THE ACQUISITION OF CONSERVATION OF SUBSTANCE AND WEIGHT IN CHILDREN

S medslund , J. The acquisition of conservation of substance and weight in children. I. Introduction. Scand. J. Psychol ., 1961, 2 , 11–20.—This is the first in a series of articles concerning the problem of how children acquire the concepts of conservation of substance and weight. The four alternative interpretations of nativism, maturation theory, learning theory and equilibration theory are discussed. It is concluded that nativism and maturation theory do not account for the known facts. An important issue is whether the concepts are established by external reinforcement (learning theory) or by a process of inner equilibration, as maintained by Piaget.     

The relationship of young adolescent Children's Depression Inventory (CDI) scores to their social and cognitive functioning

The relationship of young adolescents' scores on the Children's Depression Inventory (CDI) to subjective and objective indices of their social and cognitive functioning was examined. Subjects were 89 young adolescents (11–15 years old), their parents, and their social studies teachers. The correlations of adolescents' CDI scores with recent school grades, objective ratings of overt social behavior, and measures of adolescent social and cognitive competence as perceived by the adolescent, both parents, and the teacher were examined. CDI scores were significantly and negatively correlated with school grades, behavioral ratings of positive social communication, and adolescent, mother, father, and teacher perceptions of the adolescents' social and cognitive competence. The relationship of these findings to those of other CDI validity studies is discussed.This research was supported, in part, by the William T. Grant Foundation and the University of Georgia's Institute for Behavioral Research.     

A generalization of Takane's algorithm for dedicom

An algorithm is described for fitting the DEDICOM model for the analysis of asymmetric data matrices. This algorithm generalizes an algorithm suggested by Takane in that it uses a damping parameter in the iterative process. Takane's algorithm does not always converge monotonically. Based on the generalized algorithm, a modification of Takane's algorithm is suggested such that this modified algorithm converges monotonically. It is suggested to choose as starting configurations for the algorithm those configurations that yield closed-form solutions in some special cases. Finally, a sufficient condition is described for monotonic convergence of Takane's original algorithm.Financial Support by the Netherlands organization for scientific research (NWO) is gratefully acknowledged. The authors are obliged to Richard Harshman.     

Aiming at the top? Upward social comparison of abilities after failure

This study examined the effects of feedback on a task on information seeking and partner preferences as forms of social comparison. It was predicted that subjects who experienced failure and perceived control over future performance would, for reasons of self-improvement, choose more strongly upward a comparison other than subjects who experienced success or perceived no control. In the experiment, 121 college students were given either failure, average, or success feedback on a bogus test for either a stable or a controllable ability. Next, the subjects choose a comparison other whose test material they would examine, and a comparison other as a partner for writing an evaluation of the test. As predicted, the preferences for information seeking and affiliation were more strongly upward when subjects experienced failure than when subjects experienced success. Perceived control partly resulted in more strongly upward choices in information seeking for subjects experiencing failure.     

Turbo Pascal timing routines for the IBM microcomputer family

Two Turbo Pascal (versions 3.0 and 4.0) software timers for the IBM microcomputer family are described: one with a 55-msec resolution and another with a 1-msec resolution. Both can be implemented without additional hardware requirements. The 55-msec timer makes use of the system-time-of-day clock; the 1-msec timer is a Turbo Pascal translation of the timer described by Bührer, Sparrer, and Weitkunat (1987). The logic of each timer is shown by a short demonstration program.     

Use of behavioral techniques by paraprofessional staff: A review and proposal

Paraprofessionals are increasingly being employed to provide direct care to children and adults who have behavioral deficits and excesses, such as those labeled developmentally disabled, mentally ill, or delinquent. Behavioral techniques, if effectively taught to paraprofessionals, offer ways of both teaching new skills to clients and reducing their undesirable behaviors. This article describes the methods that have been used to teach paraprofessionals to use behavioral techniques, how these skills can be maintained on the job, and the effects upon client behavior that result from this teaching of paraprofessionals. In addition, a system for teaching staff to implement and continue to use behavioral techniques is proposed.     

Validation of a role-play measure of children's social skills

A videotape-administered role-play test of children's social skills was developed and its psychometric properties tested. Performance criteria for the test were derived from popular children's ratings of the effectiveness of different role-play responses. The test was administered to 157 fourth- and fifth-grade boys and girls who had been classified as popular, average, neglected, or rejected, on the basis of sociometric testing. The test evidenced good interrater, test-retest, and internal consistency reliabilities. Children's role-play performance correlated significantly with teacher ratings of social competence and with peer-liking ratings. Neglected children performed more poorly on the role-play test than popular children. When differences in intelligence among social status groups were statistically controlled, social status groups did not differ on the role-play test. Results of the discriminant analyses support the conclusion that teacher ratings are better than role-play tests for identifying rejected children, whereas role-play tests and measures of intelligence appear more accurate than teacher ratings for identifying neglected children.     

Computers and girls: Rethinking the issues

A perspective is developed about emerging sex differences in the use of computer technology in education. Computers tend to be conceptually assimilated to the category of science/mathematics/technology, and thus acquire some of the traditional qualities of differentiated interest among boys and girls. Findings from several research projects are reported which point to patterns of difference in educational settings. It is argued that sex differences emerge in relation to the functions computers serve and the organization of learning settings of which they are a part.The preparation of this article and the research reported was supported by the Spencer Foundation, the Department of Education, and the National Institute of Education. The author would like to thank Kathy Clement, Carla Freeman, Peggy Heide, Moni Homolsky, Midian Kurland, Ron Mawby, Roy Pea, and Karen Sheingold for their comments and suggestions about the perspective presented here.