Behavioral Treatment of Test Anxiety in a Drug Abuse Vocational Rehabilitation Day Program

Anxiety is one of the critical factors present in initiating and maintaining a drug-dependent pattern of behavior. This study examines test anxiety. The objective was to determine if a behavioral approach can be applied to the treatment of test anxiety in a vocational rehabilitation program for drug abuse clients. A case history is presented. Procedural details for applying behavioral techniques are discussed. The results of the study indicate that the treatment strategies selected were effective in reducing test anxiety. One of the side effects of using an approach that puts the technology of behavior change into the hands of the client is that the skills learned during treatment can be used to cope with problems other than those discussed with the counselor.     

Wooden versus Plastic Apparatus with the GATB: A Restudy

The finding of a mean difference of 11 points (one standard error) between wooden and plastic peg boards for the M-aptitude of the General Aptitude Test Battery (GATB) as reported by Kapes and Sievert (1973) led to this investigation. The intent was to replicate their research and, by the use of a broader sample range, to examine other selected variables to determine whether any differences remained constant across the population. The results of the study indicated that individuals tested on the wooden equipment perform significantly higher than those individuals tested on the plastic equipment. Converted score differences for the M-aptitude indicated an average difference of approximately 10.5 points in favor of the wooden apparatus.     

Predictive Validity of Instructor Ratings in a Skill Training Setting

Predictive ratings of trainees in a skill training setting by their instructors are compared and contrasted with first-line supervisory ratings of the same trainees in an employment setting. An ethnic subgroup analysis suggests some possible differences in terms of range and variations of prediction. Implications are presented for further consideration.     

Impact of a College Student Academic Mentoring Program on Perceived Parental and Teacher Educational Involvement

This article examines the hypothesis that academic mentoring of college students improves perceived parental and teacher educational involvement. College students were randomly assigned to a 1‐year academic mentoring program (protégés, n = 150) or a control group (n = 167) and completed questionnaires before, during, and after the intervention. Protégés perceived greater levels of parent and teacher educational involvement than did participants from the control group. However, the impact of the mentoring program on perceived parental involvement was found only among students who reported a secure relationship with their parents. Additional analyses suggest that some of these improvements were related to quality of the working alliance between mentors and protégés and to supportive behaviors exhibited by mentors during the intervention.     

Educational Rehabilitation for Substance Abusers

The article describes a program that provides educational rehabilitation in a therapeutic setting using Adult Basic Education/General Education Development (ABE/GED) classes. Data presented indicate that, on average, students who complete 6 months of training in this program raise their academic achievement level by 7 grade levels in math and by 5 grade levels in English.     

Training Bartenders as Helpers on a College Campus

Student bartenders working in a college rathskeller are portrayed as “gatekeepers”: individuals at a strategic point of contact between mental health professionals and people in need of such service. This article describes a training program that sought to enhance the skills necessary to perform a variety of gatekeeping functions. The program, which took the form of a one-day workshop, included six major segments. The authors suggest that such a workshop is a potentially useful preventive mental health program for a college campus.     

Use of the General Aptitude Test Battery to Predict Success on the Tests of General Educational Development

An increasing trend in recent years has been the desirability of a high school diploma either as an entrance qualification of employment or as a by-product of a training program. As a result of this trend, the tests of General Educational Development (GED) are, in many states, being seen as an alternative for many individuals who have neither the time nor the inclination to reenter high school or other formal educational programs to obtain a high school diploma or its equivalent. The purpose of this article is to examine data from the General Aptitude Test Battery (GATB) in an attempt to use that battery, or more appropriately, subtests of that battery to predict passage of the GED examination. Data were collected and analyzed from four different geographically diffuse states for both comparative and predictive capabilitites. It is concluded that the G and V scores on these subtests of the GATB (at 110 or greater on either of these aptitudes) indicate almost definite prediction for passage of the GED.     

Truth, Thinking, Testimony and Trust: Alvin Goldman on Epistemology and Education

In his recent work in social epistemology, Alvin Goldman argues that truth is the fundamental epistemic end of education, and that critical thinking is of merely instrumental value with respect to that fundamental end. He also argues that there is a central place for testimony and trust in the classroom, and an educational danger in over-emphasizing the fostering of students' critical thinking. In this paper I take issue with these claims, and argue that (1) critical thinking is a fundamental end of education, independently of its instrumental tie to truth, and (2) it is critical thinking, rather than testimony and trust, that is educationally basic.