Participant Change During an EPDA Institute: Personality,Attitudinal, and Learning Dimensions

This article reports a study of personality, attitude, and cognitive changes in experienced pupil personnel workers who participated in a retraining experience at an EPDA Institute. The subjects were from Detroit Metropolitan Area schools that have a large percentage of disadvantaged pupils. The program offered an interdisciplinary approach since its designers believe that traditional approaches are inadequate for disadvantaged youth. Measures were taken of cognitive, attitudinal, and personality need changes in the subjects over two summers and a part-time academic year. Significant overall content learnings were found, while the most drastic attitudinal changes took place in understanding. The subjects differed from entering counselor trainees and demonstrated more understanding responses than students enrolled in administration.     

Developing and Implementing Self-Instructional Modules for Counselor Training

This article proposes the development of self-instructional modules as one way to individualize counselor training. The advantages and constraints of self-instructional modules are discussed and the three basic components of a self-contained module are illustrated. Learning outcomes may be affected not only by adequate construction of a module but also by the personal variables of the individual learner. In order to provide choices for individual differences, the development of alternate learning activities is recommended. Suggestions are included for implementing a self-instructional module as an individual instructional unit or as part of a course or a workshop.     

SOME CHARACTERISTICS AND CORRELATES OF THE MEIER ART TEST OF AESTHETIC PERCEPTION UNDER TWO SYSTEMS OF SCORING

Unlike the Meier Art Test of Aesthetic Judgment, published data about the Meier Art Test of Aesthetic Perception (MATAP) are rare. Hence the goals of this study on the MATAP were to provide reliability and validity data and to test an alternate scoring system. With data from three samples, the MATAP exhibited unsatisfactory internal consistency and test-retest reliability. Significant, but low, positive correlations were found with the Illinois Art Ability Test, the Kuder Artistic scale, and biographical items concerning art training and interests. The MATAP correlated negatively with the Child Test of Esthetic Sensitivity. Most art related course grades and all American College Testing Program scores were not significantly related to the MATAP. The psychometric benefits of the alternate scoring system appeared marginal.     

A CROSS-NATIONAL COMPARISON OF ACADEMIC AND AFFECTIVE CHARACTERISTICS OF PROSPECTIVE SECONDARY SCHOOL TEACHERS

This research report deals with the measurement of nine groups of prospective secondary teachers; five from the British Isles and four from the United States. The sample of 839 final year, teacher education students was measured on academic achievement, professional education achievement, and affective measures. A multivariate analysis of variance was used to analyze differences between the groups. The analysis resulted in six statistically significant canonical variates. There was a clear country separation on only the first canonical variate, which indicated the British groups high on achievement in English composition and fine arts, and United States groups high on achievement in guidance and measurement. The canonical variates are described in the context of the real variables, as well as the separation of the groups on the canonical variates.     

Relationship of a Group Counseling Course,Hours in Counselor Education,and Sex to Empathic Understanding of Counselor Trainees

This study investigated the relationship of a graduate course in group counseling, the number of hours completed in counselor education, and sex to the empathic understanding of trainees in a counselor education program. The trainees were taped in similar counseling sessions, and their responses were rated independently by three counselor educators, who used Carkhuff's empathic understanding scale. A three-way analysis of variance determined only one significant difference. The trainees who had completed a course in group counseling were significantly higher (p <.05) than those who had not. The level of empathic understanding of the higher group, however, was less than the level considered to be the minimum for effective counseling.     

Training Counselor Trainees to Talk to Themselves: A Method of Focusing Attention

Literature regarding counselor trainee anxiety is discussed and it is concluded that this anxiety has a cognitive or a self-talk component. This self-talk component has the effect of increasing the counselor's focus on self-evaluative thinking. A method based on cognitive behavior modification literature is presented. This method is intended to reduce trainee anxiety, to increase the trainee's concentration on client verbalization, and to aid in skill acquisition.