Behavioral case consultation with parents and teachers: An example using differential reinforcement to treat psychogenic cough

This study presents a demonstration of successful behavioral case consultation combined with case study methodology in the treatment of a 13-year-old female who presented with a brief history of psychogenic cough. Psychogenic cough is diagnosed when there is no organic or physiologic basis for the repeated, harsh coughing. We first present a brief review of treatments for psychogenic cough and then describe how we used differential reinforcement of low rate responding (DRL) and differential reinforcement of zero responding (DRO) within an A-B-C design. The DRL schedule produced significant decreases in coughing but plateaued at about one-third the baseline rate. Thereafter, a DRO schedule was employed which resulted in complete and lasting elimination of coughing. Discussion focuses on the limitations of case study methodology as well as its usefulness for conducting service related research in the schools, implications of some of the findings for practitioners, and other issues related to treatment.     

Organizational Competencies: A Valid Approach for the Future?

This paper attempts to integrate concepts of organizational competency across a number of levels of analysis. It provides grounded evidence on existing application and practice, and synthesizes research and development in the area of organizationally derived management competencies. Consideration is given to the underlying theoretical assumptions and definitional issues raised by existing practice. The paper highlights the range of human resource strategies or programmes used to integrate activity and implement strategic changes, and examines the shift in thinking about the importance and nature of management competency. Organization-specific approaches are reviewed and the benefits analysed. A critical review of attempts at integration suggests that application of competency-based approaches within organizations has fallen behind advances in strategic human resource management and that there is a need to shift application towards more future–oriented and strategic contexts. Weaknesses associated with existing approaches to management competency are analysed as is the issue of validity. Finally, the implications of considering competencies as an organizational level resource for human resource strategy are discussed.     

An exploratory study of early childhood teachers’ attitudes toward gender roles

This study explored the relationship between early childhood teachers’ adult gender role beliefs and their attitudes about children’s gender role behavior. The teachers, most of whom were women, expressed nontraditional beliefs regarding gender roles for adults. This feminist orientation appeared to be related to perceptions about child rearing in that teachers who espoused nontraditional gender role beliefs for adults also did for children. In addition, it was found that teachers were more accepting of cross-gender role behaviors and aspirations from girls than boys, and that this difference was related to homophobia. There were strong relationships found between child rearing gender role beliefs and attitudes toward gay men and lesbians. This study is based on a doctoral dissertation completed by the first author under the direction of Nancy Barbour and Beth Swadener. We wish to thank them for their support, comments, and suggestions.     

The impact of family,peers, and educational personnel upon career decision making

This study examined the amount of support, encouragement, and discouragement women received from the important people in their lives when they considered enrolling in a male-traditional vocational course. Data were collected from 470 women enrolled in California vocational training programs. Approximately equal numbers of women in male-dominated (Nontraditionals) and female-dominated programs (Traditionals) completed the self-administered questionnaire. Among those in female-traditional programs, 117 had considered taking a nontraditional program, but never did (Considereds). Data were analyzed for each of these three groups. Results revealed the Nontraditionals consistently received more support and enocuragement than did the Traditionals. However, the only significant support differences between the Nontraditionals and Considereds were in terms of the males in their lives. The Considereds and Traditionals also expected more discouragement than the Nontraditionals indicated they had actually received. Recommendations are made to improve educational quality and to foster equality of educational opportunity.     

The efficiency of skilled performance

The observed ease or effort of performance has traditionally been considered an integral part of any definition of skill (e.g., Guthrie, 1935). Empirical investigations of skill learning and performance have, however, largely ignored the effort or efficiency with which the movement is performed. This situation has arisen despite the fact that in many skills, particularly athletic endurance events or industrial work tasks, efficiency of performance may be essential to the goal of the task. This paper focuses on the energy demand of various skills and its relationship to issues of learning, performance, and individual differences in preferred rhythm. It is shown that across a variety of tasks the individual's freely chosen work-rate is the most efficient. The significance of preferred rhythm to theoretical perspectives on rhythmic activity is discussed.     

Fear of success in males and females

Horner's “fear of success” test was administered to 303 children between the 4th and 12th grades. There was an increase of fear of success imagery between the 4th and 10th grades and a decrease between 10th and 12th grades. Fear of success was related to sex only during high school, where it was associated with the course of study pursued by students. Thus, in a high school secretarial course, females showed the lowest fear of success while 12th-grade college-prep females showed fear of success higher than secretarial course females and college-prep males. The findings were interpreted as indicating developmental changes in fear of success due to increasing peer affiliation (4th–10th grades) and sex-linked competitive achievement (high school).     

Effects of graded doses of alcohol on speed-accuracy tradeoff in choice reaction time

The inconsistency of previous results concerning the effects of alcohol on reaction time (RT) may be related to possible tradeoffs between speed and accuracy. In the present experiment, complete speed-accuracy tradeoff functions were generated for each of five doses of alcohol (0-1.33 ml/kg) in a choice RT task. Such functions permit RT differences resulting from changes in performance efficiency to be distinguished from those due to changes in subjects’ speed accuracy criteria. Increasing doses of alcohol produced a progressive decrease in the slope parameter of linear equations fit to the speed-accuracy data, but did not significantly alter the intercept of the functions with the RT axis. Thus, alcohol reduced performance efficiency by decreasing the rate of growth of accuracy per unit time. A change in speed-accuracy criterion was combined with the decrease in efficiency at the highest alcohol dose.     

FACTORS THAT AFFECT NONTRADITIONAL VOCATIONAL ENROLLMENT AMONG WOMEN

This study identified the internal (personality) and external (social support) factors that differentiate women who enter male-dominated (Nontraditional) vocational training programs from those who only consider entering such programs (Considereds) and from those who enter female-dominated (Traditional) programs. Four hundred seventy women who were enrolled in California vocational training programs and were stratified on both social class and type of vocational training site completed a self-administered questionnaire covering (1) demographic/family background, (2) social support/encouragement from others, (3) peer experience with nontraditional programs, and (4) personality and sex-role orientation results revealed that the student subgroups differed most significantly in the amount of support, encouragement, and discouragement they received from the important others in their lives. Nontraditional students differed from Traditional students primarily in the support of female friends and family members, and from Considereds in encouragement from school personnel Recommendations are made for steps that can be taken to foster equality of educational opportunity.     

Behavioral versus Behavioral and Pharmacological Treatment in ADHD Children Attending a Summer Treatment Program

As part of the behavioral treatment in the Multimodal Treatment Study of Children with ADHD (MTA), children participated in an intensive summer treatment program (STP). This study examined the differences between 57 children in the combined treatment (Comb) group, who were medicated, and 60 children in the behavioral treatment (Beh) group, who were unmedicated throughout the STP. Comb children were significantly better than Beh on 5 measures: rule following, good sportsmanship, peer negative nominations, and STP teacher posttreatment ratings of inattention/overactivity. Groups did not differ on any of the other 30 measures, and responded similarly to the STP over time. Comparisons to normative data revealed that Comb children were more likely to fall within the normative range on 6 measures. The differences between these results and the main MTA results, in which Comb was always superior to Beh, are discussed in terms of the relative intensity of combined treatments. The implications for future studies of pharmacological and behavioral treatment for ADHD are discussed.     

The meaning and suitability of various effect sizes for structured Rater x Ratee designs

Four types of analysis are commonly applied to data from structured Rater x Ratee designs. These types are characterized by the unit of analysis, which is either raters or ratees, and by the design used, which is either between-units or within-unit design. The 4 types of analysis are quite different, and therefore they give rise to effect sizes that differ in their substantive interpretations. In most cases, effect sizes based on between-ratee analysis have the least ambiguous meaning and will best serve the aims of meta-analysts and primary researchers. Effect sizes that arise from within-unit designs confound the strength of an effect with its homogeneity. Nonetheless, the authors identify how a range of effect-size types such as these serve the aims of meta-analysis appropriately.