Construction et Validation de l'Échelle de Motivation pour les Personnes Âgées (EMPA)

Le but de cet article consiste à présenter les résultats de quatre études ayant pour objectif de construire et valider un nouvel instrument mesurant la motivation des personnes âgées vis-à-vis les activités importantes de leur vie, soit l'échelle de Motivation pour les Personnes Âgées (EMPA). L'EMPA est formée de quatre sous-échelles mesurant la motivation intrinsèque, la motivation extrinsèque autodéterminée, la motivation extrinsèque non-autodéterminée et l'amotivation, et ce dans six domaines de vie jugés importants par les personnes âgées: la santé, la religion, les informations, les loisirs, les relations interpersonnelles et les besoins biologiques. Dans l'ensemble, les résultats révèlent que l'EMPA possède une cohérence interne élevée ainsi qu'une stabilité temporelle satisfaisante. En plus, la validité de l'EMPA a été soutenue par: (1) l'existence d'un pattern de corrélations de type simplex entre les quatre sous-échelles, (2) des corrélations significatives entre les réponses des personnes âgées et l'évaluation des intervieweures quant à la motivation des personnes âgées et enfin (3) par des analyses de tests-t qui révèlent, en accord avec la théorie de Deci et Ryan (1985), que les personnes âgées qui se perçoivent très autodéterminées dans leur centre d'accueil ont des pointages plus élevés sur les sous-échelles de motivation intrinsèque et de motivation extrinsèque autodéterminée, mais des pointages plus faibles sur les sous-échelles de motivation extrinsèque non-autodéterminée et d'amotivation, que celles qui se perçoivent comme étant peu autodéterminées. Les présents résultats démontrent donc, du moins dans un premier temps, la validité et la fidélité de l'EMPA. Celle-ci semble donc prěte à ětre utilisée en recherche auprès des personnes âgées. A cet effet, on suggère un certain nombre de pistes pour les recherches futures quant à son utilisation dans ce secteur.     

AN ANALYSIS OF ERROR-CORRECTION PROCEDURES DURING DISCRIMINATION TRAINING

Mechanisms involved in error-correction procedures during behavioral acquisition were examined. Seven developmentally delayed subjects participated in match-to-sample discrimination training, consisting of three conditions arranged in a multielement design. Correct responses in all conditions were followed by praise and either food or pennies. In the baseline condition (differential reinforcement), an error produced no consequences. In the practice condition, an error was followed by repetition of the trial until a correct response occurred. In the avoidance condition, an error was followed by additional trials consisting of irrelevant stimuli; this condition separated the effects of repeated exposure to the same task from those of negative reinforcement, both of which existed in the practice condition. All 7 subjects made noticeable progress in the baseline condition. However, 5 of the 7 performed better in one of the error-correction conditions: 2 performed better in the practice condition, and 3 performed better in the avoidance condition. These data indicate that error-correction procedures may serve multiple functions and suggest that the practice requirement in this study included both avoidance and stimulus control components. More generally, the data indicate that additional control procedures should be included in acquisition studies to identify the relevant behavioral mechanism(s).     

ESTABLISHING OPERATIONS AND REINFORCEMENT EFFECTS

Positive reinforcement procedures have had a major impact on educational programs for the developmentally disabled; nevertheless, variation in reinforcer effectiveness both within and across individuals is a common phenomenon. This study examined one class of variables—establishing operations—that might influence the effectiveness of reinforcers. Five developmentally disabled adult males participated. Responding on one of two motor tasks—switch closure or block placement—was assessed during baseline, satiation, and deprivation conditions with respect to three classes of consequences: small food items, music, and social praise. Deprivation and satiation conditions were constructed so as not to alter significantly the normal course of events in a subject's day. For example, food deprivation entailed scheduling sessions just prior to a subject's regular lunch, and social deprivation involved limiting a subject's access to social interaction for 15 minutes, during which time the subject had access to an assortment of other activities. Results showed that each stimulus class functioned as reinforcement with different degrees of effectiveness during satiation versus deprivation conditions. These results are discussed in light of previous research on enhancement of reinforcer efficacy as well as the assessment and identification of functional reinforcers, and implications are presented for future research and client habilitation.     

The Prejudicial Impact of Pretrial Publicity1

The current studies examine the influence of pretrial publicity on potential jurors' attitudes toward a defendant. In Study 1, following one year of newspaper coverage of the investigation, arrest, and indictment of defendants for distributing large quantities of marijuana in southern Illinois, 604 potential jurors in that district were surveyed regarding their knowledge of the case, general attitudes toward crime, and attitudes toward the specific case. Analyses of the survey data revealed that knowledge of the case specifics was positively and significantly correlated with perceived culpability of the defendant but nonsignificantly correlated with willingness to admit partiality. Study 2 dealt with a highly publicized Dade County, Florida murder of a police officer in a drug sting operation. Again knowledge of pretrial publicity correlated significantly with perceived culpability of the defendant. As in Study 1, such knowledge did not correlate with stated ability to be impartial. We conclude that even modest pretrial publicity can prejudice potential jurors against a defendant and that self-reports of impartiality should not be taken at face value.     

Comparison of three antismoking interventions among pregnant women in an urban setting: a randomized trial

This study examined smoking cessation and cigarette reduction of indigent inner city pregnant women (n = 193) who completed one of three interventions: a special video program based on their perceptions of the effects of smoking during pregnancy, the American Lung Association's "Freedom From Smoking For You and Your Baby" program, or the usual physician's advice. Six percent of the women quit smoking, and 43% reduced the number of cigarettes they smoked. There were no significant differences among the three groups for either the number who quit smoking or who reduced the number of cigarettes smoked.     

On teaching articulatory phonetics via an orthography

In six experiments, the ability of university students to obtain generalizable knowledge about subphonemic distinctive features through learning to read an orthography based on these features was explored. In the reference experiment, it was found that learning four grapheme-phoneme pairs did not generate “feature awareness,” as tested by generalization to new instances of the orthography. In a second experiment, it was demonstrated that this failure was not due to inherent limitations in the testing technique, and a third experiment indicated that a considerable increase in exposure to the orthography and its principles did not help. In the last three experiments, instruction in articulatory phonetics was given prior to subjects’ learning the orthography, but reliable generalization to new instances emerged only when the instruction was based directly on the phonemes used in acquisition. Also, successful generalization was found to go hand in hand with verbalizable awareness of phonetic structure. A high level of performance was achieved only when the orthography/speech isomorphism was pointed out clearly. The results indicate that usable knowledge about an implicitly known property of speech is relatively resistant to instruction via an orthography, and that direct instruction in the property is necessary. An analogy is drawn with the acquisition of reading by nonreaders, with the results of the study lending weight to the use of curricula that emphasize phonemic awareness.