Modification of severe disruptive and aggressive behavior using brief timeout and reinforcement procedures

Brief timeout for disruptive and aggressive behaviors and reinforcement for appropriate behaviors were used with two retarded patients in a state hospital ward setting. The procedures reduced loud vocal behavior in one patient and aggressive behavior in another to near-zero levels when first applied. The behaviors returned to previous levels when the procedures were removed and were again greatly reduced when timeout and reinforcement were reapplied. The results were significant because the behavior problems were severe and long-standing and the procedures were instituted without greatly disturbing normal ward routine.     

A blind woman who is mentally retarded promoting and sharing the occupational engagement of a dependent deaf-blind adolescent

A blind woman who is mentally retarded was employed (as peer care-giver) to promote and eventually share the occupational engagement of a deaf-blind adolescent (trainee) who was dependent on physical prompting. A computer-aided program was used to provide objects for the responses and facilitate orientation and mobility. The trainee was also exposed to the computer-aided program individually to assess the effects of the program per se. The results showed highly positive changes only in the condition involving the peer care-giver. In this condition, the trainee performed high frequencies of correct responses. Moreover, the care-giver managed to share responding with the trainee. Technical and practical aspects of the findings are discussed.     

Direct observation of quality of care in residential settings

Direct-observation procedures were used to objectively and efficiently assess several classes of service provided for individuals residing at two state facilities for the developmentally disabled. Time samples were taken of the condition of the clients' physical environment and of the clients themselves. The ongoing behavior of both clients and staff also was recorded. Each residence was observed at least three times during both regular work hours and evening/weekend hours. Results showed that both facilities scored high in the categories regarding the physical condition of the living areas, as well as the categories concerning the condition of the clients. Greater variability was seen in the data on client and staff behavior. More generally, the results indicate that time-sampling procedures can be used efficiently to collect data on multiple aspects of service delivery for large numbers of individuals.     

Sex differences in children's time use

A sample of children (410 on a school day and 347 on a non-school day) was examined to determine differences in time spent in household work, leisure activities, school, paid work, personal care, and sleep by males and females. Males spent more time in leisure activities and less time in household work and personal care than females. Differences in time allocation appeared to be in accordance with traditional male-female roles. These patterns were established at early ages.     

Psychosocial predictors of stress associated with the male midlife transition

This study was designed to examine the correlates of developmental psychological stress for 36 middle-aged professional men. Based on sex role convergence and role adjustment theories, two sets of predictor variables were hierarchically entered into a multiple regression equation with a third set of variables entered to control for individual stressors. Controlling for individual stressors, midlife stress outcome was found to be influenced only by role adjustment (R²=.3593). The sex role convergence cluster did not account for a significant increase in variance. Controlling for individual stressors, the best univariate predictors of stress outcome associated with the midlife transition were (a) the quality of the parent-adolescent relationship and (b) marital satisfaction.     

NUMBER AND QUALITY OF ROLES

We used longitudinal personality data to test whether number and quality of roles were associated with health and self-enhancement in 100 privileged midlife women. Number of roles (from the set of partner, parent, and worker) was not related to autonomy, individuality, and complexity, as had been hypothesized, but to respect for norms, being well-organized considering oneselt like other people. Through women with one role were lower in well-being than women with more than one, hierarchical multiple regression showed no advantage to number of roles after psychological health at age 21 was taken in to account. However, quality of role, as assessed by marital satisfaction and status level in work, was associated with contentment and effective functioning, respectively, even after antecedent psychological functioning was taken into account. Particular roles were associated with particular advantages. The enhancement model of the accumulation of roles is compared with Erikson's theory of the development of personality.     

Text Comprehension Training for Disabled Readers: An Evaluation of Reciprocal Teaching and Text Analysis Training Programs

Forty-six reading disabled adolescents were randomly assigned to one of three 25-hr instructional programs. Two programs provided training in expository text comprehension, and a third offered training in academic problem solving and organizational and study skills (an alternative treatment control). One reading comprehension program was designed to remediate a deficient knowledge base, forcing disabled readers to elaborate and further process new text knowledge, focusing on both specific informational content in a text and knowledge of text structure per se. The second program was patterned after the Palincsar and Brown (1984) reciprocal teaching techniques and focused on training four text comprehension strategies used by skilled comprehenders. Both the “knowledge-base” and the “strategy” training approaches were associated with significant improvement in disabled readers' comprehension skills, although training effects did not generalize across all aspects of reading comprehension performance. Strategy-trained readers applied the trained strategies with equal success on instructed and uninstructed text materials, providing strong evidence of transfer of learning. Knowledge-base readers also demonstrated successful transfer of specifically trained procedures (semantic mapping, text analysis) to unfamiliar text. In both programs, the best outcomes were obtained when specific strategies and operations were targeted for training.     

Personality correlates of retrieval processes in intentional and unintentional forgetting

Early accounts of intentional forgetting relied exclusively on mechanisms that operate at encoding. The results of more recent experiments indicate that memory-retrieval inhibition also is involved, thus linking waking intentional forgetting with hypnotic amnesia. The present Experiment 1 was designed to provide further support for the retrieval-inhibition hypothesis by testing four alternative explanations for some of the recent results. Experiment 2 examined the role of word affect in both intentional forgetting and unintentional forgetting to evaluate theoretical interpretations of the retrieval mechanisms thought to be involved. Unintentional forgetting of negative words was consistent with a repression-like interpretation, whereas intentional forgetting of negative words appeared to be limited by sensitization. Personality correlates of the recall results were identified and were found to be in support of these interpretations.