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.     

Teacher ratings of children's problem and competence behaviors: Normative and parametric characteristics

Teacher-rated adjustment differences among young elementary school children from (a) a recent sample and a 1974 cohort, and (b) urban/suburban, male/female, and grade-level subgroups were examined. A problem behavior checklist (Classroom Adjustment Rating Scale) and a school competence measure (Health Resources Inventory) for 974 children from 5 urban and 5 suburban schools were completed by 101 first- to fourth-grade teachers. Children from the more current cohort were rated as significantly more maladjusted than those from the earlier sample on 8 of 10 adjustment variables. In the recent sample, girls and suburban children evidenced a greater number of school competencies and fewer problem behaviors than boys and urban children, respectively. The implications of these findings for the future use of the teacher rating scales are discussed.     

Gay women,men, and families in rural settings: Toward the development of helping communities

The urban biases of empirical research on gay men, women, and families have resulted in minimal knowledge about gay people in rural settings. The diversity of lives of rural gay women and men and the variety of patterns of meeting the challenges of rural living are described. Processes of help-seeking and help-giving are discussed and the need for a helping community of family, friends, and caring others is affirmed. Collaboration between rural gay people and rural community psychologists is suggested to promote the development of helping communities for gay people and thereby initiate a process of change in rural settings.     

Modification of Type A behavior through aerobic exercise

This psychophysiological evaluation of an aerobic exercise program examined specifically whether aerobic training modified Pattern A for those individuals at behavioral risk for developing coronary heart disease, i.e., young Type A individuals. At pretest and posttest of this secondary prevention study, Type A and Type B subjects were assessed in three conditions: aerobic exercise program, nonaerobic activity (Aikido, a martial art) control, and notreatment control. After 10 weeks, Type A but not Type B subjects exhibited lower Pattern A behavior in the aerobic program than in control conditions. Average workout pulse rates and differentially reliable increases in aerobic capacity indicated that aerobic training was indeed aerobic, whereas aikido activity was not. Even though selected nonaerobic factors, such as locus of control and group participation, did not mediate the Pattern A decrease for Type A's when comparing aikido and aerobic conditions, changes in aerobic capacity may have been the mediator. Generalizability of the results and implications for theoretical development and clinical intervention are discussed.     

Spiritual issues in mental health care

Religious and spiritual issues in mental health are explored in the context of four conceptual models: the medical, the nursing, the humanistic, and the pastoral. This is done by looking at each model in terms of content, diagnostic focus, language and treatment goals, and primary qualities in the health provider.The models are illustrated by case studies gathered from a multidisciplinary setting. The discovery that each model can incorporate the religious and spiritual dimension in mental health care, but that each model does this in distinctive ways, is a key point.     

Motivations for parenthood among young adult college students

Two hundred and sixty three young adult college students responded to openended questions assessing their specific intentions, motives, and plans for having children. The most commonly stated motives for childbearing reflected a strong interest in establishing an identity and social network. Financial, marital, and emotional stability were identified as important factors influencing the timing of parenthood. Several significant sex differences were found for both motives and the timing of parenthood. These findings are discussed in terms of changing social norms regarding parenthood and changing sex role expectations.Portions of this research were presented at the Eastern Regional Psychological Association Convention in New York, April 1986. This research was funded by a grant from Trenton State College, Committee for Faculty and Institutional Research and Sabbatical Leave.     

Rules versus cognitive structure as bases for children's performances on probability problems

The present study compared two hypotheses about children's solutions to Piaget and Inhelder's (1975) two-set alternative choice probability problems. The first was that children follow rules that specify a temporally ordered sequence of tests and decisions (Siegler, 1981). One prediction of rules is that children who know strategies that combine variables within sets (e.g., ratio or subtraction strategies) will only use them on problems that require such strategies (conflict problems), whereas lower level (nonconflict) problems will be solved by directly comparing the values of variables between sets. The second hypothesis was that once children develop knowledge of within-set solutions to probability problems, they apply them to both conflict and nonconflict problems. The results supported the latter hypothesis. The majority of children who solved conflict problems using within-set strategies explained at least one nonconflict problem by referring to within-set combinations. Results were discussed in terms of their implications for cognitive development and for instruction.     

Multiple regression analysis of twin and sibling data

DeFries and Fulker (1985) employed a multiple regression analysis of twin data in which a cotwin's score is predicted from the proband's score, the coefficient of relationship (R = 1.0 for monozygotic twins and 0.5 for dizygotic twins), and their interaction to yield direct estimates of heritability (h²) and the proportion of variance due to common or shared environmental influences (c²). The purpose of the report is to extend this model to allow for the analysis of data from more than two familial relationships simultaneously. Data from identical twins, fraternal twins, and siblings pairs, in which one member of each pair was selected based on low reading performance, were analyzed. To analyze the data simultaneously, additional coefficients were added to the regression equation in order to differentiate shared environmental influences of twins and siblings. When the model was applied to the combined cognitive data, significant estimates for heritability were obtained in three of the six tests analyzed. The results also indicated a lack of justification for the separate twin and sibling environmental parameters, and a discussion of more parsimonious models is included.