Sexual health and behavior of mentally retarded pupils in Japan

Sex education has always been a controversial topic. Although sex education at schools has improved in general, sex education for mentally retarded pupils still encounters prejudice and conservatism as a result of several misconceptions about the subject. This research was performed in the form of a survey of opinions about sex education in special classes in ordinary public schools for mentally retarded pupils in Tokyo, Japan. Information was collected through written questionnaires distributed to teachers and parents of pupils of both sexes, whose age range was between 7 and 16 years. This work aims to stimulate an open and broad discussion, as well as to help teachers and parents to improve their knowledge about the subject. In addition, it provides data to outline a more specific program in sex education for mentally retarded pupils.     

国学教育与幼儿社会性发展的研究

当今的国学教育从幸福生活与全面发展出发,着眼于中华民族文化传承和普及教育。幼儿阶段的成长为人一生的发展奠定基础,而国学教育和幼儿社会性发展之间有必然的联系。从幼儿的人际关系和道德品质两个方面来看,国学教育促进亲子关系、同伴关系和师幼关系的发展,有利于幼儿建立养成良好的行为规范、培养积极的道德情感。在实践过程中应树立正确的教育理念、选择合适的教育内容、采用灵活的教育方式,让国学教育在幼儿阶段发挥其应有的价值。     

Infant day care facilitates preschool social behavior

Seventy-one preschool-age children entering infant day care at varying times and receiving varying amounts of infant day care were compared on their reunion-with-parent behavior, teacher and parent ratings of their behavior, and playground play interactions. Age of entry into day care (≤ 6 months vs. > 6 months) had no significant effect on attachment to mother as measured by reunion behaviors or on play and socialization skills as measured by observation and behavior rating scales in a full-time day-care setting. Furthermore, children with more hours and months of day care engaged in less watching, solitary play, and teacher comfort-seeking behavior, and they showed more cooperative play, positive affect, peer interaction, and positive verbal interaction. Thus continuous infant day care in quality centers appears to facilitate preschool social behavior and does not negatively affect attachment behavior.     

师范院校学前儿童社会教育课实践性教学的反思与探究

本文首先探讨了师范院校学前儿童社会教育课实践性教学的重要性,接着分析其当前存在的诸多问题,最后,提出了具体的解决路径,以期促进师范院校教育教学发展,增强学生的反思探究能力。     

The activity context of preschool children's social interactions: A comparison of high and low social interactors

The purpose of this observational study of the activity context in which preschool children engaged in positive social interactions was to produce a data source that could be used to assist in the identification of socially withdrawn children, and to select efficient training contexts in which to develop the social behavior repertoire of withdrawn youngsters. Eleven high-rate and 10 low-rate social interactors, ranging in age from 36 to 72 months, were observed for 12 10-minute sessions across a 3-month period. Six activity contexts were coded by trained observers: Observer, Isolate, Parallel, Game, Cooperative, and Fantasy. The results indicated that: (a) Low-rate children engaged in significantly more Isolate and Observer activity than did high-rate children. (b) High-rate children engaged in significantly more Cooperative and Fantasy activity than did low-rate children. (c) There were no significant differences between groups for Game and Parallel activities. Results are discussed in terms of the concurrent validity between frequency of interaction measures and the activity context data, the developmental progression of social skills acquisition, and the selection of treatment contexts for withdrawn children.     

Stress and teachers of the learning disabled,behavior disordered,and educable mentally retarded

This study investigated which factors related to the professional roles of teachers of the learning disabled (LD), behavior disordered (BD), and educable mentally retarded (EMR) are most stressful, and which activities, both personal and professional, are beneficial in guarding against stress. The Special Teacher Response to Environmental Stressors (STRESS) was used to elicit responses from the 135 teachers who participated in the study. The participants rated as highly stressful legal concerns, lack of administrative and peer support, and lack of support services. In particular, teachers of the BD revealed that they were fearful of verbal and physical attacks from their students. The participants rated highly exercise and outdoor programs, confiding in significant others (i.e., wife or husband), and peer support as helpful in guarding against stress.     

Computational errors of mentally retarded students

This study examined the computational errors made by 370 educable mentally retarded students on the arithmetic subtest of the Wide Range Achievement Test. There were 233 males and 137 females in the sample, and the ages ranged from 8 to 18. Engelhardt's (1977) error classification was used to identify error types. Retarded students had a lower percent of grouping and inappropriate inversion errors and a higher percent of incorrect operation errors than regular students had in Engelhardt's study.     

Sexuality,marriage and parenthood of mentally retarded people

Issues relating to sexuality, marriage, and parenthood of mentally retarded people are discussed in the context of normalization. Negative attitudes towards the manifestation of sexuality by mentally retarded people are considered, along with studies which demonstrate that many such individuals are capable of meaning ful sexual behavior, and meaningful interpersonal relationships that may culminate in marriage and child rearing. It is urged that counselors have an important role in assisting mentally retarded individuals attain their rights to sexual activity, marriage, and parenthood. Attention is drawn to teaching techniques for use in sex education programs for mentally retarded people, and examples are presented of programs which deal with psycho-sexual development, marriage, parenthood, and sexual problems and dysfunctions.     

学龄前儿童的学习方式准备状况

对学龄前儿童进行了学习方式测验。结果发现:(1)学龄前儿童在问题解决灵活性任务中掌握最好的是上位范畴,最不理想的是联合;在规则学习任务上的表现较好。(2)公立幼儿园学龄前儿童在学习方式以及基本范畴和上位范畴上好于私立幼儿园的学龄前儿童。(3)朝鲜族和汉族学龄前儿童在学习方式的准备上不存在显著差异。(4)留守学龄前儿童学习方式和规则学习上显著低于非留守学龄前儿童。     

Concurrent and longitudinal links between children's and their friends’ antisocial and prosocial behavior in preschool

Concurrent and longitudinal links between children's own and their nominated best friends’ antisocial and prosocial behavior were studied in a normative sample of 3-5-year-olds (N = 203). Moderating effects of age and gender were also explored. Subscales of the Strength and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) were used to obtain teacher ratings of behavior for each target child and his/her nominated best friends. Nomination of best friends with higher levels of antisocial behavior and lower levels of prosocial behavior was concurrently linked to more antisocial behavior in boys. Nomination of highly prosocial best friends was concurrently linked to more prosocial behavior in both boys and girls. However, the study found no longitudinal effects of best friends’ behavior on target child's behavior over a one-year period. A group of children who nominated no best friends at T1 were generally perceived as less prosocial, but not more antisocial, than other children.     

Differing levels of gender salience in preschool classrooms: effects on children's gender attitudes and intergroup bias

Developmental intergroup theory posits that when environments make social-group membership salient, children will be particularly likely to apply categorization processes to social groups, thereby increasing stereotypes and prejudices. To test the predicted impact of environmental gender salience, 3- to 5-year-old children (N = 57) completed gender attitude, intergroup bias, and personal preference measures at the beginning and end of a 2-week period during which teachers either did or did not make gender salient. Observations of peer play were also made at both times. After 2 weeks, children in the high- (but not low-) salience condition showed significantly increased gender stereotypes, less positive ratings of other-sex peers, and decreased play with other-sex peers. Children's own activity and occupational preferences, however, remained unaffected.     

培养学前儿童学习儿歌兴趣的策略探究

儿歌对学前儿童的影响是长远和深刻的,但是,要想提高它的有效性,前提是要培养和激发学前儿童学习儿歌的兴趣,兴趣能使学前儿童对感兴趣的事物予以优先的注意和愉悦的情绪。因此,本文通过探究儿歌的特点,提出一些培养儿童学习儿歌兴趣的策略。     

A note on WISC-WISC-R differences with mentally retarded and borderline functioning adolescents

Records of 94 randomly selected students from the Department for the Mentally Retarded in the Special School District of St. Louis County (mean age 14.8 years) were reviewed. Forty-nine subjects had been given the WISC (25 males and 24 females), and 45 subjects had been given the WISC-R (31 males and 14 females). Although no statistically significant differences were found between the two groups, the WISC tested lower than the WISC-R by an average of 1.8 points in Verbal IQ, 2.6 points in Performance IQ, and 2 points in Full Scale IQ. This finding was consistent with other studies that have indicated WISC-WISC-R differences of about 2 points for children over I I years of age.     

Effective behavior management in preschool classrooms and children's task orientation: Enhancing emergent literacy and language development

This study investigated the relations among preschool teachers’ behavior management, children's task orientation, and children's emergent literacy and language development, as well as the extent to which task orientation moderated the relation between teachers’ behavior management and children's emergent literacy and language development. Participants included 398 children and 67 preschool teachers from preschool programs serving an at-risk population. Teachers’ behavior management was observationally assessed and children's task orientation was measured via teacher-report. Children's language and emergent literacy skills were directly assessed in the fall and in the spring of the preschool year. Hierarchical linear models were used to predict children's residualized gain in emergent literacy and language (i.e., Spring scores with Fall scores as covariates) from their task orientation and their teachers’ behavior management. Task orientation and behavior management each positively predicted children's emergent literacy development, but not language development. There was a significant interaction between teachers’ behavior management and children's task orientation in predicting children's language development, such that high scores on both variables were associated with the most optimal language outcomes. Implications for research and early education are discussed.     

Non-abused preschool children's perception of an anogenital examination

OBJECTIVE: An anogenital examination is usually part of the standard medical assessment in children evaluated for suspected sexual abuse, and the emotional impact on the child has been studied. The primary aim of this study was to assess non-abused preschool children's responses to an anogenital examination. METHOD: One hundred and fifty-eight children (119 girls), aged 5-6 years old, were recruited by self-selection from a town community in Norway. After a full medical top-to-toe examination, including an anogenital examination with use of a colposcope, the children were asked for their reactions to different parts of the examination. The instrument used was a Faces Rating Scale with five faces, ranging from smiling to crying. Parents and nurses also completed questionnaires regarding their perceptions of the children's reactions. RESULTS: The results from the self-report scales showed that only 7.7% of the children rated the anogenital examination as somewhat negative, but the children rated the anogenital part of the examination as significantly more distressing than the examination of their ears and mouth. Microbiological swabbing from the anogenital area was most frequently mentioned as something the children disliked. Complementary data from the parents supported the children's responses regarding the anogenital part, but also emphasized the importance of good preparation and a child-friendly atmosphere when performing the examination. CONCLUSIONS: Most preschool children, who have no history of sexual abuse do not find an anogenital examination traumatic if the examination is well planned and performed by experienced professionals in a supportive atmosphere.     

The effects of cognitive style and course content on classroom social behavior

This study of the effects of course content and cognitive style on students' classroom social behavior utilized 29 boys experiencing academic difficulties. After completing the Embedded Figures Test, each subject was assigned to either field-dependent (FD) or field-independent (FI) groups. Systematic observations of the two groups' classroom behaviors in French and mathematics classes were compared using ANOVA techniques. Results showed that the social behavior profiles of the two groups were the same on 18 behavioral categories. However, consistent with previous findings, FI subjects were more disruptive than FD subjects. Variance in social behavior was due principally to course content. The interactive effects of cognitive and task characteristics on social behavior are discussed within a cognitive-behavioral perspective.