Adults' estimates of pre-school children's verbal and motor abilities compared with those children's scores on an individual developmental test

Forty-seven mothers estimated their pre-school children's development on a psychometrically constructed multidomain mothers' inventory. Similar data were obtained for the same children from 13 pre-school teachers. The mothers' and pre-school teachers' estimates were compared to the children's scores on McCarthy Scales of Children's Abilities (MSCA). The mothers' inventory responses yielded convergent–divergent correlations with the MSCA results; in two domains out of seven, their standardized estimations were significantly lower than standardized MSCA scores, and in no case higher. Teachers' estimates deviated more than mothers' estimates from MSCA verbal and motor development scores, though in the latter case the difference between teachers and mothers were less marked. Both mothers' and teachers' difference scores (i.e. deviation of their estimates from MSCA scores) were highly correlated with the respective MSCA scores. However, when the difference scores are adjusted for shared error variance, the correlations shrink and are in most cases non-significant.     

Instructive feedback: Review of parameters and effects

We present a review of the existing research on instructive feedback. Instructive feedback is a method of presenting extra, non-target stimuli in the consequent events of instructional trials (e.g., during praise statements). Students are not required to respond to those additional stimuli and are not reinforced if they do. The research is reviewed in terms of the characteristics of participants involved, the settings and instructional variables used, and the findings that emerged. The findings indicate that a wide range of students by age and disability were included and that most studies occurred in special education contexts. When used with response prompting procedures in a variety of direct instructional arrangements, students acquire and maintain some of the instructive feedback stimuli. Thus, teachers are encouraged to use instructive feedback in their direct instructional activities. Areas of future research include using instructive feedback in new contexts and examining methods for presenting instructive feedback. In addition, the use of instructive feedback to influence future learning and stimulus class formation should be investigated.     

9970名中学生心理素质的研究

对北京市随机抽取的９９７０名中学生进行自编的《中学生心理素质测验》的测试,结果表明：（１）总体而言,中学生的心理素质水平良好。（２）年级越低,心理素质水平越高,年级越高,心理素质水平越低。（３）初中生的心理素质水平好于高中生。（４）在男女性别差异上,年级越低,男女差异越大,年级越高,差异越小。其中,男生在智力和情绪因子上心理素质水平好于女生,女生在注意力和道德感因子上心理素质水平好于男生。在对初中与高中的男女性别考验中也得到了一致的结论。     

非民营企业领导型态、沟通满足与领导效能之研究

本文以非民营企业台湾糖业公司为研究对象 ,探讨其员工沟通满足及主管领导型态与领导效能间之关系。本研究采用问卷调查法 ,针对台糖公司所属机构进行调查 ,所搜集的有效问卷共 63 2份。利用 Pearson相关分析、回归分析、规则相关分析以及路径分析来探讨领导型态、员工沟通满足及领导效能各构面间之关系 ,本研究之主要发现为 :(1 )台糖公司主管的领导型态属于PM型领导 ,员工沟通满足及领导效能仍低 ,尚待转型中之台糖公司主管积极改善。 (2 )主管领导型态与员工沟通满足间、员工沟通满足与领导效能间以及主管领导型态与领导效能间均呈现显著正相关。(3 )“领导型态”与“领导效能”之直接相关性较之经由员工“沟通满足”为中介变数时之相关性为弱。     

Acculturation in Women with Mental Retardation and Its Impact on Genetic Counseling

The provision of genetic counseling to women with mild mental retardation poses many challenges, some directly related to their developmental and cognitive disabilities. Traditional genetic counseling models, in which decision-making is largely based on the understanding of factual information, are particularly affected by the intellectual limitations which characterize this population. Equally important, however, are these women's attitudes, perceptions, and behaviors related to their involuntary inclusion into a highly stigmatized social group. Common themes among these women which surface in the genetic counseling setting include the denial of mental retardation, a hierarchical perception of their own and others' disabilities, and a strong motivation to conceive and parent a child. Such attitudes and behaviors may be symptomatic of acculturation, as these women struggle to take on accepted social roles while rejecting the stigma of intellectual disability. In contrast to factual information, the counselee's ability to discuss emotions and perceptions is not necessarily hampered by her intellectual limitations. A focus on the recognition and discussion of psychosocial issues provides a more meaningful approach than traditional genetic counseling models for facilitating informed reproductive decisions among women with mental retardation.     

Outcomes of children with emotional disturbance in residential treatment for educational purposes

A study was conducted of the outcomes of all children and adolescents (N=114) with serious emotional disturbance who had been placed by school districts in residential treatment facilities for educational purposes over a three-year period. Both cost and outcome analyses were conducted. Cost analyses indicated a total annual expenditure in excess of $5 million, or $80,000 per youth per length of stay. Outcome analyses, consisting of ratings of outcomes and outcome interviews with special education directors, revealed that 63% of the youth had either made no or minimal progress, had been discharged with a negative outcome, or had run away. Positive outcomes were achieved in only 25% of the cases, measured by the students' return to school or placement into a vocational training program. Another 11% of the youth were making substantial progress. Analyses of the relationships between outcomes and cost revealed no relationship. However, positive outcomes were associated with shorter lengths of stay. Further, students in the positive outcome categories had more severe functioning deficits at intake than students in the negative outcome categories. The availability of community-based services for the student and family was the single most likely reason reported by special education directors for positive discharge status.     

大学生空间思惟的性别差异研究

本实验运用填图和拼图两项测验,通过对137名大学生被试进行研究,结果表明,就大学生这一层次而言,男女两性的空间思惟在整体上表现出的差异不具显著性,整个分布情况是:在连续分布的两端男生均高于女生。研究结果也表明,在空间思惟上,大学生也存在着明显的个性差异。     

嫉妒心理及其内隐性研究

采用自行设计的关于嫉妒的故事集和嫉妒测验问卷两类材料,分别运用"快答"和"慢答"两种方法,在考察嫉妒心理的普遍性、强烈程度和个体差异的基础上,重点研究并确定了人类嫉妒心理的内隐性.研究表明人们普遍存有嫉妒之心且程度较强;理科的学生似乎更甚,但男女差异并不明显;一方面,大家已能承认自己存嫉妒之心,表明了现代人的理性,另一方面,嫉妒心理产生时却大都不为主体所察觉,具有明显的内隐性.另外,本研究所采用的研究方法及结果还启示我们各种测验量表若不严格控制施测时间,其效度将大打折扣.     

Reinforcer frequency and restricted stimulus control.

Stimulus control was evaluated in 3 individuals with moderate to severe mental retardation by delayed identity matching-to-sample procedures that presented either one or two discrete forms as sample stimuli on each trial. On pretests, accuracy scores on one-sample trials were uniformly high. On two-sample trials, the correct stimulus (i.e., the one that subsequently appeared in the comparison array) varied unpredictably, and accuracy scores were substantially lower, suggesting that both sample stimuli did not exert stimulus control on every trial. Subjects were then given training sessions with the one-sample task and with a new set of four stimuli. For two of the stimuli, correct matching responses were followed by reinforcers on a variable-ratio schedule that led to a high reinforcer rate. For the other two stimuli, correct responses were followed by reinforcers on a variable-ratio schedule that led to a substantially lower reinforcer rate. Results on two-sample tests that followed showed that (a) on trials in which comparison arrays consisted of one high reinforcer-rate and one low reinforcer-rate stimulus, subjects most often selected the high-rate stimulus; and (b) on trials in which the comparison arrays were either two high reinforcer-rate stimuli or two low reinforcer-rate stimuli and the samples were one high reinforcer- and one low reinforcer-rate stimulus, accuracy was higher on trials with the high-rate comparisons. These results indicate that the frequency of stimulus control by high reinforcer-rate samples was greater than that by low reinforcer-rate samples. Following more training with the one-sample task and reversed reinforcement schedules for all stimuli, the differences in stimulus control frequencies on two-sample tests also reversed. These results demonstrate experimental control by reinforcement contingencies of which of two sample stimuli controlled selections in the two-sample task. The procedures and results may prove to be relevant for understanding restricted stimulus control and stimulus overselectivity.     

儿童对图画兴趣和表征发展差异的跨文化研究

本实验是一项跨文化的比较研究 ,旨在探索儿童对图画兴趣的动态变化及表征的发展。被试年龄跨度为 4岁至成人 ,均未受过美术训练。通过他们各自根据线条画中所含的颜色或主题或情绪的特性匹配的特点 ,来发现内在的规律。实验发现年幼儿童以颜色为匹配标准 ,年长儿童和成人则以主题或情绪为主。中国儿童比英国儿童对图画中的语义联系 (表达的情绪 )更敏感。在主题 /情绪匹配中 ,中国 1 0岁儿童和成人都侧重情绪特征 ,而英国儿童随年龄发展由主题特性转向情绪特性这一兴趣的发展趋势并不明显。本文从美学的角度应用当代有关图画表征发展的理论对实验进行了分析 ,探讨了在中英不同文化背景下影响儿童兴趣变化及表征能力发展的因素。