Editorial

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Editorial

     

WHAT RESPONDENTS LEARN FROM SCALES: THE INFORMATIVE FUNCTIONS OF RESPONSE ALTERNATIVES

Survey respondents are often asked to report the frequency withwhich they engage in a certain behavior by checking the appropriatealternative from a list of response categories provided to them.A psychological research program, reviewed in the present paper,indicates that response alternatives are not only measurementdevices but constitute a source of information for the respondent.Specifically, respondents assume that the average or typicalbehavior is reflected by values stated in the middle range ofthe response alternatives and that the extremes of the listreflect the extremes of the distribution. This assumption affectstheir own responses in various ways. First, respondents usethe range of the response alternatives as a frame of referencein estimating their own behavioral frequencies and report higherfrequencies on scales that present high rather than low frequencyresponse alternatives. Second, respondents extract comparisoninformation from their own location on the response scale anduse this information in making comparative judgments. Finally,if the target behavior is open to interpretation, as is oftenthe case when subjective experiences are assessed, respondentsuse the response alternatives to determine the exact referenceof the question. Accordingly, the same question in combinationwith different response alternatives is likely to assess differentexperiences. Implications for questionnaire construction arediscussed.     

Resilience and Multiple Risks: A Response to Bernice Wong

This article is an endorsement of Wong's proposal that risk and resilience models provide a framework for research and practice with regard to the social and emotional functioning of children with learning disabilities. Future research should include an examination of the impact of family functioning and parenting, and peer victimization. We need to be cognizant of findings in developmental psychopathology that single risk factors seldom have a massive impact on development; children who are at risk typically experience chronic multiple risks. Consequently, we cannot explain the social and emotional functioning of children with learning disabilities without understanding the reciprocal interaction between children and their environments.     

“从基因到社会”——约翰·霍普金斯大学医学院新型课程体系的设计逻辑与实施进程

2009年,约翰·霍普金斯大学医学院实施了一项全新的课程体系——"从基因到社会",其目的在于:更为宽泛地重构健康与疾病的相互关系,鼓励学生们在一个包含社会、文化、心理和环境等多维变量的综合系统中探索与患者的健康状况相关的生物学特性。本文描述了新课程的设计理念及其五年规划过程,包括课程目标的确定、课程的构建、新教学楼的建造、学生自身能力及教师发展的促进、横向和纵向结构的建立等。应对新课程挑战的关键因素在于:领导的支持、与教职员工的对话和沟通、不同群体和层面的广泛参与、避免井蛙之见、通过课程试点来测试教学理念和方法等。     

Primate vocalization: a psychobiological approach

Scientific inquiry, for the most part, can be described as parochial. Not only are there clear demarcations between broad disciplinary categories (i.e., anatomy, physiology, psychology), but subspecialties are common within disciplines. Modern technology has made possible a trend toward greater and greater specialization. In fact, there are now areas of scientific investigation that did not exist a few years ago. This increasing specialization and its concomitant reductionism is not without its pitfalls and problems. There is a tendency to move away from the basic evolutionary concept of living organisms as organized systems functioning and adapting within an ecosystem. The laboratory scientist often ignores the inherent organization of living systems in favor of an intense pursuit of his or her particular chosen bit of the biological puzzle. However, there are still disciplines that not only subscribe to the notion of living organisms as organized systems but have made a valiant attempt to bring this concept under laboratory scrutiny. Often, in order to identify these endeavors, a technique is used to combine two or three words into one. Thus, we have several flourishing disciplines described as psychoneuroimmunology, psychoneuroendocrinology, neurochemistry, physiosociology, and so on. For the investigator who attempts a more integrated approach to the broad biological and psychological universe, the demands are heavy. He or she is faced with the need to maintain credibility in several disciplines, each of which is advancing at an accelerated pace. However, we feel that the value of an integrated approach that crosses traditional disciplinary lines will be illustrated in a small way by this article and, we hope, by the series of articles presented in this symposium section of Child Development.     

Relationship between social perception and peer status in children with learning disabilities

This study was undertaken to examine the social perceptual skill deficit theory in explaining the low peer acceptance of children with learning disabilities. The quality of tests measuring social perception was also examined. Thirty 9- to 12-year-old children with learning disabilities and a matched control group were given two measures of social perception: a laboratory task and a behavior rating scale. The behavior rating scale was completed by the children's teachers. In addition, the Peer Acceptance Scale (Bruininks, Rynders, & Gross, 1974) was administered to assess peer status. Results showed that the children with learning disabilities differed significantly from their nondisabled peers on each of the three measures-the children with learning disabilities obtained lower social perception and peer acceptance scores. However, the relationships between sociometric status and social perception varied as a function of task. A small but significant correlation wa found between the behavior rating scale and peer status. The laboratory task was not correlated with either the behavior rating scale or peer status. Results are discussed in terms of the psychometric properties of laboratory versus naturalistic measures of social perception and the importance of establishing the external validity of social skill measures by correlating them with outcome measures such as peer status.     

Sammelbesprechung: Schriftspracherwerb

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