The Peer Attitudes Toward Children who Stutter scale: Reliability, known groups validity, and negativity of elementary school-age children's attitudes

Psychometric properties of the Peer Attitudes Toward Children who Stutter (PATCS) scale (Langevin, M., & Hagler, P. (2004). Development of a scale to measure peer attitudes toward children who stutter. In A.K. Bothe (Ed.), Evidence-based treatment of stuttering: empirical bases and clinical applications (pp. 139–171). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.) and the extent to which peer attitudes are negative were re-examined. Results show that internal consistency was .97 and test–retest reliability was .85. In a known groups analysis participants who had contact with someone who stutters had statistically significant higher mean scores (more positive attitudes) than those who had not had contact. Nonsignificant findings for gender and grade call into question the usefulness of these variables as discriminators in future tests of known groups validity of peer attitudes toward children who stutter. Approximately one-fifth of participants had PATCS scores that were somewhat to very negative. These findings support calls for school-based education about stuttering.

Educational objectives

The reader will be able to: (1) summarize the social impacts of stuttering on school-age children who stutter, (2) describe the known groups method to test construct validity, (3) evaluate the psychometric properties of the Peer Attitudes Toward Children who Stutter scale, and (4) provide information about the proportion of students who appear to hold negative attitudes toward children who stutter.     

Teacher practices associated with students' sense of the classroom as a community

Data from observations of 232 elementary classrooms and from student questionnaires were used to test a model linking teacher classroom practices to students' sense of the classroom as a community (assessed by questionnaire) through intermediate effects on students' classroom behavior. The model was generally confirmed and showed that teacher practices (emphasis on prosocial values, elicitation of student thinking and expression of ideas, encouragement of cooperation, warmth and supportiveness, andreduced use of extrinsic control) were related to student classroom behaviors (engagement, influence, andpositive behavior), which, in turn, were related to students'sense of community. Teachers' encouragement of cooperative activities appeared to be particularly important in this sequence. The appropriateness of the model was tested for schools serving populations that were both high and low in level of poverty, and all estimates of path coefficients were found to be invariant across these groups.     

Peer and teacher ratings of socially neglected and rejected fourth- and fifth-grade boys

Positive and negative sociometric nomination measures were administered to 86 fourth- and fifth-grade boys. Using a combination of these measures, popular (high positive; low negative), neglected (low positive, low negative), and rejected (low positive, high negative) children were identified and peer and teacher ratings of these children were obtained. Rejected children were seen by both peers and teachers as exhibiting more undesirable behaviors than either neglected or popular children. These findings coupled with those from several longitudinal investigations demonstrating that rejected children are at risk for the development of psychopathology during adolescence and adulthood, clearly points toward the importance of developing effective interventions for these children.     

Dropping out of parent training

The purpose of the present study was to determine the dropout rate when parents are taught to modify their children's problem behavior. Eight journals were examined for parent-training studies. Forty-five studies were found but only 22 of these reported dropout data. Studies were examined for dropout rate and in order to determine if the point in therapy at which dropout occurred was specified. The overall dropout rate was 28% and most studies specified when the dropout occurred. Finally, variables that are critical to dropping out when parent training is undertaken are presented and recommendations are made for future research.     

Development of the concepts of energy conservation and entropy

Development of the concepts of energy conservation and entropy was studied in children between 5 and 15 years of age. Energy conservation, as illustrated by the operation of double and colliding pendulums, was not well understood until about 15 years of age. Understanding of entropy was dependent on the particular apparatus used. When illustrated by the gradual mixing of rolling marbles of different colors, entropy was understood by 9- to 15-year-olds. But when illustrated by the eventual equalization of water levels in two interconnected containers, entropy was not well understood until about 15 years of age. Errors on a problem used to illustrate the conservation concept could often be characterized by the misapplication of the entropy concept and vice versa.