Effects of Mother-Infant Social Interactions on Infants'' Subsequent Contingency Task Performance

20 3-month-old infants participated in a nonsocial contingency task immediately following a social interaction with their mothers. A measure of the time the dyads spent in a state of vocal turn-taking predicted individual differences in the infants' subsequent performance on the contingency task. These results parallel the social transfer effects we reported earlier in which the turn-taking dimension of social structure was experimentally manipulated to assess its effect on a subsequent nonsocial contingency task.     

Thinking outside the box: imagination and empathy beyond story writing

It is sometimes assumed that the strongest opportunities for developing imagination and empathy through children's writing lie in narrative starting points, whereas other less obviously literary writing forms are more readily associated with functional literacy. Consequently, writing regarded as non‐literary is rarely analysed with these qualities in mind. This paper presents an exploratory, textual analysis of children's letter‐writing texts, which aims to identify and describe the uses of imagination and empathy. It is suggested that imaginative strategies were integral to this textual construction and that the significance of imagination and empathy in writing development is worthy of further exploration.     

Characteristics of male and female science teachers

The characteristics of 273 male science teachers were compared with 72 female science teachers randomly selected from a fourteen-state region in the USA. A multivariate analysis of variance found differences between the two groups significant at the p ? 0.0005 level. Female teachers were higher on measures of interest in science and receptivity to change. Males scored higher on science knowledge indicators and on their perceptions of the teaching support they received. No differences were noted on measures of professional development or their perceptions of teaching effectiveness, curriculum, workload, or facilities. The implications of the findings are discussed in terms of science career selection by women.     

Herrnstein’s equation for the rates of responding during concurrent schedules

A modification of the nonlinear curve-fitting procedure proposed by Wetherington and Lucas (1980) was used to assess how well Herrnstein’s (1970) equation for the rates of responding during concurrent schedules described performance. The equation fitted some results very well, accounting for 80% or more of the variance in the data in studies that used moderate-duration changeover delays and provided the same positive reinforcers, operanda, and simple schedules in the two components. The equation fitted the data poorly in other studies. The k parameter changed with several variables; it was not as constant as Herrnstein (1974) suggested. R₀ did not fit Herrnstein’s interpretation as reinforcement from unprogrammed sources. Forty percent of all values of R₀ were negative, and another 23% were unreasonably large (greater than 50 reinforcers/h). The data suggest that Herrnstein’s equation is not a general theory of concurrent-schedule responding, and that Herrnstein’s interpretation of k and R₀ should be modified.     

Feasibility of the MTAI as a Selection Instrument for Pre-Service Teacher Education — A Pilot Project

The Institute of Education is the only institution in Singapore that trains and prepares individuals for the task of teaching. In order to ensure that its products, the teachers, are of a respectable calibre, not only should the training programme be reviewed regularly, but also the method of selecting trainees.     

Treating abused children: Some clinical and research aspects of work carried out by the national advisory centre of the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children in the United Kingdom

A study of the initial phase of intensive work with families indicated that whilst outreach techniques had dramatically reduced physical injury there was long-term distortion in the child's relationship with mother (parent) less amenable to change. The most recent phase of work has concentrated on direct treatment for the abused child, using a multidisciplinary team that includes a play specialist and child psychotherapist in addition to the social workers involved. Out of a total number of 66 children seen between April 1977 and December 1979 it was alarming to find that almost all were emotionally disturbed; even if the abuse did not reoccur they remained with considerable problems. The study highlights the degree of emotional disturbance suffered by these abused children and how they can be helped by focusing on their particular treatment needs. It is important to assess all children in the family situation and not to miss the quiet, depressed, withdrawn child who might not have been the subject of the initial referral. In some instances the needs of the child may outweigh those of the family and the focus of treatment must be on the child.     

Teacher perceptions and attitudes that foster or maintain sex role differences

In an attempt to determine the nature of sex role differences as perceived by teachers, a survey of 60 secondary school teachers was conducted. The results revealed teacher perceptions of traditional male-female student behavior in the classroom, teacher preference for male teachers and male students, and the reluctance of most teachers to facilitate sex role behavior changes. Other evidence cited supports the claim of proponents that males and females are socialized differently-toward the maintenance of traditional sex role behavior. How the education system can aim for a new role balance allowing greater independence, integrity, and freedom from misconceptions about the other sex is discussed.

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Résumé Dans le but de déterminer la nature des différences de rôle attribuables au sexe comme les professeurs le voient, une étude a été entreprise auprès de 60 professeurs d'école secondaire. Les résultats ont révélé les perceptions par les professeurs de conduite traditionnelle masculine et féminine en classe, la préférence de la part des professeurs pour étudiants mâles et enseignants mâles, et la répugnance de la majorité des professeurs de faciliter des changements dans la conduite attribuable au sexe. D'autres témoignages cités supportent l'affirmation des partisans de la différence sociale entre hommes et femmes-vers le maintien de la conduite traditionnelle relative aux sexes. La présente étude discute de quelle manière le système éducationnel peut être orienté vers un nouvel équilibre des rôles permettant plus d'indépendance et d'intégrité et moins de conceptions erronées à propos du sexe opposé.

     

Teacher–Child Interactions in Early Head Start Classrooms: Associations With Teacher Characteristics

ABSTRACT

Research Findings: The current study examined characteristics of 71 Early Head Start lead teachers in relation to classroom interactions with infants and toddlers. Measured teacher characteristics included education, years of experience, beliefs about child rearing, depressive symptoms, and the temperamental characteristics of positivity and frustration. Teacher–child interactions were measured using the Classroom Assessment Scoring System, Toddler Version (La Paro, Hamre, & Pianta, 2012). Results indicated that field of degree was directly associated with the majority of dimensions of teacher–child interactions. Examination of teachers’ years of experience and intrapersonal characteristics revealed a number of significant interactions, indicating that teacher experience and appropriate beliefs may serve as protective factors in the presence of psychosocial risk factors. Practice or Policy: Overall, our findings suggest that both early childhood education degrees and years of experience are directly or indirectly associated with multiple dimensions of teacher–child interactions, confirming that these patterns established for preschool teachers hold for teachers of infants and toddlers. These results also suggest that years of experience and progressive beliefs about children may be especially important for teachers who are depressed or who have low levels of positivity and high levels of frustration. Implications for future research, as well as preservice and in-service professional development, are discussed.     

The effect of grouping of laboratory students on selected educational outcomes

The purpose of this study was to discover if grouping students in the laboratory on the basis of their formal reasoning ability affected (1) their science content achievement, (2) their formal reasoning ability, (3) the learning environment in the laboratory, and (4) the relationships between individuals in a particular group. The laboratory groups for three physical science classes for preservice elementary teachers were arranged as follows: (1) one class with students of unequal reasoning ability grouped together, i.e., one highly developed formal reasoner per group (the heterogeneous group), (2) one class with students of similar reasoning ability grouped together (the homogeneous group), and (3) one class arranged in groups according to the desires of the class members (the student choice group). The three classes were compared using pre-and post-scores on content and formal reasoning instruments and scores for classroom environment and social relationships. Results indicated that the groupings as described had significantly different effects on science content achievement but not on any of the other questions posed above. The students in the class with laboratory teams grouped by student choice had significantly lower science content scores than the students in the classes with teams formed using either the heterogeneous or homogeneous grouping procedures. The difference between the heterogeneously and homogeneously grouped classes was not significant at the 0.05 level.