Problem-solving skills training for psychiatric inpatients: An analysis of generalization

A program for teaching problem-solving skills was evaluated with six psychiatric inpatients in a multiple baseline across groups design. Subjects received training on 12 problem situations and the generalization of verbal problem-solving to six novel situations was assessed via probes presented by a novel person in an untrained setting. The generalization of overt behavior was assessed via pre/post contrived in vivo assessments that contained six situations used in training. The in vivo situations were integrated within a sequence of ongoing events in an effort to enhance the ‘naturalness’ of the assessment. The probes revealed some improvement in verbal problem-solving skills, whereas minimal improvement occurred in the post in vivo test. Following the study, an attempt was made to enhance performance by having the trainer conduct a probe and adding verbal prompts to evoke problem-solving during an additional in vivo assessment. Both efforts produced improvements in subjects' performance to a level near that achieved by a normative sample of 20 individuals. The results suggest that in vivo problem-solving may be dependent on the methods used in presenting problem situations as well as situational factors. Issues related to these results and suggestions for future research are discussed.     

Problem-solving skills training: Social validation and generalization

This study developed and evaluated a program for teaching a verbal problem-solving strategy to mildly mentally handicapped adults. Six general areas were targeted for training: Community Awareness, Authority Figures, Peer Issues, Stating One's Rights, Emergencies and Injuries, and Safety. The program features response-specific feedback, modeling, self-monitoring, positive reinforcement, response practice, self-correction, and individualized performance criterion levels. The experimental group (N = 3) received baseline, training, probes, and pre/posttraining generalization assessments, whereas the control group (N = 3) received only the pre/posttraining assessments. The generalization and probe assessments contained situations that were both similar and dissimilar to the training situations. The three month posttraining results revealed that the experimental subjects' problem-solving skills had generalized to both types of situations, whereas the control group showed little overall change. Furthermore, the experimental group's three month scores were comparable to those of a group of nonhandicapped individuals. Issues related to these results and suggestions for future research are discussed.     

TEACHING SOCIAL/VOCATIONAL SKILLS TO RETARDED ADULTS WITH A MODIFIED TABLE GAME: AN ANALYSIS OF GENERALIZATION

In this study, a social skills training program for institutionalized mildly or moderately retarded adults was extended to include skills relevant to vocational settings. Target behaviors involving a verbal action or reaction within six skill areas were taught using a commercially available board game, Sorry, and a specially designed card deck. The training program featured response specific feedback, self-monitoring, individualized reinforcers, and individualized performance criterion levels. Using a multiple baseline across two groups (n = 3 per group), the game contingencies increased social/vocational skills in all targeted areas. Generalization was assessed in two settings: a simulated workshop in which pre and post measures were taken and in the institutional workshop where the residents worked. The posttraining simulated workshop results revealed that the residents' newly learned skills had generalized. However, repeated generalization measures of the residents' social interactions in the institutional workshop were equivocal as were measures of their productivity.     

Enhancing Digital Fluency through a Training Program for Creative Problem Solving Using Computer Programming

The purpose of this paper is to propose a training program for creative problem solving based on computer programming. The proposed program will encourage students to solve real‐life problems through a creative thinking spiral related to cognitive skills with computer programming. With the goal of enhancing digital fluency through this proposed training program, we investigated its effects. Two sets of experiments were performed in which 119 typical students and 30 younger, gifted students participated. Two synthetic creative problem solving tests, which had a high correlation with logical ability, scientific problem solving ability and divergent thinking ability, were developed to measure creative problem solving ability. We provided the treatment group with a paper‐based booklet with relevant problems developed specifically for that group. ANCOVA statistical procedures were used to analyze the pre‐ and post‐synthetic creative problem solving tests. The findings of our study are as follows: with typical students, the originality of the treatment group outperformed the control group, a result that was compatible with previous research. With gifted students, the fluency of the treatment group outperformed the control group, and overall creative problem solving ability was enhanced. Remarkably, fluency increased significantly, a notable difference from the results of prior studies. In conclusion, we inferred that, given the definition of digital fluency, if creative problem solving ability is enhanced by a training program for creative problem solving based on computer programming, digital fluency will ultimately be improved. In this paper, we discuss the result of fluency enhancement that contradicts prior research. We suggest that this training program could be a new learning environment for the students who have grown up with digital media.     

EVALUATION OF A COMMERCIALLY AVAILABLE PROGRAM AND IN SITU TRAINING BY PARENTS TO TEACH ABDUCTION‐PREVENTION SKILLS TO CHILDREN

Child abduction is a serious problem; therefore, it is essential that researchers evaluate the efficacy of commercially available abduction‐prevention programs. A multiple baseline design across participants (ages 6 to 8 years) was used to evaluate the effects of a training program, The Safe Side. Experimenters assessed safety responses in situ in two different situations (knock on the door and interaction by a stranger in public). Results revealed that participants did not demonstrate the safety skills following Safe Side training. All participants subsequently received in situ training (IST) implemented by the parent. Additional assessments and IST were conducted until each participant performed the skills to criterion. All participants demonstrated criterion performance following IST and maintained the skills over time.     

Peer counseling in an urban high school setting

Peer counseling, an educational strategy in which students counsel and help facilitate the growth and development of other students, was implemented in an urban high school. Auniors and seniors, selected for their high leadership and character traits, participated in the 32-session training program. The training program focused on five areas: team building and the development of group cohesion; development of understanding and awareness of self and others; development of more effective communication skills; development of effective feedback procedures; and development of leadership, problem solving, and intervention skills. Lectures, task exercises, simulated problem situations, role-playing group discussions, expressive and creative activities, and audio-visual aids were employed for the dissemination of information. Peer counselors were assigned between five and 10 students for counseling for approximately nine weeks. In general, the counseless gained an ability to relate more effectively with both peers and adults and in problem solving and communication skills.     

STACKING THE DECK: TEACHING SOCIAL SKILLS TO RETARDED ADULTS WITH A MODIFIED TABLE GAME

This study developed and evaluated a social skills training program for institutionalized mildly or moderately retarded and dually diagnosed individuals. Social skills were conceptualized as requiring an action or reaction within six skill areas: compliments, social interactions, politeness, criticism, social confrontation, and questions/answers. The program taught social skills using a commercially available table game, Sorry, and a specially designed card deck. Each card represented one of the skill areas and was designed to train either an actor or reactor response. The program featured response specific feedback, self-monitoring, individualized reinforcers, and individualized performance criterion levels. A multiple baseline across two groups (N = 3 per group) revealed that the game contingencies increased social skills in all targeted areas. After training, the subjects displayed their newly learned skills at or above their trained levels in two different settings with novel persons present. Although untargeted, the complexity of the subjects' responses increased across conditions, since there was a steady increase in the number of words they used per response. The program appears to be a viable means of training social skills since it uses standardized training procedures, requires only one facilitator, and is in itself a social situation that may encourage interactions with peers, cooperation, competition, and politeness.     

Preventive intervention with latency-aged children of divorce: A replication study

This replication study assessed the efficacy of a school-based preventive intervention for latency-aged children of divorce. The Children of Divorce Intervention Program (CODIP) emphasizes support, identifying and expressing divorce-related feelings, training situationally relevant communication, problem solving, and anger control skills, and enhancing self-esteem. Fifty-four children of divorce participated in the 11-session program conducted in small groups. Their adjustment was contrasted at pre and post with that of demographically matched peers (N = 78) from intact families on teacher, parent, self-report, and group leader measures. Children of divorce were less well adjusted than their peers before the intervention. They improved significantly after the intervention, approaching youngsters from intact families in adjustment status. The replication data support CODIP's efficacy as a preventive alternative for children of divorce. Needed future development and research steps are considered.     

THE EFFECTIVENESS OF INTERPERSONAL SKILLS TRAINING ON THE SOCIAL SKILL ACQUISITION OF MODERATELY AND MILDLY RETARDED ADULTS

Sixteen moderately and mildly retarded adults were selected from a group residential facility and randomly assigned to experimental and control groups. The experimental group received a 12-session interpersonal skills training program consisting of instruction in the following areas: (1) Introductions and Small Talk, (2) Asking for Help, (3) Differing with Others, and (4) Handling Criticism. The social skills instructional package included verbal instruction, modeling, role playing, feedback, contingent incentives, and homework. As a result of this training program, moderately and mildly retarded adults acquired new social skills as evidenced by performance on a situation role play assessment. These gains generalized to untrained role play situations but did not result in significant group differences when assessed in a more natural setting (i.e., local grocery store).     

Effectiveness of Cognitive/Behavioral Small Group Intervention for Reduction of Depression and Stress in Non-Hispanic White and Hispanic/Latino Women Dementia Family Caregivers: Outcomes and Mediators of Change

This study enrolled 184 middle-aged and older women (95 Non-Hispanic White and 89 Hispanic/Latino) who provided in-home hands-on care to an elderly relative with Alzheimer’s disease or another form of dementia. Within ethnic group they were randomly assigned to either a CBT-based small group intervention program called “Coping with Caregiving” (CWC) that taught a variety of cognitive and behavioral skills to reduce stress and depression, or to a minimal telephone based control condition (TSC). Intervention lasted about 4 months; one post-treatment assessment was completed 6 months after baseline by interviewers blind to the intervention condition. Interviews and interventions were conducted in English or Spanish by trained staff. Results indicated that those in the CWC (regardless of ethnicity) showed greater improvement from pre to post intervention than those in the TSC on measures of depressive symptoms, overall life stress, and caregiving-specific stress. In order to investigate if these changes may have been related to one proposed mechanism of change in CBT (skill utilization), a new measure was constructed. Change in frequency of use and perceived helpfulness of adaptive coping skills were assessed in all caregivers. Results indicated that caregivers in CWC reported greater frequency of use, and greater perceived helpfulness, of these skills at post intervention compared to caregivers in the TSC. Improvement measured by dependent measures was correlated with an increase in these indices for those in the CWC. Tests for mediation suggest that effective skill utilization may mediate the effect of treatment on outcome. Implications of these findings are discussed and recommendations provided for future research.     

FACILITATING GENERALIZED REQUESTING BEHAVIOR IN BROCA'S APHASIA: AN EXPERIMENTAL ANALYSIS OF A GENERALIZATION TRAINING PROCEDURE

The effects of a generalization training procedure on requesting by 4 subjects with chronic Broca's aphasia were examined using a multiple baseline design across behaviors and subjects. Subjects were trained to request information on three topics sequentially. Generalization across topics and persons was assessed in weekly probe sessions consisting of 5-min conversational interactions with trainers and unfamiliar volunteers in a nontreatment setting. Results revealed generalization effects were greatest when trainers, as opposed to unfamiliar volunteers, served as conversational participants. Nevertheless, subjects' requests increased with all conversational participants to a level comparable to a normal comparison group assessed under conditions identical to the experimental probes. Social validation of treatment effects using a subjective evaluation procedure revealed significant improvement on the parameters of talkativeness, inquisitiveness, and conversational success.     

TEACHING WOMEN WITH INTELLECTUAL DISABILITIES TO IDENTIFY AND REPORT INAPPROPRIATE STAFF‐TO‐RESIDENT INTERACTIONS

This study examined the effectiveness of behavioral skills training in teaching 2 adult women with mild intellectual disabilities to report inappropriate staff‐to‐resident interactions. The reporting skill included making a self‐advocacy response, walking away, and reporting the interaction. Participants' performance was measured during baseline, posttesting, 2‐ and 4‐week follow‐up, and generalization probes in new situations. All participants learned reporting skills, maintained these skills at 2‐ and 4‐week follow‐up, and generalized the skills to novel stimulus situations.     

Training family therapy students in conceptual and observation skills relating to the therapeutic alliance: an evaluation

This paper describes a training intervention to develop students' conceptual and observation skills relating to the therapeutic alliance (TA) in family therapy. An evaluation methodology was developed and piloted. The knowledge and observation skills of family therapy students pre‐ and post‐training were assessed in comparison to a non‐intervention group of experienced clinicians. Students' mean scores on the knowledge measure improved significantly from 43 per cent to 74 per cent (p<0.001) and on the observation test from 43 per cent to 65 per cent, although this failed to reach statistical significance (p=0.08). There were no significant changes in the clinicians' scores over the same period. The clinicians' knowledge was higher initially, but the students had caught up after six months. In conclusion, training students in conceptual and observational skills relating to the therapeutic alliance may have a measurable effect. A ‘stepwise’ methodology for demonstrating the relationship between training in TA and outcomes for families is proposed.     

Behavioral skills training in scent detection research: Interactions between trainer and animal behavior

Animal trainers working in scent detection programs are responsible for arranging training contingencies as well as for observing and recording animal behavior. We provided behavioral skills training (BST) to animal trainers working with scent detection rats to improve the treatment integrity of scent‐detection research sessions. We evaluated the trainers' behavior at baseline and during the sequential introduction of each component of BST (instructions, modeling, and feedback). We observed incremental improvements in treatment integrity with the introduction of each BST component. Posttraining probes revealed that these improvements were sustained at least 3 weeks post‐BST. As the trainers' behavior was modified during BST, we observed decrements in measures of rat performance. We discuss the nature of these interactions and their implications for the use of BST in scent detection research and in situations in which intervention with one party produces concomitant effects on the behavior of another.     

The Impact of a Pre-Vocational Program on Cognition,Symptoms, and Work Re-Integration in Schizophrenia

This study measured the effects of a pre-vocational program on cognition, symptoms, and integration to work in schizophrenia. Twelve participants, receiving pharmacological treatment only, were compared to 14 participants, who were part of a pre-vocational program and who received pharmacological treatment on pre and post measures. The work skills training group was offered by an occupational therapist. Results showed statistically significant differences in negative and general symptoms, visual attention, learning, and integration to work when comparing the two groups in favor of the program. These results provide evidence of the positive effects of occupational therapy interventions in mental health.     

Cognitive Training for Young Children: Expanding the Counselor's Role

This study encourages an expansion of the counselor's role through an evaluation of the efficacy of certain cognitive training procedures in teaching young children skills for interpersonal problem solving. Twenty-seven students were blocked on school grades, balanced for sex, and randomly assigned to cognitive modeling and self-instructions (CM-SI), cognitive modeling alone (CM), or a control group. A two-week training program focused on generating alternative solutions and consequences. Results of a delayed posttest indicate that the CM-SI group generated a significantly greater number, variety, and proportion of relevant solutions than the control group. This article relates the findings to those in the literature and discusses interpretations. Highlighted are implications for practitioners concerned with preventive program development.     

Evaluation of home-based programs for teaching personal safety skills to children

We evaluated the efficacy of a commercially available program, the Red Flag, Green Flag Prevention Book, used by parents to teach their children personal safety skills. Children's knowledge and skills regarding the prevention of sexual abuse and abduction were assessed prior to, during, and after training. In one group, training consisted of parents using the prevention book to train their children. Parents of children in the second group used the prevention book with added instructions. Children who did not achieve criterion performance after training with the prevention book received behavioral skills training provided by the experimenter. All children acquired safety skills following behavioral skills training. Follow-up probes 2 months later showed skill maintenance among the older children. Parents reported satisfaction with the procedures and no signs of behavioral or emotional problems following the follow-up probe.     

COMPUTERIZED ASSESSMENT OF PREFERENCE FOR SEVERELY HANDICAPPED INDIVIDUALS

An investigation was conducted to demonstrate the application of a computerized assessment procedure for determining the preferences of persons with severe handicaps. A computer program was designed to interpret subjects' microswitch activations to produce three distinct types of events (visual, auditory, and tactile). A combination of a multiple baseline design across subjects with a multiple treatment design involving three separate conditions was used. The data obtained from the computerized assessment procedure revealed idiosyncratic preference patterns for the three subjects. Results of the investigation demonstrated that the preferences of severely handicapped individuals can be systematically assessed and analyzed.