DISCREPANCY IN FUNCTIONAL ANALYSIS RESULTS ACROSS TWO SETTINGS: IMPLICATIONS FOR INTERVENTION DESIGN

Functional analyses that were conducted in two settings (playground and classroom) indicated that problem behavior was sensitive to adult attention on the playground and tangible items in the classroom. Attention‐ and tangible‐based interventions were designed based on the results from each of the assessment environments and were compared. The attention‐based intervention was more effective on the playground, and the tangible‐based intervention was more effective in the classroom. Findings are discussed in regards to the generality of functional analysis results across environments.     

An evaluation of photographic activity schedules to increase independent playground skills in young children with autism

We used photographic activity schedules to increase the number of play activities completed by children with autism during unstructured time on the playground. All 3 participants engaged in more playground activities during and after training, and they continued to complete activities when novel photographs were introduced.     

Temperamental attention and activity, classroom emotional support, and academic achievement in third grade

The purpose of this study is to examine the interplay of children's temperamental attention and activity (assessed when children were 4-and-a-half years old) and classroom emotional support as they relate to children's academic achievement in third grade. Particular focus is placed on the moderating role of classroom emotional support on the relationship between temperament (attention and activity level) and academic achievement. Regression analyses indicated that children's attention and activity level were associated with children's third grade reading and mathematics achievement, and classroom emotional support was associated with children's third grade reading and mathematics achievement. In addition, classroom emotional support moderated the relation between children's attention and reading and mathematics achievement, such that attention mattered most for reading and mathematics achievement for children in classrooms with lower emotional support. Findings point to the importance of understanding how children's temperament and classroom emotional support may work together to promote or inhibit children's academic achievement.     

SELF-INSTRUCTIONAL TRAINING TO INCREASE INDEPENDENT WORK PERFORMANCE IN PRESCHOOLERS

The generalized effects of self-instructional training on the classroom performance of three “impulsive” preschool children were investigated using a multiple-baseline design across subjects. Measures of child and teacher behavior in the classroom were obtained through direct observations during a daily independent work period. Self-instructional training followed Meichenbaum and Goodman's (1971) approach, except that training materials consisted of naturalistic task worksheets rather than psychometric test items and training sessions were of shorter duration. For all three children, self-instructional training resulted in increased levels of accuracy on worksheets in the classroom that were similar to those used in training. Results related to several supplementary measures were less clear; however, they suggested that rates of on-task behavior may also have improved, and that a mild classroom intervention further strengthened on-task rates and effected consistent work completion for all three children. The findings suggested that generalized increases in accuracy on classroom worksheets were related to the naturalistic format of the self-instructional training sessions. The level of teacher attention was controlled to rule out its effect on changes in child behavior.     

Teaching the College “Nones”: Christian Privilege and the Religion Professor

Working with undergraduate students invites teachers into relationship and conversation with young people at a time when they are emerging as adults and forming their identities. Faith is one area of identity formation often attended to by scholars, college professors, and their institutions. But within that, little attention has been paid to those who do not identify as religious. Additionally, “the overwhelming presence of Christianity at American institutions maintains it as the spiritual norm on campus. … Those within the spiritual norm gain a level of privilege that is often unconscious” (Seifert 2007, 11). This has an effect not only on nonreligious students but on any student who identifies as anything other than Christian; and it has a unique effect on teaching and learning in the religion classroom. In this article, I will explain what Christian privilege is, why it is a unique problem in the undergraduate religion classroom, and what teachers of religion might do in response to it. In the end, I argue that educators need to better understand the effects of Christian privilege in our classrooms and become allies to the nonreligious in particular by using pedagogies that include and support all students, in their many religious affiliations and unaffiliations.     

Reducing playground bullying and supporting beliefs: an experimental trial of the steps to respect program

Six schools were randomly assigned to a multilevel bullying intervention or a control condition. Children in Grades 3-6 (N=1,023) completed pre- and posttest surveys of behaviors and beliefs and were rated by teachers. Observers coded playground behavior of a random subsample (n=544). Hierarchical analyses of changes in playground behavior revealed declines in bullying and argumentative behavior among intervention-group children relative to control-group children, increases in agreeable interactions, and a trend toward reduced destructive bystander behavior. Those in the intervention group reported enhanced bystander responsibility, greater perceived adult responsiveness, and less acceptance of bullying/aggression than those in the control group. Self-reported aggression did not differ between the groups. Implications for future research on the development and prevention of bullying are discussed.     

Activity in children with ADHD during waiting situations in the classroom: A pilot study

Background. According to the optimal stimulation theory and the delay aversion hypothesis, children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) experience difficulties when they are confronted with low levels of stimulation and delay, respectively. Aim. This study investigated the activity level of children with ADHD during waiting situations in the classroom. Three series of hypothesis were made: (1) with respect to the comparison between waiting and non‐waiting intervals, (2) with respect to the effects of non‐temporal stimulation, and (3) with respect to the effects of temporal stimulation on behaviour during waiting. Sample and method. The activity level of 14 children with ADHD and 14 control children between the ages of 6 and 11 years was observed during two non‐waiting class situations and three waiting situations: without any stimulation, in the presence of non‐temporal stimulation and in the presence of temporal stimulation. Results. Both groups of children obtained higher activity scores for all behavioural dimensions during waiting compared with non‐waiting situations. The results further revealed additive effects of waiting and diagnostic group on behaviour. Additional non‐temporal stimulation during waiting affected the behaviour of all children for most behavioural characteristics. For noisiness, additive effects were also found for diagnostic group and either non‐temporal stimulation or temporal stimulation. For restlessness, a trend for an interaction effect between diagnostic group and non‐temporal stimulation was found. Conclusion. The findings have clear implications for school observations within an assessment protocol.     

Cross-cultural aspects of fears in African children and adolescents

The purpose of this study was to compare level and type of fears in Nigerian and Kenyan children using the Fear Survey Schedule for Children, Revised (FSSC-R; [Ollendick, T.H. (1983). Reliability and validity of the Revised Fear Survey Schedule for Children (FSSC-R). Behaviour Research and Therapy, 21, 685-692]). A total of 852 males and females between the ages of 8 and 17 were surveyed. Results indicated that Nigerian children reported significantly higher total fear than Kenyan children and that scores from both countries were higher than those found in the United States, Australia and China. This suggests that the cultures of Kenya and Nigeria may share a common variable that makes reporting of fears greater than that reported by children of other world cultures. In addition, Christian children in both countries reported higher levels of fear on several factors than Muslim children, indicating that Islamic beliefs may encourage children to report less fear or to deal with their fears better than Christian beliefs. Finally, children between the ages of 8 and 12 reported greater fear of the unknown than children between 13 and 17 years of age. Overall, these findings suggest that important cultural, religious and age differences exist for levels of childhood fears reported in Nigeria and Kenya.     

The differential validity of teacher ratings of Inattention/Overactivity and Aggression

The ability of school-based measures of child behavior to predict differentially the IOWA Conners teacher rating scale Inattention/Overactivity (IO) and Aggression (A) factors was evaluated in a sample of 71 school-aged boys. Multiple measures and multiple methods of assessment were utilized to provide a comprehensive assessment of social and academic behavior. These included direct observations of children in the classroom and on the playground, examination of the organization of children's desks, measures of academic performance, peer nominations of popularity and rejection, and sociometric ratings using the Pupil Evaluation Inventory. Despite moderately high correlations between the teacher rating factors (r = .60), considerable evidence was provided for differential validity on measures of academic performance, peer rating measures, and measures of disruptive or inappropriate classroom and playground behavior. These differences between IO and A factors indicated that the factors were logically independent in important ways, supporting prior work validating separate hyperactivity and aggression dimensions.     

Effect of first-grade classroom environment on shy behavior,aggressive behavior,and concentration problems

Investigates the effect of the first-grade classroom environment on the shy behavior, aggressive behavior, and concentration problems of 609 children in 19 East Baltimore public schools. First-grade classroom environment was assessed in terms of dominant pattern of classroom achievement and behavior. Structured teacher ratings assessed child shy behavior, aggressive behavior, and concentration problems at the end of first grade. Children in low-achieving classroom environments had significantly higher teacher ratings of shy behavior and aggressive behavior than children in mixed-achieving or high-achieving environments, even after controlling for potentially confounding child characteristics and classroom behavior environment effects. Analyses controlling for child characteristics and classroom achievement environment effects indicated that children in poor-behaving classroom environments also had significantly higher teacher ratings of shy behavior than children who were not in poor-behaving environments. Subgroup analyses indicated that repeaters in mixed-achieving environments had significantly higher levels of shy behavior compared with nonrepeaters, and repeaters in poor-behaving environments had significantly higher levels of aggressive behavior compared with nonrepeaters. Implications for prevention research are discussed.     

Functional assessment, collaboration, and evidence-based treatment: Analysis of a team approach for addressing challenging behaviors in young children

This study examined the effects of functional assessment and positive behavior support on classroom behaviors of young children. An experimental program, entitled FACET, was implemented by school-based teams in pre-kindergarten through first-grade classrooms. Observations of child behaviors and classroom variables were compared between experimental and control classrooms. Results indicate that children in FACET classrooms made significant gains from baseline to post-intervention and exhibited a higher occurrence of positive behaviors and fewer negative behaviors compared to control children. Behavior gains were positively correlated with the level of treatment fidelity. These findings support the effectiveness of an intervention that incorporates functional assessment, collaboration, and evidence-based treatment with young children who exhibit challenging behaviors.     

TREATMENT OF PSYCHOTIC CHILDREN IN A CLASSROOM ENVIRONMENT: I. LEARNING IN A LARGE GROUP1

The purpose of this study was to investigate systematically the feasibility of modifying the behavior of autistic children in a classroom environment. In the first experiment, eight autistic children were taught certain basic classroom behaviors (including attending to the teacher upon command, imitation, and an elementary speaking and recognition vocabulary) that were assumed to be necessary for subsequent learning to take place in the classroom. Based on research documenting the effectiveness of one-to-one (teacher-child ratio) procedures for modifying such behaviors, these behaviors were taught in one-to-one sessions. It was, however, found that behaviors taught in a one-to-one setting were not performed consistently in a classroom-sized group, or even in a group as small as two children with one teacher. Further, the children evidenced no acquisition of new behaviors in a classroom environment over a four-week period. Therefore, Experiment II introduced a treatment procedure based upon “fading in” the classroom stimulus situation from the one-to-one stimulus situation. Such treatment was highly effective in producing both a transfer in stimulus control and the acquisition of new behaviors in a kindergarten/first-grade classroom environment.     

Individual and classroom variables associated with relational aggression in elementary-school aged children: A multilevel analysis

Relational aggression was studied within classroom environments by examining individual and classroom correlates among 2731 children (3rd-5th graders) during two successive measurement years. Multilevel analyses yielded small gender differences for relational aggression, indicating that such aggressive behavior was more associated with girls as compared to boys. Findings further demonstrated that relational aggression was positively associated with perceived popularity and peer rejection. Relational aggression was also found to be highly stable over time. Additionally, higher classroom aggression norms, reflected by the classroom level for relational aggression, were associated with increased relational aggression in children. Although variation in relational aggression was situated both at class- and individual-level, differences between individuals were considerably larger than differences between classes. Limitations and further research suggestions are provided and practical implications are discussed.     

Maternal Appraisal Styles,Family Risk Status and Anger Biases of Children

The present study investigated the relationship between maternal appraisal styles, family risk status, and anger biases in children. Participants included 90 mothers and their children between 3–6 years of age. Eighty families were followed up 1 year later. Maternal appraisal styles were assessed via a naturalistic story-reading method, and Time 1 and Time 2 emotion biases included teacher ratings of anger and aggression, peer ratings of anger, as well as classroom and playground observations of anger. While discussing ambiguous stories with their children, mothers with higher scores on the family risk index utilized more hostile appraisals and fewer prosocial appraisals in their explanations. A higher proportion of hostile-to-prosocial appraisals was also related to higher-risk family status. Prosocial appraisals by mothers were inversely correlated with childrens anger biases at school. When the appraisal balance in mothers talk favored hostile appraisals, children tended to show higher levels of anger biases evidenced at school. Finally, a hostile balance of maternal appraisals was found to predict change in childrens anger biases in the school with different effects in high- and low-risk families.     

Sex differences in the structure and stability of children's playground social networks and their overlap with friendship relations

Gender segregated peer networks during middle childhood have been highlighted as important for explaining later sex differences in behaviour, yet few studies have examined the structural composition of these networks and their implications. This short‐term longitudinal study of 119 children (7–8 years) examined the size and internal structure of boys' and girls' social networks, their overlap with friendship relations, and their stability over time. Data collection at the start and end of the year involved systematic playground observations of pupils' play networks during team and non‐team activities and measures of friendship from peer nomination interviews. Social networks were identified by aggregating play network data at each time point. Findings showed that the size of boy's play networks on the playground, but not their social networks, varied according to activity type. Social network cores consisted mainly of friends. Girl's social networks were more likely to be composed of friends and boys' networks contained friends and non‐friends. Girls had more friends outside of the social network than boys. Stability of social network membership and internal network relations were higher for boys than girls. These patterns have implications for the nature of social experiences within these network contexts.     

The social status of aggressive students across contexts: the role of classroom status hierarchy, academic achievement, and grade

This study tested the effects of 5 classroom contextual features on the social status (perceived popularity and social preference) that peers accord to aggressive students in late elementary school, including classroom peer status hierarchy (whether within-classroom differences in popularity are large or small), classroom academic level, and grade level as the main predictors of interest as well as classroom aggression and ethnic composition as controls. Multilevel analyses were conducted on an ethnically diverse sample of 968 fourth- and fifth-graders from 46 classrooms in 9 schools. Associations between aggression and status varied greatly from one classroom to another. Aggressive students were more popular and better liked in classrooms with higher levels of peer status hierarchy. Aggressive students had higher social status in Grade 5 than in Grade 4 and lower social preference in classrooms of higher academic level. Classroom aggression and ethnic composition did not moderate aggression-status associations. Limitations and practical implications of these findings are discussed.     

ACCURACY OF SELF-ASSESSMENT OF ON-TASK BEHAVIOR BY ELEMENTARY SCHOOL CHILDREN1

Being able to assess one's own performance would seem to be prerequisite to most forms of self-management. The present study investigated the extent to which children in a typical second-grade classroom could accurately assess their own academic on-task behavior. In essence, this investigation replicated an experiment by Glynn and Thomas (Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 1974, 7 , 299–306) and extended those findings, by studying self-assessment over a longer span of time. The 31 children in the class ranged in age from 7 yr five months to 8 yr six months. Although only eight “problem” children were observed and studied, the self-control treatment procedures were applied to all children in the class. Behavior was observed daily during mathematics lessons for over eight school weeks. The study utilized a five-phase ABABC design, where the A phases were baseline periods, B phases were self-control periods, and C phase was a postcheck. In the self-control phases, children were asked by the teacher to put a check on their own individual performance card if they were on-task when a signal sounded. If they were not on-task, they were instructed not to touch their card. Typically, 15 to 20 signals occurred per 40-min session. At the end of the lesson, children were allowed to choose games to play according to how many checks they had earned. During all experimental phases, observers measured children's on-task behavior. Other observers measured the children's accuracy of self-assessment in the self-control phases. The results showed noticeable increases in the daily mean on-task behavior scores in the self-control phases following baseline phases. Also, a high level of on-task behavior was maintained in the postcheck phase. The variances of on-task behavior scores during the self-control phases were noticeably smaller than those in the baseline phases. Generally, individual data reflected group results, with some minor differences. Levels of accuracy of self-assessment varied from very accurate (95% of the time) to relatively inaccurate (56% of the time). The overall level of accuracy for all children was 78%. No consistent individual pattern appeared across phases. Some children got better as the study proceeded and some got worse. Most subjects tended to give themselves too much reinforcement, rather than too little. Peer social surveillance appeared to be the major factor that influenced individuals' evaluation of their own behavior, even though the teacher did make some control remarks in regard to how the children marked their cards. The results also demonstrated that self-control techniques can increase on-task behavior in a classroom with no history of external reinforcement, and that these techniques can have a lasting effect for more than two months of a school year.     

Does HPA‐Axis Dysregulation Account for the Effects of Income on Effortful Control and Adjustment in Preschool Children?

The effects of low income on children's adjustment might be accounted for by disruptions to hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal (HPA)‐axis activity and to the development of effortful control. Using longitudinal data and a community sample of preschool‐age children (N = 306, 36–39 months) and their mothers, recruited to over‐represent low‐income families, we explored the associations among diurnal cortisol levels and effortful control, and we tested a model in which diurnal cortisol and effortful control account for the effects of family income on child adjustment. Continuous indicators of morning cortisol level and diurnal slope, as well as dichotomous indicators reflecting low morning levels and flat diurnal slope, were examined as predictors of rank‐order changes in two dimensions of effortful control, executive control and delay ability. Low income was related to a flat diurnal cortisol slope, and above the effects of family income, a flat diurnal cortisol slope predicted lower social competence. Low morning cortisol level predicted smaller gains in executive control and higher total adjustment problems. Further, delay ability predicted lower adjustment problems above the effects of income and diurnal cortisol levels. The results suggest that HPA‐axis dysregulation and effortful control contribute additively to children's adjustment. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.