Expressive and receptive language skills of temperamentally shy preschoolers

Although shy children speak less in social situations, the extent to which their language skills fall behind those of their more outgoing peers remains unclear. We selected 22 temperamentally shy and 22 non‐shy children from a larger group of 400 4‐year‐old children who were prescreened for temperamental shyness by maternal report, using the Colorado Childhood Temperament Inventory (CCTI). We then compared the two groups on widely used measures that index expressive and receptive language skills. We found that, although the temperamentally shy children scored lower on both expressive and receptive language skills compared with their non‐shy counterparts, they were nonetheless performing at their age equivalency. The non‐shy children, however, were performing significantly above their age level on expressive and receptive language skills. These findings suggest that the development of normal language skills is not compromised in temperamentally shy preschoolers. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

任务分析与教师的教学技能成长

本文结合笔者多年从事教师培训的经验,提出在我国课堂教学设计中需要引进并逐渐推广任务分析技术。其目的是引导教师学习现代学习论和教学论,使其教学行为受现代学习与教学心理学原理的支配,加快专业技能的成长。为此本文先介绍任务分析技术的起源与发展,然后论述任务分析对促进教师的教学技能成长的作用,最后用我们的教学研究结果对上述观点提供经验的支持。     

言语指导对实验操作技能形成影响的初步研究

本研究以112名中师学生为被试,采用实验组控制组后测实验设汁,选择中和滴定作为实验操作任务,探讨了言语指导对实验操作技能形成的影响。结果表明．言语指导能明显地促进学生实验操作技能的形成,特别是在实验操作动作的自动化方面。     

Maternal Coping Skills as a Moderator Between Depression and Stressful Life Events: Effects on Children's Behavioral Problems in an Intervention Program

In this study, I report secondary analyses using data from the Infant Health and Development Program (IHDP). The IHDP included parent-targeted as well as child-targeted components as an integral part of early intervention programs. I examined three questions: (1) Do the IHDP early intervention services enhance adaptive maternal coping skills? (2) Do maternal coping skills moderate the relationship between stressful life events and maternal depression? (3) Are maternal coping skills associated with children's behavioral scores? Mothers in the treatment group have more adaptive coping skills than follow-up only mothers, and these effects are moderated by maternal characteristics. Adaptive coping skills moderate the effects of negative life events on maternal depression. Adaptive maternal coping skills are significantly associated with fewer behavioral problems for children at age three. These effects are moderated by the intervention. Implications for early intervention programs are discussed.     

英语语法规则获得与迁移的智力技能研究

选取451名高中生为被试,以强调句型语法为研究内容,采取教师教学、产生式规则和专家思维编制的实验材料,探讨了英语语法规则获得早、中期阶段促进规则获得的手段。在前面实验的基础上,选取298名高中生,以定语从句为研究内容,运用产生式规则、专家思维和练习编制的不同学习材料,采取随机区组设计,探讨了英语语法规则获得后期阶段的智力技能研究。通过研究得到如下结论：在语法规则获得的早中期阶段,产生式样例有助于学生智力技能的获得,同时也有助于所获得技能的迁移;在智力技能获得的后期阶段,专家样例有利于学生形成专家头脑中的图式,有助于学生实现有关智力技能的自动化。     

发展性协调障碍与书写困难个案研究

该研究对一个14岁书写困难儿童zl的动作和认知技能进行了系统的考察。zl的书写困难主要表现在以下几方面：书写速度慢,字与字之间的空间距离非常近,字迹难以辨认,笔画顺序混乱。该研究首先测查了zl的基本智能和一系列精细动作技能、视觉、视空以及序列加工能力。结果发现他的基本智能、视觉加工能力正常,动作技能和视空加工能力皆显著落后于控制组儿童。语言能力测试发现,他的识字量、阅读理解和听力理解均正常。他在汉字单字、双字词、数字和图片命名上的正确率与控制组没有显著差异,但命名速度明显慢于控制组。神经生理检查发现,他的脑电波轻度异常,核磁共振扫描(MRI)显示双侧脑室体后部和枕角周围白质和小脑发育异常。这些结果表明该儿童的书写困难是更广泛的动作协调障碍的一种体现,并可能以他的脑神经发育状况为基础。文章讨论了zl书写障碍的认知神经机制及对书写障碍早期鉴别和训练的意义。     

The use of behavioral skills training to improve staff performance of discrete trial training

Well‐trained staff are a prerequisite for successful implementation of treatment plans when working in human service contexts. The high rate of turnover makes the use of efficient and effective staff training all the more important. Previous research has used behavioral skills training to train teachers in correct implementation of discrete trial training of children with autism. They showed that a brief 10‐min procedure could effectively train staff and result in improved performance. The current study elaborated on previous work by using participants without prior exposure to the method, including treatment integrity data and testing for maintenance 1 month after training ended. The mean percentage of correct teaching responses for the three participants increased from 70%, 58%, and 66% during baseline to 97%, 96%, and 99%, respectively, following training. Results indicated that the training package was effective and the results were maintained 30 days later.     

A component analysis of behavioral skills training with volunteers teaching motor skills to individuals with developmental disabilities

This study included a component analysis of behavioral skills training (BST) for teaching volunteers how to use this training method to support individuals with developmental disabilities in a physical education program. In an alternating treatment design embedded within a multiple baseline design across five participants, the number of BST steps that volunteers completed correctly while teaching four motor skills was measured. In the initial training phase, each motor skill was taught to volunteers using a specific component of BST (i.e., instructions, modeling, rehearsal, or feedback). In subsequent training phases, BST components were combined to teach the volunteers the motor skills for which they did not reach a predetermined mastery criterion (a score of four correct responses across two consecutive trials). Maintenance was assessed. Results indicated that individual components of BST alone were sufficient for volunteers to meet the mastery criterion; however, the full BST framework was necessary for skill maintenance. Strengths, limitations, and recommendations for future research are discussed.