Returning special education students to regular classes

Students are often placed in school special education classes, but they are seldom returned to regular classes. This study of 30 students who were returned points out that by careful screening and orientation such students can be academically successful. The role of the counselor in dealing with special education students has been badly neglected in educational literature, yet he is in an excellent position to correct some of the abuses that exist in schools where the special education program is considered terminal.     

Behavior problems of children in regular classes and those diagnosed as requiring speech therapy

2,991 white children in regular classes and 106 white children requiring speech therapy were compared on Quay's Behavior Problem Checklist. The former had fewer problems checked in areas such as personality disorders and inadequacy-immaturity than did the latter, as expected, although the amount of variance accounted for was small. The groups did not differ on conduct problems and socialized deliquency. A question was raised about variations in psychotic signs.     

Factors of regular sponsorship of African children: A cross-ethnic study

This study examined psychological well-being influences of personal factors on regular sponsorship of, or donation to, African children living in Africa. Study participants (N = 597) were 338 Koreans (50.3% female, n = 170) and 259 Chinese (56.8% female, n = 147). They responded to measures of psychological well-being, individual social responsibility, social impression management, and subjective norms. Following multiple group analyses applying structural equation modelling, subjective well-being influenced psychological well-being among the Korean donors; whereas social responsibility influenced psychological well-being among the Chinese donors. In both the Korean and Chinese groups, psychological well-being was associated with an increased regular sponsorship of African children. Latent ethno-cultural personal orientations appear to explain psychological well-being with donation activity.     

Factors influencing the selection of toys for handicapped and normally developing preschool children

Factors influencing the selection and purchase of toys for children's use were investigated. Subjects were 73 parents or adult friends of normally developing or handicapped preschool children. In addition to providing demographic information about themselves, the subjects rated the importance of 17 factors influencing their selection and purchase of toys. Contrary to previous research, the sex of the child was reported to be of only minor importance in toy selection, as was the picture on the toy package. Two factors, safety and teaching new skills, were rated as extremely important. There were no significant differences in ratings as a result of sex, ethnicity, or whether or not the subjects were parents of a handicapped child. The findings suggest a substantial degree of agreement among parents about what they consider important when choosing toys for children.     

Parental assessment of temperament in handicapped children

The New York Longitudinal Study (NYLS) Parent Questionnaire assesses parental report of children's temperament on nine variables: Mood, distractibility, persistence, activity, rhythmicity, adaptability, approach-withdrawal, threshold and intensity. The present research was designed to assess the interrater reliability of this instrument and to provide cross-validation data regarding the nine scales. Questionnaires were validly completed by both parents of 47 children who had previously been evaluated at the Neuropsychology Laboratory of the Louisiana State University Medical Center. For each of the nine temperament variables, the scores obtained by each child when rated by his or her mother was significantly correlated with the score received on that variable when rated by the father. Thus, under the limitation imposed by the research design, it appears that parents are relatively consistent when evaluating the temperamental characteristics of their children. The correlations between each individual item and the factor it loads on were consistently highly significant. The nine temperamental variables are adequately assessed by the items included in the NYLS Questionnaire.     

Two factors to be considered in the design of experiments in anxiety and motor behavior

There are two aspects of Martens' paper which deserve comment. The first deals with experimental design and statistical power while the second concerns the distinction between performance and learning and the implications it has for research in anxiety and motor learning.     

Two types of feedback in teaching swimming skills to handicapped children.

Two types of feedback (non-task-specific praise and task-specific praise plus corrections) were used in a counterbalanced design to teach two swimming skills to each of four handicapped children. The children were grouped into pairs, and each member of a pair received the alternate type of feedback for the same skill. In every case, faster and more complete acquisition was found to result from task-specific praise plus corrections.     

A problem-solving model for teaching remedial arithmetic to handicapped young children

An operant problem-solving model was used to assist two handicapped young boys to learn the concept of number. During the initial baseline condition, with intermittent teacher-attention contingencies in a classroom setting, both boys were performing number concept tasks at about the 50% level of accuracy. The situation was changed to a one-to-one, tutor-pupil arrangement, with continuous reinforcement for correct responses. This alteration failed to increase the subjects' accuracy rates. Training was initiated in which the covert part of the response chain was made overt (e.g., attending and counting out loud) so that mediating responses could be monitored and reinforced. Once the subjects were performing at a high degree of accuracy, the reinforcers for the mediating responses were systematically eliminated and only final solution responses were reinforced. Accuracy of problem solutions remained high after training.This research was supported by the U.S. Office of Education, Division of Research, Bureau of Education for the Handicapped, Project No. 23–2030, Grant No. OEG-0-9-232030-0762(032). Linda S. Berner contributed to the execution of the study. Her assistance is greatly appreciated.     

Self-concept in educable mentally retarded and emotionally handicapped children

A total of 48 educable mentally retarded (EMR) and emotionally handicapped (EH) children ( \(\overline {CA} \) =137.7 months) were pretested on Coopersmith's Self-Esteem Inventory (SEI), Nowicki-Strickland's Locus of Control Scale for Children (LCSC), and 3 behavioral measures: (1) risk-taking, (2) a chance/skill task, and (3) delay of gratification. One group of 12 children from each population was then exposed to either a self-confident or a control model. After exposure, Ss were given an opportunity to perform successfully on an ambiguous task and answer questions about their success, and were readministered the SEI, LCSC, and 3 behavioral choices. Correlational analyses of pretreatment data revealed significant relationships between defensiveness and LCSC, SEI, and delay of gratification and a near-significant relationship between LCSC and SEI. EMR and EH Ss were both lower on self-esteem than the general population, while EMR Ss were more defensive, more external, and less likely to delay gratification than EH Ss. Both treated groups matched more of the behavioral choices than the control groups, while only treated EH Ss were more likely to attribute their success to internal causes. It was concluded that EMR and EH children differ in self-concept development and that future attempts to modify self-concept should include greater modeling exposure as well as increased opportunity for performance with its resultant feedback.     

Chronically ill and handicapped children and adolescents: Personality studies in relation to disease

Personality was studied in three groups of chronically ill and handicapped children and adolescents and compared to that of healthy control groups. Among physically handicapped children a pattern emerged indicating lack of emotional integration into environment without conflict. Hemophiliacs and diabetics did not differ from controls. However, there were important correlations between personality variables and clinical parameters for all three groups.     

Social support and adjustment in chronically ill and handicapped children

The relationship between social support and adjustment was investigated in children with a chronic physical illness or handicap. Mothers of 153 children with juvenile diabetes, juvenile rheumatoid arthritis, chronic obesity, spina bifida, or cerebral palsy reported on these children's family support, peer support, externalizing behavior problems, and internalizing behavior problems. Children reported as having high social support from both family and peers showed a significantly better adjustment than those with high social support from only one of these sources. Chronically ill or physically handicapped children without high support from both family and peers were reported to have significantly more behavior problems than children in general. Both family and peer support contributed negatively and independently to the variance in externalizing behavior problems, whereas only peer support did so for internalizing behavior problems. There were no interactions between type of support and either sex or age in predicting adjustment.     

Unprogrammed effects of training high-status peers to interact with severely handicapped children.

We examined the effects of a peer initiation intervention with high- and low-status nonhandicapped students on the behavior of untrained peers toward handicapped students. In the context of a counterbalanced withdrawal design, high- and low-status nonhandicapped students were taught to direct social initiations to eight severely handicapped students during recess activities. The interactions of the high-status students resulted in higher levels of initiations by untrained peers toward the handicapped students than did the interactions of the low-status students. Social response levels were also differentially affected by the status of the peer initiator.     

Social acceptance of mentally retarded children in regular schools in relation to years mainstreamed

This study examined whether the social status of mainstreamed retarded children among their nonretarded peers improved as a consequence of extended contact. A sociometric questionnaire was administered to the nonretarded classmates of two groups of retarded children mainstreamed for an average of 1.7 yr. and 4 yr., respectively. Social acceptance of retarded children was low relative to their nonretarded peers. However, in contrast with previous research, retarded children did not receive higher social rejection ratings. Acceptance and rejection measures did not indicate any improvement in social status of the retarded children as a result of an extended period of mainstreaming.