Design and evaluation of a programmed course in introductory psychology

The design of a programmed course in introductory psychology, utilizing an interview procedure, is described. The performance of students in this course was compared with that of students covering the same subject matter but taught in a more conventional manner. Students in the experimental course scored significantly higher on objective and essay final examinations and rated the course more positively.     

Persistent shock-elicited responding engendered by a negative-reinforcement procedure

A procedure in which responses reduced intermittently presented electric shocks to one quarter of their originally scheduled intensity, effectively engendered and maintained lever pressing in hooded rats. This contingency also markedly increased the response rates of rats initially trained under an unsignaled avoidance procedure. The responding of all animals extinguished rapidly when shock was withdrawn. Subsequently, it was discovered that high response rates could be maintained solely through presentation of shocks that were not affected by responses. Variations in the interval between shocks and changes in shock intensity over a wide range did not attenuate responding. Terminal performance was characterized by a consistent pattern of shock-elicited responses. Responses were also elicited by a tone following repeated tone-shock pairings. Finally, responding that was maintained by response-independent shocks was quickly suppressed by response-contingent shocks of the same intensity.     

Academic attitudes and their antecedents

In today's competitive workplace, individuals who are best prepared will have the greatest chance of obtaining and retaining jobs. Students can better prepare by developing the maximum possible knowledge and skills during their college educations. Research has shown that attitudes and perceptual variables have significant effects on development activity in organizations. We extend that research by using structural equations modeling to examine influences on attitudes toward one's college education. We posited that Big Five personality factors influence personal growth, readiness to change, and the perceived instrumentality of a university education and that these factors influence attitudes toward education. Results supported the posited model. A better understanding of antecedents of attitudes can enhance educational intervention effectiveness.     

The effects of knowledge of child development and social-emotional maturity on adolescent attitudes toward parenting

This study investigated the relationship between the combined effect of knowledge of child development and level of social-emotional maturity, and the extent to which this relationship affects adolescent attitudes toward parenting. The analysis of the data (multiple regression and canonical analysis) suggested that there were significant relationships among these variables. In general, the relationships indicated that subjects' negative attitudes toward parenting were associated with lack of knowledge of child development and low levels of social-emotional maturity, while subjects' positive attitudes toward parenting were associated with knowledge of child development and high levels of social-emotional maturity. The joint impact of knowledge of child development and social-emotional maturity factors on attitudes toward parenting accounted for 51% of the variation among the variables.     

Student responses to a reflexive course evaluation

Simple surveys are the predominant tool for course evaluations in most universities, but their validity has been questioned. They have been criticized for being a ritual way of complying with administrative regulations rather than a way of improving educational quality. Moreover, there is often a focus on student satisfaction, where the complexity of learning processes and the development of learner identities are lost. As an alternative approach, a qualitative course evaluation was tested that consisted of a single question: What could have been done in this course in order to better support your learning? Twenty-one second-year psychology students completed the evaluation at the end of a course. They provided rich answers describing learning activities and communication, and they described both teachers and students as agents. Going beyond merely reporting possible improvements, the students saw their learning processes in a context of academic demands and social mechanisms. It is argued that qualitative course evaluations can provide information about students’ understanding of their own learning that is difficult to uncover in a traditional survey. It is concluded that qualitative course evaluations would support the development of a student learner identity and help create a role for students as co-producers of knowledge.     

The development of language as a function of programmed conditioning

This paper is an extension of an earlier article by the authors concerning procedures for conditioning language behavior in linquistically divergent children. Specifically, this paper deals with the role and importance of response generalization in the development of syntax. The results suggest that the conditioning method used was effective in obtaining the necessary generalization.     

A self-paced programmed undergraduate course in the experimental analysis of behavior

A method of programming a variety of assignments in a course was described. The instructions to students, the course assignments, and the grading system were presented in detail. The rate at which students performed the activities was examined. Different students began working at different times during the semester, but once a student began to complete assignments he continued to work at a rate comparable to all other students. No students stopped working after once beginning to work. The majority of the students liked the course despite being overworked. Several changes in the method were suggested based on the data from this course.     

Language development in a child with left hemispherectomy

A longitudinal study of a left hemispherectomized boy (AB) was conducted to document linguistic evolution and maturation and determine the extent to which right hemisphere processes allow development of language. Resection of the left hemisphere occurred at age 5 years 6 months, following intractable epilepsy. Tests of language comprehension (pointing, understanding of prepositions, understanding of narratives) and production (naming, repetition, lexical diversity, grammatical production) were administered at ages 6:2, 6:4, 6:6, and 6 years 9 months. Observations showed little progress, if any, in most aspects of linguistic performance. In contrast to studies with left-hemispherectomized children, AB showed only a modest expansion of the semantic lexicon and the phonological repertoire more than a year after the surgical intervention. These observations indirectly suggest (1) poor functional involvement of the right hemisphere in the development of adequate linguistic abilities, (2) the necessary integrity of the LH for adequate development of language, or (3) that variations in individual brain maturation rates may account for AB's linguistic progress.     

Using intraverbal prompts to increase divergent intraverbal responses by a child with autism

We examined the effectiveness of intraverbal prompts to increase the number of divergent responses to categorical questions composed of compound stimuli (e.g., Name some red things) for a 6‐year‐old child with autism. The intraverbal prompts involved providing the function, feature, and class of the target responses. A multiple probe across behaviors design was used. Results indicated that the child's total number of divergent responses was increased and maintained during 2‐week follow‐up probe trials. Novel responses were observed across conditions.     

Perinatal loss and maternal attitudes toward the subsequent child

Twenty-five mothers who had experienced a previous perinatal loss and a comparison group of 30 nonloss mothers completed the Maternal Attitude Questionnaire (MAQ) and the Maternal Separation Anxiety Scale (MSAS) when their children were 16 months old. The purposes of the study were to describe and evaluate the development of a new measure (the MAQ) and to examine the hypothesis that mothers who experienced a perinatal loss would express (a) more concern about the subsequent child's health, (b) more investment in the child, and (c) heightened concern about maternal-child differentiation/separation in comparison to nonloss mothers. The results showed that the MAQ had good internal consistency. None of the three factors of the MSAS differentiated between the two groups of mothers while two subscales of the MAQ did: (1) Maternal Concern with Child's Health and (2) Maternal Concern with Differentiation. Mothers who had experienced a perinatal loss thus expressed more concerns about their children's physical well-being and more concerns about differentiating from their child than mothers who had not had a perinatal loss.     

Academic entitlement: its relationship with academic behaviors and attitudes

Social Psychology of Education - The current study examined the relationship of academic entitlement with student attitudes (e.g., locus of control, motivation) and academic behavior. Participants...     

Teenage parenting and child development: a literature review

Research on teenage parenting together with medical and behavioral research related to child development is reviewed in an effort to determine causal factors related to reported developmental deficits among children of teenage parents. 4 general conclusions are suggested: 1) several researchers agree that children of teenage parents show poor social and intellectual competence when compared with children on non-teen parents. However, the amount of sound empirical data to support this view is minimal. For example, there are few published studies of the longterm effects of teenage parenting or of actual behavioral interactions of teenage mothers and their children. 2) It is unlikely that research along the lines of the "continuum of reproductive casualty" will lead to identification of causal factors sufficient to account for developmental deficits in children of teenage mothers. 3) Research along the lines of "the continuum of caretaking casualty" suggest numerous behavioral and environmental variables that may be related to the development of children of teenage mothers. 4) Research designs applied to the study of teenage parenting must shift from linear models to complex multivariate models that permit simultaneous analysis of organismic, environmental, and behavioral determinants of development. Finally, mental health specialists, government agencies, and researchers alike, must be willing to entertain the hypothesis that much of our knowledge of the childrearing skills of teenage mothers is based on myth rather than empirical fact. 1 such myth may be that below 19 years of age, maternal age in and of itself is an important determinant of infant development and parent-infant interaction. Poor social-economic status, family support systems, marital stability, nutrition and prenatal care may be far more important determinants of development for these children than the age of their mothers.     

Facilitation of early speech development in a dysphatic child by use of signed Norwegian

Non-vocal language intervention is mostly used to develop communication skills in severely dysfunctional children. In the present study, a 3-year-old dysphatic boy was taught signs to facilitate his speech development. After 6 months of sign instruction, he showed substantial improvement in spoken language, and had gained one year on the Receptive and the Expressive scales of Reynell Developmental Language Scales in half a years time. Behavior problems were markedly reduced. It is concluded that sign instruction may be used with a wider range of subjects than is usual today.