AN EVALUATION OF ORIENTATION AND ASSESSMENT EFFECTIVENESS IN THE WORK INCENTIVE PROGRAM

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of a Work Incentive (WIN) Orientation and Assessment Program which was designed to (a) assess enrollee attitudes and abilities, and (b) provide enrollee pre-employment test orientation. A sample of 155 WIN enrollees was divided into two groups; the experimental group received two weeks of orientation and assessment. Results were obtained by using two criteria: First, the number of terminations prior to completing the EDP was examined for each group, and second, the total number of referrals to each of three major components was examined. Findings revealed a significantly lower number of terminations among the experimental group, but did not yield any difference in the number of referrals per component. It is suggested that further studies of this type include a more refined measure of enrollee success and satisfaction in various WIN components.     

JOB CLASSIFICATION APPROACHES AND THE IMPLEMENTATION OF VALIDITY GENERALIZATION RESULTS

This paper compares two job classification methods for showing the appropriateness of cognitive tests in settings that were not involved in supplying data for a validity generalization analysis. One approach was an elaborate quantitative procedure that involved a lengthy job inventory and a multivariate item analysis. This approach was shown to be highly successful when applied to the responses from 1179 job inventories collected in 54 petroleum-petrochemical plants from 30 different companies. The other procedure involved simple job classification judgments by supervisors and incumbents. This latter approach was shown to be as effective, but was much less time consuming and costly. Professional and legal implications of these findings are discussed.     

FORMATIVE EVALUATION: AN INTEGRATIVE PRACTICE MODEL AND CASE STUDY

Training evaluation research and practice has been dominated by a focus on outcomes of completed training programs, or on methods used to assess these outcomes. This focus has largely neglected formative evaluation, which involves evaluating training during design and development. The purpose of this paper is to review existing models of formative evaluation and suggest an integrative practice model that is specifically targeted at improving training delivered in work organizations.     

EVALUATION OF BEHAVIORAL SKILLS TRAINING FOR TEACHING FUNCTIONAL ASSESSMENT AND TREATMENT SELECTION SKILLS TO PARENTS

Scant research has addressed the issue of teaching parents to conduct a functional assessment and design a treatment for problem behavior. The present study utilized behavioral skills training to teach parents how to conduct ABC recording, write a summary statement based on the data collected, and make appropriate treatment choices. Eight parents participated in one 3‐h class in which a trainer used instructions, modeling, rehearsal, and feedback to teach these three skill sets. Prior to class, during class, directly after class training, and 1 to 2 weeks following class, the participants viewed videos showing a problem behavior serving a different function in the context of a parent child interaction. The percentage of correct responding for each dependent variable (ABC recording, summary statement, and treatment choices) was calculated, and baseline and post‐treatment scores were compared via a multiple baseline across participants design. The results showed an increase in the percentage correct for most skills for most participants. These results show that it is possible to teach parents to conduct a functional assessment and choose proper treatment strategies. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

EVALUATION OF A TRAINING MANUAL FOR THE ACQUISITION OF BEHAVIORAL ASSESSMENT INTERVIEWING SKILLS

Two procedures were used to teach behavioral assessment interviewing skills: a training manual and one-to-one instruction that included modeling, rehearsal, and feedback. Two graduate students and two advanced undergraduates were trained with each procedure. Interviewing skills were recorded in simulated assessment interviews conducted by each student across baseline and treatment conditions. Each training procedure was evaluated in a multiple baseline across students design. The results showed that both procedures were effective for training behavioral interviewing skills, with all students reaching a level of 90%-100% correct responding. Finally, a group of experts in behavior analysis rated each interviewing skill as relevant to the conduct of an assessment interview and a group of behavioral clinicians socially validated the outcomes of the two procedures.     

WISCONSIN MANPOWER COUNSELORS AND MANPOWER SPECIALISTS' PERCEPTIONS OF EXISTING AND DESIRED COUNSELOR ACTIVITIES

Seventy-three counselors and 72 manpower specialists in Wisconsin were surveyed to ascertain the perceptions both groups had regarding actual and ideal counselor function. A cross-break analysis to determine if responses varied according to years in the employment service, office size, and educational background produced no differences. Counselors and manpower specialists were in close agreement. (Rho .96) in ranking the time assigned to 12 functions by the counselor and were closely agreed (Rho .94) in ranking how counselors should spend their time. Other similarities and differences were presented followed by a discussion of the implications these findings have for in-service training.     

DEVELOPMENT AND EVALUATION OF TREATMENT PARADIGMS FOR THE SUPPRESSION OF SMOKING BEHAVIOR1

A multiple-baseline component-analysis design was employed to assess the effectiveness of three treatment programs for suppressing the cigarette smoking behavior of 24 subjects. Satiation, cognitive control, and contingent shock procedures were evaluated. The results demonstrated a consistent relationship between contingent shock and suppression of smoking. It was further indicated that subjects should be exposed to the number of sessions necessary to achieve total suppression in order to gain maximally from treatment and to avoid relapse. Neither the satiation component nor the cognitive control component was correlated with clear, permanent decrements in smoking frequencies. To date, no other treatment program has demonstrated the dramatic effects of the contingent shock procedures used in the present study.     

ASSESSMENT OF SOCIAL COMPETENCE IN AN EVALUATION-INTERACTION ANALOGUE1

Forty men were selected from a larger pool of 235 college students who had completed three questionnaires designed to measure social competence. Twenty high socially competent and 20 low socially competent college men were given either positive or negative feedback by a woman confederate in a five-minute dyadic interaction. The confederate made either four all-positive or all-negative statements on the impression she was forming about the men during the interaction. Measures were taken of the amount of time the men spoke, the latency of their response to the confederate's statements, and the number of topics and topic changes used during the interaction. Judgements were also made on the men's physical attractiveness and social skill. Finally, the men's verbal reactions to the confederate statements were content analyzed for direction (self, confederate, or other) and valence (positive, negative, or neutral). A 2-by-2-by-4 (competence by feedback by statements) ANOVA indicated that subjects differed over trials (statements) in their reaction latencies as a function of their competence level and feedback: low competent men took considerably longer to react to the confederate's negative feedback than did men in other conditions. There were no differences among groups on the amount of conversation time or number of topics and topic changes. High competent men were judged to be more attractive and more socially skilled than low competent men. Content analysis revealed that high competent and low competent men did not differ in their verbal responses when receiving positive feedback. During negative feedback, however, high competent men employed a wider range of responses than low competent men. These findings suggest that high and low socially competent men may differ in their responses to evaluative feedback such that high competent men are both quicker to respond and have a broader repertoire of response than do low competent men.     

类别(Category)判断的模糊集模型和多级估量法

本文提出了类别判断的模糊集模型。它的基本含义是: 1.在心理连续量上,类别的划分是模糊的。 2.在每一个类别上,都有不同的符合程度。它的数学形式是:■ 其次,在该模型的基础上,产生了一种新的类别量表——“多级估量法”。同时,给出了两种变式和一种“多次切割排序法。” 最后,多级估量法测量喜爱度的结果表明,提供的信息要比传统的类别量表提供的更多,对心理状态和心理过程的描述更完整更细致。     

CONSTRUCTING PARALLEL SIMULATION EXERCISES FOR ASSESSMENT CENTERS AND OTHER FORMS OF BEHAVIORAL ASSESSMENT

Assessment centers rely on multiple, carefully constructed behavioral simulation exercises to measure individuals on multiple performance dimensions. Although methods for establishing parallelism among alternate forms of paper-and-pencil tests have been well researched (i.e., to equate tests on difficulty such that the scores can be compared), little research has considered the why and how of parallel simulation exercises. This paper extends established procedures for constructing parallel test forms to dimension-based behavioral simulations. We discuss reasons for establishing comparable, alternate simulation forms and discuss the issues raised when applying traditional procedures to simulation exercises. After proposing a set of guidelines for establishing alternate forms among simulations, we apply these guidelines to simulations used in an operational assessment center.     

AN EVALUATION OF ALTERNATE SCORING METHODS FOR THE MIXED STANDARD SCALE

This study investigated the psychometric properties of three methods of scoring a Mixed Standard Scale (MSS) performance evaluation: the patterned procedure as corrected by Saal (1979); a simple nonpatterned scoring procedure suggested by Prien, Jones, and Miller (1977), which gives equal weights to the performance statements; and a procedure that assigned differential weights to each statement on the basis of scale values provided by a panel of subject matter experts. Interrater reliabilities, scale variances for averaged ratings, and a convergent/discriminant validity analysis, which included an alternate method of job skill ratings, indicated no difference in the score distribution variance, interrater reliability, or validity of different method scores.     

AN EVALUATION OF THE RELATIVE EFFICACY OF AND CHILDREN'S PREFERENCES FOR TEACHING STRATEGIES THAT DIFFER IN AMOUNT OF TEACHER DIRECTEDNESS

The manner in which teachers mediate children's learning varies across early childhood classrooms. In this study, we used a multielement design to evaluate the efficacy of three commonly implemented strategies that varied in teacher directedness for teaching color‐ and object‐name relations. Strategy 1 consisted of brief exposure to the target relations followed by an exclusively child‐led play period in which correct responses were praised. Strategy 2 was similar except that teachers prompted the children to vocalize relations and corrected errors via model prompts. Strategy 3 incorporated the same procedures as Strategy 2 except that a brief period of teacher‐initiated trials was arranged; these trials involved the use of prompt delay between questions and prompts, and correct responses resulted in tokens and back‐up activity reinforcers. Children's preferences for the different teaching strategies were also directly assessed. Strategy 3 was most effective in promoting the acquisition and generalization of the color‐ and object‐name relations and was also most preferred by the majority of children, Strategy 1 was the least effective, and Strategy 2 was typically the least preferred. Implications for the design of early educational environments based on evidence‐based values are discussed.     

EVALUATION OF A BRIEF STIMULUS PREFERENCE ASSESSMENT

We evaluated the utility of a brief (5-min) stimulus preference assessment for individuals with developmental disabilities. Participants had noncontingent (free) access to an array of stimuli and could interact with any of the stimuli at any time. Stimuli were never withdrawn or withheld from the participants during a 5-min session. In Experiment 1, the brief preference assessment was conducted for 10 participants to identify differentially preferred stimuli, and reinforcer assessments were conducted to test the reinforcing efficacy of those stimuli identified as highly preferred. In Experiment 2, a comparison was conducted between the brief preference assessment and a commonly used paired-stimulus preference assessment. Collectively, results demonstrated that the brief preference assessment identified stimuli that functioned as reinforcers for a simple operant response, identified preferred stimuli that were differentially effective as reinforcers compared to nonpreferred stimuli, was associated with fewer problem behaviors, and required less time to complete than a commonly used paired-stimulus preference assessment.     

AN ASSESSMENT OF STUDENTS' CALIBRATION OF COMPREHENSION AND CALIBRATION OF PERFORMANCE USING MULTIPLE MEASURES

In the present study we examined students' ability to judge comprehension of text material (before actually taking a test) as well as ability to judge comprehension performance on text material (after taking a test). We examined each of these two abilities, termed calibration of comprehension and calibration of performance, by using multiple measures rather than just one as has traditionally been done in the literature. We also examined the role of students' self-assessed monitoring ability and self-image presentation in calibration skills. Results indicated that students were able to calibrate comprehension and performance although calibration levels were low, especially for calibration of comprehension. Students who calibrated comprehension well also tended to calibrate performance well. Several measures used to examine calibration of comprehension were consistent predictors ofperformance as were both quantitative and qualitative measures of calibration of performance. Students' calibration accuracy remained stable across measures and assessment conditions. Although students' self-assessed ability was not related to their actual calibration skills, self-image presentation was related to students'self-assessments and to theirability to calibrate performance. Implications and directions for future research are discussed.     

汉语语句重音的分类和分布

通过两个独立进行的重音标注实验对汉语语句重音的分类和分布进行了初步探讨。实验l是由60位普通被试参加的音节重音突显度的知觉实验。实验2是由本文三位作者参加的重音类别标注实验,在此实验中语句重音被划分为节奏重音和语义重音。实验2中对于语句重音的分类性标注结果得到了实验l中普通被试对音节重音突显度知觉结果的支持,这说明人们确实能够感知到两种不同类型的重音。实验结果还表明,节奏重音倾向于出现在较大韵律单元内的最末韵律词的末音节上,并且与适当的停延相伴生,语义重音的分布则与语句的韵律结构的关系不大。