Social skill assessment and training for children: an evaluative review

Techniques employed in the behavioral assessment and treatment of socially deficient children are reviewed. General definitions and components of assertion and social skill in children are presented. While considerable data attest to the potential efficiency of behavioral approaches with this population, several methodological problems prevent any definitive conclusions from being drawn at this time. Some of these include: (1) lack of an accurate classification system of socially isolated children, (2) need for an empirical determination of skill components, and (3) the paucity of data concerning generalization and maintenance of treatment effects. The utility of incorporating developmental and social psychological methods into behavioral programs also is discussed. Suggestions for future directions of research are offered.     

Group interpersonal skills training in a natural setting: an experimental study.

This study assessed effectiveness of group interpersonal skills training conducted in a natural setting with nonanalogue clients. Subjects (Ss) in a behavioral-training condition received 4 hr of instruction consisting of modeling, behavioral rehearsal, coaching, feedback and reinforcement. Training focused on positive and negative social responses and on initiating interactions, as well as reacting to interactions initiated by others. Subjects in a discussion-control condition engaged in focused discussion of interpersonal concerns but received no experiential practice. Within a pre-test-post-test control group design, subjective and objective measures were used to assess training effects. When compared to Ss involved in group discussion. Ss participating in group behavioral training revealed greater pre- to post-test changes on selfreported probability of engaging in selected interpersonal responses and on objective measures of eye contact, speech duration, positive affective responses, use of no-statements, compliance, refusals and requests for new behavior. Support for generalization of training is presented and methodological issues are discussed.     

The cognitive and neurological basis of developmental dyslexia: a theoretical framework and review.

It is argued that developmental dyslexics have difficulty in accessing the meaning of written words via phonological recoding, although they can successfully access meaning by a direct visual route. This difficulty with phonological recording is explained in terms of a short-term memory deficit. It is suggested that developmental dyslexia is a genetically-based dysfunction of the inferior parietal lobule and evidence is reviewed that this region is important in both reading and short-term memory. Implications for remedial instruction are discussed.     

The nature of the reading deficit in developmental dyslexia: a reply to Ellis

Ellis (1979) credits me with the view that “developmental dyslexia might be regarded as a genetic form of deep dyslexia” and then proceeds to argue that my grounds for this view are ill-founded. He offers an alternative proposal, that developmental dyslexia may be likened to (acquired) surface dyslexia. In this paper I will attempt to answer Ellis' (1979) criticisms and provide a critique of his alternative proposal.     

The relation of esteem and social class to self-occupational congruence

The relation of self-esteem and social class to congruence with chosen occupation (the incorporation score) was analyzed by ANOVA and a priori contrasts. Fifty-four accounting majors were differentiated from 58 non-accounting, business majors on the basis of their ideal-self-accounting congruence (p < .01) and their self-accountant congruence (p < .05). Both high- and low-esteem accounting majors' congruence scores for accountant were higher than other S's accountant congruence, and high-esteem accounting majors had the highest congruence (p <.05). Working class accounting majors had higher congruence than middle class accounting students (p <.05). The implications of the findings for theory development and counseling were discussed.     

Self-esteem,self-perceived abilities,and vocational choice

This research tested the theory that self-esteem acts as a moderating variable in the occupational choice process. The theory was not supported when the relationships between self-esteem, self-perceived abilities and abilities perceived as required in occupations were examined. Rather, the data were consistent with the self-implementation theory of vocational choice. However, it was found that those with high self-esteem were more likely than those with low self-esteem to see themselves as possessing the abilities they saw as necessary in their chosen occupations.     

Cardiac-somatic changes during a simple reaction time task: A developmental study

The relationship during a simple reaction time task between heart rate and four measures of task irrelevant somatic activity was evaluated in four age groups of children, i.e., 4-, 5-, 8-, and 10-year-olds and young adults, in order to evaluate further a hypothesized coupling of cardiac and somatic activity. At all age levels, phasic decreases in both heart rate and somatic activity coincident with performance were found with the magnitude of the effect increasing with age only on three somatic measures. However, tonic levels of both heart rate and somatic activity decreased with age. Performance on the reaction task was found to be inversely related to the age-related phasic somatic effects as well as age-related tonic heart rate and somatic activity.     

Modes of information integration and Piagetian measures of concrete operational thought

The purpose of the study was to investigate the relationships between modes of information integration and performance on a variety of Piagetian concrete operational tasks. The sample consisted of 180 6- to 8-year-olds. Factor analysis of the Piaget tests revealed five interpretable factors: conversation of substance—equality, conservation of substance— inequality, conservation of number, class inclusion, and matrices. Factor analysis of the marker tests for information integration revealed two factors: simultaneous and successive. All the Piaget measures, with the exception of class inclusion, were related to the simultaneous factor. Class inclusion was weakly related to the successive factor.