Factors affecting judgments of fluency: II. Word repetitions

Six speech samples containing varying amounts of whole-word repetitions were tape-recorded and presented to 36 male and 36 female listeners. For each sample, listeners were asked to make judgments of fluent, disfluent, and stuttered speech, and to answer the question, “Would you recommend speech therapy?” Results showed that samples containing 5% or more word repetitions were not judged fluent speech by a majority of listeners. Judgments of disfluent and stuttered speech were nearly equal for speech samples containing word repetitions from 5% to 15%. At 20%, however, the judgments of stuttered speech were found to be more likely than judgments of disfluent speech. A majority of listeners recommended clinical services for speech samples containing 5% or more word repetitions. Generally, the results indicated that (1) the presence of whole-word repetitions is not normal regardless of frequency, (2) fluent speech may not contain 5% or more word repetitions, and (3) with 20% word repetitions the judgments of stuttering may be more likely than judgments of disfluency.     

Cluster analysis in school psychology: An example

This investigation demonstrates the use of Ward's method of cluster analysis to uncover the underlying classification structure in a group of children (N = 200) referred for psychological evaluations by their public school teachers. Data were acquired on children's intellectual development, academic achievement, and social adjustment. The cluster solution identifies six groups of children which are statistically distinct. All three measurement areas are important in distinguishing among the different groups. The six-group solution accounted for appreciable amounts (95%) of the variability in the three measurement areas. Implications for psychologists working in the schools are discussed.     

Teacher attitudes toward stuttering

Attitudes of 100 elementary school teachers toward stuttering were studied using the Teacher Attitudes Toward Stuttering (TATS) Inventory. Teacher attitudes, as indicated by TATS Inventory scores, were compared with teacher knowledge of stuttering, age of teacher, number of years teaching experience, educational level, and whether the teacher had personal experience with a stutterer. Results indicated that significant positive correlations existed between teacher attitudes toward and knowledge of stuttering. Significant negative correlations were demonstrated between teacher attitudes/knowledge of stuttering and the presence of a stuttering child in the classroom. The applicability of the TATS Inventory as a clinical instrument in its current form and the research needed to enhance its flexibility are discussed.     

School Climate and Implementation of a Preventive Intervention

Although there has been wide dissemination of research-based psychosocial prevention programs, a similarly strong research base to guide program implementation has been lacking. Program implementation has been particularly difficult for schools, due partly to insufficient understanding of how school ecologies interact with these programs. This study examined the effects of multiple dimensions of school climate on level and rate of change in implementation of a violence prevention intervention across three school years. Using multi-level modeling, the study found that teacher-reported support between staff and among teachers and students predicted higher average levels of implementation. Teacher-reported administrative leadership predicted greater growth in implementation across 3 years. Findings offer implications for an ecological model of program implementation that considers school-level contextual effects on adoption and sustainability of new programs in schools. The Metropolitan Area Child Study Research Group is a collaboration of (in alphabetical order) Leonard Eron, University of Michigan; Nancy Guerra, University of California, Riverside; David Henry, University of Illinois at Chicago; L. Rowell Huesmann, University of Michigan; Patrick Tolan, University of Illinois at Chicago; and Richard VanAcker, University of Illinois at Chicago.     

The measure of a nation: The USDA and the rise of survey methodology

Survey research has played a major role in American social science. An outgrowth of efforts by the United States Department of Agriculture in the 1930s, the Division of Program Surveys (DPS) played an important role in the development of survey methodology. The DPS was headed by the ambitious and entrepreneurial Rensis Likert, populated by young and talented social scientists getting their first practical experience, and fed by the needs of the US government fighting World War II. The DPS innovations included open-ended interviewing and area probability sampling methodology as illustrated in the War Bond studies and the Master Sample of Agriculture. This paper examines the creation of the DPS, its work, and its legacy.     

Reactions of Men of Color to a Commonly Used Rape Prevention Program: Attitude and Predicted Behavior Changes

African American, Latino, and Asian first-year college men (36) saw The Men’s Program, an all-male rape prevention workshop, and wrote answers to four open-ended questions to determine how men from non-white groups react to a commonly used rape prevention program. Using a multi-stage inductive analysis, participant responses fell into five main themes including reinforced current beliefs and/or no changes, increased awareness of rape and its effects on survivors, increased understanding of consent, plans to intervene if a rape might occur, and plans to change behavior in their own intimate situations. Participants mentioned specific ways in which they planned to change personal behavior, and ways in which they planned to intervene if they saw potentially dangerous situations.     

Novel Labels Increase Category Coherence,But Only When People Have the Goal to Coordinate

From infancy, we recognize that labels denote category membership and help us to identify the critical features that objects within a category share. Labels not only reflect how we categorize, but also allow us to communicate and share categories with others. Given the special status of labels as markers of category membership, do novel labels (i.e., non‐words) affect the way in which adults select dimensions for categorization in unsupervised settings? Additionally, is the purpose of this effect primarily coordinative (i.e., do labels promote shared understanding of how we categorize objects)? To address this, we conducted two experiments in which participants individually categorized images of mountains with or without novel labels, and with or without a goal of coordination, within a non‐communicative paradigm. People who sorted items with novel labels had more similar categories than people who sorted without labels only when they were told that their categories should make sense to other people, and not otherwise. We argue that sorters' goals determine whether novel labels promote the development of socially coherent categories.