Nonprofessional counselors: Revisiting selection and impact issues

This study examined two issues related to the use of nonprofessional counselors (n = 159) within the context of a diversion program for juvenile offenders. First, the relationship of the nonprofessionals' personality traits and general attitudes to client outcome was examined. No statistically significant correlations were observed. Second, the differential impact of various training and supervision factors was examined in terms of nonprofessional satisfaction, attitudes, and locus of control. Results suggested that training intensity, training content, and supervision setting may influence nonprofessionals' attitudes towards various social groups and their satisfaction with the nonprofessional experience.     

Studying speech perception in adolescent school-age children by utilizing primary color perception

Since both speech and color have perceptual ramifications in language, the present study was developed to study speech perception through color perception. With the recent advances in perception generally and color perception specifically, this nontraditional approach to studying speech perception appeared reasonable. The 12 consonants utilized in this study generated 144 pairs of nonsense CV-syllables. The consonant ensemble was selected because it accommodated a maximum number of phonological features with a minimum number of phonemes. The 46 subjects, who were in junior high school with an age range of 11 through 14 years, responded to each of the stimulus pairs by assigning (associating) to it one of the six primary colors. Because of the perceptual orderliness associated with subjects' judgments, the results indicated that color can be used to study speech perception. Specific findings included the retrieval of sameness, fronting (or place), and voicing.This study is based on a master's thesis presented to the Graduate School, Tennessee State University in Nashville. The authors gratefully acknowledge the cooperation and assistance of the Speech and Hearing Institute at the University of Texas Health Science Center-Houston.     

Changes in self-stimulatory behaviors with treatment

For four of six autistic children who underwent intensive behavioral treatment, the nature of their self-stimulatory behavior changed from initial lowlevel motor behaviors (such as rocking, spinning, twirling) to differing kinds of higher-level behaviors (such as lining of objects, echolalic speech, and preoccupation with spelling and numerical values). The children who changed to the highest levels of self-stimulatory behavior also showed the largest gains in treatment (as determined by IQ scores, school placement, etc.). The changes in self-stimulatory behaviors were attributed to the intense teaching of appropriate social behaviors and the explicit therapeutic suppression of low-level, self-stimulatory behaviors. The long-term therapeutic effects of changing from lower-to higher-level forms of self-stimulatory behavior were discussed.This study was supported by a grant from the National Institute of Mental Health (grant MH 11440). We want to express our thanks to the parents who allowed us to study their children. We gratefully acknowledge the assistance of Maria Audero with the design of the weighted measure, and Tracee Parker with the collection of the data.     

Evidence for scanning with unilateral visual presentation of letters

When letters and words are presented tachistoscopically, material from the right visual field (RVF) can be reported more accurately than that from the left visual field (LVF). The RVF superiority may reflect either left hemispheric dominance for language or directional scanning. Previous studies have deliberately focused on the cerebral asymmetry factor while "controlling" scanning and, thus, have cast some doubt on the potency of the scanning factor. Two experiments were conducted to show that scanning can induce a RVF superiority comparable to that often associated with cerebral asymmetry. The first experiment required bilingual subjects to report six English or six Hebrew letters, shown briefly in either the LVF or RVF, with order of report controlled. A RVF superiority found with English characters was matched by an equal but opposite LVF effect with Hebrew. In a second experiment, five English characters were shown briefly in either the LVF or RVF, and subjects had to identify a single character indicated by a post exposural cue. Using a spatial cue to by pass scanning, there were no field differences; with an ordinal position cue--a procedure thought to force scanning--there was a strong RVF superiority. The results show clearly that scanning can induce visual field differences.     

Patterns of discipline enforcement and the perception of justice in two educational frameworks in Israel

The purpose of the present study was to examine the types of discipline enforcement measures employed in the Israeli elementary and junior high schools, and their fairness as viewed by students. The central hypothesis was that patterns of discipline enforcement vary considerably depending on school characteristics. These patterns, in turn, together with students' sex, socioeconomic and ethnic background, and academic status within the school, determine students' perceptions of justice concerning misbehavior management. It was found that junior high school teachers rely more on problem-centered, and elementary school teachers rely more on relationship-centered techniques of discipline enforcement. However, in spite of these differences and the report of about half of the students that they personally had been unfairly treated, the majority of the respondents reported that the punishments employed in their school were generally fair, and that the severity of punishments was in the right proportion to the severity of the misconduct. Students' traits have accounted for only a small percentage of the variance of the various dimensions of justice that were examined. It has been suggested that students' perceptions of justice are related to an overall tendency to perceive schools' authority as legitimate rather than to schools' structural characteristics, misbehavior management techniques, and students' traits. Several possible bases of schools' legitimation are discussed.     

Getting More by Asking for Less: The Effects of Request Size on Donations of Charity1

In the context of an annual fundraising drive for the American Society, two field experiments were conducted to test the relative effectiveness of suggesting either small or large contributions. In experiment 1, as part of a door-to-door campaign 300 people were randomly assigned to: (a) a standard request for contributions (control); (b) the standard request plus the words, “even a penny will help”; or (c) the standard request plus the words, “a generous contribution would really help.” As hypothesized, asking for a generous contribution significantly decreased the percentage of people who donated and failed to increase the average size of contribution by those who gave. Inconsistent with previous findings, the even-a-penny condition did not increase donating. In the second experiment conceptually similar requests were made in a mail-out campaign: 6,000 requests were made—2,000 suggested relatively small amounts (options beginning at $5); 2,000 suggested large amounts (options beginning at $5); and 2,000 were unspecified with regard to recommended amount (control). As expected, compared to the control condition, asking for small amounts increased the proportion of donors to nondonors without decreasing the average size of contributions, while asking for large amounts decreased the proportion of donors to nondonors without increasing the size of contributions. It is suggested that the findings have important implications for charitable fundraising.     

Facilitating autonomy in passive-dependent persons: An integrative model

Passive and dependent qualities are commonly found in psychiatric patients suffering from a variety of disorders. While such tendencies are often secondary to an Axis I clinical syndrome, they are occasionally more persistent and refractory. The present article attempts to provide therapeutic guidelines useful when working with clients displaying stable personality traits of passivity and dependency. An attempt is made to adapt and combine several therapeutic techniques to be applicable to passive-dependent clients. More specifically, problem-solving approaches and self-control strategies can be used to facilitate autonomy if precautions are taken to reduce the dogmatic and didactic styles commonly employed with these techniques. The Socratic method of interviewing is posited as a useful means of developing problem-solving skills without creating unnecessary dependence on the therapist. Self-control strategies can help reduce the reliance on others as the primary source of satisfaction for dependent clients. In this way, passive-dependent clients may become more self- reliant and autonomous in their daily functioning.The author would like to thank Patti Watson, Katie Brooks, and Estyn Williams for comments made on an earlier draft of this article.