Use of the frostig DTVP with economically disadvantaged children

This research dealt with the reliability and validity of the DTVP when used with a sample of economically disadvantaged, predominantly Negro children from a large eastern city. Regarding reliability, test-retest and split-half procedures were employed; for validity the test was correlated with intelligence and achievement measures. The authors concluded that (a) the total test values alone evidence the necessary reliability to be used with confidence for diagnostic purposes, and (b) the validity of the measure has not been sufficiently demonstrated.     

Precision teaching: A tool for the school psychologist and teacher

The authors of this paper have tried to provide an introduction to the language and problem solving approach called Precision Teaching. Reasons for using a specific language and reporting techniques are listed. Definitions of the terminology and examples taken from the classroom are provided. The main point of this paper is that systematic interventions, precisely described and systematically recorded, lead to the most successful interventions.     

The school psychologist as a behavior management consultant in a special class setting

The efficacy of the consultant's role in dealing with problems in large special classes and the value of introducing operant techniques through untrained teachers were investigated in the present study. Twenty-two out-of-control boys in a special class for emotionally disturbed children were brought under the control of a number of token reinforcement systems with a resultant increase in task-oriented behavior and academic productivity. With teachers acting as observer-recorders and behavior change agents the school psychologist was able to minimize his role as a consultant with considerable success.     

The Slosson intelligence test as a quick estimate of mental ability

The study investigated the reliability and validity of the SIT when administered and scored by 33 special education teachers who had no prior psychological testing experience. Subjects were 155 pupils between four and 16 years old who attended 40 Philadelphia schools. Results relative to interscorer differences, internal consistency, stability over time, and concurrent validity upheld the use of this measure as a quick screening device and corroborated Slosson's contention that the test can be administered successfully by teachers.     

Does the pot melt,boil, or brew? Black children and white assessment procedures

The experiences Black youths bring to school with them constitute a distinctive, viable culture. Their subsequent performance in educational and psychological testing situations cannot be assessed adequately without consideration of their particular attitudes, perceptions, and behavioral patterns, for all of these are determined by a kind of cultural conditioning which differs, in some fundamental ways, from mainstream Americans. Several of the social and psychological characteristics of Black culture are discussed. Included are Blacks' attitudes toward whites, systems of time allocations, expressions of identity, attitudes toward learning, dissemination of information among Blacks, Black learning styles and maturation processes. Each is discussed further in terms of its manifestation in a testing or assessment situation; how it conflicts with the assessor's orientations and expectations; and how distorted, unreliable evaluations result from the failure of assessors to consider implications of cultural relativism in interpreting Black behavior.     

The disadvantaged as a social and professional phenomenon

Being culturally disadvantaged is a social condition which is created, managed, and maintained by both social and professional institutions. When institutions attempt to sustain societal norms by selecting certain attributes and calling them desirable, these institutions are relegating large segments of the population to a deviant status if it does not share these attributes. The “culturally disadvantaged” are such a group. This phenomenon not only results in differential perceptions and expectations, but also influences their self-evaluation, academic success, and career opportunities. The transformation of deviance into incompetency has also led to formally sanctioned methods of managing deviancy. Methods, such as compensatory education, ability grouping, and special class placement can be viewed as maintaining the position that the culturally disadvantaged are indeed deviant and incompetent.     

Integrating ethics in design through the value-sensitive design approach

The Accreditation Board of Engineering and Technology (ABET) has declared that to achieve accredited status, “engineering programs must demonstrate that their graduates have an understanding of professional and ethical responsibility.” Many engineering professors struggle to integrate this required ethics instruction in technical classes and projects because of the lack of a formalized ethics-in-design approach. However, one methodology developed in human-computer interaction research, the Value-Sensitive Design approach, can serve as an engineering education tool which bridges the gap between design and ethics for many engineering disciplines. The three major components of Value-Sensitive Design, conceptual, technical, and empirical, exemplified through a case study which focuses on the development of a command and control supervisory interface for a military cruise missile.     

Two functions of verbal intergroup discrimination: identity and instrumental motives as a result of group identification and threat

In two studies, the authors examined the circumstances under which discrimination has an identity confirmation function or an instrumental function (instigating collective action). In Study 1, participants (N = 601) described a situation in which they had discriminated and then completed measures of functionality, group identification, and group threat. Both functions were predicted by group identification, whereas the instrumental function (but not identity confirmation) operated under group threat. In Study 2, "die-hard" soccer fans (N = 1,546) suggested soccer chants in reaction to either a group-reinforcing (own team scores) or group-threatening (other team scores) situation and rated the perceived functionality of the song. Although both of these conditions evoked discriminating songs, as predicted, these served a more identity-confirming function in the reinforcing situation but a more instrumental function (pepping up the team) in the threat situation. Results are discussed in terms of a contextual-functional model of intergroup discrimination.