The stability of individual differences in gender typing: Implications for understanding gender segregation

The stability of individual differences has important implications for understanding the origins of gender-typed behaviors. For example, if some children have a stronger preference for same-sex playmates (gender segregation) than do others, then exploring characteristics that may differentiate these children from their peers (e.g., preference for gender-typed toys or teacher proximity) should prove fruitful. Otherwise, research might be focused more appropriately on group-level processes or situational factors rather than individual differences. In the current study, 57 2 1/2- to 3-year-olds from middle-class Canadian homes were observed repeatedly during free play at their preschools. Four aspects of gender typing (gender segregation, use of masculine and feminine gender-typed toys, teacher proximity) were measured so that the stability of individual differences and relations among the measures could be assessed. Stable individual differences were found for all four measures among boys, and for two of the measures (feminine toy play, teacher proximity) among girls. In addition, boys who played most frequently with masculine toys rarely were observed in proximity to the teacher. However, there was no relation between gender segregation and the other indices of gender typing.     

TRAINING TEACHERS IN GENERALIZED WRITING OF BEHAVIOR MODIFICATION PROGRAMS FOR MULTIHANDICAPPED DEAF CHILDREN

In contrast to previous studies where teachers were instructed how to implement behavior modification programs designed by an experimenter, teachers in the present experiment were taught how to write as well as implement behavior modification programs. The generalized effects of two training conditions on teacher and pupil behaviors were assessed by a multiple baseline design where, following baseline, two teachers of multihandicapped deaf children were taught to set objectives and measure pupil performance (measurement training). Later, through a training manual, they learned a general problem-solving approach to writing behavior modification programs (programming training). After both training conditions, experimenter feedback was given for teachers' application of training to a target behavior for one pupil and generalization was measured across target behaviors for the same pupil and across pupils. It was found that measurement training had little general effect on either teacher behavior or pupil behavior. However, after programming training, teachers increased their program writing and correct use of behavior modification procedures and generalized this training across pupils and target behaviors. Along with these effects, there was improvement in pupil behaviors. Possible explanations for generalized effects of teacher training were considered.     

Use of small group contingencies and special activity times to manage behavior in a first-grade classroom

Management procedures were succesfully employed to decrease the frequency with which first-grade children left small instructional centers. To decrease the out-of-center behavior, access to a 30-minute special activity time was made available to different groups as a function of everyone's remaining within his group instructional center. One occurrence of out-center behavior resulted in a cost of ten minutes of special activity time for the children in that center. The frequency of out-of-center behaviors quickly decreased from Baseline I to the Modification I condition, increased when the modification condition was removed, and decreased again in Modification II.Observations made on the percent of the children's appropriate social and academic behaviors showed increases during the modification conditions. Also, the time the teacher spent in responding to inappropriate behavior decreased and the time spent in instruction increased during the modification conditions.     

The Effect of Disruptions During Counseling on Recall of Genetic Risk Information: The Case of Cystic Fibrosis

Genetic counseling is a communication process with two main functions: information provision and supportive counseling. The information transmission function may be compromised by disruptions that occur during counseling. At least two mediators are possible: (a) disruptions may interfere with memory by creating distractions and divided attention during encoding or (b) disruptions may degrade the flow of interaction which requires that participants engage in conversation repair rather than the task at hand. This study examined both alternatives in a group of parents (N=20 families, 40 individual parents) whose infant had received a newborn screening for cystic fibrosis (CF). Upon arrival at the hospital, each parent completed a questionnaire designed to assess his or her knowledge of CF. Their interaction with the genetic counselor was videotaped and coded for the presence of disruptions. Six weeks after the counseling, parents again completed the knowledge measure. The data showed a direct negative effect for disruptions during counseling on memory for CF-related risk information six weeks later. Disruptions also produced the anticipated effect on conversation, but counter to expectations, interruptions of conversation flow was positively associated with knowledge at time 2.     

The effects of play materials on social play

To increase cooperative and social behaviors in children, contingency management programs have been successfully employed. This study examined the possibility that children's social behavior might also be significantly influenced by the nature of the available play materials. Children in an urban recreation center were systematically provided with toys designed for social or isolate play. It was found that social play occurred only 16% of the time when the children were provided with "isolate" toys, whereas social play occurred 78% of the time when children were provided with "social" toys. Thus, the selection of play materials should be an important consideration in any effort to teach children social behaviors.     

Use of Delayed Praise as a Directive and Its Effectiveness on On-Task Behavior

ABSTRACT

This study investigated the effectiveness of delayed, directive praise on the on-task behavior of children identified as having a low level of attention. Utilizing an A-B-A-B single subject design, each child received delayed praise, employed as a directive for future behavior, from his or her classroom teacher during the treatment phases. The on-task behavior of each participant rose substantially between the initial baseline and treatment conditions and remained elevated throughout the study. Similarities between student performances suggest that students with low on-task behavior respond positively to delayed, directive praise and that the positive effects of such praise generalize over time.     

Effects of Motivation on Young Children's Object Recall and Strategy Use

The study was designed to examine the effects of motivation on young children's recall for object names and early-emerging mnemonic activities. Seventy-two 4-year-old children were randomly assigned to 1 of 3 instructional conditions: incidental, intentional, or motivational. Each child was shown 10 small toy objects and provided a 90 s study period prior to recall. The children's mnemonic behaviors were videotaped for subsequent coding. The children in the incidental condition were instructed to simply look at the toys while children in the intentional and motivational condition were given explicit instructions to remember. The motivational group was also told that they could keep whichever toys they remembered. A recognition memory task was employed to examine the extent to which the stimuli were encoded during the study period. The children's recall memory did not vary as a function of instructional condition. Children's use of singular versus multiple strategies was calculated, along with a weighted summary score giving most weight to the participant's use of mature mnemonic strategies. Significant differences in strategy use were found, favoring the motivational condition. Significant positive correlations were found between the weighted summary scores and object recall, and the teacher ratings of mastery motivation and object recall. Mastery motivation was found to be unrelated to the strategic summary scores, failing to mediate strategic behaviors. The results suggest that when providing incentives to remember, children apparently engaged in more effortful mnemonic processing in order to remember the items, even though a greater number of items were not recalled.     

Effect of the good behavior game on disruptive library behavior

A modification of the good behavior game was used to reduce disruptive behaviors during a weekly library period of children in a fourth-grade class. Modifications included student input in designing rules, attempts to state rules in positive terms, observation of class behavior in the experimental (library) setting as well as in a comparison (classroom) setting, and librarian involvement in instituting the game coupled with teacher involvement in delivering reinforcers. Reinforcers consisted of special classroom activities conducted by the teacher with winning team members. Modification of the good behavior game did not detract from its effectiveness in reducing disruptive and off-task behavior.     

The expression of memorization in early childhood

This experiment examined the expression and effectiveness of memorization in young children. Sixty children at each of the ages 4, 5, and 6 were randomly assigned to a memory group or to one of two control groups. All of the children were told that they could play with a group of toys during a brief activity period; the children in the memory condition were also instructed to memorize a specified subset of the toys. Mnemonic mediators were identified on the basis of differences in the activity period behaviors of children given memory and play instructions. Relative to the children in the play groups, the children in the memory conditions played with the toys less; further, their use of naming and visual examination as mnemonic mediators differentiated the groups at all ages and increased with age. Only the oldest subjects given memory instructions, however, demonstrated superior recall. The relationships between activity period behavior and recall among the different conditions were explored with regression techniques. Although previous research has focused on identifying the earliest use of memory strategies, the present findings underscore the importance of examining the development of these skills.     

Production and elimination of disruptive classroom behavior by systematically varying teacher's behavior

The effects of teacher behaviors on the classroom behaviors of children were investigated by systematically varying approving (praise, smiles, contacts, etc.) and disapproving (verbal reprimands, physical restraint, etc.) classes of teacher behavior. Measures were taken on both teacher and child behaviors. Each day a sample of 10 children was observed. The subject pool was a class of 28 well-behaved children in a middle-primary public school class. The results demonstrated that approving teacher responses served a positive reinforcing function in maintaining appropriate classroom behaviors. Disruptive behaviors increased each time approving teacher behavior was withdrawn. When the teacher's disapproving behaviors were tripled, increases appeared most markedly in the gross motor and noise-making categories of disruptive behavior. The findings emphasize again the important role of the teacher in producing, maintaining, and eliminating disruptive as well as pro-social classroom behavior.     

The effect of nonverbal teacher approval on student attentive behavior

The effect of contingent nonverbal teacher approval on student attentive behavior was examined in a classroom with 12 retarded children. After baseline data were gathered on contingent verbal and nonverbal teacher approval and student attentive behavior, the teacher was instructed to increase her use of contingent nonverbal approval (smiles and physical contact) and to maintain her baseline level of verbal approval. After a reversal phase, the nonverbal approval phase was reinstated. Nonverbal teacher behaviors increased during the experimental phases, whereas verbal teacher approval (alone or in conjunction with nonverbal behaviors) did not increase. Attentive behavior increased for 11 of 12 students during the phases in which contingent nonverbal teacher approval increased. Correlational data suggested that nonverbal teacher approval accounted for behavior change of the students to a greater extent than did changes in the amount of teacher approval per se or in the teacher's use of verbal approval.     

The importance of prudent negative consequences for maintaining the appropriate behavior of hyperactive students

Teachers use both positive and negative consequences to influence classroom behaviors. Four experiments were conducted to examine the differential affects of these two types of consequences on the maintenance of appropriate behaviors of hyperactive children. Results of Experiment 1 showed that the use of both positive and negative consequences (combined) was associated with high levels of on-task behaviors. Withdrawal of negative consequences caused a significant and dramatic decrease in on-task performance. The withdrawal of positive consequences produced no change in the rate of on-task behaviors. In Experiments 2, 3, and 4, the on-task results of Experiment 1 were replicated using a different teacher, different children, a counterbalanced design, longer phases, and different types of negative consequences. The withdrawal of negative consequences led to decreases in productivity in Experiment 2. The results of Experiment 3 also suggested that a prudent (e.g., calm, concrete, and consistent) approach to discipline was more effective than an imprudent (e.g., loud, emotional, and inconsistent) approach. Some level of mild negative consequences for inappropriate behavior is an important ingredient in effective classroom management, and qualitatively different negative consequences may have drastically different effects on the behavior of hyperactive students.This research was supported in part by a grant from the Middle Country Central School District No. 11, Centereach, New York, to the second author. We are grateful for the district's continued support. In addition, the authors wish to thank K. Daniel O' Leary for his helpful editorial comments.     

An evaluation of interdependent and independent group contingencies during the good behavior game

The Good Behavior Game (GBG) uses an interdependent group contingency to improve classroom behavior. Despite the wealth of research on the effectiveness of the GBG, some teachers may have concerns about their students’ abilities to work in teams, particularly if they have a history of poor social skills. We used an alternating treatments design to compare the relative effectiveness of the GBG with interdependent and independent group contingencies in a classroom for children with emotional and behavioral disorders. Our results showed that both versions of the GBG reduced verbal disruptions, inappropriate sitting, and off‐task behaviors for all children. However, the majority of children preferred the interdependent arrangement. We discuss how these results may promote more widespread use of the GBG with children with substantial behavioral challenges.     

The noneffects of contingent reinforcement for attending behavior on work accomplished

Past studies have shown that disruptive behavior can be eliminated and attending behavior accelerated in an academic setting. The relationship between these behaviors and academic performance is not well understood. The effects of behavioral and performance contingencies on classroom behavior and on academic performance were investigated. The subjects, third-grade students from an inner city elementary school, were exposed to a series of conditions including baseline, behavior contingencies, performance contingencies, and a mix of behavior and performance contingencies using a reversal design. The students worked 100 randomly selected mathematics problems for 20 minutes each day during each period. Behavioral contingencies improved attending and decreased disruptions but did not improve performance. Performance contingencies increased per cent correct problems but attending declined and disruptions increased. The combined contingencies increased both performance and attending. The experiment was replicated with another class of children varying the sequence of conditions and the amount of token reinforcement that could be earned. The findings emphasized the importance of designing specific contingencies for specific target behaviors. Behavioral contingencies did not have the positive effect on performance often implied, nor were performance contingencies alone able to maintain acceptable classroom behavior.     

Behavior modification with culturally deprived school children: two case studies

Techniques of behavior modification were employed with two second-grade Negro girls in a demonstration school for culturally deprived children to increase the girls' appropriate classroom behaviors. A classification system that provided for continuous categorization of behavior was used to code the children's behavior in two classroom situations. Data were also taken on the type, duration, and frequency of the teachers' verbal interactions. The study included four conditions: Baseline, Modification I, Postmodification, and Modification II. The treatment variable was positive social reinforcement-attention and approval contingent upon desirable classroom behaviors-which was presented, withheld, or withdrawn (timeout from social reinforcement). Withholding of social reinforcement was contingent upon inappropriate attention-getting behaviors. Timeout from social reinforcement was contingent upon behaviors classified as aggressive and resistive. After 25 days of Modification I, desirable behavior increased markedly for each girl. The teachers were then asked to return to their Baseline level of performance. The resultant behaviors demonstrated that for one girl, behavior was still primarily under the control of the treatment contingencies. For the second child, many desirable behaviors that had increased in frequency during Modification I remained high, but inappropriate behaviors increased. When treatment was reinstated, the amount of time spent in desirable behaviors increased and remained high for both girls. Three checks during the three months following data collection showed that these behaviors continued to remain high.     

Effects of toy guns and airplanes on children's antisocial free play behavior.

The effects of toy guns and toy airplanes on children's antisocial (aggression and rule-breaking) behavior was investigated in two settings (ten children in Study I and 13 in Study II) during 30-min free play sessions. Four-and 5-year-old children were observed during 15–16 free play sessions. During some sessions the children played either with (novel, aggressive) toy guns or with (novel, nonaggressive) toy airplanes in addition to their usual toys. In both studies, the toy guns treatment produced a reliably higher rate of antisocial behavior than the average of the toy airplaines and the usual toys. The novel-nonaggressive toy airplanes also increased the rate of antisocial behavior as compared to usual toys in Study II. The results were related primarily to Berkowitz's and Bandura's analyses of aggressive behavior, but they were related also to other theoretical models which predict stimulus control of behavior.     

Independent control of a pre-school child's aggression and peer interaction by contingent teacher attention

This study demonstrated the existent role of contingent teacher attention in maintaining a preschool child's aggression to his peers, as well as an imposed use of contingent teacher attention to increase his low peer interaction. Aggression and peer interaction were analyzed independently as two baselines of multiple baseline design; each was subjected to at least one reversal. The multiple baseline design was used to examine three possibilities: (1) that the high rate of aggressive behavior was in itself impeding the emergence of peer interaction; (2) that contingent teacher attention could be used to maintain a reduced rate of aggressive behavior; and (3) that a similar use of teacher attention could maintain an increased rate of peer interaction. The technique of largely ignoring the subject's aggressive behavior and attending instead to whatever child he was attacking decreased his aggressive behavior to an acceptable rate. Two reversals of this technique displayed experimental control, each recovering the high baseline rate of aggression. After the aggressive behavior was decreased for the final time, teachers attended to the subject only when he was involved in social interaction with peers, and they thus increased his social interaction to a high rate. Later, they withdrew their attention for social interaction and reversed the effect and finally then recovered it.     

A descriptive analysis of potential reinforcement contingencies in the preschool classroom

In recent years, functional analysis methods have been extended to classroom settings; however, research has not evaluated the extent to which consequences presented during functional analysis are associated with problem behavior under naturalistic classroom conditions. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to determine whether the social consequences commonly manipulated in functional analyses occur in typical preschool classrooms. A total of 14 children attending preschool programs participated in the study. Data were collected on the occurrence of antecedent events (e.g., presentation of tasks), child behaviors (e.g., aggression), and teacher responses (e.g., delivery of attention). The probability of various teacher responses given child behavior was then calculated and compared to the response-independent probabilities of teacher responses. Attention was found to be the most common classroom consequence (100% of children), followed by material presentation (79% of children), and escape from instructional tasks (33% of children). Comparisons of conditional and response-independent probabilities showed that the probability of teacher attention increased given the occurrence of problem behavior for all children, suggesting that a contingency existed between these two events. Results suggest that functional analyses that test the effects of attention, escape, and access to materials on problem behavior may be appropriate for preschool settings.     

Development of gender discrimination: Role of stereotypic and counterstereotypic gender cues

Toddlers (41 girls and 35 boys) between 18 and 37 months old were given four gender discrimination tasks, each consisting of 6 pairs of color drawings. Three tasks depicted pairs of preschool girls and boys holding either sex-typical toys (stereotypic cues), sex-atypical toys (counterstereotypic cues), or no toys. The fourth task paired pictures of female-typed and male-typed toys. For each pair, subjects were asked to point to either the girl (girls' toy) or boy (boys' toy). Gender discrimination increased with age. Young children performed at chance level on all tasks. Older children made fewer correct choices on the Toy Alone task than on the tasks depicting children. Performance generally was unaffected by stereotyping or counterstereotyping of gender cues. Sex differences were minimal.Portions of this paper were presented at the meeting of the Society for Research in Child Development, Baltimore, MD, April 1987.