Community applications of instructional technology: teaching writers of instructional packages

A community education program, to develop a variety of performance competencies in large numbers of neighborhood residents, requires a technology for preparing learning units administerable by community members themselves. The effects of a writing manual, designed to teach nonprofessionals to prepare such instructional packages, were analyzed in two experiments. Experiment I employed a multiple-baseline design across three university student trainees. The results showed that appropriate program writing increased by 75% after completion of the manual. The results of Experiment II, with two low-income neighborhood residents serving as trainees, showed that packages produced by trained writers resulted in a greater increase in skill activities than sets of training stimuli produced by untrained writers.     

Training public-speaking behavior: an experimental analysis and social validation

The effect of an instructional package on public-speaking behaviors was analyzed in two experiments. The instructional package was designed to teach public-speaking trainees to look at the audience, make gestures, and perform a number of speaking behaviors. The results of Experiment I, with a university student serving as the trainee, showed that the percentage of each category of public-speaking target behavior increased only after the instructional package was introduced for that category. The results of Experiment 2, with three low-income paraprofessional staff members of a neighborhood service center serving as trainees, showed that the percentage of target behaviors increased after the instructional package was introduced for the respective trainee. Audience ratings of public-speaking performance were correlated with direct observations of target responses. All trainees showed marked improvements in audience ratings from pretraining to posttraining. This study demonstrated an effective procedure for training public-speaking behaviors.     

Analysis of proctor marking accuracy in a computer-aided personalized system of instruction course

In a computer-aided version of Keller's personalized system of instruction (CAPSI), students within a course were assigned by a computer to be proctors for tests. Archived data from a CAPSI-taught behavior modification course were analyzed to assess proctor accuracy in marking answers as correct or incorrect. Overall accuracy was increased by having each test marked independently by two proctors, and was higher on incorrect answers when the degree of incorrectness was larger.     

Generalized imitative affection: Relationship to prior kinds of imitation training

Two experiments utilizing first- and second-grade Canadian children showed that generalized imitative physical affection was most facilitated by prior imitative physical contact training (as opposed to verbal contact training) when the object of the affection was either a toy teddy bear, Experiment I, or an adult human, Experiment II.Additional findings from Experiment I showed that generalized imitative physical aggression was equally facilitated by imitative physical contact training and that punishment, as well as extinction operations applied to training imitations, resulted in suppression of all generalized imitations with no differential effect of punishment on affection or aggression being noted.The lack of any persisting imitations in a control group in Experiment II, which received noncontingent reinforcement but instructional prompting for training imitations, suggested that instructional control of imitation responses was initially weak and that the contingency between reinforcement and training imitations was critical for continued occurrence of training imitations and any occurrence of generalized physical affection imitations.     

Training respite care providers for families with handicapped children: Experimental analysis and validation of an instructional package

We conducted four experiments to evaluate a respite care training package. In Experiment 1, we assessed the effectiveness of an instructional manual on the acquisition of respite care skills and compared the relative effects of three different manual on the acquisition of respite care skills and compared the relative effects of three different manual presentation formats. Results showed that performance during simulated (role-played) respite care situations improved substantially for all six trainees following presentation of the instructional manual (with no significant differences between presentation formats) although some remedial training was necessary to achieve mastery criterion. In Experiment 2, we evaluated the effects of the manual presented as a whole with a larger group of trainees and compared it to a workshop training approach. Results showed that both the instructional manual and workshop training approaches were effective, but that the former appeared to be more cost-effective. In both experiments, correct responding generalized to a respite care situation with a multiply handicapped child. In addition, several measures of social validity were obtained. In Experiment 3, we evaluated a simplified training and assessment package that could be conducted using the resources typically available to respite care agencies, and in Experiment 4, we demonstrated that respite care agency personnel could successfully implement this program.     

How Big is My Neighborhood? Individual and Contextual Effects on Perceptions of Neighborhood Scale

Neighborhood is a social and geographic concept that plays an increasingly important role in research and practice that address disparities in health and well-being of populations. However, most studies of neighborhoods, as well as community initiatives geared toward neighborhood improvement, make simplifying assumptions about boundaries, often relying on census geography to operationalize the neighborhood units. This study used geographic information system (GIS) tools to gather and analyze neighborhood maps drawn by residents of low-income communities in 10 cities. The median resident map size was approximately 30 percent smaller than the median census tract, but 25 percent of residents viewed their neighborhood as quite small (less than one-fifth of the typical census tract). Multi-level modeling showed significant within context variation in perceived neighborhood scale. Longer term residents with higher education and income and who were more engaged in the neighborhood held more expansive views. But there were also contextual influences with higher density and mixed use areas associated with smaller perceived neighborhoods, and higher collective efficacy associated with larger neighborhood sizes. Artificially imposed neighborhood units may misrepresent resident experience, but GIS tools can be used to craft more authentic neighborhood definitions for research and practice.     

CONTINGENCY CONTRACTING WITH DELINQUENTS: EFFECTS OF A BRIEF TRAINING MANUAL ON STAFF CONTRACT NEGOTIATION AND WRITING SKILLS

A brief training manual was developed for the purpose of teaching child-care workers to contingency contract with delinquent youths living in residential care facilities. The manual was designed to require minimal supplementary training by a professional. In Experiment 1 a multiple baseline design was used to assess the effect of the manual on 4 child-care workers' contract negotiation and writing behaviors. Experiment 2 consisted of four A-B systematic replications. Behaviors were assessed within the context of analogue training simulations and generalization tests with delinquent youths. Results from the analogue simulations indicated that the manual was successful in increasing both types of behaviors to a level of proficiency that equaled or surpassed that of behaviorally trained graduate students, and results from the generalization tests indicated that the child-care workers were able to apply their newly acquired contracting skills with delinquent youths. Procedural reliability varied across child-care workers, but was usually high.     

An analysis of daily report cards and parent-managed privileges in the improvement of adolescents' classroom performance

A daily report-card system, involving home privileges administered by parents, was developed for use with "problem" junior-high students. In Experiment I, when home privileges and parent praise were contingent on improved school conduct, classwork, daily grades, and teacher satisfaction, the school performance of three students improved considerably. In Experiment II, a similar report-card system was employed with two additional students, except only parent praise was contingent on improved school performance. Under these conditions, one of the students did not bring the report card home, and class performance did not improve until contingent home privileges were added. The school performance of the second student improved with the card and praise alone. However, there appeared to be a slow decline of classwork performance over time. For Experiment III, an instructional manual, describing the report-card program, was written for school guidance counsellors. Two guidance counsellors read the program, used it with one student each, and found that the school performance of both students improved. These results suggest that the daily report-card program with home consequences administered by parents can improve the school performance of, and teacher satisfaction about, students having considerable difficulty in school.     

INVOLVING INSTITUTIONAL STAFF IN THE DEVELOPMENT AND MAINTENANCE OF SIGN LANGUAGE SKILLS WITH PROFOUNDLY RETARDED PERSONS

A program to involve institutional staff in developing manual sign language skills with profoundly retarded persons was evaluated. In Experiment 1, six direct care staff, with close supervision, taught a small repertoire of signs to six profoundly retarded residents who had not benefited from previous training in vocal language. Training was conducted in a group format using instructions, modeling, manual guidance, contingent reinforcers, and feedback. During training, all residents learned to identify pictures of objects with manual signs. Generalization observations during unstructured times on the residents' living unit indicated that staff used their signing skills with the residents in addition to their vocal interactions but the residents did not increase their signing or vocalizing. In Experiment 2, the residents' skills in signing with real objects on their living unit as opposed to pictures of objects were evaluated and provided with additional training where necessary. Results indicated that all participating residents learned to communicate with signing during structured interactions on their living unit, and the skills maintained during follow-up assessments ranging from 39 to 49 weeks. Results are discussed regarding the variable generalization effects noted as well as the general benefits and disadvantages of teaching manual signing skills to profoundly retarded persons.     

THE EFFECTIVENESS OF CURRENTLY ENROLLED STUDENT PROCTORS IN AN UNDERGRADUATE SPECIAL EDUCATION COURSE1

Potential users of Keller's personalized college classroom method might find it impractical to provide student proctors from the ranks of those who had previously mastered the course material. An alternative is to let currently enrolled students proctor and tutor each other. Such a method imposes the burden of showing that its effectiveness is not a function of (1) student collaboration or (2) the effects of “practice” received by students who listen to the performance of others before their own performance. The present study compared students proctored by previously trained students (Control) with students who received proctoring from classmates (Experimental). Experimental group performance was superior to Control group performance. The effects of “practice” and collaboration were ruled out as determinants of the difference between groups. It is hypothesized that the superior performance of the Experimental students was related to their activities as proctors.     

Rural Neighborhoods and Child Aggression

Structural equation modeling with latent variables was used to evaluate the direct and mediated effects of a neighborhood risk factor (negative teen behaviors) on the parent-report aggressive behavior of 213 students in grades 3 through 5 attending a school in a low-income, rural community. Contagion and social control hypotheses were examined as well as hypotheses about whether the neighborhood served as a microsystem or exosystem for rural pre-adolescents. Analyses took into account the clustering of students and ordinal nature of the data. Findings suggest that rural neighborhoods may operate as both a microsystem and exosystem for children, with direct contagion effects on their aggressive behaviors as well as indirect social control effects through parenting practices. Direct effects on aggression were also found for parenting practices and child reports of friends’ negative behaviors. Pre-adolescence may be a transitional stage, when influences of the neighborhood on child behavior begin to compete with influences of caregivers. Findings can inform the timing and targets of violence prevention in rural communities.     

Preference assessment training via self‐instruction: A replication and extension

We examined the effects of a self‐instructional and feedback package on participants’ implementation of a paired‐stimulus preference assessment. Specifically, in Experiment 1, we used a multiple baseline design across participants to replicate and extend the results of Graff and Karsten (2012) by evaluating the effectiveness of their self‐instructional manual. A majority of the participants (i.e., 5 of 7 undergraduate students and 4 of 5 in‐home behavior technicians) achieved mastery with the self‐instructional package. The remaining participants met the mastery criterion after brief modeling and feedback sessions. In Experiment 2, we identified the most effective component of the feedback condition from Experiment 1 when a self‐instructional package was not sufficient. Brief feedback sessions in which participants received a list of the targeted responses plus information regarding accuracy of emitted responses was sufficient for 5 of 6 participants to achieve mastery.     

Social interaction patterns of geriatric home and community residents

Thirty elderly nursing home residents and ten community residing older adults were observed in group settings. Their behavior was assessed for dependent personal maintenance, independent personal maintenance, and appropriate and inappropriate behaviors. Responses by staff and peers to these behaviors were classified as positive, negative, or ignore. The frequency of occurrence of these behaviors as well as the relationship of resident to peer or staff behaviors were analyzed. Results indicate that community-residing elders' behaviors differ from nursing home residents' in quantity rather than quality of interactions. There was a lower frequency of behaviors in the nursing home residents. Though older adults respond differentially to various behaviors of other nursing home residents, staff responses were consistent regardless of residents' behavior. These results suggest that geriatric home residents' behavior can be characterized as withdrawn rather than dependent.     

Effects of familiar proctor on fifth and sixth grade students' test anxiety

The effect of the proctor's familiarity on four groups of students in Grades 5 and 6 was investigated. The 137 children took a reading examination, half of which was administered by a familiar proctor, the other half by an unfamiliar one. Order of conditions was controlled. Analysis showed that students had significantly lower reading scores with the unfamiliar proctor. Students with midrange IQs had significantly lower reading scores than those in the low or high ranges. A significant relationship between test anxiety and effects of the unfamiliar proctor on test performance was shown. Test anxiety contributed significantly to the relationship between self-esteem and performance.     

Achievement Place: modification of the behaviors of pre-delinquent boys within a token economy

The "pre-delinquent" behaviors of six boys at Achievement Place, a community based family style behavior modification center for delinquents, were modified using token (points) reinforcement procedures. In Exp. I, point losses contingent on each minute late were effective in producing promptness at the evening meal. During the reversal phase, threats (which were not backed up with point losses) to reinstate the point consequences initially improved promptness but the last two of five threats were ineffective. In Exp. II, point consequences effectively maintained the boys' room-cleaning behavior and, during a fading condition where the percentage of days when the contingency occurred was decreased, the point consequences remained effective for over six months, even when they were delivered on only 8% of the days. Experiment III showed that the boys saved considerable amounts of money when point consequences were available for deposits but saved little money when no points were available. Also, when points were given only for deposits that occurred on specific days the boys deposited their money almost exclusively on those days. In Exp. IV, point consequences contingent on the number of correct answers on a news quiz produced the greatest increase in the percentage of boys who watched the news and, to a lesser extent, increased the percentage of correct answers for the boys who watched the news. The results indicate that "pre-delinquent" behaviors are amenable to modification procedures and that a token reinforcement system provides a practical means of modifying these behaviors.     

Effects of Delayed Audio-Based Self-Monitoring on Teacher Completion of Learning Trials

Although instructors may teach effective instructional behaviors in pre-service training programs, pre-service teachers frequently do not generalize those behaviors to classroom practicum settings. Feedback within the practicum setting is necessary to promote generalization, but is often limited by university supervisors’ availability. Using a multiple-probe design across 3 pre-service teachers, we investigated audio self-monitoring as a method to provide feedback on the number of learning trials completed during the prior learning review section of lessons. A completed learning trial represented an opportunity for the students to both respond to a prompt and receive feedback from the pre-service teacher and represents the smallest unit of complete instruction. Results indicated that self-monitoring increased the percentage of learning trials completed by pre-service teachers, but had modest effects on rate of learning trials delivered. These findings are discussed in light of the need for methods that help bridge the gap between university-based training and classroom application of key instructional skills.     

The life and times of PSI

This paper describes the essential features of the personalized system of instruction (PSI). Results from outcome research examining the effectiveness of PSI-based courses relative to traditional methods provide unequivocal support for the superiority of PSI. Parametric studies, or component analyses, show that the mastery requirement, immediate performance feedback, and review units are the key features underlying high quality student performances in PSI courses. The use of student proctors as peer-tutors, optional lectures, and selfpacing do not, in and of themselves, appear to be vital to student success in PSI courses. Despite its superiority, PSI has not supplanted traditional methods as the dominant pedagogical system in higher education. Difficulties inherent in overcoming the inertia of the lecture within our established instructional system, the implications of PSI for that system, and the Zeitgeist that permeates educational reform are the major obstacles to widespread adoption of PSI.     

Perceptions of parenting: individual differences and the effect of community

Neighborhood norms are an important determinant of beliefs and attitudes about parenting, and measuring changes in community norms is an important component of evaluating community-based programs for improving child outcomes. The purpose of this study was to determine whether or not a survey of community residents' perceptions of parenting could be used to measure community parenting norms and whether these perceptions differed by individual or community characteristics. Two community surveys with 870 and 914 respondents, respectively, were conducted in 3 low-income neighborhoods. Results indicated that perceptions of parenting could be measured reliably at the community level although it is important to consider the presence of multiple norms when using such measures. Furthermore, differences in perceptions of parenting associated with individual characteristics were markedly decreased when neighborhood characteristics were considered, suggesting that the association of individual characteristics with perceptions of parenting is confounded by neighborhood characteristics.