The first part of this report presents background and procedures of the 1968 New Orleans conference on speech-communication and lists the recommendations formally adopted by the conference concerning research priorities, graduate instruction, and issues and responsibilities in speech-communication. The major section of the publication is devoted to conference papers and short responses. One paper, followed by two responses, is presented on each of four subjects--research guidelines for human information processing, the acquisition of communication behavior and deleterious effects caused by mismanaged acquisition, proposals for useful research in communication and decision, and research methodologies in speech-communication. Discussions in a concluding section review the implications of the conference recommendations from the perspectives of historical, behavioral, and critical scholarship. Appendices include abstracts of papers prepared for the 1967 Interdisciplinary Colloquium at Racine, Wisconsin, a list of participants and observers to the New Orleans conference, and the conference format and instructions to participants. (LH)