The development of a child assessment interview for research and clinical use

The Child Assessment Schedule (CAS) was developed to address the need for a standardized child interview that could be used for research and clinical purposes. The CAS has several distinguishing characteristics: (1) Questions and responses are standardized, (2) the format was designed to enhance rapport with the child, and (3) information necessary for DSM III childhood diagnoses is explicitly solicited. The CAS was administered to 32 child outpatients, 18 inpatients, and 37 normal controls. Derived scores were obtained for total psychopathology, 11 content areas, and 9 symptom complexes. Interrater reliability for the total CAS score was quite high. The CAS was able to discriminate among the three groups in total score indicating degree of psychopathology, on 9 of the 11 content areas, and on 8 of the 9 symptom complexes. Significant correlations were found between the CAS and maternal report of child behavior and between the CAS and child selfreport of internal affects. It was concluded that the CAS has adequate reliability and validity, although further research is indicated.     

Determinants of processing for a propositional structure

The main purpose of this study was to characterize differences among propositions within a propositional structure. Propositions were described in terms of degree (the number of other propositions to which each is connected) and in terms of a kind of hierarchical level. Paragraphs having a given structure were tested in three tasks: selection of the most important proposition, free recall, and reading under two orienting instructions. Performance was analyzed according to degree and level of the individual propositions and according to the sequences of propositions within the paragraphs. All of these variables affected performance in various tasks. The results were discussed in terms of the distinction between initial encoding and subsequent recall.     

The effect of practice on binocular rivalry control

The effects of passive viewing and the practice of the control instructions, “slow rate” and “rapid rate,” on a measure of binocular rivalry (BR) control was investigated. Four groups of 8 Ss each had different amounts of passive viewing of BR followed by different amounts of control instructions to complete a total of 50 min of testing spaced over lOdays. There were increases of passive rate as long as Ss practiced only the “passive rate“ instructions. This had an effect of increasing the rapid rate and slow rate of the first control practice day. However, “passive rate” practice had no significant effect on the measure of BR control. Successive practice days of “rapid rate” and “slowrate” instructions produced an increase in rapid rate and decrease in slow rate resulting in an increase in the measure of control.     

When Is a Parent Out of the Picture? Different Custody,Different Perceptions

This study investigated how 200 children from mother-, father-, or joint-custody arrangements perceived their divorced families. The authors argue that it is not the type of custody that shapes the child's view of whether one parent is peripheral but, rather, the nature of relationships within the various custody arrangements.