Play behaviors of handicapped preschool children in the presence and absence of nonhandicapped peers

Sixteen minimally handicapped children and 18 nonhandicapped children were observed playing as separate classes and as a combined group on their preschool playground. Play behaviors directed toward self, toys, teachers, and peers were recorded using a time sampling procedure. Repeated measures analyses revealed that: (1) handicapped children engaged in less peer-directed and more teacher-directed behaviors than the similar chronological age but developmentally more advanced normal children; (2) a comparison between a subsample of normal and handicapped children who were approximately equivalent on developmental age suggested that the normal children only vocalized more often; (3) when integrated with the normal children, handicapped children engaged in more peer-directed and less teacher-directed behaviors than when playing in the non-integrated situation; (4) during the combined group play situation, normal children directed more behaviors to their own classmates while handicapped children directed approximately equal amounts of behavior to their own classmates and to their normal peers. These results suggest that the normal children were not negatively affected and the handicapped children were positively affected by the integrated play situation.     

PARENT EDUCATION PROJECT II. INCREASING STIMULATING INTERACTIONS OF DEVELOP MENTALLY HANDICAPPED MOTHERS

Two studies are reported on the assessment and training of parent-child interactional skills in developmentally handicapped mothers. Study 1 compared the interactions of eight developmentally handicapped versus eight nonhandicapped mothers during play with their young (6–25 months) children. Results showed that the former group generally interacted much less with their children and that they were less likely to praise appropriate child behavior and imitate child vocalizations. Study 2 attempted to remediate these deficits, using a training package consisting of discussion, modeling, feedback, social reinforcement, and self-recording. Results showed, first, that the training did increase the targeted skills to well within the range found for the nonhandicapped mothers. Second, training effects generalized from the group instructional setting to the mothers' own homes. Third, newly acquired skills were generally maintained at or above levels found for the nonhandicapped mothers over a 5- to 10-month follow-up period. Finally, all seven children showed increases in vocalizations concomitant with parent training. The results suggest that developmentally handicapped mothers can be taught to provide more effective and stimulating interactions to their young children.     

Assessment and attempted modification of future teachers' attitudes toward handicapped children.

In a study designed to determine whether future teachers have negative sttitudes toward groups of exceptional children based upon the labels attached to these children, 13 special education majors and 32 students majoring in other fields of education were administered the Personal Attribute Inventory at the beginning and conclusion of an introductory course in special education. Results for labels, physically handicapped, educable mentally handicapped, and learning disabled, indicated that the latter two were evaluated significantly less positively than the first on both pre- and post-course testings. There were no significant differences between the respondents' pre- and post-course ratings of the three labels. Interestingly, special education majors were significanlty more positive in their pre- and post-course evaluations than non-special education majors. These findings certainly are not supportive of "mainstreaming" children who have been categorized as either learning disabled or educable mentally handicapped.     

Display vs. memory search for digits and faces among mentally handicapped and MA-matched non-handicapped youngsters

This experiment was designed to explore possible explanations for handicapped individuals' characteristically poor performance on memory scanning tasks. Independent variables included group (mentally handicapped vs. non-handicapped), type of search (display vs. memory), type of stimuli (digits vs. pictures of unfamiliar boys' faces), and load (2, 3, or 4 items to be searched). Results indicated that handicapped and non-handicapped groups did not differ when searching displays but did when searching memory, which suggested that the handicapped group's most significant impairment was specific to some aspect of memory search. Handicapped youngsters were also hindered by increasing loads more than control youngsters were. This result as well as impairment in memory search may have been due to handicapped youngsters' relatively short visual spans. The groups did not differ in their response to the two types of stimuli, faces and digits. Facial search was a considerably more demanding task than digit search for handicapped and normal children.     

Training parents of hyperactive children in child management: A comparative outcome study

Parents of 44 hyperactive children were assigned to either a behavior modification group (PAT), a communications group (PET), or a delayed-treatment control group. Parents in the treatment groups participated in 9-week training workshops. Parents and their children were assessed before and after the workshops on measures that included ratings of hyperactivity and severity of problems, a daily checklist of problem occurrence, parental attitudes, and direct observations in a laboratory situation. Both treatment methods were more effective than a no-treatment control condition in reducing hyperactivity ratings, problem severity ratings, and daily problem occurrence. Additionally, parents receiving behavior modification training rated their children as more improved than did PET parents, were more willing to recommend the program to a friend, felt the program was more applicable to them, and were less likely to drop out of the program. Nine-month follow-up assessments indicated that treatment parents continued to view their children's behavior more positively than did control group parents. Results are discussed with respect to the implications that an educational approach to teaching child management can be an effective means of reducing behavioral problems in children, that methods differing in theoretical background and actual skills taught may result in similar outcomes, and that a "psychological," as opposed to a medical, approach to the treatment of hyperactive children can have considerable merit.     

Children's attitudes toward physically handicapped peers

The present study is a detailed exploration of children's attitudes toward physically handicapped peers. Subjects were 52 children, 26 handicapped and 26 nonhandicapped, ranging from 2nd through 8th grade. Along with 11 drawings depicting various physical impairments, children were administered an adjective checklist measure to assess affective responses toward target pictures, a preference questionnaire to assess behavioral intentions toward target pictures, a ranking task to assess perceptions of the physical capabilities of the target pictures, and a social desirability questionnaire to assess the children's desire to appear socially acceptable. In general, results indicated that older nonhandicapped children were more positive toward handicapped peers than were younger children and this was especially true for target pictures they perceived as least physically active. In addition, handicapped children held less positive attitudes toward the more “normal” target pictures than did nonhandicapped children. The present findings have important implications for the mainstreaming of physically handicapped children.     

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.     

Social interactions among teachers, handicapped children, and nonhandicapped children in a mainstreamed preschool

The emotional tone and social integration of two mainstreamed preschool classes were studied to determine whether or not the findings of an earlier study would be repeated. Although most variables showed no differences between handicapped and nonhandicapped children's peer-directed and teacher-directed behaviors, result did suggest that, particularly in one class, nonhandicapped children tended to selectively interact with other nonhandicapped (as opposed to handicapped) children when engaging in more complex (associative) social play. Handicapped children did not show the same tendency to interact more within their own group. At the same time, handicapped children received more help and affection from peers, and were more effectionate towards peers, than nonhandicapped children. Teachers refused handicapped children's requests and corrected their behavior more often; however they also gave them more help and more affection than nonhandicapped children. The results were generally congruent with those of an earlier study but did show more segregation on the part of nonhandicapped children.     

Developmental Changes in Response to Frustration among Physically Handicapped Children

Methods of coping with frustration were examined in handicapped and nonhandicapped children at three different age levels, by means of the Rosenzweig P-F Study. While an extrapunitive approach was predominant in both groups and did not differ between the groups, significant differences were found in the use of secondary coping strategies. When compared with nonhandicapped counterparts, handicapped six year olds were more likely to minimize or deny frustration. At 10 years, handicapped Ss were more likely than nonhandicapped Ss to be intropunitive or self-blaming. There was a developmental tendency for handicapped Ss to make greater use of intropunitive responses with increasing age.     

A teacher-training program to enhance mainstreamed, handicapped pupils'' self-concepts

This study assessed the effectiveness of the Utah State University Self-Concept Protocol Modules in changing teacher behaviors presumed to be related to pupil self-concept. This research focused on teachers and handicapped pupils in mainstreamed intermediate grade classrooms. The modules cover specific teacher behaviors including ways of expressing anger, listening skills and nonjudgemental messages, praising and giving instructions, and ways of fostering positive self-perception statements by pupils. The experimental group contained 15 teachers; 18 teachers were in the control group. Seven hundred and fifteen pupils (251 of which were in the experimental group) from the classrooms of the participating teachers were included. Observational data were collected on the teacher behaviors. The intermediate form of the Piers-Harris Children's Self-Concept Scale was administered before and after teachers were trained. Analyses of covariance (with prescores as the covariates) in which the experimental treatment was the independent variable and the postscores for the teacher behaviors were the dependent variables revealed a significant difference between the experimental and control group teachers. The experimental group had more favorable postscores than the control group on four of the teacher behaviors. For children's self-concept postscores, a significant treatment X pupil classification interaction was found indicating that experimental group handicapped pupils scored significantly higher (p<.05) than the control group handicapped pupils. Enhancement was not obtained for either the nonhandicapped nonminority or minority group pupils.     

Television viewing habits of emotionally disturbed,learning disabled,and mentally retarded children

Two studies were conducted to compare the television viewing habits of handicapped and nonhandicapped children. In Study 1, one group (N = 38) of emotionally disturbed (ED), learning disabled (LD), and educable mentally retarded (EMR) children and two groups of matched controls comprised of nonhandicapped peers were interviewed about their television viewing habits. In Study 2, 42 ED boys and 42 non-ED boys completed a television program diary. The studies found that handicapped children watch more television overall and more aggression-laden programs (i.e., crime dramas and cartoons) than nonhandicapped children. The potential impact of viewing television aggression on the behavior of handicapped children is discussed.     

Work involvement among college-educated women: A methodological extension

This paper has two objectives: (1) to develop a more complex measure of work involvement than that typically used, and (2) to correlate this measure with selected lifestyle/family and work variables. The data were drawn primarily from a 1981 survey of 110 female graduates of a large Midwestern university who completed their undergraduate degrees in 1967. Respondents were categorized as high, moderate, or low on a work involvement index based on four variables: work continuity, work status, current or most recent occupation, and educational achievement. Findings in the area of lifestyle/family suggest that high work-involved women are more likely to be single and to marry later when they do marry, less likely to have children, and less likely to perceive conflicts between marriage/relationships and/or children and a career. Findings in the area of work suggest that high work-involved women are significantly more likely to work in male-dominated occupations and to earn salaries of $20,000 or more. High work-involved women are also significantly more likely to be supervisors, to report that most of the people in their work group or branch are below them in rank/position, to be working with all or predominantly men, to have men above them in rank, and to have experienced sex discrimination on the job. In the area of job satisfaction, the differences by work involvement are not as pronounced. High work-involved women are significantly more likely to be employed and not job hunting — one measure of job satisfaction. However, they are no more or less likely than moderate or low work-involved women to perceive their job as a compromise with what they expected or to report overall job satisfaction. Some directions for future research are discussed.Environmental Strategies, Inc.Preparation of this report was supported, in part, by the Providence College Fund to Aid Faculty Research. Thanks are due to the staff of The Henry A. Murray Research Center of Radcliffe College for access to the 1970 questionnaires, to Sharon R. Jenkins for data processing consultation, and to the anonymous reviewers for their helpful suggestions.     

Avoidance of the handicapped: an attributional ambiguity analysis.

We demonstrated a general strategy for detecting motives that people wish to conceal. The strategy consists of having people choose between two alternatives, one of which happens to satisfy the motive. By counterbalancing which one does so, it is possible to distill the motive by examining the pattern of choices that people make. The motive used in the demonstration is the desire we believe most people have to avoid the physically handicapped. Because they do not wish to reveal this desire, we predicted that they would be more likely to act on it if they could appear to choose on some other basis. In two studies we found that people avoided the handicapped more often if the decision to do so was also a decision between two movies and avoidance of the handicapped could masquerade as a movie preference.     

Attitudes toward handicapped peers of mainstreamed and nonmainstreamed children in physical education

The influence of contact (mainstreamed and nonmainstreamed) and sex on attitudes of fifth- and sixth-grade students toward handicapped children was examined. 143 mainstreamed students attended an integrated school, whereas 86 nonmainstreamed students had no handicapped children in their school. Mean responses to the Children's Attitudes Toward Handicapped Scale were subjected to a 2 x 2 analysis of variance which indicated no significant differences by contact or sex. Chi 2 analysis of individual items indicated some significant differences, favoring contact, on items "are fun" and "are interesting".     

Children's assumptions about the generalizability of sex-typed abilities

Children (mean age = 103 months) were provided with information about the relative abilities of two stimulus children at a specific activity. They then were asked to predict which child would likely be superior at a second highly related activity. The two stimulus children were either same sex or opposite sex, and the activities in each pair were sex typed as male or female. The design was a 2 (sex of subject) × 2 (age of subject) × 4 (stimulus pair—MM, FF, MF, FM) × 2 (sex type of activities) mixed design, with sex of subject and age of subject as the between-subjects factors. Each child responded to 32 instances, representing four replications of eight possible combinations. The dependent variable was the child's choice of the initially superior child or initially inferior child as better at the second activity. The prediction was that children would be less likely to assume that superiority could generalize to a second activity if the initial superiority contradicted sexstereotyped expectations. This result would indicate that sex stereotypes interfere with inferences processes, supporting a scehmatic model of sex stereotyping. The results were consistent with the prediction. Compared to a baseline condition in which sex stereotypes were not relevant, children were less likely to choose the initially superior child when the sex stereotype had been violated, and more likely to select that child when it had been confirmed.     

Comparison of amount of speech by physically handicapped children in large or small groups on a ward

From 25 preschool physically handicapped children, a large group of 16 (14 to 18) and small groups of five were formed and compared for amount of speech at snack time. The amount of speech was recorded from three children in a small group and then when in a large group. Four small groups were observed in three sessions each; 12 sessions were conducted. Children in small groups spoke more than when in the larger groups. Small groups seemed more facilitative of language development for the young handicapped children when their handicap was severe.     

What young children think about the relationship between language variation and social difference

Previous work suggests that preschoolers understand that members of some social groups (e.g., based on occupation or gender) speak in distinct ways, but do not understand that members of other social groups (e.g., based on race, culture, or nationality) speak different languages. In these four studies we explored preschool children's inferences about language and social group membership. In Study 1 we found that preschoolers believed that minority race individuals, people wearing unfamiliar clothing, or people living in unfamiliar dwellings were more likely to speak an unfamiliar foreign language than to speak English. Studies 2A and 2B showed that children do not map social group differences to language for all social categories. Specifically, children were more likely to attribute language differences to racial rather than age differences and were more likely to map differences in music preference onto age than racial differences. Results of Study 3 showed children's inferences about language and social group differences were not derived from differences in intelligibility. Study 4 provides insight into why children readily make these language to social kind mappings by identifying a common property that both broad social kinds and distinct languages are thought to share. Together these studies provide evidence that even preschoolers may be coordinating knowledge across content domains in a coherent and meaningful way that underwrites the projection of existing knowledge to unknown instances.     

Young children's social networks as a function of age and dysfunction

Social networks provide a larger context than that of the nuclear family in which the child develops. In order to examine the networks of young children, mothers of 75 handicapped children, aged 3 to 6 years, and a matched sample of normal children were surveyed in terms of people in the child's network and frequency of daily contact. The effects of age of subject and handicapping condition on social network composition and contact were of interest. Handicapping condition played a much greater role in the network composition than did chronological age. Handicapped children had larger networks, although they did not have daily contact with network members compared to normal children. Handicapped children thus were not isolated, but appeared to have a large network composed of relatives and adults and, to a lesser extent, peers. Normal children showed a developmental shift, in terms of an increase in the proportion of peers to adults, from 3 to 6 years, whereas handicapped children did not show this change. It is suggested that the handicapped child's developmental delay and caregiving demands may necessitate greater and more prolonged adult contact, which, consequently, constrains the nature of the social network in terms of adult and peer composition. Insufficient peer contact may restrict the handicapped child's opportunity to learn important social skills.     

From over-imitation to super-copying: adults imitate causally irrelevant aspects of tool use with higher fidelity than young children

Recent research has revealed a striking tendency in young children to imitate even causally irrelevant actions, a phenomenon dubbed 'over-imitation'. To investigate whether children develop beyond this, we allowed both adults and children to witness either a child or adult model performing goal-relevant and goal-irrelevant actions to extract a reward from a transparent puzzle box. Surprisingly, copying of irrelevant actions increased with age, with the adults performing the task with less efficiency than the children. Participants of all ages were more likely to perform the irrelevant actions performed by an adult model, than by a child model. These results suggest that people may become more imitative as they mature, whilst selectively copying particular models with a high level of fidelity. We suggest that this combination of faithful copying and selectivity underwrites the powerful social learning necessary for the level of cultural transmission on which our species depends.     

THE DEVELOPMENT OF COMMUNICATION SKILLS IN PHYSICALLY HANDICAPPED CHILDREN

The present study was primarily concerned with the communication skill development of physically handicapped children. Since these children often are denied contact with peers because of their disabilities, it was suggested that they may be unable to develop the perspective-taking ability necessary for adapting communication to a specific listener. It was also suggested that the increased contact provided by moving the handicapped into regular public school classrooms may help alleviate this problem. First-, third-, and sixth-grade children, handicapped and nonhandicapped, with and without the others in their classes, were tested on their listener-adaptation abilities in general and their adaptation to handicapped children, using pictures as stimuli for messages. The results support the hypothesis that handicapped children are deficient in listener adaptation. Classroom association with “normals” seems to improve this, but does not raise them to the level of their nonhandicapped peers. Nonhandicapped children are unable to adapt to handicapped children, and contact with the handicapped does not seem to improve this situation. Being in an integrated class seems to have some positive effects on handicapped children and few effects on the nonhandicapped.