bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Validity of the Perceived Life Satisfaction Scale
Authors: Huebner E. Scott , Dew Tammy
Published: March 2007

This study provided additional information related to the psychometric properties of the Perceived Life Satisfaction Scale (PLSS: Adelman et al., 1989). With a sample of 222 secondary level students, an internal consistency estimate of 0.89 was obtained. The pattern of correlations between the PLSS and selected demographic variables and measures of self-concept and locus of control yielded support for construct validity. Additionally, the correlation between PLSS scores and independent parent estimates of their child's overall life satisfaction provided evidence of cross-method convergent validity. Suggestions for additional life satisfaction research, within an international context, are discussed.
Determining Constructs of Self-Perception for Children in Chinese Cultures
Authors: Meredith William H. , Wangb Aimin , Zhengc Fu Ming
Published: March 2007

The purpose of the current study was to determine the constructs of self-perception which are most important to children living in Chinese cultures. The theoretical and methodological format used in this study was based on Susan Harter's Self-Perception Profile for Children. An importance inventory that included Harter's original domains in addition to other items related to other constructs thought to be important in Chinese culture was given to 144 sixth grade students at an elementary school in Guangzhou, People's Republic of China. The three constructs of behavior conduct, social acceptance and group orientation were of particular significance to Chinese children's self-perception.
Assessment of Special Educational Needs in Bilingual Pupils
Authors: Desforges Martin F.
Published: March 2007

Over the last decade much has been written about the changing practices of educational psychologists in the assessment of children with special educational needs, but there have been few empirical studies. The methodology used in looking at the working methods of educational psychologists has largely depended on questionnaire or interview studies rather than direct observation or an analysis of written reports. Since 1983 educational psychologists in England and Wales have had statutory duties under the 1981 Education Act to provide written advice on pupils undergoing formal assessment or reassessment. Although these reports offer a new source of information about working practices, there is little reference to them in the literature. The work reported here looked at 58 reports produced by educational psychologists on bilingual pupils who were in the formal assessment procedures of the 1981 Education Act. Standardized tests were commonly used and there was little reference made to cultural bias of these instruments or to the additional difficulties caused by assessment through the medium of a second language. Interpreters were not always used, and salient information on cultural and linguistic experiences was rarely included in the reports. The process of attempting to change working practice is discussed. It is concluded that the methodology used here, an analysis of written reports, more accurately reflects actual working practices than questionnaire or interview techniques.
Relationship Between Boys' and Girls' Nonverbal Ability and Mathematical Achievement
Authors: Manger Terje , Eikeland Ole-Johan
Published: March 2007

The relationship between boys' and girls' nonverbal ability and mathematical achievement at the Norwegian elementary school level was studied. Instruments used were The Matrix Analogies Test-Short Form, and a mathematical achievement test based on the Norwegian national school curriculum. More low ability girls than low ability boys had corresponding low mathematical scores. However, the gender difference in discrepancy between nonverbal ability and mathematical achievement was minor.
Evaluation of the Boy's Town Motivation System in a US School Setting
Authors: Bishop Gregory B. , Rosen Lee A. , Miller C. Dean , Hendrickson Joseph
Published: March 2007

A comprehensive classroom behavior management program, the Boy's Town System (BTS), was evaluated in a US school setting. The BTS was used in four programs for emotionally/behaviorally disturbed (EBD) students. Two other EBD programs served as control groups. Academic performance was measured using the Three R's Achievement Test and curriculum based assessment. Teacher ratings of student behavior were gathered using the Conners Rating Scale and the Social Skills Scale. Independent observers collected data regarding on-task behavior. In addition, consumer satisfaction information was gathered. The results indicated that there were significant post-treatment differences between groups in on-task behavior. In addition, consumer satisfaction data indicated that teachers were generally satisfied with the use of the BTS. No differences, however, were found in academic performance or teacher ratings of student behavior. These results provide some initial empirical support for the use of the BTS.
Principal-Agent Theory and Street Level Bureaucrats
Authors: Peterson Steven A. , Brofcak Hartz Amy M.
Published: March 2007

Principal-agent theory states that there is continual tension between bureaucrats and those who have legal authority over their behavior. One observation has been that principals often lose control over their agents. School psychologists can be viewed as agents, and administrators and the public as their principals. Data from a sample of New York state school psychologists are used to examine the extent to which school psychologists' participation in AIDS education programming within the schools is responsive to principals' desires. Results are interpreted in terms of principal-agent theory.
Do New Generations Imply the End of Solidarity? Swedish Unionism in the Era of Individualization
Authors: Alivin Michael , Sverke Magnus
Published: March 2007

The role of trade unions in modern society is challenged, partly by external factors but primarily by a threat from within the organizations. We argue that the processes of individualization and an increasing differentiation of the workforce undermine unions' traditional forms of interest representation because different generations express differing relationships to the union movement. Questionnaire data from Swedish blue-collar workers are congruent with our postulations that the older generations share the ideology and mission of their unions while the young generation expresses more instrumental union attitudes. The implications of the conceptual arguments and empirical findings are discussed with reference to union policy-making and the future roles of the trade unions.
Lost Narratives? From Paternalism to Team-Working in a Lock Manufacturing Firm
Authors: Greene Anne-Marie , Ackers Peter , Black John
Published: March 2007

This article discusses a process of workplace change at a manufacturing company. The firm had sought to radically change traditional working practices, organizational culture and labour management relations. The article identifies a significant mismatch between management rationale for the changes and their subsequent behaviour, on the one hand, and workrs'views, objwtives and aspirations about their work lives, on the other. Explanations for this are grounded within the competing discourse of workers and managers. The article argues, in particular, that the relative failure of the change process derived largely from the unwillingness of management to recognize the way in which the workplace culture is embedded in a context of social and historical traditions. This analysis of 'paternalism'is situated within a disussion of the psychological contract.
'Miracle'by Consensus? Consensualism and Dominance in Dutch Employment Development
Authors: Becker Uwe
Published: March 2007

The impressive increase in employment in the Netherlands since 1985 is widely disued. In the country itself a 'model disourse has developed which presents this success as a result of a consensus between capital and labour to (drastically) restrain wages. The consensuLs is considered to be based on a process of social learning by the uLnions. The c ausal nexus between wage restraint and employment gowth turns out to be doubtful, however. Other processes seem to have been more relevant for the latter, and thc question is what the Dutch u-nions had to lean and why they should have consented to the wage restraint formula. The histoncal evidence suggests that until the late 19 8Os the u-nions, alth ough they de facto acqUiesed to wage rstraint, had different views and that explicit capital labour consensus only became established uneqllivocally when the employment 'miracle'bwame obvious in the mid-i 9%Os. With respet to the 1 90Os, the unions'behaviour should rather be interpreted as submission to the dominant interpretation of the general interest. Changing power relations and the very mechanism of Dutch consensualism pushed them to do so.
Work-Family Conflict for Employees in an East Asian Airline: Impact on Career and Relationship to Gender
Authors: Ng Catherine W. , Fosh Patricia , Naylor Dawn
Published: March 2007

This article contributes to the limited research on the conflict between work and family demands experienced by women in East Asia. It focuses, in particular, on the impact of work-family conflict on women's organizational careers. The article reports the findings of a case study of 'East Asian Airlines'(EAA), a flagship company located in Hong Kong. The case study employed questionnaire and in-depth interview surveys that included both women and men. The study found a sharp decrease in the number of women, especially women with families, in EAA's higher grades. Indeed, women were absent from the top grades. This finding, coupled with the finding that men with dependent children had relatively greater experience of work-family conflict, suggests that this sharp decrease may be due to women with family responsibilities quitting EAA employment. Alternatively, this decrease may be due to women lowering their career ambitions and not seeking promotion to higher grades in anticipation of intolerable work-family conflict if they pursue ardently their organizational careers. The study compares and contrasts work-family conflict experiences of women in EAA with those reported for women in the West, and assesses the impact of differences between eastern and western societies in terms of the perception of women's role at work and in society, societal emphasis on equal opportunities and availability of help for domestic duties.
Productive Efficiency and the Lean Production System in Japan and the United States
Authors: Fairris David , Tohyama Hironori
Published: March 2007

The lean production model originated in Japan, where it was partly responsible for the labor-management cooperation and productive efficiency of Japanese industrial relations during the 1970s and 1980s. Recent evidence suggests that its transference to the US has met with much less success. This article argues that the key to the relative superiority of the lean production system in Japan has to do with the institutional mechanisms in place in that country, but which are absent in the US, to incorporate workers'shopfloor concerns in production. The lean production system runs the risk of improving productivity and product quality through increased worker effort and stress, and reduced worker health and safety. Mechanisms for worker voice insure that this 'mean'side of lean production is foregone, that workers possess a sense of both justice in the sharing of shopfloor rewards and legitimacy in the authority possessed by superiors, and thus that workers willingly cooperate with management to enhance productive efficiency.
Dead End-Views on Career Development and Life Situation of Women in the Electronics Industry
Authors: Honkasalo Marja-Liisa
Published: March 2007

As women have gone into paid labor in all industrialized countries, they have been recruited into jobs separate from those of men. This practice is deep-rooted and has produced a dual labor market. Anttalainen (1980) defines the dual labor market as the establishment of entirely distinct occupational sectors for women and men, even within industrial branches; the 'female sector' is always the low-paid sector. In addition, women are -when working in male-dominated branches-placed in different jobs than men. 'Female jobs' in the public sector are usually jobs that were formerly done at home (Liljestrom and Dahlstrom, 1981). The public sector has, in a way, become an extension of home. In industry, female jobs are clustered into certain branches of production, e.g., textile manufacturing, food processing, electronics, etc., which are characterized by traditional 'female' tasks. Accuracy, dexterity, speed, and endurance the central qualities of female industrial jobs -have been regarded as 'women's skills'. Women constitute 48 percent of the Finnish labor force, one of the highest percentages in the capitalist countries. The percentage of women in the labor force in industry has remained practically unchanged since the early 1960s: it is still 25 percent. This article is a discussion of dead-end jobs and sex-specificity. It is based on data collected mainly while I was participating in production for five months in spring 1981 in an electronics plant in the Helsinki area.
Education for Social Change: Two Routes
Authors: Wertheimer Barbara M. , Nelson Anne H.
Published: March 2007

This article suggests and examines the role that education can play in preparing women workers to effect change both at the workplace and in society. It focuses on two programs developed by Cornell University's Institute for Women and Work, an arm of the New York State School of Industrial and Labor Relations. One route points to ways education can be a force for enabling women to increase their decision-making roles on a trade union level. The other demonstrates how education can strengthen women's ability to advance on the job and maximize affirmative action possibilities.
The Welfare State-Public Sector Efficiency and Neo-Conservative Critique
Authors: von Otter Casten
Published: March 2007

Starting with a description of the conflicting paradigms of the 'welfaremodel' and the neo-conservative 'market-model' the problems of efficiency in the public sector are analyzed. The neo-conservative critique, it is argued, has drawn attention to several important problems and short-comings in public sector management. But the critique is blinded by an idealized picture of a free market system and does not realize the advantages of the public sector as a production system. The essential problems of public sector efficiency, and ways of dealing with these problems, are discussed in terms of measurements, management and mobilization.
The Impact of Organizational Culture in Life-Cycle and Decision- Making Processes in Newborn Co-Operatives
Authors: Gherardi Silvia , Masiero Atilio
Published: March 2007

Co-operatives are supposed to be a particular form of organization. This paper stresses the differences between co-operatives and focuses on the 'co-op-idea' as the major methodological criterion to enable understanding of the different organizational forms co-operatives may assume. In other words, does there exist a unique 'co-op-idea' which forms the basis of organizational cultures? Two kinds of co-op (the foundation and the coalition) - whose main distinctive features rest on cultural elements - have been identified by our research project. Even if genesis and size are relevant to the development phase, the different organizational behaviours had a single starting point: the social pact that united the founder members. In one case, the nucleus of the 'community pact' was based on the founder members' internal relationship. In the other, safeguarding employment was the glue holding together the founder members' 'federative pact'.
Garment Production in a Metropole of Fashion: Small Enterprise, Immigrants and Immigrant Entrepreneurs
Authors: Morokvasic Mirjana
Published: March 2007

In the sphere of production the Parisian garment industry has traditionally been an immigrant industry. It is suggested in the paper that this has been due to a continuous match between the structure of the industry on one hand, and the economic expectations and characteristics of immigrants, on the other. The immigrants have perpetuated the outdated structures of that industry but have also contributed to its dynamism.
The New Soviet Cooperatives: Advances and Limitations
Authors: Nuti Domenico Mano
Published: March 2007

A new Soviet law on cooperatives was drafted in March 1988, and approved in May of that year. This paper discusses changing Soviet attitudes to cooperatives, whose 'immense potential' is now acknowledged, and analyses changes in both draft and law. Considerable progress has been made in opening up new sectors of activity, reducing bureaucratic obstacles, liberalizing prices and incomes and introducing members' 'shares'. However, access to resources is still either administratively controlled or particularly expensive; members' claims to capital gains are restricted; cost-based prices conflict with market-clearing. The continuous alternation of privileged and punitive treatment is destroying the potential contribution of cooperatives to perestroika.
Problems of Contemporary Cooperatives: Consumer Cooperatives in Sweden and Finland 1960-80
Authors: Book Sven Ake , Ilmonen Kaj
Published: March 2007

During the last few decades consumer cooperative organizations in European capitalist countries (except in Italy) have experienced considerable difficulties. This has also been the case in Finland and Sweden, the part of the world with the strongest traditions in cooperation. In this development, the cooperative organizations are facing an increasing danger of losing the cooperative identity and, among other things, losing the capacity of being an agent for economic democracy. This background paper is based on studies of the performance of the two major consumer cooperative movements in Finland and Sweden 1960-80. It focuses on the real and financial formation of capital and its relations to cooperative member participation. Very similar trends have been observed in both movements: the reaction to the changes in markets and trading methods, investment policies in distribution, increasing outside financing, decline in economic performance and a loosening bond between members and their societies. This study is a part of a planned project about Nordic consumer cooperation.
Worker Participation in Canada: Current Developments and Challenges
Authors: Jain Hem C.
Published: March 2007

This paper deals with changes in Canadian industrial relations that have occurred in the last decade and how the various changes and trends have had an effect on 'employee participation' at the level of an enterprise. The discussion on recent changes and trends is limited to three areas: (1) collective bargaining; (2) employee involvement and participation in technological changes and innovations; and (3) employee ownership, privatization and gain-sharing programmes.
Industrial Flexibility and Small Firn Distrcts: The Italian Case
Authors: Perulli Paolo
Published: March 2007

This paper is concerned with the recent debate on 'flexibility' and the role of small firm systems in advanced economies. Conventional images of small firms as harmonious, tension-free organizations as well as union-free environments are criticized. In the flexible specialization literature cultural, social and community ties linking workers, employers and local government are stressed. This paper largely follows this interpretation, focusing on employers' and unions' role in Italian industrial districts in the current phase.
Women Immigrants What is the 'Problem'?
Authors: Knocke Wuokko
Published: March 2007

The article questions the dominant image in Swedish society of 'the immigrant woman' as 'the problem'. I argue that this image and the abstract notion of 'the immigrant woman' are socially constructed by the political, economical and ideological apparatus of mainstream society. Research has served power-holders to reinforce, legitimize and manage 'the problem' from an ethnocentric perspective, serving to keep the women at the borders of society and lowest down in worklife hierarchy. By presenting the women as carriers of problematic characteristics mainly defined in cultural terms, mainstream society and employers use the strategy of blaming the victim. I argue instead that subordination in the gendered and ethnically divided labour market, marginalization and invisibility in worklife, are central frames of reality where the actual problems the women meet are being expressed. The challenge facing social scientists and feminist scholars is a redefinition not seeing the women as 'the problem' but defining the problem as generated by structural subordination. The perspective of research must shift from problems defined by power and ethnocentrism to definitions that have their basis in the real life experiences of the women.
Industrial Modernization by Workers' Participation
Authors: Kissler Leo
Published: March 2007

The European car industry is in a crisis. The saturation of traditional markets, the need for product innovation and the Japanese challenge have put this industry, more than almost any other, under pressure to modernize. This modernization has a systemic character. It creates new forms of division of labour between producers and suppliers and removes the Tayloristic-Fordist production concept in the firms without any certainty as to what will take its place.

This increased uncertainty creates a boom for personnel management, resulting from a new evaluation of labour capacity, from a production factor to a human and investment factor. New forms of workers' participation are being invested in what are the consequences?

Quality circles are used as an example of the possible consequences of successful participation in the field of intra-company labour relations. In this context it is worth taking a look across the border. French management discourse is more pronounced and French sociological research more productive than in Germany. What can we learn from the French experience with participative management? Are there signs of an adaptation, perhaps a European road of development in the field of intra-company labour relations parallel to the internationalization and adaptation tendencies in industrial production? Our research shows which possible development perspectives participative management contains in the field of intra-company labour relations. Nation-specific and system-overlapping aspects are presented for that purpose.
Workers' Councils, Trade Unions and Industrial Democracy in Poland
Authors: Haviovic Stephen J. , Moore William M.
Published: March 2007

The roles of workers' councils and trade unions in Polish private and state-owned enterprises are reviewed. State-owned enterprises and producer cooperatives are hypothesized to have greater industrial democracy than privatized or new private sector firms, and industrial democracy is hypothesized to be associated positively with enterprise performance. General support was found for both of these hypotheses with a national sample (n = 361) of Polish enterprises. There was considerable variance in Polish trade union density by firm type and, when present, trade unions were often found to have difficulty in securing collective agreements at the enterprise level. This study found Polish workers' councils to be positively associated with short- and long-term profitability and market share projections. These findings suggest that the current Polish labour code, which phases out workers' councils in the private sector, should be re-examined in order to expand industrial democracy at the enterprise level. Western European industrial relations paradigms which permit codetermination and/or consultation should be considered for adoption in Poland as a means to improve industrial democracy and organizational performance.
The End of New Production Concepts? Rationalization and Labour Policy in the German Auto Industry
Authors: Springer Roland
Published: March 2007

In the German auto industry, group-based new production concepts started to become a strategic factor in the reorganization of work in the mid-1980s. This new strategy relied on an ongoing competition between the companies in the labour market and increasing competition in the product market. Since the crisis of 1992/3 the economic situation has changed dramatically. High unemployment combined with increasing competition in the global product market had led to a new change in work policy, which is criticized by many researchers and works councils as a roll-back to Taylorism. Indeed, most of the companies reinvent the classical assembly line with standardized, short work cycles. But in contradiction to the Tayloristic work organization, the assembly workers are enabled to participate in the process of reorganization of work by doing their own time and motion studies. An important element of new production concepts, namely the participation of workers, is even intensified. Nevertheless, the German car manufacturers are step by step adopting the Toyota production system, and therefore withdraw from new production concepts in order to develop their own version of lean production.
Are Deluded People Unusually Prone to Illusory Correlation?
Authors: Chadwick Paul , Taylor Geraldine
Published: March 2007

This study reexamines the possibility that paranoid individuals are unusually prone to perceive illusory correlations. The authors use emotionally neutralword pairs to examine the illusory correlation phenomenon in three diagnostic groups: nonparanoid schizophrenia (n = 10), paranoid schizophrenia or delusional disorder (n = 9), and depression (n = 10).Aone-way analysis of variance shows that the three groups do not differ in their tendency to make illusory correlations. Three separate t tests that compare the data from each of the clinical groups in this study with normative data again reveal no significant difference. The clinical implications of these findings are discussed.
Research on Posttreatment Return of Claustrophobic Fear, Arousal, and Avoidance Using Mock Diagnostic Imaging
Authors: Wood Barry S. , Mcglynn F. Dudley
Published: March 2007

Fear sometimes returns after attenuation via exposure. Return of fear is poorly understood due to conflicting results from diverse experiments. This article reports on two experiments in which claustrophobic fear during mock diagnostic imagingwas attenuated and allowed to return so the experiments could be evaluated and return of fear studied. Attentional focus versus distraction during exposure was a between-subjects independent variable. Attempts were made to predict return of fear, return of heart-rate responsivity, and behavioral avoidance using levels of fear and heart-rate during initial mock diagnostic imaging as predictor variables. One third of participants displayed return of fear, heart-rate response, or avoidance 1 week after fear reduction. Heart-rate response during initial mock imaging predicted posttreatment return-of-fear classification; level of fear during initial imaging did not. Neither initial heart rate nor initial fear predicted return of heartrate reactivity or avoidance. The experiments are offered as models for programmatic research.
Using Antecedent Manipulations to Distinguish between Task and Social Variables Associated with Problem Behaviors Exhibited by Children of Typical Development
Authors: Moore James W. , Edwards Ron P. , Wilczynski Susan M. , Olmi D. Joe
Published: March 2007

In the antecedent functional assessment literature, researchers have introduced task demands and social attention simultaneously while varying the level of task difficulty. Though research has demonstrated situations in which a combination of social and task antecedents occasion socially avoidant responses from children with disabilities, no current studies have been offered to assess the impact of high levels of adult attention devoid of task demands on problem behaviors exhibited by children of typical development. A multiple element design was used to assess the specific effects of task and social antecedents on the problem behaviors of four children of typical development. Results identified two children whose behaviorwas associated with a combination of difficult task demands and attention in the form of commands and redirections and two children whose behavior was associated only with high levels of adult attention that did not include commands or redirections. These results suggest that antecedent functional assessment procedures can assess the impact of high levels of attention without the presence of task demands.
Identifying Early Intervention Targets for Children with Autism in Inclusive School Settings
Authors: Koegel Lynn Kern , Koegel Robert L. , Frea William D. , Fredeen Rosy M.
Published: March 2007

This study assessed play and social behavior of young children with autism in inclusive school settings to identify important targets for intervention. Data were collected for five children with autism and for typically developing peers. All children with autism received intervention in one-on-one settings but did not have individual education plan goals that provided systematic intervention for developing play and social skills in their school settings. Results indicated the children with autism and their typically developing peers played with a comparable number of stimulus items (e.g., toys), but the children with autism engaged in these activities for shorter durations. Both children with autism and their typically developing peers engaged in similar levels of social interaction with adults. However, the children with autism rarely or never engaged in social interactions with their peers, whereas the typically developing peers frequently engaged in social interactions with other children. The results suggest important targets for intervention.
Teaching an Artificial Language to Nonverbal Retardates
Authors: Hodges Patricia M. , Deich Ruth F.
Published: March 2007

Eight nonverbal retarded subjects were taught to communicate utilizing a technique developed by Premack. The subjects were moderately to pro-foundly retarded and had not responded to other forms of remedial language therapy. The technique used was a behavioral approach in which plastic shapes represented words of varying degrees of abstractness. All eight subjects learned some words within a four-month training period. Six of the eight subjects learned to construct three-to seven-word sentences. The rate of learning and level of difficulty attained varied greatly, and was not correlated with MA or CA. Children in a normal nursery school comparison group learned all words and constructed three-to seven-word sentences within a three-week period.
Immobilization
Authors: Bitgood Stephen C. , Crowe Michael J. , Suarez Yolanda , Peters R. Douglas
Published: March 2007

Self-stimulatory responses of four retarded/autistic children were reduced using brief immobilization. A reversal design was employed such that immobilization was systematically applied and withdrawn to one category of responses while the effects of collateral responses were also assessed. In three cases, the suppressive effects of immobilization generalized to collateral responses of similar topography, but in one of these cases there were undesirable side effects. In the fourth case, where generalized suppression did not occur, the collateral responses were of dissimilar topography from the target response. Results indicated that immobilization is an effective procedure for reducing self-stimulatory responding and that the effects may generalize to other responses under some circumstances. In the present study, the emergence of an incompatible response appeared to be responsible for most of the response generalization effects.
Assessment of Skill Generalization
Authors: Reese Sandra C. , Filipczak James
Published: March 2007

Assessment of skill generalization was conducted within a large-scale public school behavioral treatment program for disruptive and academically deficient adolescents. Generalization was measured both within and between subjects. The results indicated that improved academic skills of the treatment group transferred across settings to nontreatment classes. Analyses of individual behavior programs indicated a transfer of skills across time for specific behaviors as well as across behavior which was not the focus of the specific behavioral program. Generalization of the latter types occurred with minimal programming.
Rate of Auditing Self and Coactor Performance Scores as a Supplementary Monitor of Reinforcer Effectiveness
Authors: Hake Don F. , Vukelich Ron
Published: March 2007

The effectiveness of performance feedback and back-up reinforcers is ordinarily monitored by their combined effect on the target behavior. Supplementary monitors of reinforcer effectiveness can also be useful when, for example, the target behavior is slow to change. In this study, the supplementary monitor was the rate at which children from an institutional contingency management program pressed buttons that allowed them access to their own (self audit) or another person's (co-actor audit) performance scores. The feasibility of this supplementary monitor was indicated by the findings that children used the audit apparatus and that their scores, rather than the novelty of the procedure, were reinforcers. The procedure was useful to the treatment team because it showed which of the children's daily scores were most reinforcing and who checked their scores. Although children made both self and coactor checks, self scores were usually more reinforcing. The audit as a supplementary monitor offers the advantages of being easy to measure, of providing information on the reinforcing value of social stimuli (coactor audits), and which type of feedback is most reinforcing.
Modifying Excessive Lunchroom Noise
Authors: Michelson Larry , Dilorenzo Thomas M. , Calpin James P. , Williamson Donald A.
Published: March 2007

Partial omission training by means of audio feedback and a group reinforcement contingency were employed to reduce excessive noise in an inpatient unit for emotionally disturbed children. Occurrence and duration of noise violations above 76 decibels were assessed using electronic audio equipment. An ABAB withdrawal design was employed to evaluate intervention effects. During treatment phases, subjects received audio feedback when noise violations occurred, and were given group reinforcement contingent upon 25% reduction in the rate of these occurrences. Results showed that the treatment package decreased the frequency of noise violations and increased appropriate lunchroom behavior, but had little effect on the duration of excessive noise.
Efficacy of Behavioral Contracting
Authors: Kirschenbaum Daniel S. , Dielman Jeffrey S. , Karoly Paul
Published: March 2007

This study assessed the efficacy of behavioral contracting in a classroom setting, and the generalization of effects across three target responses andone other classroom. A replicated single-subjects design was used with fiveadult students as subjects. The students had recent histories of seriousproblems in adjustment and were enrolled in a remedial educational program.Contracting produced gains for two of the students, as measured by observational recording of classroom participation and standardized test performance. Substantial improvements were observed in the two students whose contractedtarget behavior, "classroom participation," included features that shouldhave enhanced its malleability according to operant principles. Behaviorchange was also limited to the setting in which contracting was operational. Providing explicit criteria and general goals for appropriate performanceappeared to affect setting-specific behaviors of only those students whose initial performance was extremely inadequate. Discussion focuses on theimportance of assessing effects of contracting across target behaviors and settings, accentuating relevant topographic and setting features of target behaviors, setting realistically attainable goals, and assessing knowledge oftarget behaviors and perhaps other dispositional variables prior to implementing behavioral contracting.
Generalization of a Semantic-Syntactic Structure
Authors: Endo George T. , Sloane Howard N.
Published: March 2007

Two experiments examined the development of generative responding and the generalization of these responses with young children. In both experiments a model emitted personified sentences attributing human actions or characteristics to a nonhuman noun, and subjects were reinforced for emitting responses that were personified but were different from the model's and thus "generative." In Experiment I each response by the model was followed by a response of the subject to the same noun. In Experiment 2 the model emitted personified responses to five nouns, and the subject was then reinforced for personified responses to five different nouns. Both experiments developed generative responding, although this developed more quickly in Experiment 2. In Experiment 2 responding during "probes" appeared more controlled by the reinforcement contingencies and less by the model's "incorrect" responses than in Experiment 1. Most significantly, in Experiment 2, unlike Experiment 1, generative responding persisted during generalization conditions utilizing novel stimuli with no modeling. The results and procedures were interpreted in terms of the implications of reinforcement and stimulus control variables in the acquisition of complex language behavior.
Eliminating Stealing
Authors: Rosen Howard S. , Rosen L. Alison
Published: March 2007

Stealing by a first-grade boy enrolled in special education was eliminated through stimulus control training. The subject's possessions were marked with green circles, and during experimental conditions he was reinforced with praise and tokens for having only marked items. Possession of unmarked items was contingently punished by a verbal reprimand and a point fine. Stealing was reduced to .32 stolen items per day from an average baseline rate of 6.0 stolen items per day. The token system was systematically eliminated and stealing averaged .09 per day during 31 days of follow-up.
Similar Reactivity Produced by External Cues and Self-Monitoring
Authors: Hayes Steven C. , Nelson Rosemery O.
Published: March 2007

Various theoretical explanations have been proposed to account for the reactivity of self-monitoring. This experiment tested the Hayes-Nelson explanation that the self-monitoring procedure and other cuing procedures are functionally equivalent in signaling environmental consequences likely to be contingent on the target behavior. After a baseline period, sixty female undergraduates were instructed either to self-monitor their face-touching, or to notice when a slide appeared that said "Don't touch your face," or to remain in baseline (control). Comparable decreases in face-touching were produced by self monitoring and by external cuing, whether or not the slide was shown contingent on the subjects face-touching. Theoretical and practical implications of this cuing explanation of self-monitoring are discussed.
Positive Practice Overcorrection of Oral Reading Errors
Authors: Singh Nirbhay N. , Singh Judy , Winton Alan S.W.
Published: March 2007

This study evaluated the effects of two treatment procedures on uncorrected oral reading errors and self-corrections of errors by four moderately mentally retarded girls. In an alternating treatments design, the efficacy of positive practice alone, in combination with positive reinforcement and a no-treatment control were compared. With positive practice alone, each incorrectly read word had to be repeated five times and the sentence in which the word occurred, correctly repeated once. For the combination procedure, in addition, each self-corrected error was reinforced. No assistance was provided in the no-treatment control condition. Both treatment procedures reduced uncorrected reading errors and increased self-correction, but the addition of positive reinforcement was superior to positive practice alone. No changes were observed in the no-treatment control condition. Total errors, whether subsequently self-corrected or not, generally increased during the treatment phase but declined in a later remediation phase when only the combination treatment was used. During this remediation phase, self-corrections remained high and uncorrected errors declined further.
Sequencing of Parent Training Procedures
Authors: Walle Dennis L. , Hobbs Steven A. , Caldwell H. Stephen
Published: March 2007

The effects of various sequences of time-out and attention on child behavior and on evaluations of acceptability of these techniques were examined using a combined between-and within-subjects design. During treatment periods, mothers administered attention and time-out to their noncompliant children in various sequences (time-out followed by attention or attention followed by time-out), or they administered both attention and time-out concurrently. Results indicated that prior use of differential attention appears to enhance the efficacy of time-out as a response reduction procedure, while prior use of time-out may enable differential attention procedures to maintain reductions in noncompliance effectively. Recommendations are made concerning the optimum use of time-out combined with attention in producing both immediate behavior change and positive treatment evaluations within parent training programs.
Behavioral Coaching in the Development of Skills in Track
Authors: Shapiro Edward S. , Shapiro Sheri
Published: March 2007

The use of behavioral coaching to improve track skills with three high school runners was examined. Subjects were trained using verbal instruction, modeling, and prompting for the specific behaviors of conditioning, form, and starts. Behavioral coaching resulted in significant improvement in each skill area. Social validation of the improved track skills of the runner was evident in their reduced times on the lOOm and 200m dash. Implications for athletic coaching procedures are discussed.
Eating Style and Food Storage Habits in the Home
Authors: Terry Karen , Beck Steven
Published: March 2007

Two home observations of eating styles and food storage and food cues in eight obese and eight nonobese families were conducted. Obese and nonobese children and their respective obese and nonobese parents were observed at dinner time and assessed on several different eating behaviors. Observers also recorded foods visible in the home and foods found on the first shelves of the freezer, refrigerator, and the most frequently used cupboard. Results did not reveal a different eating style between obese and nonobese families, although obese daughters appeared to eat differently than nonobese daughters. There were also similarities and differences in eating behaviors between children and parents, independent of individuals' weight status. Caloric totals of food storage, visible foods, and calories consumed appeared to be higher in obese households at the first observation, although obese families reduced the quantity of visible foods, and food consumption at observation two. The validity of socially desirable behaviors collected from more than one observation period and implications of the variability of the target behaviors when assessing obese families' eating styles and food habits are discussed.
Therapist Behavior During Exposure Treatment of Agoraphobia
Authors: Gustavson Bjorn , Jansson Lars , Jerremalm Anita , Ost Lars-Goran
Published: March 2007

Therapist behaviors during treatment of agoraphobia by in vivo exposure were studied by recordings of verbal interactions between therapist and patient as rated by an independent observer. The behaviors most often used in the exposure treatment were praise, empathy, and feedback, while challenge, reminders of negative consequences, and explicit demands were used least often. Furthermore, the therapists were rather stable in their behaviors, as only three variables changed across the different phases of treatment. There was no difference in outcome for the two therapists' groups of patients, and only a few significant correlations between outcome and the different therapist behaviors emerged. The implications of these results are discussed.
Combat Level and Social Support in the Development of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder in Vietnam Veterans
Authors: Barrett Terence W. , Mizes J. Scott
Published: March 2007

The purpose of the study was to investigate the influence of social support and exposure to combat on the development of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in Vietnam veterans. A second purpose was to examine the influence of premorbid psychological adjustment on PTSD. Questionnaires were mailed to a population of Vietnam veterans, yielding a sample of 52 veterans who were blocked into four groups in a 2 (social support) by 2 (combat level) design. Home interviews were conducted, and comparisons among the groups were made regarding presence of PTSD symptoms, depression, and other psychological disturbance. Results found that veterans who received high social support reported fewer symptoms, and veterans with high combat trauma reported more symptoms. Generally, a significant interaction between social support and combat level was not found. Premorbid functioning was not found to differ among the four groups, suggesting little relationship to PTSD symptoms.
Behavioral Assessment and Treatment of Childhood Phobias
Authors: Ollendick Thomas H. , Francis Greta
Published: March 2007

In this review the current status of the assessment and treatment of childhood fears and phobias is described. Consistent with our definition of child behavioral assessment as an "exploratory, hypothesis-testing" process, we review a range of specific procedures including behavioral interviews, self-report instruments, rating scales, behavioral observation, self-monitoring, and physiological assessment. We conclude that a maximal amount of information is obtained with such practices and that no single procedure, including direct behavioral observation, is sufficient alone. Following review of assessment practices, we examine those behavioral strategies frequently used in the reduction of fears and phobias in children. Strategies derived from principles of classical, vicarious, and operant conditioning, as well as recent advances in information processing theory, are reviewed and evaluated critically. We conclude that, for the most part, these procedures are effective at least in the short run. We make a call for studies that examine the long-term efficacy of these procedures, for comparative studies to determine the superiority of these procedures over more traditional ones, and for comparative studies among the behavioral procedures themselves. Finally, we highlight important developmental issues that need to be attended to before continued and significant progress in this area of study can be realized.
Multidimensional Behavioral Treatment for Child Stutterers
Authors: Caron Chantal , Ladouceur Robert
Published: March 2007

This study evaluated the effectiveness of a multidimensional behavioral treatment package (modified regulated breathing method, easy speech, modification of parental attitudes) for child stutterers. The percentage of stuttered syllables, speech rate, and severity ratings served as dependent variables. Four stutterers, between 6 and 9 years old, were included in a multiple baseline design across individuals. Results showed that clinically significant changes (less than 3% of stuttered/ syllables) were observed in 3 subjects at the end of treatment (between 12 and 24 sessions), with improvement maintained at a 6-month follow-up. This multi-dimensional treatment is discussed in terms of its clinical components for child stutterers.