TEACHING SOCIAL SKILLS TO STUDENTS WITH AUTISM TO INCREASE PEER INTERACTIONS IN AN INTEGRATED FIRST-GRADE CLASSROOM

We investigated the use of social skills groups to facilitate increased social interactions for students with autism and their nonhandicapped peers in an integrated first-grade classroom. Social skills groups consisted of training students and peers in initiating, responding, and keeping interactions going; greeting others and conversing on a variety of topics; giving and accepting compliments; taking turns and sharing; asking for help and helping others; and including others in activities. Training occurred during the first 10 min of 20-min play groups, four times per week. Using a multiple baseline across subjects design, results demonstrated increases in the frequency of, time engaged in, and duration of social interactions, as well as the responsivity of students and peers to each other. Results were maintained when students were monitored and given feedback on social performance in play groups and during follow-up.     

Age differences in perception of risk.

Age differences in perception of risk and the likelihood of disregarding warning signs were examined. A total of 358 adults, between 18 and 85 years old, were asked to rate 12 warning labels with respect to (a) how risky it would be to ignore the warning, (b) how likely it was that they would disregard the warning, and (c) how familiar they were with the labels. The older groups indicated higher risk in ignoring the signs than did the younger group. The older subjects were also less willing to disregard the signs than the younger subjects.     

Help-seeking behavior and attitude of Chinese Americans regarding psychological problems

Investigated the help-seeking behavior and attitude regarding psychological problems as mediated by mental health status, acculturation level, and sociodemographic characteristics in a community sample of Chinese Americans. Of the 128 respondents, 17 (13.3%) had consulted professional help for a nervous or emotional problem. Compared to the others, they reported significantly poorer mental health status (i.e., had more physical symptoms, had once come close to experiencing a "nervous breakdown," and had a relative who had been in treatment), and were more likely to be American-born. For those who had not previously sought help, attitude toward help seeking was examined. A positive attitude was mediated by superior English ability, being younger, married, and from a lower SES background. The findings suggested help-seeking behavior is primarily mediated by presence of need, whereas attitude reflected a general propensity. Acculturation was an important predictor of both behavior and attitude, with the less acculturated most in need of education about the utility of mental health service.     

Self-confidence of managers in work and social situations: A look at gender differences

This study examined gender differences in self-confidence among working managers in two situations (work and social/family) as well as relationships between self-confidence, personal adjustment, and gender identity. Respondents were 437 women and men managers (208 men and 229 women) in southeast Florida. Although the sample was predominantly non-Hispanic white, an effort was made to include as many as possible Hispanic and black managers of both genders. Meaningful subgroup analysis was not possible, however, due to the small number of minority managers. Results showed that contrary to commonly held beliefs, the women and men managers were not significantly different in self-confidence in either situation, but both were higher in self-confidence at work than the same gender was in the social/family environment. Strong gender identity—either masculine or feminine—was associated with self-confidence at work for both genders, as was high personal adjustment. Implications are discussed.     

Hide-and-seek or show-and-tell? Emerging issues of informed consent

This article reviews key philosophical and legal underpinnings of mental health professionals' obligation to obtain informed consent from consumers of their services. The basic components of informed consent are described, and strategies for clinically and ethically appropriate methods of obtaining informed consent are discussed. Emerging issues in informed consent involving duty to assess and protect against client dangerousness, obligations to third parties, and issues of deception are considered as well. The article proposes that part of the process of obtaining informed consent is the cultivation of a treatment environment that emphasizes beneficence and client autonomy.     

Sex Differences on Affective Dimensions: Continuing Examination

This study was designed to explore sex differences along several affective dimensions. A sample of 455 undergraduate students was administered several affective scales. A discriminant analysis was performed using the affective scales as discriminating variables and sex as the group variable. Significant sex differences were found on only two of nine affective scales, and the substantive significance of these differences seems to he minimal. The authors concluded that the promotion of faulty stereotypical beliefs should be abandoned in favor of increasingly complex inquiry in this area.     

The processing of inflected words

Summary Is an inflected word identified by first decomposing it into stem plus suffix or, instead, is it recognized as a whole? Several lexical decision experiments studied the recognition of inflected words in English (a language with few inflections) and Serbo-Croatian (a heavily inflected language). If recognition depended on decomposition, preceding the inflection with a brief exposure of the stem (<100 ms) should have primed the lexical entry for the stem and, therefore, facilitated recognition of the whole inflected word that followed. It did not. It was also found that the speed of recognizing an inflected word was more strongly associated with the frequency of the whole inflected form than with the frequency of its stem. The results suggested that in word recognition, lexical contact is first made with the whole word form. Nevertheless, morphological decomposition may still occur in subsequent processing.     

Traditional gender role beliefs and individual outcomes: An exploratory analysis

The results of a survey administered to 806 undergraduate students serve as the basis for analyzing the relationships among traditional gender roles, same-sex intimacy, and homophobia. High levels of homophobia and low levels of intimacy were found among those who believe strongly in the traditional roles. Previous research has shown both homophobia and a lack of intimacy to be harmful to individuals and for society. The present findings may, therefore, constitute empirical evidence of the negative effects of gender roles. Sex differences found in the survey results also support this contention. A general model of the consequences of traditional gender role beliefs for those who hold these views is also speculated.     

Dos-based exercises that demonstrate classic studies in human memory

Ten exercises are described that demonstrate some classic experiments in human memory and cognition. The studies, prepared in MEL Professional V1.0, have been incorporated in an undergraduate class taught by the author for a number of years. Survey data from students completing the course indicate that the exercises promote understanding of class material. Availability of the programs is described.