The longitudinal effects of early identification and counseling of underachievers

This study examined the effects of early identification and psychological services on underachievement through a follow-up study conducted six years later. One hundred and seventeen fourth-grade underachievers had been identified through a regression equation and were divided into experimental and control groups. The experimental group received psychological services during their fourth, fifth, and sixth grades from a team of university professors. Psychological services were primarily adult centered, focusing on the redirection of parents and teachers who were the primary influence on the lives of these underachievers. Follow-up studies of them at high school graduation indicated that differences between these groups reached at least the .05 level of significance for class rank, the ACT composite, the ITED composite and its subtests, and level of educational and vocational performance after high school graduation. Differences which were not statistically significant were found for pregraduation aspirations for the immediate future.     

The use of paraprofessionals in crisis intervention

Single-session crisis services by paraprofessionals (graduate students and community volunteers) in the emergency room of a community hospital were offered to 293 clients. These clients were followed-up 6 to 12 months after their last contact and asked about: (1) the effectiveness of the service, (2) their use of referrals, (3) the major source of change in their crisis situation, and (4) their rating of improvement for their presenting problem. There were 104 clients who completed the follow-up. The results support the interpretation that timely intervention by paraprofessionals may have long-lasting results in specific problem areas. A model emphasizing the use of service deliverers as researchers is proposed.     

Effects of manipulating incentive visibility during the baiting phase of delayed-response problems

Rhesus monkeys were given 960 delayed response (DR) problems. The incentive was either visible or not visible during the baiting phase of each problem, and a 0-, 5-, 10-, or 20-sec intraproblem delay was imposed. Performance was substantially better when the incentive could be seen during the baiting phase. When the incentive was visible during baiting, at all stages of training performance decreased as a function of increased chance levels after short delays, and the rate of improvement with training was comparable after each of the four intraproblem delays. When the incentive was not visible during the baiting phase, an inverse relationship between performance and delay duration became evident only during the later stages of training. On the initial problems performance was at chance levels, and although improvement with training was evident, the rate of this improvement was inversely related to delay duration. The findings were interpreted in terms of Fletcher's orienting response analysis of DR performance.     

In Support of the Concept of Underachievement

The term underachievement has still not been completely accepted by educators, although research findings suggest that it is associated with various developmental problems and that it begins early in a child's educational career and becomes increasingly worse with time. The achievement patterns of 1,078 fourth grade students in the public schools of west central Wisconsin were assessed by relating on a scattergram their performances on widely used achievement and intelligence tests. Underachievers, achievers, and overachievers were then determined through a regression equation. Comparisons of these groups on 9 developmental variables indicated differences favoring the overachievers and the achievers in each case. These differences reached the 1 per cent level of significance for 7 of the 9 variables.