A multi-element analysis of the effect of teacher aides in an "open"-style classroom

Open classrooms with few rules, individualized instruction, and informal class organization present new problems for the application of behavior principles. The effects of three types of teacher aides on student achievement and on-task behavior were studied. Each was compared with a standard no-aide condition. Subjects were 54 third graders in two "open"-style classrooms. The three types of aide, helping adult, disciplinary adult, and helping fifth-grade aide, were compared in a multi-element design with a no-aide control. The helping-adult aide significantly affected the academic output of the class, when compared with the no-aide condition. All aide conditions produced more academic work and on-task behavior than did the standard no-aide condition.     

COMPARING TREATMENT TACTICS WITH A HYPERACTIVE PRESCHOOL CHILD: STIMULANT MEDICATION AND PROGRAMMED TEACHER INTERVENTION1

Two treatment tactics, food and praise contingent on appropriate play and varying doses of methylphenidate (Ritalin), were evaluated for their effects on a preschool child's activity changes. In addition, other social, verbal, and academic behaviors were monitored to examine possible side effects of the two treatment tactics. Fewer free-play activity changes occurred during contingent reinforcement phases while medication had variable effects: increasing attention to tasks but, at higher doses, decreasing intelligibility of speech and responsiveness to mands. The study outlines a replicable model for comparing medication with alternative behavioral strategies to control hyperactivity and enhance skill development.     

SHORT- AND LONG-TERM EFFECTS OF CONTINGENCY MANAGED INSTRUCTION ON LOW,MEDIUM, AND HIGH GPA STUDENTS1

Undergraduate students had been assigned to a contingency managed course or a conventional lecture course (Du Nann and Fernald, Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 1976, 9 , 373–374). Two years later, some 35% (N = 86) of the original classes responded to a letter offering them $2.00 to participate in a study of their educational experiences. These students completed a multiple-choice test on material from the course, and answered questions about activities and attitudes that might have been affected by the experience in Introductory Psychology. In the contingency management course 2 yr past, students were tested each week on a chapter of textbook material with 10-item multiple-choice quizzes. The course employed a modified “Doomsday Contingency”, requiring each student to achieve 80% mastery on one of the four weekly quizzes or drop the course. Quizzes were given in small groups and scored individually, while the student stood near, by an undergraduate proctor assigned to that group. The proctor was asked to show interest in the students' quiz performances, help clear up difficult areas, and develop a friendly working relationship with each student. While many students passed the quiz on the first attempt, others were given individual tutoring, so that no one was in fact forced to drop the course. In addition to the weekly quiz assignment, students in the contingency managed group were asked to attend one lecture each week. While the contingency management course procedures had much in common with PSI (Keller, Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 1968, 1 , 79–89), several departures made them unique. First, self-pacing was curtailed because students were required to master one unit per week or drop the course. Second, proctors met with students in small groups, usually giving individual tutoring only to those students who did not pass the quiz on the first attempt. Finally, students were asked to attend one lecture per week. Students in the conventional lecture group were not asked to pass weekly quizzes, but instead attended three 50-min lectures each week. Two of these lectures followed the textbook material closely, while the third, which was also attended by students from the contingency management course, covered material only indirectly related to the text. This partition of lecture content allowed material to be similar across the two instructional groups. Although students in the lecture condition were told they could obtain copies of the quizzes, few of them did so. Course grades were determined by scores on two 45-item multiple-choice hourly exams, each covering half the semester material (each worth 25%), and by a 90-item final exam, which served as a measure of short-term retention. Before analyzing the follow-up data, several characteristics of the returning students were compared to determine the comparability of the sample from the two original classes. Most important, both attrition and the current mean GPAs of students from the two classes were very similar. These considerations, and others, suggested there was no systematic sampling bias to confound comparisons of student performance. A 2 (contingency management versus traditional lecture) by 3 (high, medium, and low GPA) analysis of variance was computed on the course final-exam scores and the follow-up measures. Instructional procedure and GPA interacted on the final exam such that low and medium GPA students performed significantly better under contingency management, but there was no significant effect of instructional procedure with high GPA students. On the 2-yr retention measures, students from the contingency management course performed significantly (p < 0.01) better on items drawn from quizzes used in their original course, and marginally better (p < 0.10) on items drawn from the final exams, but no interactions with GPA appeared. Furthermore, instructional method produced no significant main effects or interaction with how many students became majors or minors in psychology, how many psychology courses were later taken, how many books in psychology were reported to have been read, or on students' evaluation of the interest and importance of psychology.     

Effects of two teacher-presentation rates on off-task behavior, answering correctly, and participation

Off-task behavior, correct answering, and participation during beginning reading instruction were recorded for two low-achieving first-grade children during two different rates of teacher presentation. A slow-rate presentation (A) was compared with a fast-rate presentation (B) in an ABABAB design. In slow-rate presentation, there was a delay between the children's response and introduction of the next task. In fast-rate presentation, there was no delay. A new teacher taught during the final AB phases, which allowed for a brief replication. Both teachers were reminded on a fixed-interval 90-sec schedule throughout all phases of the experiment to praise the subjects, thus preventing a confounding of social praise and rate of teacher presentation. Fast-rate presentation was accompanied by a lower per cent occurrence of off-task behavior for both Subjects 1 and 2. For Subject 1, correct answering and participation were more frequent during all three fast-rate phases. For Subject 2, correct answering and participation were more frequent during the fast-rate phases after the first reversal.     

试论孟子与士人精神

作为中国“轴心时代”的重要思想家,孟子希望以道德化政治,实现天下有道。他提出士人修养的“浩然之气”,在士人与君主的关系上主张“道高于君”,而对于广大普通民众则倡导“使先知觉后知,使先觉觉后觉”。在此基础上,孟子推出了四种士人典范。而在孟子这些思想中,一以贯之的乃是对德性的张扬,在“尊德性”与“道问学”之间,他明显偏重于前者,这是孟子关于士人精神的特色所在。在孟子的精神世界里,我们可以看到的更多的是一种道德信仰和勇气。正是从这个意义上讲,孟子是一位信仰道德的“宗教家”,而不是一位代表智性的“学问家”。     

初中生家庭社会经济地位、积极品质对中考成绩的预测作用

以442名初中生为被试,采用历时20个月的纵向研究考察家庭社会经济地位（socioeconomic status, SES）和积极品质对中考成绩的预测作用。结果发现：（1）家庭SES、积极品质整体发展水平可以同时显著正向预测初中生在20个月后的中考成绩;（2）积极品质整体发展水平在家庭SES与中考成绩之间存在中介作用,即家庭SES越高,初中生的积极品质整体水平越高,其中考成绩越好。研究结果提示积极品质可以补偿低家庭SES对学生中考成绩的不良影响。     

我国市场经济"信用"动力机制分析及其体系建构

现代社会生活的生产实践表明,分工是交换的前提,交换是分工的实现,这就是现代社会活动的全部内容和过程。在此事实基础上构建的市场经济体制,其管理理念内含着丰富的伦理意蕴[1]。本文首先分析阐述了市场经济信用体系的建立是市场经济体制内在规律的必然要求,揭示了“信用”是承诺者之间能量均衡与博弈的结果,既具有丰富的道德理性又具有明显的功利要求。文章进而通过对信用体系维护的动力因素及其与市场主体行为的相关性进行比较研究后指出:政府在参与市场经济活动中要坚持“有所为,有所不为”,应把政府置于经济利益之外,使之具有超脱于市场各成员的地位;同时,信用体系的创立和维护并不必然由政府主导,而是市场经济环境中公共合意选择的必然结果。     

Changing the Criminal Justice System Response to Sexual Assault: An Empirical Study of a Participatory Action Research Project

In jurisdictions throughout the United States, thousands of sexual assault kits (SAKs; also known as a “rape kits”) have not been submitted by the police for forensic DNA testing. DNA evidence may be helpful to sexual assault investigations and prosecutions by identifying perpetrators, revealing serial offenders through DNA matches across cases, and exonerating those who have been wrongly accused. This paper describes a longitudinal action research project conducted in Detroit, Michigan after that city discovered approximately 11,000 untested sexual assault kits in a police department storage facility. We conducted a root cause analysis to examine individual, organizational, community, and societal factors that contributed to the development of the rape kit backlog in Detroit. Based on those findings, we implemented and evaluated structural changes to increase staffing, promote kit testing, and retrain police and prosecutors so that cases could be reopened for investigation and prosecution. As we conducted this work, we also studied how this action research project impacted the Detroit criminal justice system. Participating in this project changed stakeholders’ attitudes about the utility of research to address community problems, the usefulness of DNA evidence in sexual assault cases, and the impact of trauma on survivors. The results led to new protocols for SAK testing and police investigations, and new state legislation mandating SAK forensic DNA testing.     

父母学业参与、父母学业压力与青少年早期的学业投入:有调节的中介模型

为探讨父母学业参与和学业压力与青少年早期学业投入之间的关系,考察成就目标取向的中介作用,以及学业成就水平在该中介过程中的调节作用,对2487名初一学生进行测查,结果发现：（1）父母学业参与正向预测青少年早期个体的学业投入、负向预测学业抽离,父母学业压力正向预测学业抽离;（2）掌握目标取向在父母学业参与和青少年早期的学业投入之间起正向中介作用,在父母学业参与和学业抽离间发挥负向中介作用;表现回避目标取向在父母学业压力和学业抽离间具有正向中介作用;（3）掌握目标取向的中介作用受到学业成就水平的调节。研究结果揭示了父母学业参与和学业压力对青少年早期的学业投入的共同作用,为从家庭层面提高青少年的学业投入水平提供了参考。