A process analysis of linguistic change

In this paper a process analysis of linguistic change is shown through the methodology of task analysis. From the linguistic therapy of evaluation will be shown the relevance of an intensional orientation for human evaluation problems and the relevance of an extensional orientation for more proper evaluations, along with some other therapeutic operations which represent how human beings use language and how language's use is modified with one of the main techniques of the linguistic therapy of evaluation: the abstraction orders. Also the relevance for the evolvement of cognitive psychotherapy of following a process research methodology will be discussed and addressed. The state of the art of cognitive psychotherapy will be greatly influenced by process research methodology which helps us to delineate the process of change and that combined with outcome research will improve our cognitive theories and methods.     

Diagnostischer Prozess und Voreingenommenheit in der forensischen Psychiatrie

This article analyses the problem of bias and confirmatory bias in the diagnostic process. The analysis is situated mainly within the context of the legal system in the United States but also with consideration of the situation in Germany. Special attention is given to the conceptual history and the development of modern operational classifications, particularly the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) system.     

Educating the Muslim minority in Western Thrace

A large-scale, interdisciplinary Project for Reform in the Education of Muslim Children (PEM) in Western Thrace, Greece, was implemented during the years 1977–2004. Although PEM was a specifically educational project entailing teaching Greek as a second language, development of educational materials, teacher training and academic outcome, it was bound to involve identity issues and directly or indirectly embrace the entire Thracian community. A historical and socio-political background is provided in order for the reader to understand the way power is negotiated between majority and minority and the controversies that characterize educational policy and instructional practices in such a context of ethnic, religious and linguistic diversity.     

Flexibility training with educable retarded children

This experiment was designed to test the hypothesis that training in perceptual and cognitive shifts would improve the performance of EMR children on flexibility measures and on the Binet and WISC scales. Twenty-eight children received 42 exercises in cognitive flexibility and were compared to a control group that was matched on mental age. Instruction facilitated performance on variables measuring verbal fluency and concept formation; however, significant improvement was generally limited to those variables which shared content with the training exercises.     

Improvement of arithmetic self concept through combined positive reinforcement, peer interaction, and sequential curriculum

This study investigated the development of arithmetic self concept and achievement among seven- to nine-year-old children who had problems or who were at the bottom of the lowest track of a third grade. Ss were two girls and two boys from a class of 24 low track children, who completed a one-dimensional five-point scale for self concept and were administered 20-item tests for achivement in arithmetic repeatedly throughout eight weeks of instruction. Formation of small groups, peer interaction, individual curriculum adjustment, and positive reinforcement both at individual and group level were applied. Effective, correlated results were recorded along both scales for each child, and the gains for the four target children were shown in comparison to the class as a whole.     

The utility of behavior contracts and behavior proclamations with advantaged senior high school students

The relative efficiency of behavioral contracts and behavioral proclamations was empirically appraised in a parochial high school setting. Subjects were a select group of academically oriented seniors studying Problems in Democracy. The study consisted of an intra-subject replication design with eight phases aimed at determining the controlling influences of the experimental conditions for increasing appropriate student behavior. Line graphs and percentage tables were employed to analyze observational data. Results supported the position that students attain higher rates of appropriate behavior when given the opportunity to assist in classroom management. Both behavioral proclamations and contracts proved superior to the standard classroom procedures of the baselines.     

Student sex and behavior as determinants of the type and frequency of teacher-student contacts

Second-grade teachers ranked their students according to the extent to which they exhibited problem behavior in the classroom. Boys and girls who exhibited few problem behaviors and children who exhibited many problem behaviors were observed in their dyadic interaction with their teacher. Boys who were behavior problems were found to interact with their teachers significantly more than boys who were not behavior problems and more than girls regardless of their classroom behavior. This result indicates that the high rate of student-teacher interaction for boys found by other investigators is probably characteristic of only a small percentage of boys.     

The relative effects of the frostig program, corrective reading instruction, and attention upon the reading skills of corrective readers with visual perceptual deficiencies

How effective are the Frostig training program and corrective reading instruction for improving the reading and visual-motor skills of pupils who possess deficiencies in both areas? Each of the three teachers worked each school day for sixteen weeks with the subjects of the two treatment groups plus a play placebo group. On the basis of the results of this study there is little, if any, support for the use of the Frostig program or corrective reading as treatments to improve the reading skills of children considered to possess a visual-motor problem. Due to the performances of the attention-placebo group, it is logical to hypothesize that improvements of the remedial groups are more a function of personal attention than the unique remedial powers of the two treatments. Consideration should be given to the optimal number of Frostig sessions as well as to the possibility of a ceiling effect of the Frostig program. Eight weeks of training would appear to be the maximum time before regression or improvement takes place.     

Certification patterns and requirements for school psychologists

A questionnaire was sent to 50 state superintendents of public instruction and to directors of education in five U.S. territories. Information was requested relevant to state certification for school psychologists, including minimal academic, teaching, and internship requirements. Fifty-five questionnaires were returned. Forty-four states and territories indicated certification standards which were subsequently discussed in detail. Trends noted were: more states requiring certification for school psychologists, higher academic requirements, increasing levels of certification, and a shift away from a mandatory teaching certificate for state certification as a school psychologist.