Comparison of physically disabled elderly persons on two measures of assertiveness.

Naturalistic measures of assessment allow recording specific dimensions or "topography" of behavior across settings in the environment. Two common analogue methods that can function as naturalistic measures are role-play and paper-and-pencil inventories (2) which were compared during instruction on assertiveness. Subjects were 11 elderly women selected from a pool of 30 residents (65 yr. and over) in a high-rise apartment complex. All subjects had disabilities ranging from paralysis and blindness to such handicaps as arthritis, epilepsy, and diabetes. Class sessions met for 1 hr. in a large cafeteria and subsequently in each subject's own apartment. During Baseline, subjects were asked to respond to offensive verbal and physical threats from one of three confederates. For the first phase of instruction, subjects roleplayed an assertive response to these same threats for five consecutive trials. A confederate. made a rude gesture and unkind remark to each subject and tlien modeled an appropriate response. Second and third confederates recorded the accuracy of responses to modeled instructions to provide an estimate of reliability. Correct imitations were followed by praise and involved a clear operational description of the confederate's actions, with no mention of possible inferences or observations tangential to the interaction. Frequency counts were taken on each correct imitation (trial). Following this instruction subjects completed an inventory (I), which measured the subjective discomfort or social anxiety of older adults (3). A second instruction of 1 hour occurred in the subjects' apartments for five consecutive days. Role-play rehearsals were different in that only the offensive prompts were given, not the entire modeling-imitation sequence. After five such trials, subjects again rated their social anxiety. Finally, in a 2-wk. follow-up instruction involved the same role-plays but this time residents participated instead of confederates. Correct role-play responses during the first, second, and follow-up periods yielded 75% to 100% accuracy over Baseline and clear discrepancies in scores on the anxiety Inventory. The highest social tension pertained to a question about "giving a talk to 10 or fewer people" (M = 9.3, SD = 1.0) and to "complaining about a mistake or bad situation" (M = 10.2, SD = 2.3). This meant that, while ratings showed interpersonal fear, actual role-play indicated strong interpersonal skills. Expected improvement in the role-plays varied inversely with paper-and-pencil scores in relation to insensitivity of measurement and events in the settings. First, the paper-and-pencil questionnaire only sampled global forms of anxiety about assertiveness and indirectly measured the multiple sequence of target responses over time. Complex patterns of assertive responses only partially appeared in rated statements about anxiety. Second, complex behavior persisting from one setting (cafeteria) to another setting (apartment) changed through many extra experimental and uncontrolled interactions with other residents and "object ments" (sensory stimulations) and was only possibly simulated in role-play exercises. Instructional 'events' and actual unmonitored interactions affected role-play.