The interactions of normal and hyperactive children with their mothers in free play and structured tasks.

Groups of 20 normal and 20 hyperactive boys ranging in age from 6 to 12 years were observed interacting with their mothers in 15-min free-play and 15-min structured-task situations. Using a 15-sec interval coding procedure, 1 observer recorded the mother's response to specific antecedent behaviors of the child while a second observer recorded the child's response to specific behaviors of the mother. Hyperactive boys proved more active, less compliant, and less likely to remain on task than nonhyperactive peers. Mothers of hyperactive boys were less likely to respond positively to the child's social interactions, solitary play activities, or compliant on-task behavior. In addition, mothers of hyperactive boys imposed more structure and control on the child's play, social interactions, and task-oriented activities. It is suggested that the controlling intrusive style observed among the mothers of hyperactive boys, while initially a response to the child's overactive, impulsive, inattentive style, may further contribute to the child's behavioral difficulties.     

Development of the Physical Activity Class Satisfaction Questionnaire (PACSQ)

The purpose of this study was to develop the Physical Activity Class Satisfaction Questionnaire (PACSQ). In Study 1, qualitative data were collected from 16 students. The results, coupled with a review of the relevant literature, helped to construct the various dimensions of satisfaction. In Study 2, a quantitative questionnaire was developed and administered to 194 students; based on the results, slight changes were made to the questionnaire. Additional data were then collected in Study 3 from 179 students to test the revised questionnaire. The PACSQ consists of nine dimensions of satisfaction: Mastery Experiences, Cognitive Development, Teaching, Normative Success, Interaction with Others, Fun and Enjoyment, Improvement of Health and Fitness, Diversionary Experiences, and Relaxation. The findings have implications for physical activity class instructors and for program managers.     

Beyond educational psychology: Steps toward an educational semiotic

In this paper, I argue that educational psychology is deeply embedded in an objectivist epistemology, the consequences of which seriously undermine our ability to inform educational practice. In the remainder of the paper, I provide an introduction to semiotics, the doctrine of signs, and offer four global concepts (the sign, semiosis, inference, and reflexivity) that I believe set semiotics apart from other, more or less related, approaches within psychology and educational psychology (e.g., constructivism). I conclude the paper by responding to some of the more frequently asked questions I have encountered in attempting to define an educational semiotic.     

Diversity in Broadcast Television: An Empirical Study of Local News

The relation between the structure of a market and the diversity of its product offering has been extensively explored by theorists. We develop 2 measures of diversity and explore the content of local news for 60 stations and 20 designated market areas (DMAs) in the United States. Using a relative station-level diversity metric, ordinary least squares (OLS) estimates imply that relative diversity of local news content decreases as market concentration increases. This result is not, however, robust to an instrumental variables specification. Using a total market diversity metric, the Herfindahl-Hirschman Index (Hirshman, 1964) is significant in OLS and robust to instrumental variable estimation. Because the total market diversity metric is arguably superior to the incremental metric as a measure of overall diversity, this result is useful-it suggests that the total diversity of local news content within a DMA is sensitive to the level of concentration.     

The 2008 Presidential Campaign: Political Cynicism in the Age of Facebook,MySpace, and YouTube

Considerable research over the years has been devoted to ascertaining the impact of media use on political cynicism. The impact of the Internet has been difficult to assess because it is not a single monolithic medium. For example, the 2008 presidential campaign was the first presidential campaign in which popular social networking sites such as Facebook, MySpace, and YouTube were widely available to voters. Therefore, the campaign offered the first opportunity to explore the influence of these social media on political cynicism. In this study, we examined whether the use of such social media influenced political cynicism. We also considered the influence of user background characteristics (e.g., self-efficacy, locus of control, political orientation, demographics, and influence of family and friends), motives for using social media for political information, and users’ elaboration on political content. Several individual differences were stronger predictors of political cynicism than was social media use. In fact, social networking use was a negative predictor of political cynicism. Results supported uses and gratifications’ notions that the influence of social media on political cynicism is more attributable to user background and media-use differences than to sheer use of these popular sites.     

Exceptional Research or Why Harry Truman Sought a One-Handed Economist

This article challenges the traditional illustration of the relations between circulation size and advertising rates used by educators. It does so by using a sample of newspapers and explores various regression trendlines and data display of the data obtained from the sample. I find that the relations are best explained by curvilinear rather than linear trendlines and suggest an improved illustration of the relations between advertising price and newspaper circulation.     

Infant IQ Ratings Evaluated after an Interval of Seven Years

The four types of control groups commonly employed in cognitive manipulation studies were identified and arguments were presented concerning the problematic nature of each group as a baseline for identifying the “true” treatment effect. A general, two-step control procedure was advocated in which the researcher first identifies the most appropriate control group for a given context and then supplements this experimental control with statistical control. In reference to the latter controls, procedures were presented for developing a task-specific index as a covariable to be employed with a suitable measure of verbal aptitude in an analysis of covariance. The procedure was demonstrated on data from a quasi-experimental design in which it was shown that three different conclusions were possible depending upon the control procedures employed. It was argued that the converging operations obtained from the multivariate approach to the data analyses supported the results from the two-step control procedure. This procedure is not presented as a panacea but represents an attempt to “go beyond” the mechanical appocation of typical experimental controls for placebo effects.     

SSSW,Better Content-Writing

The North Carolina Governor's School offers a six-week residential summer program for four hundred academically talented rising juniors. This article measures the school's impact on these students in four fundamental areas: cognitive maturity, moral reasoning, personal learning style, and projections for the future. The results showed that Governor's School students advanced further on each of these critical tests than did equivalent nonattending students.