A COMPARISON OF PEER-INITIATION AND TEACHER-ANTECEDENT INTERVENTIONS FOR PROMOTING RECIPROCAL SOCIAL INTERACTION OF AUTISTIC PRESCHOOLERS

We compared two procedures for improving the social interactions of three autistic children. In a peer-initiation condition, confederates were taught to initiate interaction with the autistic children. In a teacher-antecedent condition, teachers prompted the autistic children to initiate with confederates, who had been taught to reciprocate. Using an alternating treatment design, differential effects were found. The peer-initiation procedure reliably increased the social responses of the autistic children, whereas the teacher-antecedent condition increased the initiations and responses of the autistic children. In addition, longer chains of social interaction occurred during the teacher-antecedent condition.     

TRAINING SUPERVISORS IN A COLLABORATIVE TEAM APPROACH TO PROMOTE PEER INTERACTION OF CHILDREN WITH DISABILITIES IN INTEGRATED PRESCHOOLS

Three supervisors of integrated preschools were trained in a collaborative team approach to encourage resource and classroom teachers to develop strategies that promote peer interaction of all children, including children with disabilities. The focus of classroom teachers' behaviors and the interactive play of children with disabilities were measured daily in both a training (indoor play period) and a generalization (outdoor play period) setting. In a multiple baseline design, supervisors were individually trained in a collaborative team approach using a manual, modeling, and role playing; then they implemented the approach with classroom and resource teachers. We found that after supervisor training, classroom teachers increased their behaviors directed towards children with disabilities and decreased their behaviors directed towards nondisabled children. Moreover, we found a doubling of the interactive play of children with disabilities and, for two of the three classes, an increase in the interactive play of comparison children, randomly selected by the classroom teachers. Changes in both teachers' and children's behaviors were also found in the generalization setting. The implications of the results for interventions in community settings are discussed.     

解决人际问题的认知技能对4—5岁儿童同伴交往行为的影响的实验研究

通过对解决人际问题的认知技能（ＩＣＰＳ）低和高的幼儿同伴交往行为的比较,以及对ＩＣＰＳ低的幼儿进行训练所引起的ＩＣＰＳ变化的比较,发现ＩＣＰＳ高的幼儿同伴交往行为优于ＩＣＰＳ低的幼儿;对ＩＣＰＳ低的幼儿进行训练能改善幼儿的同伴交往行为,增加幼儿的被接受程度,降低幼儿的被拒绝程度;认知在幼儿同伴交往中起着重要作用．     

SLEEP DEPRIVATION,ALLERGY SYMPTOMS,AND NEGATIVELY REINFORCED PROBLEM BEHAVIOR

We studied the relation between the presence versus the absence of sleep deprivation or allergy symptoms and the rate and function of problem behavior. Three students whose problem behavior was negatively reinforced by escape from instruction were studied across several weeks using analogue functional analyses. Our results indicated that the extraexperimental events were associated with (a) termination of instruction functioning as a negative reinforcer, (b) increased rates of negatively reinforced problem behavior, or (c) increased rates of problem behavior across all conditions.     

Round-robin analysis of social interaction: Exact and estimated standard errors

Kenny has proposed a variance-components model for dyadic social interaction. His Social Relations model estimates variances and covariances from a round-robin of two-person interactions. The current paper presents a matrix formulation of the Social Relations model. It uses the formulation to derive exact and estimated standard errors for round-robin estimates of Social Relations parameters.We are grateful to George Gilbert for comments on an earlier draft.     

Maternal perception of infant intentionality at 4 and 8 months

This study examines the degree to which mothers perceive infants as intentional and the relations among perception of intentionality, background variables, maternal emotional adjustment, and maternal interactive style. Forty mother-infant dyads were assessed when the infants were 4 months old, and 34 were retested at 8 months. Parent perception of infant intentionality (PPII) was measured via a rating of videotaped segments of infant behavior and an interview. Intentionality scores showed acceptable internal consistency and were positively intercorrelated at each age and across age. The two measures were aggregated to form an index of PPII at each age. Higher educational attainment was associated with lower PPII scores, experience with infants was associated with higher PPII scores, and academic knowledge about child development was not related to PPII. Mothers with more symptoms of anxiety had lower PPII scores, but high maternal separation anxiety was associated with higher PPII scores. Maternal symptoms of depression had a complex relation to PPII scores. Mothers rated as sensitive in mother-infant interactions had higher PPII scores. These variables accounted for 34% of the variance in PPII at 4 months and 49% at 8 months. There were also group differences: Mothers of 8-month-olds had higher PPII scores than mothers of 4-month-olds, mothers of girls had higher PPII scores than mothers of boys, and mothers attributed more intentionality in episodes with girls than in episodes with boys. The results are discussed in relation to mechanisms whereby PPII interacts with aspects of the parent and infant.     

学习不良儿童社会性发展特点的研究

对211名10—15岁学习不良儿童社会性发展特点的研究表明,学习不良儿童在本研究确定的社会交往、自我概念和行为问题诸维度上具有独特的年龄和性别特点。学习不良女孩的社会性发展水平略高于学习不良男孩;随年龄递增．学习不良儿童的社会性发展水平不断得到提高,但其在不同年龄阶段的特点则有所不同。同时．学习不良儿童社会性发展诸方面存在着交互作用。     

Negative social interactions,distress, and depression among those caring for a seriously and persistently mentally III relative

Investigated both positive and negative social interactions and their effect on mental health for 106 individuals caring for a seriously mentally ill family member. Results from mixed-model (hierarchial and stepwise) multiple regression analyses in which caregiver age, socioeconomic status, caregiving demand, and severity of patient symptoms was controlled showed that negative social interaction accounted for a significant portion of variance in the caregivers' feelings of distress and depression. Moderated multiple regression analyses showed that under conditions of high negative interaction, the relationship between demand and distress was intensified. Implications of these findings for the conceptualization and measurement of negative social interaction as well as its clinical implications were discussed. The research for this paper was supported by funds from the Provost's office, University of Pittsburgh, School of Social Work. The authors thank the Pennsylvania Alliance for the Mentally Ill for their support of, and participation in, the study.     

DIVINE ACTION: IS IT CREDIBLE?

Abstract. The concept of God's acting in the world has been seen to be problematic in light of the claims of scientific knowledge that the regularity of a law like universe rules out divine action. There are resources in both scientific knowledge and religion that can render meaningful and credible divine action. The new physics, chaos theory, cognitive psychology, and the concept of top-down causation are used to understand how God acts in the world. God's action is not an intervention, but is understood on the model of how the mind influences the brain in a downward causative manner. Suggestions for imagining God's actions are discussed.     

Maternal attitudes during pregnancy predict mother-infant physical proximity six months after birth

The purpose of this study was to develop an instrument for assessing maternal attitudes. Three photographs representing infants or mother-infant dyads were presented to 26 mothers in the second half of pregnancy and six months after birth. Nine mothers were clinical cases, seventeen mothers were nonpathological controls. Thirty-three semantic categories were used to code the mothers' responses to the pictures. Mothers' responses were coded independently by two researchers. The factor analysis of the codes yielded an ‘attraction to, vs rejection of, children’ factor. Compared with the control group, the mean factor score of the clinical group was significantly lower, i. e. reflected less attraction (p < 0.01). To study the relation between the attraction factor and the physical proximity of mothers and infants, 21 of these mother-infant dyads were videotaped in a semi-structured play interaction six months after birth. Recordings were coded independently by two researchers for various indices of proximity (spatial proximity, kisses, embraces, touches). The factor analysis of the codes yielded a factor contrasting distant vs close and tender interaction. A significant correlation was found between the attraction scores of pregnant women and the proximity scores of mother-infant interaction (r = 0.46; p < 0.05). These results suggest that this instrument is useful in assessing maternal attitudes of psychiatrically disturbed pregnant women and that maternal attitudes of pregnant women are significant predictors of physical proximity in motherinfant interaction at the end of the first semester.