empathy Scale as

a post-test. It was reported that the group which received
the immediate feedback showed significant gains over the
group receiving delayed feedback.

Two different types of instructional settings for em-
pathy training were reported by Anthony and Wain (1971).
Applicants for training as Medical Corpsmen in the United
States Army were randomly divided into two groups. The first
group received six hours of classroom lecture and training
films dealing with empathic understanding. The second group

received ten hours of role-playing in which they portrayed

24

specific roles dealing with emotional problems. Each group
received pre- and post-tests on a standardized empathy scale.
The group involved in the role-playing exercises scored sig-
nificantly higher on the post-test than did the classroom
group. The researchers concluded from the study that empathy
has a cognitive component, and that it is best taught in a
setting that actively involves trainees in the process rather
than treating them as passive listeners or mere observers.
The effects of various kinds of supervision during
empathy training was the subject of a study by Blane (1968).
The study was made to determine the effect of positive, neg-
ative, or no supervision experiences on measuring empathic
understanding on counselor trainees. The subjects received
the Carkhuff Empathy Understanding Scale II prior to testing.
They were divided into three groups, and each subject inter-
viewed two "clients" (stooges). Each interview was video-
taped and played back in the presence of a trained psycholo-
gisto During the playback, one group got positive super-
vision of its interviewing technique, one group got negative
supervision, and the third group got no supervision. The
pre-teSts showed no significant difference between groups;
however, the post-test showed that all groups registered gains
from pre-test to post-test. The greatest gains were exhibited
by the group receiving the positive supervision, and the
least gains were exhibited by the group which had received no

supervision.

25

Another situational training setting is reported by
Kagan and Schauble (1969) called Affect Simulation. In this
treatment, the subject views brief filmed vignettes in which
actors display specific affects (emotions). At the conclu-
sion of each film vignette, the subject delivers a verbal
response to the comment presented by the actor on the film.
Usually six to eight vignettes are presented. The procedings
are videotaped by means of a special effects generator so
that both the film and the subject's face are presented on
a split-screen playback. After all vignettes have been seen
and responded to, the tape is replayed to the subject and a
recall worker. It is the reSponsibility of the recall worker
to assist the subject in re-creating his own thoughts and
emotions as he sees them on the Split screen. The subject
is encouraged to analyze his reactions as to his own feelings
when confronted with the simulated affect. A similar process
was utilized in this study, and more detail as to its employ-

ment is reported in Chapter III.

Related Studies in Empathy

 

It has been noted that empathy in dyads enhances the
overall communication capabilities, and Shapiro 32 El. (1969)
investigated this phenomenon. The study was undertaken to
determine whether psychotherapists who were high in genuiness,

empathy, and warmth elicited greater self-exploration from

26

clients. The tests were conducted outside the therapeutic
setting. The subjects were three groups of socially and
professionally unrelated individuals. Each group was randomly
divided into two sub-groups and clinical therapists inter-
viewed each group. With one sub—group the therapist exhibited
a warm genuine interest during the interview, while a de-
tached, mechanistic interest was exhibited with the other sub-
group. Each session was videotaped and rated by other
therapists during playback for the amount of self-disclosure
displayed in each sub-group. It was found that the subjects
disclosed themselves more deeply to those to whom they per-
ceived as offering high therapeutic conditions, and that they
disclosed themselves differentially in a manner related to

the amount of empathy, warmth, and genuineness they perceived
in the interviewer. It is possible to conclude that the
amount and degree of open communication which exists can be
controlled by the amount of empathy each member of a dyad
perceives in the other.

Another facet of this area of interpersonal perception
was reported in studies by Crow and Hammond (1957). Actually,
two studies were undertaken. The first was to investigate
the generality of interpersonal perceptiveness when the influ-
ence of response sets was controlled. The second study in-

vestigated the generality of accuracy of interpersonal

perceptions over time. These studies would seem to have a

t

1'-

(In

If

fill

27

particular bearing on the relationship between a change

agent and his client with regard to the initial contact and
the establishment of an on-going relationship. In the first
Study, the subjects (medical students) were asked to view
videotaped interviews of patients and to indicate reticence,
vocabulary levels, and personality dimensions. These data
were correlated with data received from tests over the same
topic areas administered to the patients themselves.
Correlations were not significant, indicating that generaliz-
ability of interpersonal perceptiveness is not existant.

In the second study, a group of patients received the
Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Scale three different times
over a Six-month period. Medical students involved with
clinical treatment of the subjects were asked to estimate the
patients' ratings of themselves. The patients' accuracy
scores over time were consistent as was the medical students'
appraisal of the ratings. Conclusions were that response set
is more consistent over time than was differential accuracy,
indicating that interpersonal perceptiveness improves as the
relationship increases in tenure.

Interpersonal perceptiveness was also tested by Cronbach
and Gleser (1953). This study investigated the ability of
teachers to predict test scores of specific students as op-
posed to scores of students in general. Prior to adminis-
tering tests to their classes, eight elementary school

teachers were asked to estimate the mean score for the class

28

and also to estimate the score which would be achieved by
specific students randomly selected from the class. Corre-
lations for all teachers were high in the prediction of the
class mean score, but no teacher exhibited the ability to
predict the score ranges of individual students. Some
teachers were able to predict the score range for some
individuals on certain areas of the tests, but no correla-
tions were significant for the overall test scores. The
conclusion was that similarity is not a general quality;
specific dimensions must be stated. This study should indi-
cate to the instructional developer that the making of broad
general assumptions about clients and/or prospective clients
based on general similarities can produce a dysfunctional
communication relationship. Each interpersonal relationship
must be entered into in full cognizance of individual per-
sonality differences and abilities of interpersonal percep-
tiveness.

It is noted that various other psychological variables
can have a bearing on the establishment of an empathic rela-
tionship in dyads. Tosi and Carlson (1970) investigated the
relationship between levels of dogmatism in clients and per—
ceptions of the counselor's empathy, level of regard, con-
gruency, unconditionality, and positive regard. The subjects
were college students seeking vocational education counseling,
and each was given a test for dogmatism using the Rokeach

Dogmatism Scale as a part of a battery of pre-interview tests.

‘nu

Vb.

7L

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29

After the interviewing and counseling sessions were completed,
the subjects were given a Likert-type test asking for their
ratings of the counselors which had attended them. Dogmatism
scores and negative scores of counselors on the portion of
the post-test related to empathy and positive regard achieved
quite high correlations. The study supported Allen's
previous claim that "high dogs" initially generate barriers
to effective counselor relationships and affective involve-
ment in facilitative interpersonal relationships.

It was mentioned in Chapter I that the innovator and the
innovation for which he is attempting to attain adoption are
often perceived in the same light, e.g., if the innovator is
well received and regarded, his innovations are likely to be
well received, also. Moore and Mizuba (1969), reported a
classic account of the failure of the introduction of public
and personal health practices in the rural closed societies
of Peru. They note that the suggestion made to the rural
Peruvians to boil water before drinking it or cooking with it
did not achieve adoption because the change agent who pro-
posed the idea was an "outsider," and mistrusted by the
locals.

This same phenomenon was investigated by Berger (1969),
who undertook to determine the relationship between the evalu-
ation of the communicator and the degree of attitude change,
and between the evaluation of the communicator and the reten-

tion of an attitude message. The subjects were randomly

‘1)

30

divided into two groups, and were shown filmed messages

which depicted labor unions in both favorable and unfavorable
lights. The communicator in the filmed messages was .
described to the subjects prior to their viewing the film as
articulate, intelligent, expert in the field, etc. The other
group saw the same messages but without any prior information
regarding the communicator. Pre- and post-tests to obtain
attitudes of the subjects toward labor unions were adminis-
tered. After seeing the filmed messages, both groups exhib-
ited attitude change, but the group to whom the communicator
had been represented in very positive terms showed much
greater attitude change. After a time lapse of six weeks,
the same post-test was re-administered to both groups. There
was virtually no attitude change in the first group (the one
to whom the communicator had been introduced), but signifi-
cant change was noted in the second group. It was concluded
that the positive evaluation of the communicator by the
receiver of the message influences the retention of the mes-
sage. This is particularly significant in attempting to
alter attitudes.

Under certain circumstances, it is quite possible that
the instructional developer will find himself in the role of
a leader in an instructional design project. Some perceive
this to be one of his main functions. The relationship be-
tween leadership and empathy was investigated by Bell and
Hall (1954). Subjects in the study were randomly divided

31

into eighteen groups of five members each. A leader was not
appointed or otherwise indicated. Prior to the study, each
subject was given the Dymond Empathy Scale and the Guilford
Leadership Scale. At the first meeting of each group, it

was assigned a problem to be solved. At the conclusion of
the first meeting, each group was asked to meet subsequently,
prepared to designate one of their number the group leader.
Correlations were obtained between the empathy scores and

the leadership scores. It was determined that most of the
groups picked as their leader the individual who had the
highest positive correlation between leadership score and
empathy score in the group. The findings supported the "need
theory" of leadership selection, i.e., a group, left to its
own devices, will select as its leader that individual which
best meets the needs of the group. It should be obvious that
the instructional developer who must operate as the leader of
an instructional design team will function more effectively
as such if he is capable of establishing empathic relationr
ships with members of the team.

There is a widespread belief that empathy is a psycho-
logical phenomenon related more to the affective domain of
learning than to the cognitive. In fact, Katz (1963) refers
to empathy as "psychological understanding" (p. 40). Efforts
have been made to investigate the possible relationship be-

tween empathy and other psychological characteristics, the

32

notable study being one done by Passons and Olsen (1969).
Again, the study was done in the area of personnel counselor
effectiveness, and investigated the ability to predict
counselor effectiveness via other psychological character-
istics of counselor trainees. A group of such trainees was
given the Empathic Sensitivity Scale. Subsequently, the
trainees were tested for characteristics deemed to be essen-
tial in effective counseling in interpersonal relations, viz:
openmindedness, cognitive flexibility, ability to sense
feelings, willingness to communicate feelings, and positive
self-concept. Typical of the psychological tests used in the
various areas was the Rokeach Dogmatism Scale for openminded-
ness. Each score on the five tests was correlated with the
Empathic Sensitivity Scale scores. The correlations between
these scores indicated a positive relationship between em-
pathic sensitivity and the five variables.

In summary, it Should be noted that most of the studies
and experimentation designed to develop scales for the'
measurement of empathy and the instructional systems for
teaching it have been developed in the field of personnel
counseling. The literature does not indicate that much has
been done to heighten empathic capabilities of individuals
professionally involved in fields other than medicine and the
social sciences. This researcher did not discover any liter-

ature which identified instructional systems designed and

33

operationalized for the purpose of increasing the affective
sensitivity of instructional developers, or others in the
field of professional education. Those who function as
instructional developers and change agents within educational
systems might indicate great need for this type of educa-
tional experience. With regard to interpersonal communica-
tion Skills and education, Harris (1973) notes:

Thomas Aquinas, who knew more about education and per-
suasion than almost anybody who ever lived, once said
that when you want to convert someone to your point of
view, you go over to where he is standing, take him by
the hand (mentally Speaking), and guide him to where
you want to go. You don't stand across the room and
shout at him. You don't call him a dummy. You don't
order him to come over to where you are. You start
where he is, and work from that position. That's the
only way to get him to budge (p. 15).

CHAPTER III

DESIGN OF THE STUDY

The purpose of this study was to design and evaluate an
instructional strategy which would increase the interper-
sonal communication skills of doctoral candidates in Instruc-
tional Development and Technology. The study concentrated
on devising methods of increasing the subjects' ability to
enter into empathic relationships with others, and to accur-
ately determine the affective state of others. Chapter III
presents a description of the three-phase experimental
treatment used in the study. Also reported are the data
collection procedures, the data collection instruments, and
the type of data analysis. In addition, several limitations

of the present research are considered.

The Sample

 

The subjects who participated in the study were first—
and second-year doctoral candidates in Instructional Develop-
ment and Technology in the Michigan State University Depart-
ment of Secondary Education and Curriculum. They were Fellows
in two Specially-funded institutes under the auspices of the

United States Office of Education. The Media Specialist

34

35

Institute consisted of seven first-year doctoral candidates
and one second-year candidate. The Research Utilization
Project, the second Institute, consisted of five first-year
candidates, making a total of thirteen subjects.

The subjects were not randomly drawn, but were selected
as members of the two media specialist groups because such
procedure pmesentad certain advantages to the researcher:
the total number of subjects was administratively manageable
in light of the limited physical facilities for administer-
ing the treatments; the subjects were all assigned study
space and desks in the same office building as the researcher
and thus a maximum of communication between the researcher
and the subjects was possible with a minimum of effort; the
participation of the subjects in the study was sanctioned by
the two faculty directors of the institutes and was included
as a part of the subjects' academic program and for which
they received partial academic credit; and it was hoped
that because the subjects were holders of special fellow-
ships, all subjects would complete the experimental treatment.
Additionally, it was inferred by the researcher that the
subjects would be typical of doctoral candidates in Instruc-
tional Development and Technology. It Should be noted,
however, that no claim of typicality of all such doctoral
candidates is made, and no attempt at generalization beyond

the parameters of the sample will be attempted.

(I)

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36

The Treatment
The three-phase experimental treatment used in the study
was adapted from a course designed by Kagan (1971) and has
been widely used in the training of personnel counselors,
physicians, and others involved in the studies of social
sciences and interpersonal relations. The treatment was
modified by the researcher for application in the training of

' instructional developers.

Phase I

In the first phase, the subjects were assembled in a
conference room where, in addition to chairs, there was a
portable videotape recorder and a television set. The sub-
jects viewed a videotape lecture and demonstration by Dr.
Norman Kagan. The videotape was Unit I of his instructional
package Influencipg_Human Interaction. The purpose of the
unit is to improve the ability of the subjects as interview-
ers, to teach them to listen more closely, to become more
deeply involved, and to respond to others in such a way as
to encourage the others to go further, to explore deeper, to
cooperate, and to change. The subjects are taught to dis-
criminate between different kinds of Specific responses on
the part of interviewers, viz: exploratory vs. non-explora-
tory; affective vs. cognitive; listening vs. non-listening;

and honest labeling vs. distorting. The demonstrations of

37

these kinds of responses are provided during the videotape
by personnel counselors working with actors. Provisions are
also made for the subjects to practice listening and respond-
ing to remarks made by the actors.

At the conclusion of Unit I, the subjects were shown a
portion of Unit III of Influencing Human Interaction, which
is a videotape of an actual counseling session with a counsel-
or and a client. At the conclusion of each response made by
the counselor to his client, the videotape was stopped, and
the subjects were asked to identify the nature of the response
according to each of the four dichotomous categories detailed
above. Each subject's identifications were made in writing.
There were a total of thirteen counselor responses which were
identified by the subjects.

At the conclusion of the interview, the tape was re-
wound, and the subjects saw a repeat of the same interview.
During this viewing, each response made by the counselor was
discussed with the subjects by a trained personnel counselor,
who provided the subjects with feedback on their initial
classification of the responses. The entire process from the
beginning of the lecture to the conclusion of the feedback

session took approximately two hours.

Phase II
The second phase was devised by Kagan 25.31. (1967) and

is called Videotape Recall of Affect Simulation (VRAS).

7
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38

It is a technique wherein clients are confronted with films
which encourage them to engage in Simulated interpersonal
relations. Both the client and film are videotaped while the
client watches the film. The videotape is then played back
to the client while his recall worker helps him examine his
reactions to the film. In some cases, an actor directs affec-
tion or rejection toward the viewer; in others the actor
reacts as if he had been rejected or seduced (Kagan g£_gl.,
1969).

The films used in the VRAS were jointly developed
through the efforts of the researcher and Dr. Kent L. Gus-
tafson. In order that the filmed confrontations be as real-
istic as possible, actors were not used. Inasmuch as
instructional developers will be dealing, in the main, with
faculty members and/or colleagues, these films were made in
color using members of the faculty at Michigan State Univer-
sity. The scripts for each filmed vignette were written by
the researcher and approved and edited for affect and content
by Dr. Norman Kagan. Four of the six films used in this por—
tion of the treatment were filmed on a small sound stage,
and two were filmed on location in the respective faculty
members' offices on the campus. (Scripts for each of the
films appear as Appendix A.)

The films contained both male and female instructors.
The affects presented ranged from warmth and Open reception

to open hostility and personal threat. All were judged to be

39

representative of kinds of communication situations an in-
structional deve10per might be expected to encounter in his
transactions with faculty-clients.

The facility for administering this phase of the exper-
imental treatment was originally designed by Kagan (1967).

It originally consisted of a room in which was situated a
motion picture projector, viewing screen, two television
cameras, a television monitor, two comfortable chairs, and

a small coffee table. The television cameras were partially
concealed behind plywood panels perforated in a symmetrical
pattern. Sound was picked up by a partially-concealed micro-
phone near the subject. The videotape recorder and split-
screen generator were located in a nearby room.

Due to the non-availability of the originally-developed
facility at the time this treatment was to be administered,
alternative arrangements and some slight modifications in
equipment and layout of the facility were necessary.

A small sound stage was selected and equipped with the
motion picture projector and viewing screen.- The subject was
seated so that the projector was behind and above him, pro-
jecting the picture over his head onto the screen. Only one
television camera was used. It was located beneath the pro-
jection screen and slightly behind it, focused on the face of
the subject. The micrOphone was suSpended out of Sight above
the subject's head. When the projector was running, neither

the camera nor the microphone were visible to the subject.

h. We

40

It should be noted that no effort was made to conceal
the television camera, the microphone, or the motion picture
projector. The subjects knew in advance they were being
videotaped. It was deemed advisable that the camera, micro-
phone, and other gear be as unobtrusive as possible so as to
minimize any possible self-consciousness on the part of the
subjects while being videotaped.

The videotape recorder and the monitor were in an adja-
cent room along with two chairs. It was deemed advisable,
also, to have this equipment out of Sight of the subject to
avoid any unnecessary anxiety that its presence might have
generated. It was from this adjacent room, which was to the
rear of the subject, that the recall worker viewed the films
along with the subject. (A diagram appears as Appendix B.)

It was not possible to obtain a split screen generator
for this portion of the treatment, so that much of the treat-
ment as detailed above was eliminated. Instead, the sound
track of the motion picture film was recorded on the same
videotape which recorded the subject as he watched the film.

After the subject had viewed and reSponded to the six
vignettes, he went into the adjacent room where the videotape
recorder and monitor were located, and went through the recall
process with the recall worker. In this process, the subject
and the recall worker view the tape recording together. The
subject is encouraged to stop the playback whenever he re-

called a particular thought, feeling, or emotion which he had

41

experienced during either the viewing of the vignette or dur-
ing his response to it. If the subject permitted the record-
ing to run for a long while without stopping it, the worker
would ask him to stop it and attempt to recall what he had
thought or felt at that particular instant. If the subject
passed over any notable physical or verbal reaction to the
film, the worker asked him to stop the tape and discuss it.
The subject was also asked to evaluate his handling of each
situation based on his thoughts and feelings. If he expressed
dissatisfaction with his reactive behavior, the subject was
asked to suggest possible alternative methods of handling the
situation. In no case did the recall worker make any type of
comment that would tend to place an evaluation on the sub-
ject% reactive behavior. He did ask the subject frequently
if he thought that his reactions would have tended to estab-
1ish a facilitative, workable communication relationship with

a client who exhibited each particular affect.

Phase III

The third phase of the treatment was also developed by
Kagan gt El° (1967), and is called Interpersonal Process
Recall (IPR). It is a technique using stimulated recall of
videotape to accelerate insight and change. The facilities
and equipment used in IPR are similar to that used in the VRAS

technique, i.e., a television camera, a videotape recorder,

42

and a television monitor. No motion picture projectors or
screens are used, nor is a split-screen generator required.

Two comfortable chairs are arranged at forty-five degree
angles to each other, and the television camera is arranged
so that the faces and upper torsos of the subjects are in
simultaneous view. The micrOphone was suspended above and
between the subjects, and the videotape recorder was placed
to one side out of sight of the subjects. (A diagram of the
equipment arrangement appears as Appendix C.)

This phase of the treatment was administered in two
stages. In the first stage, one subject was designated as
the "Instructional Developer" and the other subject his
"Client" (faculty member). Prior to the interview, the
"Client" was told by the researcher to demonstrate, to the
best of his ability, a specific affect. These included and
were limited to "anxiety," "elation," "threat," "depression,"
"open cooperation," and "hostility." These affects were
written on index cards and were arranged in random order.
They were then assigned to each "Client" in serial rotation
so that if any "Client" drew the same affect more than once,
it would be due to pure chance. (In an interview with the
researcher, Dr. Kagan stated that the "role-playing" in-
volved in having one of the subjects assume and display a
specific role might be beneficial in assisting the subject to

become more familiar with certain dimensions of that affect.)

43

The "Instructional Developer" was not advised as to what
affect he might confront in his interview with his "Client."
A setting for the interview was provided in order that it
might have some cognitive meaning and focus for the partici-
pants. Each was told that the instructor had experienced an
instructional problem, and had requested assistance from the
campus "Learning Service." The "Instructional Developer"
had come to the instructor's office in response to that re-
quest, and that this interview would be the first encounter
between the two. With these instructions, the tape recorder
was started, and the participants began the interview.

During the course of the interview, the recall worker
monitored the progress and content of the interview from an
adjacent room, as did the researcher. When the interview had
gone on for approximately six to eight minutes, the partici-
pants were told to stop. The subject who had played the role
of the "Client" was excused, and the "Instructional Developer"
and the recall worker sat down and viewed a playback of the
interview. Again, the same recall process was employed by
the recall worker that was described in the previous section
dealing with the VRAS technique.

At the conclusion of the recall session, the subject who
had previously played the role of the "Client" was called
back into the room, and the entire process was repeated with
the same two subjects in reversed roles. A different affect

was assigned to the new "Client." Again the IPR process was

44

repeated with the pairs in reversed roles, and the new
"Instructional Developer" was conducted through a recall ses-
sion at the conclusion of the interviewer.

The second stage of this phase of the treatment was
essentially the same process as the first, but with two
differences. Care was taken so that the same pairs were not
involved in the second round of interviewing. Also, during
the recall process, the subject in the role of the "Client"
was not excused as before, but stayed in the room with the
"Instructional Developer" and the recall worker and partici-
pated in simultaneous recall. Again, during these recall
sessions, the videotape playback was stopped and started by
either the recall worker or the subject(s). During these
sessions, the recall worker attempted to get the subjects to
interrogate themselves and gain insight into their own be-
havior. Gustafson (1969) notes:

He encourages the subject to deal with basic or recur-

ring fears and aspirations rather than linger over one

or two responses or gestures which he may initially have
chosen to discuss. The recall worker constantly seeks

to cultivate the subject's own awareness of his behavior,

and through this awareness to understand the motivation
and belief system underlying his behavior (p. 55).

The Recall Workers
The recall workers used the VRAS,-and IPR treatments in-
cluded the researcher and four Fellows from the Office of
Medical Education Research and Development at Michigan State

University. The five workers had been the recipents of

45

Special training in recall counseling during the fall term

of 1972. The Fellows were prepared to work in the course in
Doctor-Patient Relationships in the College of Human Medicine
at Michigan State University, and the researcher was prepared
for this study. The training was conducted by Drs. Norman
Kagan, John Schneider, and Arnold Werner. There was a
"refresher session" for the workers conducted in the winter
quarter by Dr. Kagan.

The training sessions for the workers included a review
of the rationale, functions, and technique of the recall
process. Next the workers viewed a series of videotapes of
recall sessions conducted by trained recall workers, during
which they were asked to identify spots in the interview in
which the subject might be encouraged to stop. They were
asked to indicate why that Spot was chosen and to frame ques-
tions which might be asked of a subject at that time. The
recall trainee was taught to identify both verbal and non-
verbal cues which are indicative of various affects, viz:
changes in voice tone, posture, and facial expression. The
workers then engaged in interviews with each other and sub-
sequent recall sessions under the supervision of Skilled re-

call workers.

46

' Instrumentation

 

Affective Sensitivity

Affective sensitivity was measured twice during the
experiment, in a pre-test and a post-test. The pre-test was
administered to the assembled subjects prior to their receiv-
ing Phase I, and the post-test was administered to the
assembled subjects subsequent to the completion of the
second stage of Phase III.

Both pre-test and post-test employed the Affective
Sensitivity Scale (see Appendix D for samples of test items).
The Affective Sensitivity Scale (ASS) is reported by

Kagan st 31. (1971). It is a situational test involving
clients and personnel counselors; both male and female clients
and counselors are involved. The subjects view videotaped
scenes taken from actual counseling sessions, representative
of typical sessions; they vary in emotional depth and content
of client concern. Each showing of a videotaped sequence is
followed by the subject's answering several multiple-choice
items to describe the affective states which the client may

be experiencing. A subject must choose from among three
sentences the one which most clearly defines what he, the sub-
ject, thinks the client feels about the content of client
communication. He also chooses from among three other sen-
tences which describe the client's feelings about the

counselor.

47

A two-way assessment of the reliability of the scale
has been made. Internal consistency reliability coefficients
range between .58 and .77, with the majority of the co-
efficients in the .705. A test-retest coefficient of corre-
lation was .75 over a two-week period (Campbell, 1967; Kagan
gt_gl., 1967).

Several studies have assessed the validity of the scale,
notably a validity study using two one-year-long National
Defense Education Act Institute groups. Findings indicate
that these groups did increase their affective sensitivity,
and that the increases were not caused by the practice effect
of the pre-testing and post-testing by a study using a place-
bo group (Kagan 25 31., 1967).

Form B of the ASS, which was used in this study, con-
tains sixty-six items, and required approximately two-hours
for its administration. The subjects were assembled in a
small conference room containing, in addition to a table and
chairs, a videotape recorder and monitor. The purpose of
the test as well as its mechanics were explained to the sub-
jects, and they were lead through the provided sample item.
The videotape containing the ASS was started and stopped after
each verbal transaction between client and counselor, and the
subjects were given ample time to record their selection from
the multiple items. At the conclusion of the pre-test, the
answer Sheets were collected and scored by three independent

blind scorers. No discrepancies in scoring were noted, and

48

each subject's test score was recorded by the researcher.

The scorers were the researcher and two doctoral students

not involved in the study.

Co-orientational Accuragy

 

Co-orientational accuracy (empathy) was measured twice
during the experiment, in a pre—test and a post-test. The
pre-test was administered to the subjects prior to their
receiving Phase I, and the post-test was administered subse-
quen to Phase III.

A situational test was devised by the researcher after
a procedure suggested by Wackman (1969). His procedure is
based on a general model of co-orientation originally de-
vised by Newcomb (1953), and revised by Chaffee 23 a1. (1969).

See Figure l.

X = ApBrO

Z ArO Y = BrO

 

Figure l. A General Model of Co-orientation.

A and B are two persons, both orienting to an object O

and to each other. The object is a general concept, referring

49

to any object of cognition. The ratings of the object, ArO
and BrO, may involve any kind of cognition-~attitudina1 or
attributive kinds of items.
The three co-orientation concepts in the model involve
comparisons among the sets of ratings, taken two at a time:
1) accuracy is the comparison between X and Y, A'S pre-
diction of B's rating of object O, and B's rating of O.

2) agreement is the comparison between Z and Y, A's

 

rating of O and B's rating of O.

3) congruency is the comparison between X and Z, A's

 

prediction of B's rating of O and A's own rating of O
(Wackman, 1969, p. 2).

Several things should be noted about the general co-
orientation model. First, the object O is a general concept,
which may be gay object of cognition, such as a political
object, a book, a person (as in person perception research),
etc° Second, the rating of the object, ArO and BrO, may in-
volve any kind of cognition. Thus, the items may be attitu-
dinal kinds of items, measuring A's attitude toward the
object, or they may be attributive kinds of items, measuring
A's beliefs concerning the object (Wackman, 1969).

Two Likert-type instruments of twenty-five items each
were generated for measures of attitude. The Likert-type, or
summated rating scale, was chosen because of its adaptability

to behavioral research and its ease of development and because

p

0

lite

50

it "... yields about the same results as the more laboriously
constructed, equal-appearing interval scale" (Kerlinger, 1964,
p. 487). Each item in each instrument was a five-point
anchored statement ranging from "strongly disagree" to
"strongly agree." The tOpics for the two instruments were
"accountability in higher education," and "use of behavioral
objectives in teaching." (Samples of the instruments appear
as Appendices E and F respectively.) The two topic areas
were selected because they represent areas of interest to most
professional educators, and because they would likely repre-
sent areas which would generate Specific notions during the
interviews.

Thirteen Michigan State University faculty members were
selected to serve as interviewees, one for each subject.

Care was taken to select instructors in whose classes the sub-
jects were not enrolled as students. Specific appointments
were made by the researcher for each of the subjects with

each faculty member, with the understanding that the subject
would appear at the faculty member's office at the appointed
hour.

Prior to the subject's appointment with the faculty
member-interviewee, the interviewee was sent a c0py of one of
the attitudinal instruments, and was told that the tOpic
covered in the instrument would be the area of the subject's

interview with him. The interviewee was told to restrict

51

the interview to twenty minutes, and to answer the subject's
questions in the tOpic area as fully, completely, and honest-
ly as possible. Additionally, the interviewee was sent two
extra c0pies of the same attitudinal instrument along with

a set of instructions to be given to the subject at the con-
clusion of the interview. The subject was advised as to the
name of his interviewee, time and place of the appointment,
and the designated topic area of the interview. He was fur-
ther instructed that he could ask any question he so desired
in the tOpic area, and that the interviewee would attempt to
supply as comprehensive answers as possible.

At the conclusion of the interview, the interviewee
passed on to the subject the two extra questionnaires and the
instructions as to their completion. Each subject was told
to complete one instrument reflecting his own views and atti-
tudes in the tOpic area. He was told to complete the second
instrument reflecting his predictions as to how the inter-
viewee would complete the same instrument. He was then told,
as was the interviewee, to return the instruments to the
researcher.

Prior to the utilization of either of the instruments,
each item of each instrument was rated for polarity by three
blind raters. Raters included the researcher, and two other
doctoral candidates not involved in the study. There was con-

census on all items on both instruments with one exception on

‘Oo‘l \.

I
\‘gg'
.UbOl

‘: a
mu

3‘

(D

Q.“

52

each. In these instances, two of the three raters agreed on
polarity and one disagreed. It was decided to accept the
polarity rating of the two raters who agreed.

In constructing the instruments, all items for each
instrument were written on index cards and shuffled. Each
item was drawn from the pile of cards in order to establish
a random order of polarity and to off-set the possibility of
response set being a factor in the completion of the instru-
ments.

In the post-test, the identical procedure was followed
as in the pre-test. In the administration of the post-test,
care was taken to insure that each subject did not interview
the same instructor that he had seen on the pre-test, and
that he did not diScuss the same tOpic area he used in the
pre-test.

All instruments were again scored by three blind scorers,
and no discrepancies were noted in the scoring. The scorers
were the researcher and two doctoral candidates not involved

in the study.

The Experimental Design
The experimental design for the present research incorpo-
rates one experimental group (N = 13). A pre-test-post-test
design was employed to collect data on affective sensitivity

and co-orientational accuracy. The subjects received an

e

€139?

a G». -. .
u l a:
on o n‘u «an a q4u .. .
NJ .. a . Y; A v A:
«1 .6 set . . .— . C. 1
~ «4 QKV . .<

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53

experimental treatment in three phases spread over a period
of approximately eighteen weeks. The first phase was admin-
istered to the subjects as a group. The second phase was

administered individually to each subject. The third phase

was administered to the subjects singly and in pairs.

Statistical Hypotheses

 

To evaluate the effectiveness of the three experimental
treatments and the underlying theoretical positions relating
to affective sensitivity and co-orientational accuracy as
teachable skills, the following statistical hypotheses were
generated and tested. Each null hypothesis tested is pre-
Sented first, followed by an accompanying alternate hypothe-

sis.

Null Hypothesisl:
No difference will be found between the group mean
scores between the pre-test and the post-test as
measured by the Affective Sensitivity Scale.

Symbolically: Ti =‘T2

Alternate Hypothesisl:
Subjects, after receiving the experimental treatment,
will have a higher group mean score on the post-test
for affective sensitivity than they did on the pre-
test.

Symbolically: Ti f T2

‘

MU
sq! ‘

i e
.14

resea

54

Null Hypothesisz:

No difference will be found between the group mean

scores between the pre-test and the post-test as
measured in terms of co-orientational accuracy.

Symbolically: T1 = T2

Alternate Hypothesisz:

Subjects, after receiving the experimental treatment,

will have a higher group mean score on the post-test

for co-orientational accuracy than they did on the pre-

test.

Symbolically: ‘fl ye T2

Analysis of the Data

For each of the statistical hypotheses presented above,
the test of Significance is based on analysis of variance.
Since the experimental group is a single group involved in a
pre-test-post—test design, the test for Significance will be
a matched-pair t test. Kerlinger (1964) states:

The benefits to be derived from matching are sometimes

considerable. It is imperative to use a matching de-

sign of some sort when objects in the environment are

naturally matched. To have matched objects in a re-

search experiment and not to take advantage of the

variance due to the matching is a statistical and de-

sign blunder (p. 308).

It should be noted that pairing should be made on some
3 priori basis, and, since the pre-test and the post-test are

made om.the same subjects, this condition is deemed by the

researcher to have been met.

 

the

It

~\~
«Am

I.“

0 o}

t
u

iRVQl

)5

V

“I :r

55

Further comment on the desirability of using the match-

ed-pairs design is offered by Senter (1969):

The paired-observation technique is easier computation—

ally, and it reduces the effects of some sources of

random sampling variation that can obscure "real" dif-
ferences between sets of data (lead to Beta error).

The net result of the paired-observation technique is

that it will produce lar er (more Significant) t ratios

with a given mean dif erence if there is any positive

relationship between the pairs of scores (p. 202).

The computational procedure for matched-pairs will also be
found in Senter (p. l97ff).

The use of the matched-pairs computational technique in
the test for co-orientational accuracy requires comment.

It was previously noted in this chapter that Wackman (1969)
has devised a new measure of co-orientational accuracy which
was employed in this study. Wackman's method is referred to
as the Profile Similarity (PS) method.

Generally, any relational concept measured by comparing
two sets of responses is typically measured by the difference,
or D2, score method (Kerlinger, 1964). Typically, A's
accuracy in predicting B's ratings on an object is scored by
taking the difference between A's prediction of B's rating
and B's actual rating on each item of a set of items referring
to object O. The total D score of accuracy would be the sum
of the absolute differences on each item. A major problem

with the D score is that it is very complex mathematically,

involving a number of components. The varied components and

56

the mathematical complexities are well illustrated by
Cronbach (1953, 1955), in his analysis of the D and D2
scores.

The PS method for measuring these relational concepts,
in this case accuracy, would be scored by correlating A's
prediction of B's responses and B's actual responses over
the set of items referring to O.

The two methods tend to emphasize two different aspects
of the similarity of two sets of responses. The D score
method tends to emphasize Similarity between absolute levels
of responses, while the PS method tends to emphasize relative
similarity of responses over a set of items. A high accur-
acy score here would indicate that A is accurately predicting
B's relative pattern of responses (Wackman, 1969).

Wackman further notes that the D score method for de-
termining accuracy does not allow for the contamination in-
jected into the measure by projection and anti-projection,
i.e., A rates object O as he thinks B rates object 0 because
of A's perceived Similarity between himself and B--he pro-
jects his perceived personality similarities into the ratings.
In the case of anti-projection, A perceives himself differ-
ent from B, so rates object O oppositely from what he per-
ceives B's rating of O to be. Wackman's method, using a
partial correlation technique, partials out chance accuracy

and yields what he has called "real" accuracy. It is the

57

partial correlation technique across all items for all sub—
jects that was used in this study.

The partial correlations for all instruments and items
were converted to Fisher's Z (McNemar, 1969), and pre-test
and post-test comparison for Significance was made using the
matched-pairs t test as previously indicated.

An alpha level of .05 was selected for rejecting the
null hypothesis. But since the present research is explor-
ing the application of established instructional techniques
to novel Situations, we shall report and discuss probability
levels between .05 and .10 as indicating potential levels of
future research.

Chapter IV reports the results of all computations with

their accompanying Significance tests.

Limitations of the Study

 

Possibly the most serious limitation of the study is
found in the experimental design. Campbell and Stanley (1963)
indicate that the one-group pre-test post-test design can be
confounded by several extraneous variables; among them are:
history--intervening events between pre-test and post-test;
maturation--intervening biological or psychological processes
affecting the subjects; testing--the effect of the pre-test
itself; instrument decay-~autonomous changes in the measuring

instrument; and statistical regression-~the phenomenon which

58

finds subjects scoring toward the extremes in a pre-test
regressing toward the mean on a post-test. The authors state
that these factors are possible sources of comtamination in
this particular study design. In the present study, it is
questionable whether the pre-test or instrument decay, for
example, affected the gain Scores. In neither of the pre-
test situations were the subjects given any feedback re-
garding their scores on either instrument. In the Situational
interview pre-test, care was taken that no subject saw the
same interviewee in the post-test that he saw in the pre-
test, nor did he use the same topic area as a subject of the
interview. As to instrument decay, changes in the instrument,
it is not believed that such was probable, though it was
possible. Statistical regression is a non-controllable, and
this certainly could have been a source of contamination.

A second limitation is found in the size of the sample

(N 13). The small sample Size means any difference between
the pre-test and post-test scores has to be larger than is

needed for a larger sample in order to obtain significant

differences between them. The small N was necessary for two
reasons: (1) the facilities for administering the VRAS and
IPR stages of the experimental treatments were limited both
in size and availability to the researcher; it was not pos—

sible to set up the equipment needed for the treatment and

leave it in position for use over periods of several days at

59

a time; and (2) the thirteen subjects represented nearly all
of the full-time, on-campus doctoral candidates in Instruc-
tional Development and Technology at the time the research
was undertaken.

A third limitation is the fact that the subjects did
not represent a "sample" of a population; they were, in fact,
a population. Inferences which can be drawn from the find-
ings of the study cannot be generalized beyond the subjects
themselves. As a pragmatic consideration, it is a fact that
the subjects are reasonably representative of students who
have enrolled for graduate work in the Instructional DevelOp-
ment and Technology emphasis area. One might make the purely
pragmatic (but not statistical) inference that the findings
generated by this research are applicable to those students
who follow these subjects through the academic program.

A fourth limitation of the present study was the in-
ability to control for the Hawthorne effect. There is no
question that the subjects knew that they were participating
in experimental research--a process to which the few remain-
ing full-time and part-time doctoral candidates were not sub-
jected. Considering the effect that research participation
has been known to have on subjects, it is probable that the
present research subjects responded positively to the treat-

ment over and above any improvement due to the treatment.

60

Summary

The experimental treatment was adapted from processes
previously shown to be effective in training personnel
counselors, medical students and others. The three phases
of the treatment consisted of (l) a lecture-demonstration
by videotape followed by a training exercise with feedback;
(2) the use of Videotape Recall of Affect Simulation in which
the subjects viewed and responded to six filmed vignettes,
and were subsequently aided in their recall of their emotion-
al and cognitive reactions by a trained recall worker; and
(3) the use of Interpersonal Process Recall in which each
subject alternately played the role of instructional develop-
er and client in an interview setting followed by aided
recall with videotape and a trained recall worker who
assisted the subject in an analysis of his emotional and cog-
nitive reactions to various elements of the interview.

The subjects were first- and second-year doctoral candi-
dates in Instructional DevelOpment and Technology at Michigan
State University who were Fellows in two media Specialist
institutes funded by the United States Office of Education.

Two instruments were employed to collect data for the
research. Each instrument was administered as pre-test and
post-test on the same group of subjects. The first instru-
ment was the Affective Sensitivity Scale, the reliability and

validity of which have been established. The second

61

instrument was a twenty-five item Likert-type attitudinal
instrument designed to measure the degree of co-orientational
accuracy between the subjects who were paired with faculty
members in an interview setting in which the subject and
interviewee discussed previously-assigned topics.

The recall workers used in the present research had
been previously trained for Similar activities in instruc-
tional procedures in other disciplines.

Data were analyzed in a matched-pairs procedure between
pre-test and post—test, with a matched-pairs t test determin-
ing significance. Two statistical hypotheses were generated
and tested using the above procedure.

There are several limitations to the study. The
research design itself using one group in a pre-test and
post-test setting incurred possible contamination from such
extraneous variables as history, maturation, instrument decay,
and statistical regression. The fact that the subjects
represented a population rather than a sample, limits general-
ization beyond the parameters of the population. The
Hawthorne effect probably was a source of limitation, as was
the small size of the sample necessitated by limited physical
facilities for administering the treatments and the small

total number of available subjects.

CHAPTER IV

FINDINGS

Findings

A compilation of the findings of the study are reported
in this chapter. The effect of the three experimental treat-
ments on affective sensitivity and co-orientational accuracy
are individually discussed. Although the research findings
will be discussed in detail, conclusions based on the find-
ings will be reported in Chapter V. It should be noted that
there was no mortality among the subjects which permits the
matched-pairs observations described in Chapter III.

The first hypothesis tested in the present study was:

H 1: No difference will be found between the group
mean scores between the pre-test and the post-
test as measured by the Affective Sensitivity
Scale.

The first step in the analysis was to compute a corre-
lation coefficient between the pre-test and post-test. The
correlation coefficient was .87, which is somewhat higher
than those obtained during the developmental processes of
the Affective Sensitivity Scale.

No analysis of variance was conducted on the pre-test

data since the matched-pairs technique offers a substantial

62

63

degree of control over chance variability (sampling varia-

tion). In this regard, Senter (1969) states:
It should be relatively clear that if observations are
made on the same individual twice (or on individuals
closely related) the amount 6f chance variability
expected to occur among scores Is considerably less
than it would be if these scores were to be randOmly
selected from totally unrelated individuals (p. 196).
The mean score on the pre-test for all subjects was
32.5 and the mean score on the post-test was 38.2. Standard
deviations were 7.12 on the pre-test, and 8.76 on the post—
test. These data are reported for informational purposes
only Since they are not involved in the matched-pairs compar-
ison. The score distribution on which the significance test
is based is the mean difference of all scores, and this was
computed at 5.62 from preétest to post-test. The critical
value for a mean difference of 5.62 was computed at 4.496.

The critical value of t (two-tailed) at .05 Alpha is 2.179.

These data are reported in Table 1.

Table 1. Comparison of Pre-test and Post-test Means and Mean
Difference of the Affective Sensitivity Scale

 

 

 

 

Pre-test 2" PoStetest M gain M d df‘ t
M. SD M 4SD
32.5 7.12 38.2 8.76 5.7 5.62 12 4.496

 

 

 

 

 

 

t = 2.179 at Alpha .05

64

This analysis indicates that the mean difference of
5.62 observed between the pre-test and the post-test is too
large to be reasonably attributed to sampling variation.
Assuming that all factors other than the treatment effect
were either eliminated from the experiment or equated by
the matching technique, it can be inferred that the increase
from pre-test to post-test was significantly influenced by
the intervening treatment. The null hypothesis can be re-
jected, and support can be inferred for the alternate hypothe-
sis of a higher mean score on the post-test than on the pre-
test for affective sensitivity. Since rejection of the null
hypothesis does not indicate the direction of the difference
between pre-test and post-test scores, the mean of each test
must be examined for direction. The post-test mean of 38.2
is greater than the pre-test mean of 32.5 supporting the
directional hypothesis presented in Chapter III that the
experimental treatment does increase the subject's affective
sensitivity.

The second hypothesis tested was:

H 2: No difference will be found between the group
0 mean scores between the pre-test and the post—
test as measured in terms of co-orientational

accuracy.
Data on co-orientational accuracy was collected by pro-
viding Specific topics of discussion for interviews between

the subjects and faculty members at Michigan State University.

65

At the conclusion of each interview, both pre-test and post-
test, the faculty member (interviewee) completed a twenty-
five item Likert-type instrument registering his views and
opinions of the assigned discussion topic. Each of the sub-
jects was given two:copies of the identical instrument by
the interviewee at the conclusion of the interview. The
subject was asked to complete one of the instruments so that
it reflected his own views and opinions of the topic. He
was asked to complete the second instrument so that it re-
flected the interviewee's views and opinions. The attitudinal
instruments were constructed on a five-point anchored scale
ranging from "strongly disagree" to "strongly agree."

The reader will recall from the co-orientation model
presented in Chapter III, that person A's prediction about
person B's ratings of object()(ApBrO) is represented by X,
that B's ratings of object O (BrO) are represented by Y, and
that A's ratings of object O (ArO) are represented by Z.

After scoring each instrument, simple correlations were
obtained between each item on each instrument scored by each
subject and his interviewee; thus, the following correlations
were computed: rxy' rxz' and ryz' The first correlation,
therefore, was between each item of the subject's perceptions
of the interviewee's ratings and the interviewee's ratings,
ApBrO. The second correlation was between the subject's

perceptions of the interviewee's ratings and his own ratings,

66

ApBrO and ArO. The third correlation was between the sub-
ject's ratings and the interviewee's rating ArO and BrO.
The three correlations were summed and a mean obtained for
each. Again, these data were derived for informational
purposes of the reader who may be interested in computing
data by the D method. The mean for each correlation was
used in computing a partial correlation, partialing for z,
in both pre-test and post-test. These data are reported in

Table 2.

Table 2. Comparison of Pre-test and Post-test correlation
Means, Including Comparison of Partial Correlation

 

 

 

Pre-test Post—test Gain
r .202 .316 .114
XY
r .449 0460 .011
xz
r .306 .192 -.114
yz
r .076 .262 .186
xy-z

 

 

 

 

For the purposes of testing for Significance, the simple
cxxrrelations across the three instruments were used in com-
suiting partial correlations for z for each subject on both
pre-test andpost-otest. Each partial correlation was trans-

formed to Fisher's Z and summed. Means for both pre-test and

67

post-test were computed and compared using the matched-pair

technique previously described. Table 3 reports these data.

Table 3. Comparison of Pre-test and Post-test Mean and Mean
Difference of Measure of Co-orientation

 

 

 

 

Mean of 23 Gain M d df t
Pre-test Post-test
.09104 .30129 .21115 .1838 12 1.356

 

 

 

 

 

 

t = 2.179 at Alpha .05 (two-tailed).

The resulting value of 1.356 is less than the critical
value of 2.179 indicating that the experimental treatment
was not a source of significant difference between the pre-
test and the post-test; in fact, it indicates that—no sig-
nificant difference was observed. The null hypothesis was
not rejected. Thus, there is no support for the hypothesis
that there would be an increase in mean scores between pre-

test and post-test on the measure of co-orientational

accuracy.

Discussion of the Findings
A comparison of the pre-test and post-test scores to
produce a mean difference failed to reject the null hypothesis
of no difference between pre-test and post-test scores on the

measure of co-orientational accuracy.

68

There are several probable explanations for the failure
to produce significant difference. Several of the subjects
reported of their own volition to the researcher that the
twenty minutes allotted for the interviews was not long
enough for them to obtain the information they felt they
needed in order to assess the attitudes and beliefs of the
interviewee with regard to the topic areas. After both the
pre-test and post-test experiences, some subjects reported
that most of the twenty minutes was spent in discussing
extraneous matters. Some reported that the interviewees
expended most of the time interrogating the subjects as to
the nature of the research project and seeking information as
to how the attitudinal instruments were to figure in the
testing procedure. Other subjects reported that the inter“
viewees expended the time asking them questions relating to
their personal backgrounds and doctoral programs. The sub-
jects who were involved in these kinds of situations reported
that it was extremely difficult to keep the interview
oriented toward the topic area, and consequently they had
little or no time to interogate the interviewee regarding more
germane matters.

The selection of tOpicS of discussion seems to have
posed more of a problem than was anticipated. The researcher
attempted to select tOpics about which professional educa-

tors would have a reasonably broad base of information and

69

interest. One topic, "accountability in higher education,"
seemed to pose no problem, but the tOpic "use of behavioral
objectives in teaching" caused difficulty. Well over half

of the subjects indicated that they had to spend at least
half of the allotted interview time explaining what behavioral
objectives were to the interviewee in spite of the fact that

a definition was provided at the tOp of the instrument in an
attempt to forestall just such an occurrence. After the pre-
test, three of the subjects reported back to the researcher
that their interviewees had extremely negative, nearly
hostile, attitudes about behavioral objectives. Five of the
subjects reported the same information after the post-test.
Observations of the attitudinal instruments completed by
these interviewees did not appear, however, to reflect what
might be termed an extremely negative attitude toward this
topic. There can be little doubt that the instruments re-
ported negative attitudes in all cases, but the respondents
did not utilize nearly as many "strongly disagree" and
"strongly agree" responses as the subjects involved seemed to
indicate on the ApBrO instrument. One of two things obviously
happened: either the interviewees' ratings on the instruments
did not.ref1ect their true feelings, or the subjects read
more into the interviewees' diatribes than existed. It is
also interesting to note that most of the subjects reflected

‘very positive attitudes toward the use of behavioral objec-

tives.

70

Another cause of the failure to achieve significance
might be attributed to personality variables among the sub-
jects. While the subjects never received any standardized
personality inventories in connection with the research,
the researcher was able to personally observe the subjects
at close range over the academic year. As a result, it was
possible to make some kinds of intuitive personality
assessments with regard to introversion-extroversion. Those
subjects who exhibited either neutral or extroverted orien-
tations toward their environment appeared to exhibit the
greatest individual gain scores on the post-test measures of
co-orientational accuracy. Those who were introverted con-
fessed higher anxiety levels in the simulations and exhibited
lesser gains in the post-teSt.

It is notable that all the partial correlations for
individual subjects did not move in the same direction. Of
the thirteen subjects, ten showed an increase from pre-test
to post-test when partialing for 2; three showed decreases.
AS it is not possible to accurately account for the increases,
neither can the decreases be accounted for. It will be re-
membered that during the post-testing, more subjects reported
the behavioral objectives topic to be more of a controversial
issue than a topic of inquiry and discussion than they did on
the pre-test. It is possible that this situation accounted
for the post-test decreases on the partial correlations.

This conjecture may tend to be supported by the fact that

71

the ryz correlation mean decreased from .306 to .192 pre-
test to post-test. It will be recalled that the ryz corre-
lation is a comparison of the interviewees' ratings with

the subjects' ratings. One might also conjecture that these
data indicate that there was less Similarity between the
views of the subjects and their interviewees as they were
paired in the post-test. This factor would appear to vitiate
the intended positive effect of the experimental treatment.

The notion of personality variables previously noted
could have also been an unforeseen source of vitiation of
the treatment. If those subjects who exhibited tendencies
toward introversion were paired with interviewees of decided
extroversion characteristics and found the interview situa-
tion to be an uncomfortable one, then the decrease in the
ryz correlation may be accounted for.

It is interesting to note that the critical value of t
for the rejection of the null hypothesis at the .05 level of
confidence was 2.179. As noted the critical value of the
mean difference 1.356 would not permit the rejection of the
null hypothesis at that level of confidence. Because the
experimental treatment was an adaptation of an existing and
previously validated treatment, an examination of a possible
rejection of the null hypothesis at the .10 Alpha was made.
The critical value of t at this level is 1.782, meaning that

the null hypothesis could not have been rejected at .10 Alpha

either.

CHAPTER V

SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS

Summary

The present research studied the effect of a three-
phase experimental treatment on the abilities of doctoral
candidates in Instructional DevelOpment and Technology to
enter into empathic relationships with others. This capa-
bility was measured in two dimensions: (1) the ability of
the subjects to accurately assess the affective state of
others, and (2) the ability of the subjects to accurately
predict the opinions and belief systems of others with re-
gard to specific tOpics.

The treatment's first phase consisted of a filmed
lecture-demonstration which dealt with the ability to discrim-
inate between various kinds of responses made by an inter-
viewer in a dyadic setting. The subjects were shown various
responses by means of videotape recording, and classified
them as either exploratory or non-exploratory, affective or
cognitive, listening or non-listening, and labeling or dis-
torting.

The second phase of the treatment required the subjects

to view six stimulus films in which faculty or staff members

72

73

at Michigan State University, serving as actors, portrayed
specific affective states. The subjects were videotaped
as they watched the stimulus films and as they verbally
responded to the films. In responding, the subjects were
instructed to deal with either the cognitive or affective
content of the films, or both if they felt such was possible.
After viewing all Six of the filmed vignettes, the subjects
watched a playback of the videotape made of them. They were
aided by trained recall workers in analyzing the affective
and cognitive elements in their reactions and responses to
the vignettes. The subjects were encouraged to critique
their own performances and to suggest more appropriate altern-
ative ways of responding in those cases where they felt such
was needed. Subjects were given access to the start-stop
switch of the videotape recorder, and were instructed to stop
the playback whenever they felt the need to comment on their
performance or at the recall of a particular thought or feel-
ing stimulated by the playback. The recall workers also had
access to the start-stOp switch, and stopped the playback
‘whenever they felt that comment or interrogation relative to
the subjects' responses was required.

The third phase of the treatment required the subjects
to engage in.a Simulated interview with each other. One sub—
ject played the role of an instructional developer, and

another subject played the role of a faculty member who was

74

seeking a solution to an instructional problem. The subject
in the role of the faculty member was instructed prior to
the interview to do his best to display a Specific state.
These included "anxiety," "elation," "threat," "depression,"
"open cooperation," and "hostility." The subject in the
role of the instructional developer was not advised as to
what affective state he would encounter in the interview.

He was instructed to deal with whatever affective state was
displayed by the other member of the dyad in a manner which
he judged would best lead to an on-going facilitative rela—
tionship; one that would more likely lead to the ready
adoption of any innovative instructional methodologies which
might be proposed at a later date as a solution to the
instructional problem.

Each interview was recorded, with most of them running
approximately six to eight minutes in length. At the con-
clusion of each interview, the subject in the role of the
faculty member was temporarily excused and the other subject
was joined by a recall worker. The videotape of the inter-
view was played back, and the subject and the recall worker
went through the critique process described above. As before,
the subject was asked to stop the playback frequently and to
comment on his handling of the interview with regard to its
cognitive and affective content. At the conclusion of the
recall process, the subject who had taken the role of the

faculty member was called back into the room. The process of

75

simulated interview between instructional developer and
faculty member was repeated with the two subjects in reversed
roles. Again the faculty member was given an affective

state to display during the interview. Recall was done with
the second subject in the manner previously described.

The simulated interviews were repeated a second time
with different subjects in the dyads. The second round of
interviews was identical to the first with one exception.

At the conclusion of the interview, the subject in the role
of the faculty member was not excused for the recall session.
He stayed in the room and participated in what is referred

to as "simultaneous recall." In this process, both the
interviewer and the interviewee participate in the recall
process with the recall worker. Both subjects are encouraged
to stop the playback and comment on the behavior of either
subject.

Two measurement techniques of empathic capability were
employed as both pre-test and post-test. The first technique
is a measurement of the ability of the subject to accurately
describe and assess the affective state of another, and is
called the Affective Sensitivity Scale. The subjects watched
a videotape of actual counseling sessions between a client
and a professional personnel counselor. At specific points
during the verbal exchanges between the client and the coun-
selor, the videotape was stopped. The subjects were asked to

select from among three statements the one that most

76

accurately described the inner feelings of the client with
regard to either himself or the state of the interview. The
subjects also selected one statement from three choices the
one which most accurately described the client's thoughts
and/or feelings regarding the counselor. The Affective
Sensitivity Scale contains a total of sixty-six items. The
instruments were scored for the number of correct responses
by three blind scorers. There were no discrepancies noted
in the scoring of either the pre-test or the post-test.

The second technique for measuring empathic capability
was a situational test of co-orientational accuracy. Each
subject was paired with a Michigan State University faculty
member for the purpose of an interview in the faculty member's
office. The dyads were assigned one of two tOpics for dis—
cussion during the interview: "accountability in higher edu-
cation," or "the use of behavioral objectiyes in teaching."
The tOpics were assigned several days in advance of the
appointed time of each interview. The subjects were told at
the time the topics were assigned that they could pose any
questions in the topic area that they wished. They were also
told that the faculty member with whom they were to talk had
agreed to answer all questions as comprehensively and con—
scientiously as possible. The interviews were limited to
twenty minutes in length.

At the conclusion of the interview, each faculty member

completed a twenty-five item Likert-type instrument which

77

called for an expression of his opinions in the topic area

on a five-point anchored scale ranging from "strongly dis-
agree" to "strongly agree." The subject completed two c0pies
of the same instrument. On one, he was instructed to reflect
his own personal views in the tOpiC area; on the second copy
he was instructed to attempt to predict the way his inter-
viewee would respond, based on whatever information he had
been able to gather during the interview. All respondents
were asked to return the instruments to the researcher. In
no case from pre-test to post-test, did a subject interview
the same faculty member, nor did a subject have the same
tOpic of discussion in both interviews.

Polarity of the items in each instrument was determined
by three blind raters prior to the assemblying of the instru-
ments. Items on each instrument were randomly arranged in
order to obviate the possibility of response set. After the
administration of the pre-test and the post-test, each
instrument was scored by three blind raters; no discrepancies
in scoring were found. Correlations among the items of each
interview instrument were computed, and partial correlations
of all instruments were computed holding constant the instru-
ments which reflected the subjects' ratings of the tOpics.

Each of the two results of the pre-test and post-test
was compared by the matched pairs technique for mean differ-

ence, and two-tailed t tests for significance were conducted.

78

The pre-test was administered early in January, 1973,
and the post-test toward the end of May, 1973: the time
lapse from pre-test to post-test was approximately eighteen
weeks.

The following two hypotheses were examined using the
matched pairs analysis of variance:

1. No difference will be found between the group mean

scores between pre-test and post-test as measured
by the Affective Sensitivity Scale.

2. No difference will be found between the group mean
scores between the pre-test and the post-test as
measured in terms of co-orientational accuracy.

An initial purpose of this study was to test an adapta-
tion of an existing instructional methodology for increasing
empathic capabilities of personnel counselors and other
social scientists to application in the training of profes-
sional educators. The core of the experimental treatment
has been used with notable success by Kagan (1972) and Rowe
(1972). It was hoped that with certain changes in methodol-
ogy and instructional materials, the treatment would be
effective in training instructional developers. One change
involved the stimulus films used in Phase II (VRAS) of this
study. The stimulus films used in the original version of
the treatment involve settings and content more applicable
to the training of personnel counselors than instructional
developers. It was decided to produce a new series of stimu-

lus films in color which would have a higher degree of

typicality to the types of interpersonal communication

79

situations encountered by those involved in instructional
development. It was the making of the new films which may
have provided what could be a source of vitiation of the
experimental treatment.

It has been noted that the pre- and post-test were
separated by approximately eighteen weeks. When the study
was initially planned, it was intended that the treatment
be completed within a ten week period, or less. Unantici—
pated delays were encountered in the making of the new
stimulus films. The filming equipment, which was leased
from an out-of-town supplier was not available when promised.
After the equipment was obtained and the vignettes shot, the
film processing house experienced unaccountable delays in
developing the film and conforming the optical track.

A second source of delay was the unexpected nonavail—
ability of the original VRAS simulator. An alternate facil-
ity was necessary, and it required some additional time to
locate a suitable facility and arrange to borrow the neces-
sary equipment from different sources.

The nonavailability cf the original VRAS simulator may
have caused a more serious problem than loss of time. The
original facility was a small intimate room draped and
carpeted in a most attractive manner. It would seem to be
quite suitable for and conducive to the kind of unselfcon-
scious state of mind Subjects require to view and react to

the stimulus films qut beneficially.

80

The alternative arrangement used for the VRAS was a
rather large sound stage furnished only with that equipment
required for the Simulation. This facility did not have a
Split-screen generator available; the sound track of the
stimulus films was recorded instead for use as a referant in
the recall process. It was thought at the time this decision
was made that not having a simultaneous recording of the
subjects' physical reactions to the film and the film's
visuals would not be a factor as far as the VRAS process is
concerned. Subsequent occurrences during the VRAS recall
process proved this assumption to be erroneous. It was noted
during the recall that some subjects were having difficulty
in bringing to mind an accurate mental picture of the actor
in the film. They also mentioned that hearing the sound
track of the film without seeing the actor's face and facial
expressions was a deterant to their being able to recall
some of their own emotional reactions to the film. The avail-
ability of a Split-screen generator would have eliminated
this problem.

In addition, it was noted by the researcher and other
recall workers that some of the subjects seemed distracted
by having to frame and deliver a response to what was obvious-
ly an empty projection screen hanging some distance away in
an almost empty room. Some remarked that they "felt foolish"

and were self-conscious in this situation.

81

The findings permitted the rejection of the first null
hypothesis beyond the .05 level of confidence, but not the
second. The rejection of the null hypothesis infers support
for the hypothesis that the experimental treatment increased
the affective sensitivity of the subjects. It should be
noted, however, that no definite decision regarding the
validity of this finding can be made without additional re-
search to confirm or contradict the present finding.

Rejection of the null hypothesis relative to co-orienta-
tional accuracy was not possible. The failure to reject the
null hypothesis may have been due to the failure of the
experimental treatment to increase the subjects' ability
to accurately predict and assess the interviewees' beliefs
and attitudes, to the instrument's incapability to accurately.
measure precise degrees or co-orientational accuracy, or to
the various limitations in the study design detailed in

Chapter III.

Conclusions
Some conclusions are made from the findings summarized
above.
1. It appears that the experimental treatment played a
significant role in increasing the subjects' capabilities
to correctly assess and identify the affective state of others.

The original treatment from which the experimental treatment

82

used in this study was adapted normally exposes the subject
to thirty hours of instruction. Some versions of the orig—
inal treatment have exposed the subjects to fifty hours of
instruction. In the present research each subject received
approximately fiyg_hours of instruction. Nevertheless, as

a result, group mean scores increased from 32.5 on the pre—
test to 38.2 on the post-test, a gain of 5.7. Rowe (1972),
in repeated administrations of the ASS using one—group de—
signs with essentially this same type of treatment interven-
ing between pre- and post-test, realized gain scores of
slightly less than 5.7 in all instances. Her application of
the experimental treatment exposed the subjects to fifty
hours of instruction. These data would tend to support the
original validation studies conducted during the development
of the ASS (see Chapter III). It will be recalled that the
mean difference between pre-test and post-test reported in
Chapter IV was 5.62 with a critical value of 4.496. This was
Significant beyond the .05 level of confidence which was
established for the rejection of the null hypothesis. It is
interesting to note'that the critical value of 4.496 would
also have permitted rejection of the null hypothesis beyond
the .01 level of confidence (t = 3.055 at .01 Alpha). Again,
it should be emphasized that this result was attained with
five hours of instruction per subject in place of the usual

thirty to fifty hours of instruction.

83

It is not intended that the limitations inherent in the
study design be completely ignored. It would appear, however,
that the sizeable gain score from pre-test to post-test was
affected more by the experimental treatment than by the
design-affiliated intervening variables previously noted, and
certainly more than could be attributed to pure chance or
sample variation.

2. The capabilities of the subjects to enter into a .
state of co-orientational accuracy with others did not in-
crease as a result of the experimental treatment, or for any
other reason according to a comparison of the attitudinal
instruments. The failure to reject the null hypothesis rela-
tive to co-orientational accuracy may have several probable
explanations. First, it is possible that the attitudinal
instruments did not accurately measure the subjects' capa-
bilities in the area of co—orientational accuracy. Second,
the utilization of a rather controversial topic for the test
interviews may have inhibited the subjects' ability to gather
information as to the interviewees' beliefs and value sys-
tems to the extent needed to accurately respond to the test
instruments. Third, the experimental treatment did not in
fact have any instructional ability as far as co—orienta-
tional accuracy is concerned. It will be noted that the two
test instruments actually measured two different dimensions
of empathic capability: the ability to identify and assess

the psychological state of another; and the ability to predict

84

the responses of another in both cognitive and affective
domains. It was intended that the gpg_three-phase experimen-
tal treatment increase subjects' capabilities in 332 areas.
Based on the findings, one can only conclude that the treat-
ment was effective in improving one capability but not
effective in improving the other. Fourth, the original in-
structional model calls for a rather compressed time period
for the treatment. The fact that the administration of the
three phases was spread over eighteen weeks instead of ten
weeks as initially planned might have had a negative effect
on the potential cumulative effect of the treatment; what
exact effect the uncontrollable delay might have had is

unknown.

Implications for Future Research

 

Since the present research explores the modification
and adaption of proven techniques of instruction to a novel
application, the study should be replicated to provide a
second independent set of findings. Any replication Should
utilize a study design which incorporates experimental and
control groups randomly drawn from a well-defined population.
The one-group pre-test/post-test design represents the most
serious flaw in the present study. This would be eliminated
by having available for comparisons findings produced by a

two-group design. The fact that the present study was made

'f

If;

(n

hi

0-4

85

using what amounted to a population is a hindrance to mean-
ingful generalizations beyond the parameters of the popula—
tion.

Any replication undertaken should utilize the Simulator
originally designed by Kagan SE 31. (1967) which contains the
split-screen generator and more intimate physical surround-
ings. As previously noted, the recording of only the voice
track of the stimulus films did not provide a satisfactory
referent for the recall process in Phase II of the treatment.
The more intimate surroundings and closer quarters of the
original simulator would tend to eliminate much of the self—
consciousness exhibited by the subjects in the present
research.

In planning a replication of this study, attention
should be given to selecting topic areas for the interview
portion of the tests for co-orientational accuracy. There is
probably no way to completely eliminate controversy in the
topic areas, but care should be taken in the selection of
topic areas to ensure that tOpics which have obvious under-
tones of controversy are not used. In the present research,
it was apparent from the subjects' comments that the be—
‘havioral objectives t0pic was one of a controversial nature.
They reported that some interviewees had extremely negative
attitudes about behavioral objectives, and that they expended

most of the interview time in what amounted to a monologue.

86

The subjects felt that they did not get sufficient time to
put questions to the interviewee that would have given them
the necessary background information to make a more accurate
prediction of the interviewees' Opinions across the wide
range of items used in the test instrument.

An increase in the interview time from twenty minutes
to thirty minutes or more might be considered. All subjects
reported that some of the allotted time was expended in
various social amenities and extraneous conversation. While
a facilitative atmosphere for the interview can be estab-
lished by observing certain social conventions inherent in
the first meeting of two persons who are not previously
acquainted, these activities consume time which could be more
profitably spent as far as information gathering is con-
cerned. It would appear that extending the time of the
interview by ten or fifteen minutes would not be burdensome
on either interviewee or interviewer.

It is recommended that any replication of the present
research be done over less than eighteen weeks elapsed time.
As has been noted, it was intended that this study be com-
pleted in ten weeks or less; unanticipated delays extended
the total time required for the study to nearly double that
which was initially intended. It is certainly not known what
the end result of the extended time frame was on the post-
testing. It has been observed that the end result of the

treatment had no positive effect on the post-test for

87

co-orientational accuracy. Phase I of the treatment, it will
be recalled, was a lecture-demonstration on interviewing
techniques, and it is of interest to speculate what effect
this portion of the treatment might have had on the post-test
interviews for co-orientational accuracy had the post-tests
been more closely related to Phase I in time.

Other delays between pre-test and post-test can result
from the difficulty in scheduling subjects' participation in
the various phases of the treatment. The researcher found
it necessary to administer the three phases of the treatment
at the convenience of the subjects' schedules. On occasion,
this caused time to be lost. It is not deemed to have been
of significance in this study, but it should be a concern of
any who attempt a replication of this study.

Any replication of the study should be done with a
greater N than was used in this study. Although there was
no subject mortality in the present group, the small sample
(N = 13) required much larger gain scores to produce signifi-
cance than would have been required with a larger number of
subjects with regard to the measure of co-orientational
accuracy.

Before undertaking future research, consideration should
be given to the fact that the null hypothesis relative to
co-orientational accuracy was not rejected in the present
study. As has been noted, the present study was designed to

attempt to increase empathic capability in two areas with one

88

treatment. The fact that the null hypothesis relative to
the ASS was rejected beyond the .05 level of confidence
permits the inference that the treatment was effective in
the attempt to increase the subjects' empathic capabilities
relative to assessment of the affective state of others.
The inference is even stronger when one recalls that the
gain scores were of such magnitude to have permitted rejec-
tion of the null hypothesis beyond the .01 level of
confidence. However, it would appear that the treatment as
presently constituted does not have an effect on the sub-
jects' ability to enter into a state of co-orientational
accuracy with others.

In addition to the compression of time and the elimina-
tion Of controversial t0pics, the following two recommenda-
tions are made to the future researcher in an effort to
increase the treatment's effectiveness as it relates to co-
orientational accuracy: (1) Kagan's original instructional
model (Influencing Human Interaction, 1972), on which the
experimental treatment in the present research was based,
contains a unit dealing with Inquirer Training. Kagan states
the purpose of the Inquirer Training to be: "... to give you
an opportunity to learn about and experiment with assertive
but non-judgemental, non-hostile, interviewer leads" (p. IV-l).
It is felt that this additional training as an interviewer
would enhance the over-all treatment and enable the subject

to become more adept at information gathering as a

89

facilitative interviewer. (2) During the IPR interviews
which constitute Phase III of the present research, the inter-
viewer was instructed to deal with either the cognitive or
affective content of the statements made by the interviewee.
The only admonition was to conduct the interview in such a
manner that an on-going, functional communication link would
be established. A change in that procedure is recommended
for future replication of this study. It is recommended
that in future interviews, the interviewee be assigned not
only an affective state to portray, as was done in this study,
but the core of a belief system relative to a tOpical area.
The topics could include such areas of instructional interest
as "behavioral objectives," "modular instruction," "mediated
instruction," "behavior alteration," or "mastery methodology."
The interviewer would not only have to deal with the assigned
affective state encountered in the interviewee, but would
have to conduct the interview in such a way that he elicited
accurate information relative to the topic area. During the
recall process, which would be simultaneous recall during
both of the interviews, the recall worker would assist the
interviewer to deal with his feelings and emotions as is
usually done; and would assist the interviewer in a compari-
son Of the information he had gathered during the interview
with the assumed belief system of the interviewee.

It is not known what implications for future research

might be held in racial differences. In the present study,

£01

par

be

rac

90

four of the subjects were black males; the rest of the sample
was composed of whites. All of the faculty members who
participated in the test interviews and in the stimulus films
as actors were white. It is recommended that future research
be done with faculty members as interviewees having a multi-
racial composition if the sample is multi-racial. Another
point of concern to future researchers using multi-racial
samples is the fact that one of the actors in the stimulus
films was an attractive white female. A trained psychologist
who viewed the vignette in which she appeared noted that
there was an obvious sensual undertone to her portrayal. It
was noted that the reSponses of some of the black male sub-
jects to her differed markedly in both cognitive and affec-
tive content from other's responses. It is conceivable that
matters of racial concern could have been a factor that
militated against any positive instructional benefit intended
in the VRAS and against some subject's ability to gather in-
formation which would have been helpful in their making

accurate predictions of belief during the test interviews.

Implications for Education
There can be little doubt that the experimental treat-
ment used in the present research has been successful in
training persons whose professional achievement is geared to

their ability to communicate with others, e.g., Rowe (1972).

91

It was the purpose of this research to determine if this in-
structional strategy could be adapted to the training of
instructional developers/change agents. The findings suggest
that this has been done. It is regrettable that the research
reported here cannot claim positive results in both of the
dimensions Of empathic capability. However, it has been
demonstrated to a reasonable degree that instructional
development trainees can be taught to more accurately assess
the affective state of others and have gained insight into
the many facets Of affective sensitivity. It is deemed ad-
visable that academic programs which have as their goal the
training of instructional develOperS/change agents institute
this type of instructional strategy if such is presently not
available. It is believed that this treatment with the modi-
fications suggested above will also prove effective in~
enabling trainees to enter into a state of co-orientational
accuracy with those who will become their clients. There can
be little doubt that the ability to do so will enhance their
probabilities of success. The lack of inferrable data in the
present research indicating a failure of the experimental
treatment to improve capabilities of co-orientational accuracy
should not deter or discourage future research into the
development of this prOposed instructional strategy for appli—

cation in the training of educational change agents.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

BIBLIOGRAPHY

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Davies, I. "The Management of an Instructional Developer-
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Gustafson, K. "Simulation of Anxiety Situations and Its Re-
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Harris, S. "Shouting's Worst Way to Conduct Argument."
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Hawes, L. "An Empirical Definition and Analysis of Physician-
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Kagan, N. and Schauble, P. Affect simulation in interpersonal
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Katz, R. Empathy, Its Nature and Uses. New York: The Free

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417-426 (1968).

APPENDICES

APPENDIX A

SCRIPTS FOR THE FILMS

SCENE I.

Affective State--Nervous, Obviously.ill.at ease. ~.(Male~~
actor).

I ... I GUESS I REALLY DO HAVE A PROBLEM. I KNOW ..: I KNOW
MY CLASSES AREN'T MUCH OF A CHALLENGE TO STUDENTS ANY MORE.
THE KIDS ARE BORED ... DISINTERESTED ... BUT I'M AFRAID I
JUST w MAKE THE CHANGES THAT YOU RECOMMEND. (Pause)

I JUST CAN'T SEEM TO BRING MYSELF TO SERIOUSLY CONSIDER
MAKING THESE KINDS OF CHANGES. I MEAN ... WELL ... IF MY
STUDENTS ARE JUST BARELY HANGING ON NOW, WHAT THE HELL IS
GOING TO HAPPEN TO THEM WHILE I'M TRYING TO INSTALL ALL THIS
NEW STUFF? ALL OF THIS ACTUALLY MAKES ME FEEL OLD AND KIND

OF USELESS.

SCENE II.

Affective State--Hostile, feels personal.threat.l (Male actor).
SO THAT'S WHAT YOU CALL "IDEAS?" VWELL ... LET ME TELL YOU ONE
THING ... AND YOU GET THIS STRAIGHT! THERE'S NOT A DAMN THING
£22 CAN TELL ME ABOUT CLASSROOM TEACHING. WHEN YOU HAVE BEEN
AT THIS GAME AS LONG AS I HAVE ... THEN YOU COME BACK AND

MAYBE ... JUST MAYBE ... WE'LL DISCUSS IT. BUT FOR NOW, YOU

 

GET THE HELL OUT OF HERE ... AND STAY OUT!

96

97

SCENE III.

Affective State--Qpenly responsive and warm, OOOperative.
(Female actor).

BOY ... AM I EVER GLAD TO SEE YOU. YOU CAN'T IMAGINE THE
MESS THIS DEPARTMENT IS IN. THE ENROLLMENTS ARE WAY OFF!

THE DEAN IS CLIMBING THE WALLS HALF THE TIME ... AND MOST OF

 

THESE CHARACTERS TEACH LIKE THEY NEVER HEARD OF JOHN DEWEY.

IT'S JUST IMPOSSIBLE! NOW, WHAT CAN WE DO TO STRAIGHTEN

 

THIS MESS OUT?

 

SCENE IV.

Affective State--Seeming1ypinterestedy but moderately de-
‘fensive and anxious. ITMEle actor).

 

WELL ... AS CHAIRMAN, THE DEAN HAS PUT THE MONKEY SQUARELY

ON MY BACK. THIS IS A REAL CAN OF WORMS! I JUST CAN'T GO

TO MY GUYS AND TELL THEM SOME OUTSIDER IS COMING INTO THE
DEPARTMENT AND CHANGE EVERYTHING WE'VE BEEN DOING FOR YEARS.
HELL ... SOME OF THESE GUYS ARE NATIONALLY-RECOGNIZED EXPERTS

... AUTHORITIES IN THE FIELD! I JUST CAN'T GO TO THESE GUYS

 

AND TELL THEM THEY DON'T KNOW WHAT THE HELL THEY'RE DOING
IN THE CLASSROOM. (pause) EVEN IF THEY DON'T. YOU JUST

CAN'T ASK THAT!

SCENE V.

Affective State--Obviously anxious.and nervous, poor eye
contact. (Male actofT.

98

SCENE V--Continued

YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT WAY TOO MUCH MONEY! I'LL BE THE FIRST
TO ADMIT THAT MAYBE WE'RE NOT DOING ALL WE CAN FOR OUR STU—
DENTS, BUT THERE ARE SOME THINGS ... (Pause) WELL, THE
CHANGES YOU PROPOSE ... (Pause) WELL, I MEAN, HOW THE HELL

IS THIS GOING TO LOOK TO THE PROVOST? (In a rush) THE

 

FIRST THING THAT HE'S GOING TO SAY IS ... "IF THOSE PEOPLE
OVER THERE HAVE PROBLEMS THAT ARE GOING TO TAKE THAT KIND OF
MONEY TO CORRECT" ... WELL, HE JUST MIGHT THINK A FEW

PERSONNEL CHANGES MIGHT BE LESS EXPENSIVE IN THE LONG RUN.

 

(Longer pause and then more deliberately) YOU'RE GONNA PUT

ME RIGHT BEHIND THE EIGHT BALL!

SCENE VI.

'Affective State--Seemingly cOrdial and Open. (Male actor).
OH, I'VE SEEN THIS SYSTEM STUFF TRIED BEFORE. YOU GUYS
ACTUALLY TALK A PRETTY GOOD GAME. (Pause) YOU KNOW, MAYBE
YOUR IDEAS WILL WORK SOMEWHERE, BUT I'M JUST NOT THE ONE FOR
GOING TO THAT MUCH TROUBLE ... WHEN I'M NOT REALLY CONVINCED
THIS SYSTEM STUFF WILL WORK FOR ME. MAYBE SOME OF THE OTHER
GUYS HERE WILL WANT TO TAKE A SHOT AT IT ... BUT I THINK I'LL
PASS FOR THE TIME BEING. (Long pause, and reflectively)

YOU KNOW, WHAT YOU ACTUALLY WANT ME TO DO IS ADMIT TO YOU
AND THESE OTHER GUYS AROUND HERE THAT I'VE GOT CLASSROOM

PROBLEMS, AND WELL I

 

 

 

 

VIDEOTAPE RECORDER, MONITOR AND
EQUIPMENT ARRANGEMENT

Monitor

 

 

 

 

APPENDIX B

Motion Picture
Projector

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

99

Microphone
(Suspended from Ceiling)

 

L.

’

 

A

TV Camera
(On Low Floor
\ Mount)

 

 

 

 

Projection Screen
(Suspended from Ceiling)

 

 

 

Chair

 

 

APPENDIX C

DIAGRAM OF EQUIPMENT ARRANGEMENT

/

 

TV

Monitor

 

 

 

 

 

TV
Camera
/
/
/
O / Microphone
/
(Floor Mount)
Chair

 

 

1100

Chair

 

Record-
er

Play-
back

rm

n_ "LN“ Eda?“

 

 

 

 

hair

APPENDIX D

SAMPLES OF TEST ITEMS

AFFECTIVE SENSITIVITY SCALE REVISED FORM B

 

I - Scene 1

This exploring Of my feelings is good. It makes
me feel good.

I feel very sad and unhappy.

I'm grOping and confused; I can't bring it all
together.

— --—-----------------~--------------------------—-----------.

SAMPLE ITEM
CLIENT
Item 1 - l.
2.
3.
CLIENT I
Item 1 - 1.,
2.
3.
Item 2- l.
2.
3.
CLIImNT I
Iten1 3 - l.
2.
3.
Item 44‘— 1.
2.
3.

- Scene 1.

I feel sorry for my husband and the relationship
we have.

I really don't understand what I feel. Yet, I
do feel guilty about creating pain in others
which returns to me.

I feel pleased at seeing a possible relation-
ship between my feelings of anger and pain.

He (counselor) doesn't have to like me. I just
want him to agree with me and tell me I'm right.
I'm trying to please you. Do you like me?

He's really understanding me now.

- Scene 2.

I feel calm and collected. I just want to think
for a while.

Yes, that is when I get angry. I see it all
clearly now. .

I feel anxious and stimulated.

I'll pretend I'm agreeing with him (counselor).
but I don't see the connection at all.

I like what he's doing, I don't feel as uncom-
fortable now.

I wish he would stop pushing me in this direc-
tion.

101

p4

 

VF.-. an; .... .

CLIENT

Item 5

Item 6

IItem 7

Item 8

Item 9

102

II - Scene 1.

I'm pleased and happy; I feel good all over}
It was brought right back, that amazes me, but
it hits quite bad, too. It hurts!

I'm not bothered by this. I can handle it.
I'm confident.

He's (counselor) caught me: careful, I'm not
sure I want that. IE
I like him. He's trying to make the situation 5;
a little lighter and make me feel better about 1‘
it.

I don't feel he understands. He's sarcastic.
I don't like that.

I feeleilittle uneasy and self-conscious, but 3
not much. is
This scares me. I feel frightened.

I feel flirtatious. I like this!

 

I feel a little bit embarrassed, but that is all
right as long as I can keep my composure.

I have a feeling of sadness.

I feel flustered and embarrassed.

He's asking for some touchy material, but that's
all right. It's about time he knew.

He's being very frank and open! I'm not sure

I want that.

I want him to leave me alone--I want out of
here. I don't like this.

- _-—---——-—--—--------—----------—-—----—'------—--—---—---—--

CLIENT II - Scene 3.

Iten|10.-

Item: 11 -

I'm getting so much attention. I really enjoy
this. It makes me feel good.

I'm scared by what I'm feeling. I feel embar-
rassed and threatened.

I have the feeling that what I wanted was wrong,
and I'm a little ashamed of myself.

This is good. We're really moving into my
feelings.

He's too perceptive; he's looking right through
me.

He's getting a little sticky; I'm not sure I
like that.

103

CIJENT III - Scene 1.

Item 12 - l. I feel protective and defensive of what people
may think about my family.
2. All this seems so pointless! I'm puzzled and
bored.
3. We're having a nice conversation. Some of these
things really make me think.

:Item 13 - 1. This guy (counselor) embarrasses me with the
questions he asks.
2. The questions he asks really make me think;
I'm not sure I like that.
3. I can't follow this guy's line of thought. What's
he trying to do?

 

(ZLIENT IV - Scene 1.

Item 14 - 1. I'm concerned about my physical condition. I'm
worried about it.
2. I want pity. I want her to think, "Oh, you poor
boy."
3. I feel good--nothing's bothering me, but I en-
joy talking.

Zrtem 15 - 1. She's too young to be counseling, and she's a
girl. I'm not sure I like this.
2. She likes me; I know she does.
. I'd like her to think I'm great.

_ - —'—---————-—-——----—----—————--——------—-———-———----——--—-*.

CLIENT IV - Scene 2.

Itxan 16 - 1. I'm a little annoyed with my family's ambitions

for me. .

. That's a helluva lot to ask! It makes me mad!

3. I feel sorry for myself, and I want others to-
feel the same.

Itefln 17 - 1. She (counselor) really understands me! She's
with me now.
2. I don't feel much either way towards the coun-
selor; she's not important to me.
3. I wonder if she appreciates the pressure that's
put on me?

104

CLIENT IV - Scene 3.

2.

This whole thing makes me feel sad and unhappy.
It kind of angers me that they don't appreciate
me when I feel I did my best. I wish I could
tell them off.

No matter how well I do, I'm always criticized.
It doesn't bother me too much, though, because
I know that I did my best.

I can tell that she understands what I'm saying.
She's really with me.

I wish I could get out of here; I don't like
her.

Understand what I'm saying; I want her to know
how I feel.

CLIENT IV - Scene 4.

2.

3.

Item 21 - 1.

2.

x

‘— ————————

I really want to be successful, and somehow I
know that I can be.

That makes me feel kind of sad, unhappy. I
don't want to believe that it's true--I want
to be good.

I don't know what I feel here. It's all very
confusing.

I feel neutral towards her. I'm not paying any
attention to her.

Please feel sorry for me and try to help me.

I wish she would praise me.

I like talking to her. She can be trusted even
to the point of telling her how I really feel
about myself.

---------------—-----—-—----—------—-------------

<23]:
IENT V - Scene 1.

:1:
fight 22 - 1.
2.

3.

~——-—----

I feel rejected and empty inside. Am I unlovable?
I feel a little lonely. I want my boy friend

to pay a little more attention to me.

I really don't feel much here; I'm just kind of
talking to fill up space.

Please say it isn't fair, Mr. Counselor.

He really understands me. I can tell him any-
thing.

I'm not sure I care what he says. It's kind of
unimportant to me what he feels about me at this
time.

 

CI.

It

('3

105

CLIENT V - Scene 2.

Item 24 - 1. I'm afraid of marriage-~insecure; it might not
work out and I'd be lost.

2. I really can give him all the affection he
needs, I feel I'm a worthwhile person to be
desired. He wouldn't dare step out on me.

3. I'm really not too worried; it'd all work out
in the end even if we have to go to a marriage
counselor.

:It:ean125 - l. I don't care if he (counselor) can help me or
not. I'm not sure I want his help.
2. He's so sympathetic. That makes me feel good.
3. Can you help me?

CLIENT V - Scene 3.

Item 26 .- l. I feel ,I have some need to be liked, but it's
not real strong.
2. I'm not lovable; I really don't like myself.
3. I'm a good person; I'm lovable. Down deep I
know I am.

Jt't:€ern 27 - l. I feel dejected, kind of insecure. I want to
be likable.

2. My main concern is that it's hard for me to
take criticism. I usually think of myself as
perfect.

3. I feel a little sad about all this; I do kind
of want people to like me.

3:
.t24531n 28 - 1. He thinks well of me; I know he does, I can
tell.
2. I want the counselor to really like me, but I'm
not sure he does.
3. I like it when he asks questions like that.

‘-.._‘_‘ They make me really think about deeper values.

‘— ----------------- — ------------------- p ———————————————————

(:23:
IENT V - Scene 4.

1: .

‘53111 29 - l. I wouldn't want to be treated like he treats
Mother, but I don't mind him (stepfather) too
much.

2. I feel very little emotion about anything at
this point.
3. I hate him (stepfather)!

.- a‘ H _
'91

 

106

CLIENT V - Scene 4 (cont'd)

2.

3.

Boy, I'm happy that he (counselor) agrees with
me. He sympathizes with me. I feel completely
accepted.

I'm embarrassed to tell the counselor how
strong my feelings really are.

I'm not sure he'll be able to help me much
after all. I'll just have to work this out
myself.

CLIENT V - Scene 5.

Itenlflm-L

2.
3.
J31=em 32 - 1.
2.

3.

‘
I ‘

‘ get him to

‘§ ————————

I'm kind of feeling sorry for myself, but I'm
not really too worried.

I want to move out of the house as soon as
possible. I feel I would be better off on my
own.

My own parents don't want me; I feel cut off
and hurt.

I don't feel he's (counselor) helpful at all,
and if he can't help me and see my side, I'm
not going to like him either.

He's got me in a spot, but I feel I can still
see me as a good girl who is perse-
cuted.

I wish the counselor were my father.
listening; he understands how I feel.

He's

C:
LIENT VI - Scene 1.

it

2.
3.

~— -------

Disapprove! She'd kill me!

I feel jovial; this is real interesting.

I'm not sure how she would feel but the whole
idea of her finding out excites me.

He (counselor) understands me completely. He
certainly is relaxed and comfortable.

I really don't care what he feels about me.

I just want someone to talk to-eanyone.will do.
I was wondering how he would feel about me and
what I'm saying.

 

107

CLIENT VI - Scene 2.

Item 35 - l. I think my brother is okay. We have fun to-
gether.
2. I don't know what I'm saying here. I'm a little
mixed up and confused. . .
3. I'm saying something that's important to me.
I like Doug. '

CLIENT VI - Scene 3.

Item 36 - 1. This is very confusing for me. I'm not sure I
know what is going on.
2. This is how I really feel, I'm kind of starting
to be myself.
3. I'm just talking to be talking here; this really
doesn't mean much to me.

Item 37 - l. I guess he's (counselor) is all right, but I'm
still not sure he understands me.
2. Let's get going. I'm impatient! 41 want to
move to more important matters.
3. I feel comfortable with him. He understands me.

CLIENT VI - Scene 4.

Item 38 - l. I love my brother, but not romantically. We
just have a good brother-sister relationship.
2. I don't know about feeling this way about Doug;
. it feels so good, but it concerns me, too.
3. I feel better about my relationship with Doug
now. It helps to get it out in the open. Now
I feel it's all right.

CLIENT VI - Scene 5.

Item 39-- 1. I'm not feeling much of anything here. I'm
just kind of talking to be talking.

2. I'm mad at everyone at this point and don't know
which way to turn; I guess I'm mad at myself,
too.

3. Now I'm talking about things that are real.

I'm not on stage anymore. She is a louse.

108

CLIENT VI - Scene 5 (cont'd)

CLIENT VII -

Item 41 - 1.

2.

3.

CLIENT VII -

Item 43 - l.
2.

Item 44. 1.

He (counselor) feels she's a bad person, too.
I.can tell; he agrees with me.

Don't you agree with me? I want to know what
you think.

He thinks all this sounds petty.
understand.

He doesn't

Scene 1.

I felt angry with my mother, but this made me
feel guilty. I needed to make an excuse for
her.

I'm really not angry with Mother.
fault.

I'm in a very passive mood. I'm just relaxing
and talking about things that interest me.

It's not her

This counselor is all right. I feel I can con-
fide in him.

I feel uncomfortable. I'm not sure what this
counselor wants me to do.

I feel he wants me to talk about myself, but I

don't care. I'm going to talk about what I

. want to talk about.

Scene 2.

I'm very sensitive; I'm very easily hurt.

I'm somewhat sensitive and easily hurt, but not
deeply so.

I'm not too sensitive or easily hurt at all.

I just like to make people think I am.

That makes me mad, I can do it--I know I can,
but things just keep getting in my way.

It's really all his fault, if he just wouldn't
have been such a joker.

This makes me feel guilty; I need to blame some-
one else instead of blaming myself.

I'm neutral towards the counselor. I don't care
how he feels about me.

I'm afraid he doesn't like me and what I'm
saying about myself. I don't want him to be
harsh with me.

He's easy to talk to.
like, and he still likes me.
him.

He understands what I'm
I can confide in

109

CLIENT VIII - Scene 1.

Item 46 - 1. Say, this is allright. I like this.
2. I'm not feeling anything deeply. I know what
I need.
3. It's embarrassing and difficult. I feel a
little annoyed.

Item 47 - l. I feel I can rely on this guy, so I'll let him
talk and I'll just answer.his.questions..
2. I wonder what you think about this--please
respond. Give me some help.
3. The counselor is a good guy. I like his ques-
tions; they make it easier for me.

CLIENT VIII - Scene 2.

Item 48 - 1. I feel very unhappy about what I may eventually
have to do.
2. I don' t know what I feel; I'm confused about
what I feel.
3. I'm damned uncomfortable; It's so confusing.
I feel kind of "blah" about it all.

Item 49 - 1. He's (counselor) missing the point. He bugs me.
2. I really can't tell about this guy. I don't
know how I feel about him.
3. He seems like a good guy. He asks questions.
I like him.

CLIENT IX — Scene 1.

Item 50 - 1. I'm not sure how I feel about this counselor.
I don't feel one way or the other.about him.
2. I like .the counselor very much--he makes me
feel good.
3. He understands me pretty well and is trying to
help. I guess I kind of like him.

CLIENT IX - Scene 2.

Item 51 - 1. Goody-goody peOple really don't know any better,
so I can't be too disgusted with them, but it
does make me angry.

2. I really don't mind peOple feeling superior to
me. It just makes me a little -angry..

3. It tears me up inside when pe0ple think they're
better than I am. I want people to be the same
as me.

 

110

CLIENT IX - Scene 2 (cont'd)

Item 52 - l.
2.
3.

'I' m every bit as good as they are.

I really
feel I am. I know I am.

I kind of wished they liked me, but I. can live
without being a member of their group.

Those smart kids make me feel stupid.

I feel sorry for them; they just don't realize
what they're doing to people like me-. 1

I feel.I'm not as good as they are, and.it
really hurts when peeple.act that way.

It makes me a little.angry. I'm every bit as
good as they are.

CLIENT IX - Scene 3.

Item 54 - l.

2.
3.

I feel a little insignificant, and this makes
me a little unhappy,

I'm a nobody. I'm always left.out. .

I'm unhappy with school. That's what really is
bothering me.

He doesn't quite understand, but I don't care.
It doesn't matter.

I don' t feel one way or the other towards this
counselor, we're just having a nice talk.

He (counselor) is really listening to.me,.and,
I feel he understands what I'm feeling.

CLIENT X - Scene 1.

Item 56 - 1.
2.

3.

Item 57 - 1.

I'm feeling scared, concerned. mIs.this for me?
I just feel uncertain about what to talk about.
If I once get started, I'll be all right.

I feel very deeply depressed.

He (counselor) seems to be listening—-can be
understand how I feel?
He's really with me.
me.

He doesn't keep things moving enough.

I can tell he understands

I don't

-like that.

111

CLIENT X - Scene 2.

2.
3.

I'd like to think I could.make it,.but I'm
not sure. I feel inadequate.-

I just have an I-don' t-care attitude;
my real feeling towards all of this.
I'm confused here. I really don't have any
definite feelings.

that's

I want to impress the counselor.. I want him
to believe I can do it. .

He believes me; he thinks I can do it;
tell.

I really don't care what- the counselor thinks.

It's not -important to me...

I can

CLIENT X - Scene 3.

2.

3.

What's the use of looking ahead? I'm scared
to think about it. 4 . .
I can accept my situation. Really, things
aren't so bad. Things may bother me a little,
but really not much.

I just enjoy living for today.

He's (counselor) all right. He really under-
stands me.

Nobody can really underStand this.
think he will be any different.

I don't care what he thinks or feels;

important to me anyway.

.I don't

he's not

CLIENT X - Scene 4.

Item 62 - 1.

I feel somewhat unhappy. I don't like to feel
this way.

There's something about me; I just.don't.fit
in, and that makes me feel real uncomfortable.
In some instances, I'm unsure of myself. I'm

afraid I'll do the wrong thing, but I can handle

..this just by avoiding these situations.

112

CLIENT XI - Scene 1.

Item 63 - 1. I'm unhappy about all this, but I'm afraid to
make a change.

2. It's not that I don't like school, it's just
that I want to do the things I like most.

3. I'm not the student type. School bores me but
it embarrasses me when I say it.

Item 64 - l. The counselor is a nice guy. I like him, and
I think he likes me.

2. I wonder what the counselor thinks of me.
He'll probably think less of me for saying this.
3. I don't really care what he thinks of me. It
. doesn't.really.matter to me.

CLIENT XI - Scene 2.

Item 65 - 1. I've found some new dimensions. I like to feel
that I can have some excitement, but this kind
of scares me, too.

2. This doesn't really mean much. I'm not feeling
much of anything.

3. This makes me feel very guilty; I'm very
ashamed.

Item 66 - l. I suppose he'll (counselor) tell me that's wrong,
too. I'm not sure he understands me very well.

2. He's okay; he's listening to what I have to say.
He really understands me and my feelings.
3. I don't care what he thinks or feels;.it's.not

important. I don't have any feelings towards
the counselor.

END OF AFFECTIVE SENSITIVITY SCALE

APPENDIX E

FACULTY INSTRUMENT OF ATTITUDE

Below are twenty-five statements regarding accountability in
higher education. After each statement is a .five-point scale4
ranging from. "strongly disagree" to "strongly agree. .
Abbreviations are used for the five points on the continum as
follows:

SD - Strongly disagree

D - Disagree

NO - No opinion

A - Agree

SA Strongly agree

Please circle the letter(s) on the scale.that.most accurately
represent your.feeling.regarding the statement, but circle
only one point on each scale.

1. The college/university instructor should be accountable
only to his conscience.

SD ' ' D NO A SA

2. Those outside the college/university community who clamor
most loudly.for faculty accountability usually have no.
idea of the.regular duties and responsibilities of the
instructor.

SD D NO A SA

3. People who pay instructors' salaries have a.right to know
what they're getting for their money.

SD D NO A SA

4. Instructors should be accountable only to their immediate
academic superior.

SD ' i D NO A SA

5. If the instructor is to be accountable, he should be
accountable to his students.

SD D NO A SA

113

10.

ll.

12.

13.

14.

114

The concept of "academic freedom" would be violated by
any imposed system of accountability.

SD I D NO A SA

Unionization of faculty would, in fact, impose a system
of faculty accountability.

SD D NO A SA

Any system of accountability would destroy the collegium
setting of higher education. “I

 

SD A . D NO A SA

Any imposed system of accountability would destroy re-
search as it is done in the academic setting today.

SD D NO A SA

The use of the Student Instructor Rating Report on this
campus is actually a form of accountability.

SD ‘ . D NO A SA

A strict form of accountability would probably protect
the faculty member from the negative aspects of "publish
or perish."

SD D NO A SA

A strictly-applied form of accountability would ultimately
destroy the present tenure system.

SD D NO A SA

It is a beneficial expression of accountability to have
top administrators answerable to boards of trustees or
regents.

SD D NO A SA
The current clamor for accountability in higher education
would likely be diminished if colleges/universities.under-
took a campaign to upgrade their images with the taxpayers.

SD D NO A SA

15.

16.

17.

18.

19.

20.

21.

22.

115

I believe that most of my faculty colleagues favor some
form of accountability not presently in existence.

SD D NO A SA

A system of accountability would probably produce in-
creased financial and physical resources in the long run.

SD D NO A SA

The current demands for accountability are most likely
attributable to a lack of understanding between educa-
tors and state legislators.

SD D NO A SA

The most workable form of accountability would be one in
which faculty members are accountable to each other rather
than to administrators.

SD D NO A SA

A system of accountability would be productive only if
those to whom the accounting is made have the educational
and experiencial background for prOper evaluation of the
data reported.

SD D NO A SA

It is not possible that any system of accountability will
produce students who are better qualified and capable.of
c0ping with their environments in a positive, productive
fashion.

SD D NO A SA

Accountability may be productive in improving elementary
and secondary education systems, but it can be only
counterproductive in systems of higher education.

SD D NO A SA

A system of accountability would more likely benefit.the
newer, untenuredvfaculty member than the older, tenured
one.

SD D NO A SA

23.

24.

25.

116

In all likelihood, current demands by state legislators
would diminish if there was more student participation
in university governance.

SD D NO A SA

A system of accountability would probably produce a more
realistic distribution of resources than currently exists.

SD D NO A SA

At the present time, administrators are more likely to
Opt for some expression of accountability than are faculty
members.

SD D NO A SA

Upon completion of this instrument, please return it to:

A. L. Savage, Jr.
116 Linton Hall
Campus

Thank you for your interest and cooperation.

APPENDIX F

FACULTY INSTRUMENT OF ATTITUDE

Below are twenty-five statements regarding the use of teaching
objectives. You will encounter the term "behaviorally-...
oriented objectives" (B00), and in order to establish a common
referent for.the term, the following definition is.provided:.
"Behaviorally-oriented objectives are a description.of the
student's behavior at the end of the course. They contain

the behavior he will exhibit, the conditions of testing, and
the standards for adequacy of performance." (Yelon, 1971).
After each statement is a five-point scale ranging from
"strongly disagree" to "strongly agree.” Abbreviations are
used for the five points on the continum as follows:

SD - Strongly disagree
D - Disagree

No - No opinion

A - Agree

SA - Strongly agree

Please circle the letter(s) on the scale that most accurately
represent your feeling regarding the statement, but circle
only one point on each scale.

1. My experience indicates that providing the student with
definitive teaching objectives does not produce higher
scores on examinations.

SD D NC A SA

2. Keeping course content relevant is made easier by the use
of teaching objectives.

SD A D NC A SA
3. Most of my teaching colleagues probably do not have a
clear cognitive referent for the concept "behaviorally—

oriented objectives."

SD D NO A SA

117

10.

11.

12.

13.

118

Teaching objectives provide students with a practical
study guide.

SD D NO A SA

It has been my experience that students.do.not perform“ ..
any better on evaluations (examinations) when they have
been provided with teaching objectives.

SD ' ' D NO A SA

The utilization of BOO assists the instructor inhdeterr
mining what he actually wants his students to learn.

SD D NO A SA

Evaluations of student performance should be more valid
if the course content has been based on 800.

SD * D NO A SA

The use of more ambiguous teaching objectives forces the
student into more diligent study habits.

SD D NO A SA

I consider providing the student with acceptable-perform-
ance criteria to be essential in good teaching.

SD D NO A SA

It has been my experience that students who have prior
knowledge of performance criteria score better on evalu-
ations.

SD D NO A SA

BOO are essential if the instructor is to make the best
selection of instructional strategies and materials.

SD D NO A SA

Use of B00 should require a higher standard of acceptable
performance on evaluations.

SD D NO A SA

Use of B00 permits the employment of more rigorous grad-
ing criteria.

SD D NO A SA

14.

15.

16.

17.

18.

19.

20°

21.

22.

23.

119

Using B00 is all right for straight undergraduate lec-
ture courses, but is not productive for graduate
seminars.

SD D NO A SA
Using teaching objectives permits the instructor to more
easily establish priorities of importance among items
comprising course content.

SD D NO A SA

Minimal statements of objectives are better because they
permit the instructor wider latitude in course content.

SD D NO A SA

The use of teaching objectives tend to stiffle instruc-
tor's creativity.

SD D NO A SA

The use of BOO is better suited to vocational training
than in processes of higher education.

SD D NO A SA

Teaching objectives in my courses today are far too
complex to be stated in behavioral terms.

SD D NO A SA

BOO can best be used in situations where measures of
cognitive learning will be employed.

SD D NO A SA

Evaluation of students' terminal behavior is more valid
if course content is based on BOO.

SD D NO A SA

Providing the student with course objectives in behavioral
terms turns the course into a "crip."

SD ’ D NO A SA

BOO are not practical when teaching material in the affec-
tive domain.

SD D NO A SA

120

24. Use of BOO provides administrators with a ready source
of evaluation of instructors' performance.

SD D NO A SA
25. The Code of Academic Responsibility should require all
instructors to state all instructional objectives in
umambiguous behavioral terms.

SD D NO A SA

Upon completion of this instrument, please return it to:

A. L. Savage, Jr.
116 Linton Hall
Campus

Thank you for your cooperation.

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