Psychodrama and sociodrama in primary and secondary education

Students need practice in decision making and problem solving, and sociodrama can provide this practice in a safe, nonthreatening context. It helps them to become aware of the typical ways they solve problems, and it increases both social and personal awareness. It may promote acceptance, cooperation, and cohesiveness in the classroom. Students readily adapt to this kind of activity and find it both enjoyable and stimulating. It is recommended as a useful method in the classroom and guidance and counseling setting for helping students understand their own behavior and the behavior of others.     

Roosttime restlessness in captive American Robins (Turdus migratorius)

All-day observations of captive American Robins (Turdus migratorius) revealed that the birds became extremely active at dusk, the time when wild Robins typically fly some distance to a communal roost site. This roosttime restlessness occurred during every month of the year, and so was distinguishable from the migratory restlessness that the birds displayed during early morning hours of spring months. The present observations also uncovered a recapitulation effect, in that the changes in activity level that occurred within any single day (from dawn through dusk) tended to parallel the changes in activity level that occurred across the year (from spring through winter).     

Family patterns and child abuse in a nationally representative American sample

Data on 1, 146 families with a child age 3 through 17 at home are presented. Child abuse information was obtained for a randomly selected child in each family. Child abuse was defined as an attack by a parent involving punching, kicking, biting, hitting with an object, “beating up,” or using a knife or gun. Over 14 out of every 100 American children 3–17 are subjected to abusive violence each year. These figures are at least 26 times greater than those of the National Center For Child Abuse and Neglect. Even so, for reasons outlined in the paper, they are underestimates. Families in which child abuse occurred are compared with other families. The results suggest that child abuse is brought about by the very nature of the society and its family system. This has profound implications for the prevention and treatment of child abuse. Although psychotherapy may be appropriate in some cases, a more fundamental approach lies in such things as a more equal sharing of the burdens of child care, replacement of physical punishment with non-violent methods of child care and training, eliminating the stresses and insecurity which now characterize our economic system, and strengthening the ties of individual families to the extended family and the community.     

Effects of behavior rehearsal,audiotaped observation,and intelligence on assertiveness and adjustment in third-grade children

The effects of behavior rehearsal and audiotaped vignettes as added components to a 12-session assertion training lecture series were studied. Subjects were 96 third-grade children of average or above average IQ. Results showed that on both measures of assertion, behavior rehearsal was a significant adjunct to the assertion lecture, which was also given to the attention control children. On one measure of assertion an effect was also noted for the audiotaped observation condition. There was no effect of IQ. While clear increases in assertion were found, no effect on neuroticism or trait anxiety was noted. It was recommended that school mental health programs include an assertiveness segment in their curriculum.     

A comparison of the WISC information and arithmetic subtests with a multiple choice procedure using kindergarten,first-, and second-grade children

Fifty-nine children in kindergarten, first, and second grade were given the WISC information and arithmetic subtest. Approximately three weeks later, the subjects were presented with the same questions, and four multiple choice answers were shown and read to them. The number of correct responses on each subtest for each presentation method was recorded. The multiple choice method of presentation response yielded significantly higher scaled scores than did the standard WISC presentation with the free response mode of testing.