Playgroup attractiveness studied with information integration theory

Playgroup attractiveness was studied in two critical tests of information integration theory. In Experiment 1, the ratio of good to bad members in the group, and the number of toys available to the group, were varied in a 4 × 4 factorial design. The results obeyed the parallelism prediction of the theory, thereby indicating that group attractiveness was a sum or an average of the two given pieces of information. Experiment 2 provided a critical qualitative test between the adding and averaging hypotheses. The results eliminated the adding rule, supported the averaging rule. These results illustrate the potential power that integration theory provides to the experimental study of group attractiveness in children.     

Independence training,need achievement and need affiliation

American white and American Indian grade school boys and girls from the North Central Plains are studied. The previously shown significant and positive relationship between high need achievement and low need affiliation is hypothesized to be a culturally based and sex related phenomenon. The early training of Plains Indian children especially that of boys emphasizes early independence rather than either affiliation or achievement. As hypothesized, it was found in this study both that white children had significantly higher need affiliation scores than Indian children and that boys indicated higher need achievement than girls, indicating cultural and sexual differences. It appeared also that success is a more potent condition for Indian boys in intensifying need achievement scores, whereas failure intensifies the need achievement scores of white children. This suggests that perceived success and failure operate differentially between these cultural groups. Other results also corroborate earlier findings of the culture bias of « standard » intelligence tests.     

The changing intercaste attitudes in North India: A follow-up after four years

Since independence, the government of India, through various constitutional and legislative measures, has tried to root out the evils of the caste system. In order to study the effect of these measures and of various socioeconomic changes on intercaste attitudes, a study of intercaste attitudes conducted by the author in 1968 is used as a baseline to study the changes over the four-year period. The responses to the 15 items compared deal with general caste attitudes, attitudes toward special privileges for the scheduled castes and, the caste Hindus' attitudes toward Harijans (former ‘untouchables’). The comparison of the responses to these items in 1968 and 1972 (the follow-up study) indicates that a higher percentage of respondents gave liberal responses in 1972 than in 1968 to the questions dealing with public and peripheral areas of interaction. However, very little change was found in those spheres of interaction which are relatively personal and central or involve intimate interaction, e.g., the theory of Karma, attitude toward the caste system as such and attitudes toward dining with or acceptance of food from Harijans. The results lend further support to the ‘cognitive imbalance’ theory of attitude change.     

ANTECEDENT CONTROL OF ORAL READING ERRORS AND SELF-CORRECTIONS BY MENTALLY RETARDED CHILDREN

Academic behaviors can be enhanced through the manipulation of either consequent or antecedent stimuli. In this study, we evaluated the effects of manipulating two antecedent stimulus events with respect to oral reading errors and self-corrections of four mentally retarded children. Using an alternating treatments design, the effects of previewing the target text and previewing an unrelated text were evaluated against no-previewing. In the first previewing condition, the teacher discussed the target text with the children before they were required to read it orally. The same procedure was used in the other previewing condition but with the provision that an unrelated text was previewed. Oral reading errors decreased and self-corrections increased when the children previewed the target text with their teacher before reading it orally. No changes were observed as a result of implementing the other two procedures, previewing an unrelated text and no-previewing. The results, which were consistent across all four children, showed that reading proficiency can be increased by manipulating antecedent stimulus events prior to oral reading.     

Interrogative suggestibility,delayed memory and self-concept

This study investigates the relationship between interrogative suggestibility as measured by the Gudjonsson Suggestibility Scale (GSS) and variables related to memory recall and self-esteem. There were 30 Ss, tested twice 1 week apart. After completing the GSS they were required to fill in a number of Semantic Differential scales relating to the concepts: Myself as I am generally, Myself during the experiment and The experimenter. Ss were generally more suggestible during the second interview when their memory about the context of the interrogation context had deteriorated. The exception was that negative feedback appeared to have most effect on suggestibility and self-esteem the first time it was applied. Self-esteem related to ‘competence’ and ‘potency’ correlated significantly with suggestibility, especially during the first interrogative session. Perceptions of the experimenter were generally not found to be significantly related to suggestibility.     

Percentage body weight and the successive negative contrast effect in rats

In two runway experiments employing rats the successive negative contrast effect was evaluated for animals maintained at high or low body weights. In both experiments the effects on performance of shifting reward magnitude were independent of body weight. These results contrast with those of previous studies in which the successive negative contrast effect occurred only under low body weight. It was suggested that when conditions are maximal or near maximal for production of the successive negative contrast effect, as they were here but not in previous investigations, body weight will not influence the size of this effect.     

Attitude of the two religious groups towards family planning

40 Muslim and 50 Hindu male high school teachers, working in the interior parts of the districts of Gaya and Shahabad in India, filled out questionnaires designed to determine attitudes toward family planning. All were married and had more than 1 child. They were ages 26-48. The Hindus were found to have significantly more favorable (p less than .05) attitudes toward family planning than the Muslims. If the statistics reflect reality, it is no wonder the birth rate among Muslims is much higher in India. Both Muslim and Hindu teachers were grouped according to age (below 35 years or above 35 years). While the younger Hindus had significantly more favorable (p less than .05) attitudes toward family planning than the older Hindus, the younger Muslims had only slightly more favorable attitudes (nonsignificant) toward family planning than the older Muslims.     

The use of limit theorems in paired comparison model building

The Thurstone and the Bradley-Terry models, both initially advanced on intuitive grounds, have proved useful in the analysis of paired comparisons. The psychological meaning of these models and their relation to one another is unclear, but they fit data. Stevens has observed that there may be two basic mechanisms of discrimination 1) additive and 2) substitutive. We advance two corresponding mathematical models: that experienced sensation is 1) the sum of a large number of independent signals and 2) the maximum of a large number of independent signals. These assumptions yield 1) Thurstone's model and 2) the model of Bradley-Terry. Psychological interpretations of the various parameters, in terms of sensation, present themselves in a natural manner. Thus this paper presents a theory which unifies and interprets two paired comparison models that have proved useful in fitting experimental data.This research was supported in part by a National Science Foundation Grant GP 3807 and by the Army, Navy, and Air Force under ONR Contract # NONR-988(08), Task Order NR 042-004 with the Florida State University.     

Family involvement and empowerment in mental health service provision for children with emotional and behavioral disorders

Involvement of families is a critical component in effective systems of care for children with disabilities and their families. We investigated the sociodemographic correlates of family involvement in mental health services for children who have emotional and behavioral disorders. Further, we investigated the relationship between family involvement and family empowerment. The Family Involvement Scale-Family Version was used to measure involvement of families in the provision of mental services for their children and the Family Empowerment Scale was used to measure pempowerment in families with children who have emotional and behavioral disorders. In additions, demographic data concerming family composition, race, education, incone, membership in a parent support group, and the mental health status of the children were also collected. The results showed that mothers, as well as respondents with less formal education, reported greater involvement in services for their children than fathers and those who were more educated. Further, the knowledge subscale of empowerment was significantly correlated with all, subscales of family involvement and personal empowerment was significantly correlated with the treatment subscale of family involvement.