Development of learning-disabled and normally achieving children's causal attributions

The causal attributions of learning-disabled (LD) and normally achieving (NA) children in grades 3 through 8 were compared. Attributions were measured by two scales that asked children to attribute hypothetical academic failure situations to factors that were either within (e.g., insufficient effort) or beyond (e.g., insufficient ability, blaming others) their control. Consistent with a learned helplessness hypothesis, LD girls, regardless of age, were more likely than NA children to attribute their failures to factors beyond their control. In contrast, LD boys' explanations for their failures paralleled those of NA children. That is, with increasing age the LD boys were more likely to attribute their failures to insufficient effort. Explanations and implications of sex differences in developmental patterns of LD children's causal attributions are discussed.The authors wish to thank Ruth Dusseault and Betty Wallace for their help in conducting this research. We also wish to thank the teachers, children, and administrators from the Leon County Schools for their cooperation.     

PROMOTING AUTOMOBILE SAFETY BELT USE BY YOUNG CHILDREN

A program using behavioral practice, assertiveness training, and social and contrived reinforcers was developed to establish and maintain automobile safety belt use by young children. Sixteen children (ages 4.8 to 7 years) who never used their safety belts during a 5-day preexperimental observation period were randomly assigned to two groups of eight each. A multiple baseline design across groups was used to evaluate the effectiveness of the training program. During the 8-day baseline period for Group 1, no children used their safety belts when unobtrusively observed while being driven from school. During the 26-day intervention period, the children were buckled up on 96% of the observations. Follow-up probes conducted 2–3 months after program discontinuance found safety belt use to range from 86% to 100%. For Group 2, the 14-day baseline safety belt use averaged 6% and increased to a mean of 81% during the 20-day training and maintenance program. Follow-up probes 2–3 months later found safety belt use to occur during 75% to 96% of the observations. Parent questionnaires indicated the generalizability and social validity of the program.     

The choice of constraints in correspondence analysis

A discussion of alternative constraint systems has been lacking in the literature on correspondence analysis and related techniques. This paper reiterates earlier results that an explicit choice of constraints has to be made which can have important effects on the resulting scores. The paper also presents new results on dealing with missing data and probabilistic category assignment.I am most grateful to the following for their helpful comments. Arto Demirjian, Michael Greenacre, Michael Healy, Shizuhiko Nishisato, Roderick Mcdonald, and several anonymous referees.     

Belief systems and attitudes toward the death penalty and other punishments

This study focused on the relationship of belief systems as a configural construct and conservatism-liberalism to attitudes toward the death penalty and other punishments for offenses of varying severity Extrapersonalists, the most concretely functioning of the four conceptual or belief systems posited by Harvey, Hunt, and Schroder (1961), were most in favor of the death penalty They also endorsed the most severe punishment for a variety of crimes, to a particularly greater extent than did representatives of either of the two more abstractly functioning systems The belief dimensions of Openness, Evaluativeness, and Complexity, as well as the frequency of church attendance, correlated more highly and consistently with attitudes toward punishment than did either Conservatism-Liberalism or gender Both of the latter variables failed to correlate with a number of the outcome variables and related at only low levels to the others The greater predictive power of a configural conception of personality or belief systems over a unidimensional conception seems to have been demonstrated Configural concepts may additionally be generally superior to multidimensional concepts treated linearly     

The interview for antisocial behavior: Psychometric characteristics and concurrent validity with child psychiatric inpatients

The present study evaluated psychometric features and correlates of the Interview for Antisocial Behavior (IAB), a new measure designed to assess antisocial child behavior. Parents of 264 psychiatric inpatients (ages 6–13 years) completed the measure to evaluate antisocial behavior of their children. The investigation evaluated the relation of IAB scores to clinically derived diagnoses and to aggression and externalizing behaviors, as measured by different raters (parents, teachers), across different settings (home, school, hospital), and with different assessment methods (rating scales, behavioral role-play test). The results indicated that the IAB showed acceptable levels of internal consistency. A priori scores (severity, duration, total antisocial behavior) and factor analytically derived scales (Arguing/Fighting, Covert Antisocial Behaviors, Self-Injury) distinguished children with a DSM III diagnosis of conduct disorder, and scores on the IAB were more consistently related to other measures of aggression and externalizing behavior than to measures of internalizing behavior or overall severity of dysfunction. The implications of the results for use of the measure, particularly in relation to evaluation of the overt-covert dimension of antisocial behavior, are discussed.Completion of this research was facilitated by a Research Scientist Development Award (MH00353) and by grants (MH35408, MH39642) from the National Institute of Mental Health and the Rivendell Foundation.     

Gender and sex role differences in the perception of social support

This study examined the relationships among support types (i.e., emotional, instrumental, and nonintimate social participation), gender, sex role orientation, and stress level among college undergraduates (N=253). Dependent variables included need, perceived availability, and satisfaction with support. Sex differences were found only in emotional support, with men reporting less need, perceived availability, and marginally less satisfaction than women. The only gender by sex role interaction was on need for emotional support. Traditional sex-typed men reported less need than traditional women, whereas there was no difference between androgynous men and women. While sex differences do exist for emotional support, the effects of sex role orientation on perceptions of social support appears to be somewhat circumscribed.     

Cast of characters work: Systemically exploring the naturally organized personality

Cast of Characters Work conceives of the personality as a naturally organized unique group of characters who, together, function in an internal system. All characters bring their own histories, perceptions, feelings, beliefs, and behaviors to life's situations. Their survival strategies and interrelationships are felt as anxiety, conflict, ambivalence, or confidence. Heightening awareness of these multiple, simultaneous events increases access to the actual living process. The complex inner world of individuals, couples, and families can be precisely explored by working directly with each character and their relationships. Objectives are accountability and more functional, flexible, and satisfactory arrangements among characters internally and in couples and families.Also in private practice at 2 Pine Circle, Urbana, IL 61801.     

Family therapy with deaf persons: the systemic utilization of an interpreter

This paper discusses the theory and practice of providing family therapy to families in which there are hearing parents and at least one Deaf child, particularly regarding the optimal utilization of an interpreter. The therapist must be knowledgeable about the psychosocial effects of deafness, the cultural aspects of deafness, and preferably be able to use American Sign Language and Signed English. The therapeutic benefit of utilizing an interpreter extends far beyond simply facilitating communication between each family member whose primary-language is either spoken English or Sign Language. The presence of an interpreter helps the therapist to modify family rules that deny the implications of deafness and prohibit the use of Sign Language, to modify the balance of power in the family, and to encourage participants to exhibit the ego defense mechanisms of projection and transference. The family therapist can utilize those subtle yet profound influences to therapeutic advantage.