The preventive and therapeutic effects of two school mental health programs

In 30 classrooms randomly assigned to experimental conditions, effects on mothers' reports of behavior symptoms were compared for (a) a parent education program; (b) an in-school program of consultation, counseling, training, and referral; and (c) control classrooms. A sample of 426 families were followed for 30 months from the child's entry into third grade. A simple unweighted count of the number of symptoms reported in a home interview had adequate validity, good reliability, low reactivity, and intrinsic significance. Both programs had significant preventive and therapeutic effects on boys but not on girls. Effects were immediate in the upper middle class families, delayed in the lower class families.The larger study on which this article is based was initiated some years ago by Professor Glidewell and his colleagues, and represents a pioneering research effort in the field of community psychology. The present article was prepared by the authors in response to an invitation from the Editor to report important and still timely aspects of the original study that were not previously published in archival sources. We are grateful to Professor Glidewell and his colleagues for giving us this opportunity to make their findings more generally available to community psychology researchers.This work was supported by research grant M-592 from the National Institute of Mental Health, U.S. Public Health Service, and the St. Louis County Health Department.     

Teaching directional skills to preschool and kindergarten children

Studied a new device and training procedure for teaching the directional orientation and sentence tracking skills used in reading and writing western languages. Twelve preschool and 14 kindergarten children were randomly assigned to E and C groups. Between pre- and posttests, Es practiced for a total of 20 min. over a two-week period with an electronic device which flashed a correct signal only when S scribed left-to-right through successive sentences from top to bottom of the display. Any error in sequence extinguished the signal. Cs received only pre- and posttests. On test sentences prior to practice neither Es nor Cs were able to show where the sentences began or how they went from beginning to end. After using the device, Es tripled their orientation and tracking scores, while Cs not given access to the device did not improve (p < .002). Left-right and up-down directional confusion, often the subject of many hours of remedial training, were shown to be rapidly corrected in normal children by the use of a simple electronic device providing clear feedback distinguishing correct from incorrect responses. Implications for prereading instruction are discussed.     

Is the holocaust relevant to sociobiology?

Sociobiologists have emphasized that altruism and benevolent behavior are part of the genetic repertoire of most animals and certainly of man. They have constructed a theory of ethics as a biological phenomenon without reference to the concept of evil. It is concluded here however, that holocaust behavior is not equivalent to the natural manifestation of an incompletely tamed animal flashing its teeth. Biologists have been too rigid in trying to equate ethical behavior with social behavior. The added dimension of ethical behavior is a special kind of sensitivity to the needs of others, just as evil is the total lack of it. The evolution of this moral sense may itself have important selective value for the human species, whose survival depends on creating maximal diversity in its gene pool.     

Analyzing mothers' speech to young autistic children: A methodological study

The development of a technique for analyzing mothers' speech to young children is described. The need for such a measure arose from two linked studies of autistic children, one comparing them with developmental dysphasic children and the other evaluating the results of a home-based approach to treatment. A 17-category system was developed which could encompass almost all the types of speech shown by mothers of young autistic and normal children and which differentiated between the speech used by different mothers in a way that was meaningfully related to the child's level of language development. The categories proved to be easily applicable and to show good inter-observer reliability. Tape-recordings made during home observations were found to be the best source of speech samples. The problems of time sampling, length and nature of speech sample, and observer effects are discussed.We are most grateful to our colleagues Dr. Lionel Hersov and Mr. William Yule for many helpful suggestions in developing the measures and for their comments on an earlier draft of the paper. The study is supported by a grant from the (British) Department of Health and Social Security.     

Use of the frostig DTVP with economically disadvantaged children

This research dealt with the reliability and validity of the DTVP when used with a sample of economically disadvantaged, predominantly Negro children from a large eastern city. Regarding reliability, test-retest and split-half procedures were employed; for validity the test was correlated with intelligence and achievement measures. The authors concluded that (a) the total test values alone evidence the necessary reliability to be used with confidence for diagnostic purposes, and (b) the validity of the measure has not been sufficiently demonstrated.     

Precision teaching: A tool for the school psychologist and teacher

The authors of this paper have tried to provide an introduction to the language and problem solving approach called Precision Teaching. Reasons for using a specific language and reporting techniques are listed. Definitions of the terminology and examples taken from the classroom are provided. The main point of this paper is that systematic interventions, precisely described and systematically recorded, lead to the most successful interventions.