The Effectiveness of Student Canvassers1

Student E s delivered persuasive communications against U.S. involvement in S.E. Asis to community residents in the residents' homes. The S s received either a written communication (a pamphlet), or a verbal communication (a talk with a student E), or, on successive occasions, both. A control group received neither communication. Later all the Ss were approached by other student Es with a relevant opinion inventory. At this time they were also offered a choice of contrasting petitions to sign. The attitude measure reflected no difference as a result of the written communication, and a negative persuasion effect for the verbal communication. Also Ss signed significantly fewer petitions, whether pro or con, after the vcrbal communication. The pragmatic implications of these results are discussed as they relate to student canvassers in the community.     

Comparative Effectiveness of Student and Professional Counselors

A sample of 160 beginning freshmen, half males and half females, received six and one-half hours of academic adjustment guidance from same-sex professional counselors. Upperclassman student counselors gave equivalent guidance to all other beginning freshmen at Southwest Texas State College. A matching sample of 80 men and 80 women was subsequently drawn from the 316 freshmen receiving student-to-student counseling. Age, sex, measured scholastic ability, measured study orientation, and high school academic achievement were employed as matching variables. The four professional and eight student counselors completed 50 clock hours of identical pre-counseling training, used identical guidance materials, and followed identical counseling activity sequences. Equivalent counseling facilities were provided for all counselors. Test, questionnaire, and scholarship data were employed to evaluate the comparative effectiveness and acceptability of counseling given the professional counseled and the student counseled groups. Student counselors were found to be as effective as professional counselors on all criteria of counseling effectiveness. Furthermore, freshmen counseled by student counselors made significantly greater use of the information received during counseling, as reflected by first-semester grades and residual study problems. It was concluded that carefully selected, trained, and supervised student counselors provide a practical and productive addition to the college's guidance program.     

The Disappearing Student

359 randomly selected freshmen (1962) at the University of New Mexico were sent a questionnaire related to college attrition, and the attitudes of withdrawees and continuers were compared regarding teachers, counselors, facilities, and various personal experiences and conditions that might lead to withdrawal. The results failed to support reasons for attrition commonly cited in the literature. Only 5 items distinguished the groups' reaction to the college environment. In fact, the continuers were more negative toward the college environment than the withdrawees. Only 3 reasons generally related to attrition differentiated the groups: withdrawees felt that problems of marriage, family finance, and general unhappiness were somewhat more important than did the continuers. These findings indicate that the real causes for college withdrawal have yet to be discovered.     

The Junior College Student

Using data obtained by Project TALENT, a nationwide study of high school youth, the authors describe the junior college student. The junior college, non-college, and college students have been compared along six measures of information and eight of general aptitude and ability. Through the use of a six-group discriminant analysis, it was found that junior college students have a tendency to be more like non-college students in terms of ability. However, sex differences on the ability measures were greater than the differences among the three college-planning groups. Although the junior college student looks more like the non-college student in terms of ability, he appears to be more like the college student in terms of socio-economic factors.     

The Psychology of Contraceptive Surprises: Cumulative Risk and Contraceptive Effectiveness1

Two studies investigated young adults' expectations about long-term contraceptive effectiveness. Subjects were told about five hypothetical methods of contraception varying in reported effectiveness, which was expressed in terms of the likelihood of avoiding pregnancy for base periods of 1 year (Experiment 1), 5 years, or 10 years (Experiment 2) of use. For each method, subjects estimated the likelihood that a woman would avoid pregnancy while using it for periods ranging from 1 month to 15 years, and then rated how satisfied they would be with it. For nearly half of the subjects, estimates of cumulative effectiveness did not decline as time period increased. Those subjects who did realize that cumulative effectiveness declined over time estimated rates that declined too slowly for methods of modest and low reliability, and at rates that were too similar for methods differing in effectiveness. Subjects were overly optimistic about effectiveness for time periods longer than the base period, and overly pessimistic about effectiveness for shorter time periods. Not surprisingly given these results, subjects expressed more satisfaction when a method's effectiveness was expressed in shorter base periods. Such faulty understanding of the long-term implications of contraceptive effectiveness information may undermine people's abilities to make informed contraceptive choices.     

Attitudinal Change Among University Student Tutors1

Attitudinal change among 323 university tutors of school children was examined in the areas of social responsibility, beliefs in intervention, and perceptions of the disadvantaged. Role theory and the contact hypothesis provided the theoretical base for predicting path models in which tutor traits, aspects of the tutoring situation, tutoring outcomes, and pretutoring attitudes were used to explain attitudes following 7 to 8 months of tutoring experience. Results showed somewhat improved attitudes toward the disadvantaged; however, social responsibility and attitudes toward intervention decreased slightly. Empirical path models for the latter 2 areas were nearly identical, and differed from that for attitudes toward the disadvantaged.     

Effects of Crowding in a Student Environment1

Responses to crowding were examined in two student dormitories (Dorm A and Dorm B). Dorm B had more rooms per floor, smaller sized rooms, and a general layout which seemed conducive to a higher level of social stimulation. Students living in Dorm B reported being less involved with their roommates, being in a worse mmod, and experiencing more crowding. The role of crowding in mediating the relationship between type of dormitory as an independent variable and mood and interpersonal relationship as dependent variables was discussed.     

优生和差生FOK判断发展的实验研究

本研究用使用RJR研究范式,对小学五年级、初中一年级和高中一年级优生和差生的FOK判断进行探讨。结果发现:优生的FOK判断发展水平高于差生的。优生和差生的FOK判断发展均存在关键期,且优生的关键期早于差生的。优生FOK判断发展的关键期是在小学五年级与初一之间;差生FOK判断发展的关键期是在初一年级与高一年级之间。     

The Instructional Challenges of Student Plagiarism

The focus of this article is university teachers’ and students’ views of plagiarism, plagiarism detection, and the use of plagiarism detection software as learning support. The data were collected from teachers and students who participated in a pilot project to test plagiarism detection software at a major university in Finland. The data were analysed through factor analysis, T-tests and inductive content analysis. Three distinct reasons for plagiarism were identified: intentional, unintentional and contextual. The teachers did not utilise plagiarism detection to support student learning to any great extent. We discuss the pedagogical implications and suggest that the contextual reasons for plagiarism require focus primarily on study strategies, whereas the intentional reasons require profound discussion about attitudes and conceptions of good learning and university-level study habits.     

The Effectiveness of Argumentative Strategies

In this article, I further analyze the notion of the effectiveness of argumentative strategies, introduced in Jovičić, 2001. The most relevant achievements of the theories of reasonable discussion and the theories of persuasion are called to mind with the aim of explaining the mechanism of the argumentative effectiveness. As a result, a procedure for evaluating the effectiveness of argumentative strategies is suggested.     

The Effectiveness of Couple Therapy

Abstract

Most theories and methods about couple dierapy are developed and tested in Anglo-Saxon countries. In this clinical study, we tested these theories and methods within a Swedish public health context. We assessed the outcomes of 131 couples (262 individuals) using the Dyadic Adjustment Scale (DAS) and the Family Climate (FC) survey. Initially, the couples displayed severe marital distress and a dysfunctional family climate. Both marital satisfaction and family climate improved considerably, which confirmed the effectiveness of these methods in a Swedish context.     

The Effectiveness of Strategies for Increasing Social Interaction with a Physically Disabled Person1

The effectiveness of strategies a physically disabled person can use to increase a nondisabled person's willingness to engage in social interaction were investigated. In the strategies, the disabled person engages in behavior demonstrating that he/she is not preoccupied with the disability. Female college students chose the amount of time to be spent listening to music versus social interaction before and after learning that the other was a disabled male. The subject witnessed via “closed circuit” TV (actually a videotape) a brief interaction between the male and another female in the waiting room from which the subject had just come. In the Interest in others condition, the male encouraged the female to talk about herself. In the Typical activities condition, the male mentioned he had to pick up tickets, organize a party, and study for an exam. In the Athletic activities condition, the male mentioned he went swimming and bowling. In the Request condition, the male asked the female to pick up a paper he had dropped. In the Control condition, there was limited interaction. In the Inappropriate communication condition, the male mentioned the same activities as in the Typical activities condition but talked continuously without waiting for polite interest from the female. Changes in preference for social interaction were significantly more positive in the Attentive to others, Typical activities and Athletic activities conditions than in the Control conditions. It was concluded that demonstrating interest in others, typical activities and athletic activities are effective strategies.     

The Influence of Source Physical Attractiveness on Advertising Effectiveness: A Functional Perspective1

High and low self-monitors heard either a physically attractive or unattractive source promote a new product with either strong or weak arguments. High self-monitors were persuaded by the physically attractive source only when she presented strong arguments. In contrast, low self-monitoring individuals were persuaded by the physically attractive source regardless of argument strength. Neither high nor low self-monitors were persuaded by the physically unattractive source, regardless of the quality of the arguments she offered. Cognitive response and recall data suggest that high self-monitors may have been systematically processing the physically attractive source's message and low self-monitors may have been more heuristically processing her message. Results are discussed in terms of their implications for advertising strategies.     

The Student Guided Functional Assessment Interview: An Analysis of Student and Teacher Agreement

Functional assessment strategies are used to guide the treatment of problem behavior with individuals who have severe disabilities. Also, researchers have extended functional assessment applications to individuals with emotional and behavioral disabilities. One such extension is the use of students as informants in the functional assessment process. The present study assessed an interview tool designed to elicit information directly from students regarding their problem behaviors. We examined agreement between students and their teachers. Results showed high agreement on the causes and functions of problem behavior with mixed agreement on support plan recommendations.     

The Student as a Physical Being

A pretty freshman, feeling “in a bind” because of academic demands, broke out with hives on her buttocks as she sat at her desk studying; a few days later she was hospitalized with mononucleosis. … Shortly before Christmas vacation a group of coeds noted that the occurrence of menstrual discomforts had suddenly increased in their living units. … A junior, who was experiencing difficulties with her roommate and also her fiancé, developed a constant craving for food and became anxious when her food binges started getting out of hand. …