AN ANALYTICAL PROCEDURE FOR THE EQUIPERCENTILE METHOD OF EQUATING TESTS

Prior use of the equipercentile method of test equating was based on a graphic procedure which is tedious, subject to smoothing errors, and non-analytical. Recognition of the equipercentile method as a curve-fitting procedure for two cumulative percentage distributions leads to a proposed analytical solution to the problem through use of linear estimates for successive "missing" cumulative percentage points. A complete equipercentile procedure which uses the proposed method and provides linear and quadratic functions for goodness-of-fit and extrapolation is discussed and illustrated with data from a test equating project.     

A Comparison of Self-Observation,Self-Modeling,and Practice Without Video Feedback for Improving Counselor Interviewing Behaviors

This study evaluated the effects of three different feedback procedures on counselor trainees' interviewing behaviors that were judged by their supervisors as being inappropriate in a counseling session. In addition to informing each trainee in writing of the specific target behavior(s) he or she was to attempt to improve, the feedback conditions consisted of either (a) self-observation of edited videotapes of appropriate-only behavior (entitled self-as-a-model), (b) self-observation of unedited videotapes of appropriate and inappropriate behaviors, or (c) practice without video feedback. The results indicate that all three feedback strategies promoted the reduction of inappropriate interviewing behaviors. Only the self-as-a-model technique (self-observation of appropriate-only responses), however, completely extinguished the occurrence of inappropriate interviewing behaviors. Of the seven inappropriate behaviors monitored for the group using self-as-a-model, five were completely extinguished after only three practice sessions.     

与鲨共舞！

本以为这会是一次轻松愉快的度假。这次到巴拿马首都拿骚的豪华旅行，是为了纪念《碧海追踪（Into the Blue）》DVD版的发行，正是这部电影让性感女星杰西卡·奥尔芭一夜成名。不过，当我坐在鲨鱼密布的大海上的小船边上，将穿着脚蹼的双脚伸出船舷时，身体却忍不住在小3号的潜水服中颤抖不止，脑子里不由自主地联想到了“印第安纳波利斯号”船员的悲惨遭遇——这艘美国战舰曾经运送过轰炸广岛的那枚核弹，但在其受到鱼雷攻击之后，全部1100名船员里只有316人幸免于难，而造成如此重大伤亡的并不是炸弹，大多数在5天之后获救的船员，都是从鲨鱼的口中幸存下来的。     

A Taxonomy of Museum Program Opportunities—Adapting a Model from Natural Resource Management

This paper describes a conceptual framework for the way museum managers might categorize different kinds of program opportunities, both existing and potential. This systematic approach to program planning may be useful to managers in museums seeking to expand their programs' scope and scale. The basis for this concept is borrowed from the outdoor recreation discipline, which sought, in the 1970s, to find a common language to describe supply and demand for recreation opportunities and to understand recreation opportunities in a geographic context of available natural resources. In this paper, the concept is adapted for museums and museum going as a leisure activity. The article first explores the linkages between museum supply and demand as they relate to a larger leisure marketplace. The Recreation Opportunity Spectrum (ROS) is then described as it is used for outdoor recreation decision making. Following this practice, museum demand opportunities are defined and elaborated by example, and a “Visitor Opportunity System”—modeled after ROS—is presented. Specific examples are provided for applying this system approach to a variety of museum practices and planning scenarios.     

How Psychological Education Can Promote Mental Health with Competence

After citing research indicating that competence is a necessary condition of mental health, this article defines cognitive competence as a crucial form of mastery, attempts to show how it develops, illustrates how mental health depends on this capacity, and briefly sketches out four conditions psychological education curriculums can provide for facilitating students' acquisition of cognitive competence.     

Roles for Counselor Education Departments in Marriage and Family Counseling: Current Status and Projections

Preparation of counselors for marriage and family counseling roles is an increasingly important aspect of counselor education. This study sought to determine current level and projected involvement of a nationwide sample of counselor education departments in marriage and family counselor training and to assess the extent to which counselor educators in the sample agreed with 30 marriage and family counseling competencies.     

Personal Computers in Laboratory Teaching of Control

This paper reports on the incorporation of personal computers in the laboratory program at UMIST's Control Systems Centre. Laboratory practice is an integral component of all our control course. The laboratory facilities provide a mechanism for testing and verifying theoretical and design approaches. Incorporating computers in all phases of the laboratory program makes possible the use of current techniques in the analysis and design of realistic control systems. The control systems laboratory at UMIST has been developed with the goal of providing real world analysis and design experience in a laboratory setting. A collection of scale model experiments representing the major categories of industrial control problems has been constructed. These working models are coupled with a standard instrumentation interface and analogue and digital computers to implement control strategies. In all cases, great care has been taken to retain realism and allow the student to concentrate on control issues rather than configuration or programming problems. The primary objective of using personal computers in the control laboratory is to provide an on-line link between the student and the laboratory model. This provides direct ‘hands on’ experience of digital control ideas, interactive digital control experimentation and use of the computer as a multi-function virtual instrument. In addition, the computer is used off-line to simulate model performance as various control strategies are tried. At this point in time, each laboratory model station has been equipped with a personal computer containing A/D and D/A converters, hard and floppy disk, and a real-time clock. The computers are networked to provide access to printing and file storage facilities. Originally the software packages were written primarily in BASIC, and ran on BBC computers. These versions are however in the process of being replaced by PC-based packages written in C. Both the original BASIC and the C-successors have been developed to provide interactive, real-time control of the model using a choice of digital control algorithms. Using the keyboard as a control panel, the student can observe model performance, vary controller parameters, choose display characteristics and record parametric and graphical data. Future developments will expand the choice of available control algorithms and enhance the off-line analysis and design tools.