Relating other's behaviour to own behaviour: Effects of delayed response and task difficulty

120 Ss from age groups 8, 12 and 16 years were tested for their understanding that another person's (O) sadness response was related to a preceding behaviour in S. The understanding was tested after experimental interaction episodes where E's assistant (O) worked on an (easy or difficult) task, was helped by S, and responded (immediately or delayed) with sadness. The results showed that a relating of O's behaviour to S was shown primarily for Ss in the two oldest age groups, and primarily when O's response was immediate. A delay of 11/2 min in O's response resulted in attributions of O's behaviour to psychological processes in O rather than to S's behaviour. The youngest Ss focused on O in explaining O's behaviour. Task difficulty did not effect Ss causal attributions.     

Using three different types of assessment data for diagnostic purposes.

This study investigated the performance of 38 learning disabled and 16 emotionally impaired children and youth on the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children--Revised, Wide Range Achievement Test--Revised, and Minnesota Percepto-Diagnostic Test--Revised. The ages of the children ranged from 8.4 to 16.7 years (M = 12.4, SD = 3.6). The findings suggest that discriminate functional analysis may be useful in the differential diagnosis process. Implications for clinicians are discussed.     

Parent-tutoring procedures: Experimental analysis and validation of generalization in oral reading across passages,settings, and time

A study that involved parents as reading tutors was carried out at home during the summer with four elementary children, three with learning disabilities. One purpose was to determine the effects of tutoring in the basal reader on reading rates at home. Another purpose was to determine potential generalization effects as a result of parent tutoring on different academic tasks at home and, later at school, on different and similar tasks. A combination multiple-baseline and reversal design tested for replication and generalization effects. Increases in correct rates were noted for the targeted variables across conditions. The results indicated that parents tutoring with school basal texts during the summer produced marked increases in reading rates that generalized at home to different academic tasks and at school to different and similar tasks. This suggests that parents, when using specific tutoring procedures, can increase their children's academic skills.     

Comparison of the Token Test of Language Development and the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children--Revised

Correlations were calculated between the Token Test of Language Development (Token) and scores of the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children--Revised (WISC-R) based on responses from 38 Caucasian children (23 boys and 15 girls) of a semi-rural Northeastern Ohio school district. The relatively low Pearson correlations (.25 to .47) between the standard scores in the Token test and WISC-R IQs are discussed in relation to ability and achievement.     

Quantifying aggression: Effects of identity of stimulus

A test for children's insight into relations between behaviour and aggressive emotion showed that kindergarten children showed an increase in ratings of emotion corresponding to an increase in aggressive behaviour (positive relation), and that an increase in ratings of emotions corresponding to a decrease in aggression-related behaviour (negative relation) was shown by seven- and nine-year-old children. Cognition of relations between aggressive emotion and behaviour seemed to be developed earlier than cognition of relations between intention and behaviour as observed in a previous study. Results from the test also indicated that the magnitude of emotion ratings differed in identity (same stimulus person) and non-identity (differed stimulus persons) stimulus conditions.     

Teachers do not Deal in Widgets

Although the use of merit pay, incentive pay, bonus pay, and job promotion are well-established measures in the private or corporate sector of American society, few examples of successful teacher merit pay systems exist. In 1983, the Eastern Washington University Department of Education surveyed six major private corporations to determine whether corporate merit pay programs could be applied to teachers and educational institutions. Survey findings suggest several reasons why merit pay programs for teachers will probably fail: (a) lack of monetary goals; (b) the necessity for subjective evaluation, which requires multiple measurement devices, extensive supervision, and time; (c) the absence of a many-tiered corporate structure in most educational institutions; and (d) increased supervisory direction that could stifle creativity and flexibility.     

The effect of social support on adolescent mothers' styles of parent-child interaction as measured on three separate occasions

The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of social support on parent-child interaction in a group of 19 adolescent mothers. The subjects participated in a 20-week model demonstration program in which they worked in a preschool classroom with skilled caregivers who modeled facilitative styles of interacting with young children. Each subject was videotaped while interacting with a 1- to 2-year-old child upon entering the program, midway through the program, and at the end. Results showed that girls who were 16 years or older significantly increased their frequency of using responsive, engaging, and elaborative styles of behavior. Those under age 16 did not show significant changes in these three behaviors. Overall, subjects significantly increased the duration of time they spent observing the child's play behavior.