Attachment, positive affect, and competence in the peer group: two studies in construct validation.

2 studies were undertaken to assess the positive affective correlates of secure attachment in infancy and to assess the relation between secure attachment in infancy and competence in the peer group at age 3 1/2 years. In study 1, smiling and smiling combined with vocalizing and/or showing toys distinguished securely from anxiously attached infants during free play at age 18 months. Rated quality of affective sharing distinguished securely from anxiously attached infants during free play at 18 months and 24 months. Thus, secure attachment involves more than the absence of negative or maladaptive behavior directed toward a caregiver. Study 2 assessed cross-age, cross-situational, and cross-behavioral consistency in quality of social adaptation. Quality of infant-mother attachment relationships at age 15 months was related to Q-sort assessments of personal and interpersonal competence in the preschool play-group at age 3 1/2 years. The results contribute to the validation of attachment as an important developmental construct. They also suggest that age appropriate assessment of developmental social competence constructs can be a useful alternative to the study of homotypic behavioral continuity.     

Reinforcing the Empty Fortress: an examination of recent research into the treatment of autism

Infantile autism was first diagnosed by Kanner, when he described a group of children as having “autistic disturbances of affective contact”. His 12 characteristics of autism are still influential today. There is little agreement among professionals of an aetiology for autism or of an appropriate treatment. Different schools of thought have dominated autistic research in the past, although behaviour modification has become more influential during the last 20 years and it is arguably the most effective form of intervention. The different approaches towards an aetiology and subsequent treatment for autism have all encountered problems. The existence of so many different approaches could be evidence for the lack of success in any one area. Behaviour modification is one approach which can claim consistent successes in terms of the treatment of autistic children. It may not be a permanent answer but, in the absence of further research, behaviour modification could provide the best method of alleviation for the symptoms of autism and can be put to good use in intervention programmes.     

Panel 3: Into the Glass Darkly: Future Directions in the 21st Century

ABSTRACT

Panelists look at publishing and scholarly communications from varied perspectives and discuss possible futures for interaction between publishers, libraries, and the research university.     

Collaborative teaching at the university level: Practicing what is preached

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to describe the development and implementation of a co‐teaching model at a small state university in the northeast. In addition, this article will share lessons learned from this experience by two professors, as well as describe the impact on the beliefs and teaching behaviors of their students. One of the professors is a member of the Department of Special Education and Rehabilitation, and the second is from the Department of Professional and Secondary Education. The co‐teaching initiative began in 1996 and continues until the present, with a graduate course on inclusionary practices taught collaboratively each fall. The impetus for the initiative came from an identified need for general education and special education teachers to co‐teach in classrooms where students with disabilities are included. Given that co‐teaching is an expected teacher behavior, the practice must be taught with intent and modeled by professors to increase the likelihood that it will be implemented successfully in P‐12 classrooms.