The School Counselor as Perceived by School Counselors and Their Principals

This study was designed to ascertain the perceptions of school counselors and school administrators of the school counselor's activities and the attributes necessary for him to be effective in his role. The findings were interpreted to suggest that differences that exist between the perceptions of counselors and administrators tend to be in the degree to which they view certain activities or attributes as important. Ranking of activities and the attributes by both groups tended to be similar but differences were found to exist between the mean scores of counselors and administrators in various areas. Sources of discrepancy were discussed as possibly relating to the need for counselors to establish clearer priorities for their activities and the administrators' perception of the counselor as fundamentally a quasi-administrator of guidance services.     

How well do ratings of academic performance by mothers and their sons correspond to grades,achievement test scores,and teachers' ratings?

Accurate perceptions of their child's academic performance are pivotal for parents' encouragement of their child's academic efforts. In research studies, parents' reports of their child's academic achievement, as well as the child's own reports, are often used as a proxy for teachers' ratings or grades. However, are parents' reports or their child's reports accurate and unbiased? We investigated whether ratings of academic performance made by mothers and their sons corresponded more closely to final grades and achievement test scores than did similar ratings made by teachers for three large samples of boys. Mothers' ratings correlated with final grades as well or better than teachers' ratings but more poorly with achievement test scores than did teachers' ratings. The seventh-grade boys' ratings correlated more poorly with both final grades and achievement test scores than did teachers' or mothers' ratings. Across all three samples combined, mothers were more likely to over-estimate rather than under-estimate the final grade. The same was true of the seventh grade sample of boys. Once the effect of final grade had been controlled, little evidence of a consistent pattern of associations between maternal demographic, parenting, and child behavior variables and either over- or underestimation was found.     

Manipulating the role of cognitive control while taking the implicit association test

The Implicit Association Test (IAT) is one of the most widely used methods for measuring attitudes in the behavioral and social sciences. Recent studies have found that individual differences in cognitive control correlate with IAT scores. However, these studies did not collect independent measures of attitude, which makes it difficult to isolate the construct of attitude separate from cognitive control. Furthermore, no study has examined whether the role of cognitive control can be manipulated, which is necessary to establish a causal link between cognitive control and IAT performance. By collecting independent measures of attitude (explicit attitude ratings and the Affect Misattribution Procedure: AMP), Experiment 1 factored out the role of attitude for two different IATs and still found a relationship between IAT scores and cognitive control (Stroop and stop-signal). Experiments 2 and 3 manipulated the role of cognitive control through instructions and feedback regarding the race IAT's measurement goal. These manipulations increased average IAT scores (i.e., stronger preference for whites), increased the relationship with cognitive control (Stroop), and decreased the relationship with attitude (AMP). These results demonstrate that cognitive control influences IAT performance rather than merely correlating with IAT performance.     

The helping alliance and premature termination

The study was conducted to determine the relationship between strength of the helping alliance and type of client termination (premature or with mutual knowledge of client and counselor). Participants were 102 client-counselors dyads at a university counseling center. After an average of 8 sessions, clients and couneselors completed Alexander & Luborsky's (1986) Helping Alliance Questionnaires. Clients terminated after an average of 19 sessions. Clients who later terminated with mutual knowledge of their counselors gave significantly higher strength of helping alliance ratings than did clients who later terminated unilaterally and prematurely. Counselors' ratings of strength of helping alliance were only modestly related to clients' ratings and unrelated to type of client termination.     

Examining contrast effects in performance appraisals: using appropriate controls and assessing accuracy

In research on contrast effects in performance appraisals, control conditions or measures of accuracy have rarely been used. In the present study, the authors included appropriate controls and used expert ratings to develop "true scores" for assessing accuracy. The study is an examination of the influence of 3 variables on performance ratings: (a) the sequence of viewing and rating performance, (b) the delay between viewing and rating performance, and (c) whether the target of the performance rating was the same person as the anchor. Experimental conditions did not have the expected differential effects on target ratings, but target ratings in all the experimental conditions showed contrast effects when compared with ratings in relevant control conditions. The target ratings in experimental conditions were accurate, however, as assessed by comparisons with true scores, thus raising questions about the relationship between contrast effects and accuracy.     

Everyday Cognitive Functioning in Cardiac Patients: Relationships Between Self-report,Report of a Significant Other and Cognitive Test Performance

ABSTRACT

Candidates for cardiac bypass surgery often experience cognitive decline. Such decline is likely to affect their everyday cognitive functioning. The aim of the present study was to compare cardiac patients' ratings of their everyday cognitive functioning against significant others' ratings and selected neuropsychological tests. Sixty-nine patients completed a battery of standardised cognitive tests. Patients and significant others also completed the Everyday Function Questionnaire independently of each other. Patient and significant other ratings of patients' everyday cognitive difficulties were found to be similar. Despite the similarities in ratings of difficulties, some everyday cognitive tasks were attributed to different processes. Patients' and significant others' ratings were most closely associated with the neuropsychological test of visual memory. Tests of the patients' verbal memory and fluency were only related to significant others' ratings. Test scores of attention and planning were largely unrelated to ratings by either patients or their significant others.     

Selecting trainee conference interpreters: A preliminary study

This study developed and assessed a set of psychometric tests to aid selection of candidate simultaneous and consecutive interpreter trainees. Three kinds of test were used based either on text materials, linguistic subskills or speed stress Twelve tests in all were administered to 29 trainees beginning an intensive course. The test scores were correlated with judges' ratings in the final interpreting examination. Students who passed the examination had higher mean scores on all tests than those who failed (significant for seven tests). Test scores were positively inter-correlated. Of the two factors characterizing the pattern of correlations, the first loaded highly on completion/detection tests and simultaneous examination ratings; the second loaded highly on recall tests and consecutive examination ratings. Text-based tests were more predictive than subskills or speed stress tests. It is concluded that tests would aid candidate selection, and estimates of improved selection are given. The relationship between test type and interpreting is discussed together with possible reasons underlying differential performance on tests of the same kind.     

Good News: Work Sample Administrators' Global Performance Judgments are (About) as Valid as We've Suspected

Data obtained on over 1,500 first-term U.S. Air Force enlisted personnel indicated that work sample administrators' global ratings of work sample performance substantially reflect actual ratee behavior in the work sample, and not potentially biasing factors (e.g., race, gender, amount of recent experience), supporting the "folk wisdom" that these global performance judgments are, in fact, valid and unbiased measures of performance. Good news!     

Self-Ideal Congruence Among Engineering Managers

62 engineering managers described their actual and ideal job selves using Q sorts. Self-ideal congruence scores (Z scores) from the Q sorts were correlated with personality test scores, measures of job performance, and other variables. A significant positive relationship was found between self-ideal congruence and management effectiveness. The concept of self-ideal congruence, utilized by client-centered counselors to measure progress of counseling, also has meaning in an industrial context with “normal” persons. Since managers with high self-ideal congruence received higher job performance ratings, the self-ideal congruence score can possibly be considered as an index of job adjustment or measure of self-in-job actualization.     

Contributing Factors to Early Premature Termination at a College Counseling Center

The authors investigated the relationships between clients' early premature termination of counseling and ratings of their counselors' expertness, trustworthiness, and attractiveness and the extent to which clients believed that they were understood by their counselors. A follow-up survey was conducted to assess the clients' reasons for terminating prematurely. Participants were 148 students who sought individual counseling at a university counseling center. The two groups did not differ on the variables investigated. Most of the participants who terminated prematurely reported that they did so because they did not have time for further sessions, did not need further sessions, or forgot their appointments.     

Positive emotions, emotional intelligence, and successful experiential learning

This study explored the role that positive emotions and emotional intelligence play in experiential learning. Students’ field practicum journals were analyzed using the Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count Program (LIWC) and a measure of emotional intelligence was obtained using the Mayer-Salovey-Caruso Emotional Intelligence Test (MSCEIT). Positive emotion words were robustly associated with almost all dimensions of supervisors’ ratings of students’ performance, but showed weak associations with students’ ratings of perceived benefits associated with their practicum experiences. Overall EI scores were correlated with several of the supervisor rating items and the Facilitating Thought and Managing Emotions subscales of the EI were robustly correlated with many of the student rating items. This study thus yielded a more differentiated view of the role of positive emotions and emotional intelligence in adaptive functioning and underscored the importance of using multiple informants to assess a complex construct such as successful experiential learning.     

Critical Success Factors of Rural and Urban Special Education Administration

Perceptions and opinions are reported of special education administrators in Indiana and Massachusetts. The data that are presented reflect administrators' ratings of factors that they consider critical to their personal success on-the-job and factors they see as essential to successful functioning of their organizational unit. Discussion occurs within the context of operation of special services programs in single district units and those found in cooperative or intermediate unit structures.     

A Developmental Analysis of Performance Ratings

In this study, we examined the performance appraisal process from a developmental perspective. Components of cognitive structure, measured in terms of differentiation and hierarchic integration, were obtained from 45 American students representing three different academic levels at three times during a 15-week semester. These students' performance evaluations (ratings) of their psychology instructors were collected during the first and final sessions. The results indicated that although both differentiation and hierarchic integration seemed to change systematically, even over a short period of time, there was no corresponding change in the halo inherent in the raters' ratings. We present possible explanations for the failure of developmental changes in cognitive structure to be reflected in the halo inherent in the performance ratings, as would be predicted by Schneier's (1977) cognitive compatibility hypothesis. Increased emphasis on developmental aspects of the performance appraisal process is recommended.     

The relationship of young adolescent Children's Depression Inventory (CDI) scores to their social and cognitive functioning

The relationship of young adolescents' scores on the Children's Depression Inventory (CDI) to subjective and objective indices of their social and cognitive functioning was examined. Subjects were 89 young adolescents (11–15 years old), their parents, and their social studies teachers. The correlations of adolescents' CDI scores with recent school grades, objective ratings of overt social behavior, and measures of adolescent social and cognitive competence as perceived by the adolescent, both parents, and the teacher were examined. CDI scores were significantly and negatively correlated with school grades, behavioral ratings of positive social communication, and adolescent, mother, father, and teacher perceptions of the adolescents' social and cognitive competence. The relationship of these findings to those of other CDI validity studies is discussed.This research was supported, in part, by the William T. Grant Foundation and the University of Georgia's Institute for Behavioral Research.     

Effect of ethanol on judgments of performance

Ethanol impairs cognitive and psychomotor performance, although the precise reasons for this remain unclear. We investigated the effect of ethanol on individuals' judgment of their performance. Eighteen healthy volunteers (19–22 years) received a high dose of ethanol (0.8 g/kg for males and 0.7 g/kg, for females), a medium dose (75% of the high dose) and a placebo in counterbalanced order on three study days. A general knowledge (GK) test was administered on a pen computer 75 min after the drink. An adaptive algorithm adjusted the difficulty of questions so that scores were similar on all three study days. Volunteers then rated how well they believed they had performed the GK task using a visual analogue scale. A battery of other performance tests and mood ratings was also completed both before and after the GK test. These showed the expected effects of ethanol. There were no significant differences in scores on the GK test between treatment sessions. There was a highly significant dose‐dependent increase with ethanol on volunteers' ratings of their performance on this test. These findings suggest that ethanol leads to an overoptimistic assessment of ability which may contribute to ethanol's impairment of performance.     

Psychological,physical, and interpersonal correlates of emotional expressiveness,conflict, and control

This article examines the relations between emotional expression, conflict over expression, and emotional control and psychological and physical distress. Fifty married couples completed two mail-in surveys containing the Emotional Expressiveness Questionnaire (EEQ), the Ambivalence Over Emotional Expression Questionnaire (AEQ), and the Emotional Control Questionnaire (ECQ), as well as measures of psychological and physical well-being. They also made expressiveness and well-being ratings of their spouses. AEQ and ECQ scores were significantly positively correlated with measures of psychological distress and questionnaire measures of physical discomfort. In addition, AEQ scores for items dealing explicitly with anger predicted visits to health-care provider for illness. EEQ scores did not predict either psychological distress or physical symptoms. AEQ scores were also positively correlated with spouse's symptoms and alcohol use. Wives' expressiveness ratings for their husbands were negatively correlated with a number of indices of psychological distress, while husbands' ratings of wives' expressiveness were positively correlated with measures of distress. Generally, expressiveness, inhibition, and conflict over expression in one spouse did not consistently predict well-being of the other. Implications of these findings for future research in the area of emotion and illness as well as in relationship satisfaction are discussed.     

Job Satisfaction and Effective Performance of School Counselors

This study examines the relationships between job satisfaction and the effectiveness of the performance of first-year school counselors. Co-workers and administrators rated the counselors' effectiveness in 6 job activities, and clients rated the counselors in 3 aspects of the counseling interview. The performance ratings were correlated with the counselors' job satisfaction in 8 areas. Several job satisfaction dimensions were related to effective performance of selected activities by the co-workers, administrators, and clients. Satisfaction with their future and security in the job, relations with associates, involvement in the job, and training for the job were the dimensions most frequently related to job satisfaction. The nature of the relationships among the criteria of effective performance indicated that 3 groups had different perceptions of the counselor.     

The School Counselor's Role in School Dropout Prevention

The role of the school counselor has undergone numerous revisions over the past few decades. The current emphasis on accountability and academic performance of students has forced counselors to scrutinize their role in promoting students' academic success and school completion. In this article, the authors review the problem of school dropout from the school counselor's perspective and offer guidelines for how school counselors can deliver empirically supported strategies to address this problem as part of their comprehensive guidance programs.     

The Impact of Wellness‐Focused Supervision on Mental Health Counseling Practicum Students

Professional counseling organizations tout the importance of wellness for counselors and counselors‐in‐training. The authors used a wellness‐focused supervision model with mental health practicum students to assess the model's degree of treatment effect at improving students' wellness over the course of the semester. Participants' demographics included three women, one man, three European Americans, and one Latino/a. Single‐case design results revealed that ongoing wellness‐focused interventions are helpful in improving participants' level of wellness; implications for practice are provided.     

Vocational Counselor Success Rate as a Criterion for Client Assignment

Although researchers have suspected that rehabilitation counselors may often experience different success rates with different kinds of clients, little effort has been made to determine the best methods of assigning clients to counselors. Our study represents an attempt to provide insight into the desirability of assigning clients to counselors with a high proportion of successful closures with members of the clients' disability group. The criterion of desirability was the Cooper-Rubin suitability-of-placement index. Results indicated no positive relationship between counselors' proportion of successful closures and their average Cooper-Rubin index scores.