Methodological Issues in the Direct Observation of Parent–Child Interaction: Do Observational Findings Reflect the Natural Behavior of Participants?

This review examines evidence for the utility and validity of direct observational techniques for answering particular research and clinical questions. Observational techniques often involve recording behavior in settings that are relatively unnatural for families. However, it is argued that construct validity of observational methods depends partly on whether the findings are representative of participants' typical everyday behavior. Evidence is reviewed concerning whether observational findings are affected by the presence of the observer, and by two factors which have been neglected in the literature, namely the type of task imposed by the observer (e.g., directing parent and child to play rather than observing spontaneous interaction) and the location of the observations (e.g., clinic or laboratory rather than home). The review suggests that the presence of an observer does not necessarily distort the nature of interactions. However, the small number of studies in this area suggest that interactions in structured or artificial settings are not necessarily representative of those normally taking place at home.     

Karlis Osis

Pastoral Psychology -     

IDENTIFYING REINFORCERS FOR PERSONS WITH PROFOUND HANDICAPS: STAFF OPINION VERSUS SYSTEMATIC ASSESSMENT OF PREFERENCES

We evaluated a systematic means of determining stimulus preferences among seven profoundly handicapped persons. Preferences were determined by observing student approach responses to individual stimuli. Results indicated that there were differential stimulus preferences across the multiply handicapped participants. However, results of the systematic assessment did not coincide with the results of a more traditional, caregiver-opinion method of assessing student preferences. A second experiment was then conducted with five participants to evaluate whether stimuli that were assessed to consistently represent preferences would function as reinforcers in skill training programs. Results indicated that stimuli that were systematically assessed to represent student preferences typically functioned as reinforcers when applied contingently. However, preferred stimuli as reflected by caregiver opinion did not function as reinforcers unless those stimuli were also preferred on the systematic assessment. Results are discussed in terms of assisting profoundly handicapped persons by (a) improving the effectiveness of training programs by increasing the likelihood of using stimuli that have reinforcing value and (b) increasing the overall quality of life by providing preferred stimuli in the routine living environment.     

Signal-detection analysis of recognition memory of obese subjects

Obese and normal-weight subjects were run on a series of recognition-memory tasks with low and high meaningful CVC trigrams. Subjects received feedback or no feedback regarding the appropriateness of their answers during testing for recognition memory. A signal-detection analysis was used to examine a relatively pure index of memory (d') as compared to response-bias factors [Ln (beta)]. No significant main effect on memory of obese and control subjects was noted although a significant interaction indicated that obese subjects' memory increases over trials in a differential fashion from normal-weight individuals with poorer performance among the obese after 3 trials. Feedback facilitated memory for both groups. Analysis of response criteria [Ln (beta)] showed no significant difference between groups. Highly meaningful trigrams had a significantly lower response criterion than low meaningful trigrams and there was a significant interaction of meaningfulness by trials. An interaction of feedback by meaningfulness was also present. Advantages of using a signal-detection analysis in memory studies comparing obese and normal weight subjects are discussed. Ramifications of the present data for the internality/externality hypothesis of obesity are also discussed.