The effects of cognitive pretraining on cohesion and self-disclosure in small groups: an analog study

This study examined the effects of written, cognitive pretraining on the development of cohesion and self-disclosure in interpersonal learning groups. Subjects in the experimental condition received a written introduction to the group experience, and subjects in the control condition received written information on the history of group psychotherapy. Results demonstrated that the experimental groups had a higher level of group cohesion than the control groups, p < .0001, but were not different on self-disclosure. The correlation between cohesion and self-disclosure was not statistically significant. The results were discussed as an extension of the empirical support for cognitive pretraining.