First Impressions: Exploring the Structure of Titles for Nonformal Public Interpretive Programs

ABSTRACT

Visitors considering attending an interpretive program open to the public at a zoo, historic site, park, or museum may have no more information available to them than the title of the program and its location and date. This research investigated how the structure of a program title helped or hindered people from inferring the topic of the program, whether it is for adults or children, level of formality, and interestingness. Ninety-six college students at 2 universities rated 18 titles for interpretive programs on 4 dimensions. Interestingness of the program topic was related to reported intention to attend the program. Being able to infer whether the program was for adults or children and whether it was formal or informal was related to interestingness. Program titles should be strategically constructed as potential program participants make inferences about the program from the title.     

The effectiveness of residential care facilities for adolescent boys

This article reports the findings of a 1984 study evaluating the effectiveness of a well-established residential child-care facility for adolescent boys. Program outcomes for 101 males between the ages of eleven and seventeen were examined in relation to a wide range of demographic, social history, and program participation variables. Characteristics found to be significantly associated with program outcome included: race; probation; drug abuse; program intervention; home visits; and runaway behavior. In a separate analysis, three factors were found to be significantly related to runaway behavior, the chief cause of program failure: race; placement under court supervision; and program intervention.     

A Career Assistance Program for Elite Athletes

A program to assist elite athletes in coping with the transition out of active sport competition is presented. A life span development framework is used to describe the formulation of the program. An outline of the program is presented, and implications for counselors are discussed.     

Increasing community independence for adolescents with spina bifida

This project sought to determine if a community-based habilitation program focusing on normalization and individual goal setting was effective in enhancing levels of independence in teenagers with spina bifida (myelomeningocele). The results of our formal and informal evaluation suggest that the program was effective. Using the goal-attainment scale for formal evaluation, the program averaged a score of 50.8, which reflects slightly better than expected outcomes. The greatest strength in the program was support and socialization among the teenagers. In addition, recommendations for practitioners in programming for teenagers are provided.     

Wilderness family therapy: An innovative treatment approach for problem youth

We present a treatment program (The Family Wheel) designed to integrate wilderness therapy interventions with family therapy for the treatment of troubled adolescents. The Family Wheel program was conducted in the high desert of southern Idaho. Participation in this four-day program required parents and their adolescent children to engage in an intensive experiential family therapy while camping and trekking in the wilderness. An evaluation of the program revealed positive outcomes for the programs' participants. The theory, research, and pragmatics of conducting such an innovative program are discussed.     

Majority Support for Minority Out-Groups: The Roles of Compassion and Guilt

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of compassion and guilt on support for and avoidance of an out-group program. Participants were 98 heterosexuals who were given 3 different sets of perspective-taking instructions: other-focused, self-focused, and detachment. Next, they watched a video of a bogus interview with a gay university student who described being physically assaulted because of his sexuality. It was hypothesized that other-focused instructions would elicit stronger support for a gay and lesbian anti-violence program than the other 2 conditions. This hypothesis was supported for willingness to volunteer for the program, but not for funds allocated to the program. Self-focused instructions were associated with program avoidance. Implications of the results are discussed.     

A behaviorally-oriented activities therapy for program for adolescents

A behaviorally-oriented activities therapy program was designed and implemented with adolescents who manifested problems in school, at home, and with peers. Baseline measures for target behaviors were taken within the activities therapy program and, after a behavioral analysis, specific techniques were chosen to remediate problems. Techniques employed included: contingency contracting, assertiveness training, relaxation training, and cognitive restructuring. Evaluation of the effectiveness of each program was performed through daily measurement of the frequency of the occurrence of the target behaviors. Three case studies are presented which are illustrative of the range of programs which can be successfully implemented with this population.     

A FORTRAN IV program for analyzing higher-order subjective organization units in free recall learning

This paper presents a program for the analysis of subjective organization in free recall and the instructions for the organization of data to use this program. The program is capable of handling lists of up to 40 items, as well as 20 trials of data. In addition, the program provides several types of data tables for unit sizes from 2 to 10 items in length and for three types of sequential ordering criteria.     

Decision analysis: An approach for multidisciplinary teams in planning special service programs

A decision analytic approach for use by multidisciplinary teams (MDTs) in planning special service programs is described, and formative evaluation information on its application by MDTs in planning individualized education programs (IEPs) is presented. Decision analysis is applied following initial determination of program goals and objectives. In using the approach, an MDT engages in a six-step process: (a) delineation of program alternatives, (b) determination of program outcomes, (c) assessment of probabilities, (d) assessment of utilities, (e) determination of overall program values, and (f) selection of the program to be developed. Utilization of the approach allows a complex program planning situation to be disaggregated into its essential elements, with discussion of program alternatives occurring relative to specific decision criteria. Strengths and limitations of the approach also are discussed, and future directions for research are briefly noted.     

Using Curriculum-Based Measurements for Program Evaluation: Expanding Roles for School Psychologists

Educators increasingly need to evaluate schoolwide reform efforts; however, complex program evaluations often are not feasible in schools. Through a case example, we provide a heuristic for program evaluation that is easily replicated in schools. Criterion-referenced interpretations of schoolwide screening data were used to evaluate outcomes associated with participation in four-year-old kindergarten. Nonparametric analyses allowed for group comparisons across early literacy screening outcomes. Risk ratios demonstrated that four-year-old kindergarten participants were less likely to score “at-risk” on kindergarten and first grade screenings. The methods employed meaningfully addressed local program effectiveness questions. Further, they were easily determined and disseminated. Implications for extensions of the heuristic to other evaluation questions and data sources as well as limitations of the approach are discussed.     

Selection Criteria for a Career Development Program for the Mentally Ill: Evaluation of the Self-Directed Search (SDS)

Criteria were developed for the selection of a career development program appropriate for the mentally ill. The criteria were based on the Career Development Curriculum (CDC) for the mentally ill and the Purdue Stepped Approach Model. The Self-Directed Search (SDS) was chosen as a program because it met all the selection criteria. Mentally ill program participants showed a significant change (p<.035) on the My Vocational Situation Identity Scale. The findings support the selection of the SDS as a program and the feasibility of offering career development services to mentally ill clients.     

Help for the Significant Others of Bulimics

A quasi-experimental design was used to assess the effects of a 5-week assistance program for the significant others of bulimics. A knowledge test, an attitude survey, and a behavior device were used to evaluate the effects of the program. One or more of the three instruments was administered to an experimental group of significant others before (pretest) and after (posttest) they attended the assistance program. One or more of the three instruments was also administered to a control group of significant others before (pretest) and after (posttest) a 5-week period. During this period they did not attend the assistance program. No significant difference was found between the pretest and posttest scores of the control group on the three instruments at the .05 probability level. Experimental group posttest scores were significantly higher than their pretest scores on the three instruments at the .05 probability level. An anonymous evaluation conducted following the program also indicated significant others who attended the program found it to be beneficial.     

NASA TLX: Software for assessing subjective mental workload

The NASA Task Load Index (TLX) is a popular technique for measuring subjective mental workload. It relies on a multidimensional construct to derive an overall workload score based on a weighted average of ratings on six subscales: mental demand, physical demand, temporal demand, performance, effort, and frustration level. A program for implementing a computerized version of the NASA TLX is described. The software version assists in simplifying collection, postprocessing, and storage of raw data. The program collects raw data from the subject and calculates the weighted (or unweighted) workload score, which is output to a text file. The program can also be tailored to a specific experiment using a simple input text file, if desired. The program was designed in Visual Studio 2005 and is capable of running on a Pocket PC with Windows CE or on a PC with Windows 2000 or higher. The NASA TLX program is available for free download.     

A server-side program for delivering experiments with animations

A server-side program for animation experiments is presented. The program is capable of delivering an experiment composed of discrete animation sequences in various file formats, collecting a discrete or continuous response from the observer, evaluating the appropriateness of the response, and ensuring that the user is not proceeding at an unreasonable rate. Most parameters of the program are controllable by experimenter-edited text files or simple switches in the program code, thereby minimizing the need for programming to create new experiments. A simple demonstration experiment is discussed and is freely available.     

A program for comprehension monitoring of text using HyperCard for the Macintosh

We describe a program using HyperCard for the Macintosh that allows the collection of several different types of text processing data in a realistic, natural, and unobtrusive experimental setting. The program allows a sentence-by-sentence presentation of text and allows unconstrained movement forward and backward through the text. Subjects can, at any point during reading, look back at individual sentences presented previously, or review all previously presented sentences at once. All sentence readings and rereadings are timed, and the sequence of readings, rereadings, and reviews is recorded. Following passage reading, questions are asked to examine comprehension and memory of the passage. The program is well suited for the examination of comprehension evaluation and regulation in readers, as well as for the examination of other comprehension and memory processes.     

Empirical distributions of correlations as a tool for scale reduction

A Visual Basic program for generating a distribution of correlations as a tool for scale reduction is presented; the program is available free from the author and runs on IBM-compatible personal computers under the Windows 95/98/NT operating systems. The program generates a list of item combinations and correlations between the unit weighted sum of the items and a criterion score. The list can be used to locate item combinations that have high correlations with the original full-length test. An example application is presented to illustrate the use of the program. The compiled program and its source code can be downloaded from http://personal.bgsu.edu/~stanton/r_crunch/r_crunch.zip.     

Effects of Product–Program Congruity and Viewer Involvement on Memory for Televised Advertisements1

This study examined the effects of program context on the memory of congruent or incongruent television (TV) advertisements on a youth sample (N= 123) aged 16 to 19 years. An experimental design was developed to test memory for a set of 6 car advertisements and 6 food advertisements within 2 program contexts: a car program and a food program. Memory for car advertisements was significantly better than memory for food advertisements in the free‐recall condition, but the opposite was true in the cued‐recall condition. Free recall of car advertisements in the food program was significantly better than of food advertisements in the food program. Levels of involvement were found to be unrelated to recall and recognition of advertisements.     

Establishing Moral Education Programs: A Priority for Guidance

People accept the general idea that there should be “instruction in the schools that deals with morals and moral behavior.” The program described in this article presents one possible model for moral instruction. Counselors were not involved directly in the program because of funding limitations, but counselors can use the program to stimulate moral education activities.