Correcting the oral reading errors of a beginning reader

Correcting student errors is an important educational concern for teachers. In this study, an alternating treatments design was used to compare the effectiveness of four methods for correcting oral reading errors, including immediate word supply, delayed word supply, sound out (phonics analysis), and directed rehearsal techniques. The subject was a 6-year-old beginning reader with average ability. Results showed that the directed rehearsal procedure was the most effective method. This study demonstrated that teachers can use rigorous research methods in their own classrooms to determine which teaching strategies they should use with their students.     

SEXUAL HARASSMENT ON CAMPUS

Attitudes about sexual harassment were assessed in a group of 224 undergraduate students. Participants responded to scenarios in which a male professor made inappropriate sexual advances to a female student. Participants then completed rating scales and questions concerning attributions of blame for harassment, educational and emotional effects, and strategies for coping with harassment. The students were divided into high and low groups on the basis of their scores on the Performance Self-Esteem Scale (PSES) and Attitudes toward Women Scale (AWS). The subject groups most tolerant of harassment and least aware of potential harm to its victims were high self-esteem women with traditional sex-role attitudes. Participants also provided information as to their own harassment experiences. Women's reported reactions to actual harassment were consistent with their responses to scenarios. Results are discussed in the context of prevailing sex-role standards.     

Orality and latency of volunteering to serve as experimental subjects

A comparison was made of the oral content of Rorschach scores of male Introductory Psychology students who signed up for experiments in the first half of the semester with those who did not sign up until the second half of the semester. Those who participated early in the semester saw more oral images than those who waited until late in the semester to participate (p = .02). The implications of this finding are discussed.     

A perceptual defense approach to the study of gender sex related traits,stereotypes, and attitudes1

In the present study men who varied in the degree to which they viewed themselves as relatively masculine and/or feminine and the degree to which they expected others to engage in activities based on their gender sex (sex role attitude) were tachistoscopically presented pictures of a man and a woman engaged in sex role nontraditional activities. A signal detection theory analysis of the data yielded information on two aspects, the sensory (d′) and the nonsensory (β), of the subjects' perceptions of the stimulus material. The major finding was that nontraditional men defended against the anxiety-producing stimuli whereas the traditional man did not so defend. This finding was interpreted to support the concept of the “well-meaning liberal male.”     

Gender Roles and Sexual Behavior Among Young Women

This study investigates the hypothesis thatnon-traditional gender role attitudes andmasculine gender role traits or datingbehaviors are associated with unsafe sexual behaviorssuch as having a high number of sexual partners, the non-use ofcondoms and the use of alcohol or drugs before or duringintercourse. A self-report survey was completed by 400sexually active Australian women aged between 16 and 24 who attended two metropolitan FamilyPlanning clinics in Queensland, Australia. The findingsshow partial support for the hypothesis. Women with ahigher level of 'masculine' personality traits and egalitarian gender role attitudes were morelikely to have multiple partners and to use alcohol ordrugs with their most recent non-steady partner. Themultivariate relationships between gender roles and sexual behaviors are not as extensive as wouldbe proposed by gender role theory and previousresearch.     

Evaluating Sources of Ego-Threatening Feedback: Self-Esteem and Narcissism Effects

High self-esteem individuals in previous studies have tended to deny the credibility of negative evaluators. The present research examined possible explanations for this finding and compared the effects of self-esteem and narcissism on evaluations of negative feedback sources. Following bogus negative feedback, self-esteem predicted negative evaluations of a nonperson feedback source and positive affect, as expected from consistency theory; narcissism predicted negative evaluations of a person feedback source and hostile affect, as expected from threat-derogation and narcissism theory. Results indicate the importance of distinguishing between healthy and defensive self-esteem in understanding responses to negative feedback.     

Women's self-estimates of competence and the resolution of the career/home conflict

Relationships among women's role factors, self-estimates of competence, and career commitment were investigated. Eighty female business students and 111 business alumnae completed the Attitudes Toward Women Scale, the Performance-Self-Esteem Scale (PSES), and questions regarding home and career choices. As predicted, PSES scores were related to extent of career commitment, and PSES scores mediated the relationship between career commitment and women's role factors. Among high PSES subjects, career commitment was positively related to nontraditional sex-role attitudes and negatively related to family involvement. Among low PSES subjects, the relationship between career commitment and women's role factors was weaker. Implications for women's career development are discussed.     

The effects of unipolar sex-role identities and situational determinants on components of fear of success

In the present study the relationship between unipolar models of sex-role identity (i.e., the degree to which a person perceives him/her self as relatively masculine and/or feminine) and situational cues (i.e., females engaged in successful activities which vary in their sex-role appropriateness) on fear of success was investigated. An alternative, objective measure of fear of success was employed which generated 16 variables thought to reflect various theoretical and empirical components of the motive to fear success. These variables dealt with personal attributes of the successful characters, reasons for their success, and possible consequences of their success. It was found that situational rather than psychological variables are of greater importance in affecting female response to female success. However, there was some support for the notion that general diffusion of sex-role identity (undifferentiated sex-role identity group) rather than high femininity may be related to avoidance of success.     

The Cooperative Research Centre for Living with Autism (Autism CRC) Conceptual Model to Promote Mental Health for Adolescents with ASD

Despite an increased risk of mental health problems in adolescents with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), there is limited research on effective prevention approaches for this population. Funded by the Cooperative Research Centre for Living with Autism, a theoretically and empirically supported school-based preventative model has been developed to alter the negative trajectory and promote wellbeing and positive mental health in adolescents with ASD. This conceptual paper provides the rationale, theoretical, empirical and methodological framework of a multilayered intervention targeting the school, parents and adolescents on the spectrum. Two important interrelated protective factors have been identified in community adolescent samples, namely the sense of belonging (connectedness) to school and the capacity for self and affect regulation in the face of stress (i.e. resilience). We describe how a confluence of theories from social psychology, developmental psychology and family systems theory, along with empirical evidence (including emerging neurobiological evidence), supports the interrelationships between these protective factors and many indices of wellbeing. However, the characteristics of ASD (including social and communication difficulties, and frequently difficulties with changes and transitions, and diminished optimism and self-esteem) impair access to these vital protective factors. The paper describes how evidence-based interventions at the school level for promoting inclusive schools (using the Index for Inclusion) and interventions for adolescents and parents to promote resilience and belonging [using the Resourceful Adolescent Program (RAP)] are adapted and integrated for adolescents with ASD. This multisite proof-of-concept study will confirm whether this multilevel school-based intervention is promising, feasible and sustainable.