Valuing values: reflections on a social value paradigm of educational computing

The technical capabilities and educational potential of computers have increased in recent years. The advent of technologies such as CD-ROM may exacerbate an existing trend in the use of computers in education whereby values are transmitted to students without educators fully understanding the process. The implications of CD-ROM technology for the teaching of implicit and explicit values are discussed, and a social value paradigm is proposed as a partial answer to the problem.     

Discrimination of the number of sequential events by rats

Ten rats were trained to press a right lever following two successive sounds and to press a left lever following four successive sounds. Three sound sequences were used in initial discrimination training, such that reliable classification could not be based on the duration of each sound, the interval between sounds, or the total duration of the sound sequence. Classification of seven novel sound sequences suggested that the animals were either using number or the sum of sound durations in a sequence as the relevant cue. When this total sound duration was put in conflict with number, rats classified by number. The conclusion was that rats can discriminate number, even when temporal cues are controlled.     

Temporal processing and reading disability

The present investigation examined thehypothesis that early auditory temporalprocessing deficits cause later specificreading disability by impairing phonologicalprocessing (Farmer & Klein 1995; Tallal1980, 1984). Temporal processing ability atschool entry was examined using Tallal'sRepetition Test in a large unselected sample ofover 500 children followed over subsequentyears. Although our data confirmed the presenceof certain non-speech auditory processingdeficits in children later classified asspecific reading-disabled, many findings wereclearly at odds with a causal interpretation ofthis relationship. (1) Reading-disabled (RD)children were impaired at school entry on thesubtest with long interstimulus intervals(ISIs) but not the critical short-ISIsubtest. (2) RD children were not inferior toreading-age (RA) controls. (3) A subgroup of RDchildren with evidence of temporal deficitswere no less proficient on later phonologicalor reading measures than RD children with noevidence of early temporal impairment. (4)Although there was a reliable concurrentcorrelation between temporal deficits andphonological awareness at school entry(suggesting a possible common causeexplanation), early temporal deficits did notpredict later phonological impairment,pseudoword processing difficulties, or specificreading disability. On the other hand, earlytemporal deficits did predict later oralreceptive vocabulary and reading comprehensionweaknesses. These findings suggest thatauditory temporal deficits in dyslexics may beassociated with the same dysphasic-typesymptoms observed by Tallal and her colleaguesin specific language-impaired populations, butdo not cause the core phonological deficitsthat characterize dyslexic groups.     

Organizational culture and effectiveness in two-year colleges

The central purpose of this study is to determine the extent to which the effectiveness of a nationally representative sample of two-year colleges differs in terms of their dominant type of organizational culture. The findings demonstrate wide differences in the effectiveness of two-year colleges that exhibit the traits of clan, adhocracy, hierarchy, and market cultures, and the differences are consistent with their conceptual rationale. The research, policy, and practical implications of the findings in terms of our efforts to understand and improve the management and institutional performance of two-year colleges are discussed.Presented at the Association for Institutional Research Annual Forum, Atlanta, Georgia, May 10–13, 1992.     

Competency and training issues related to the integration of career counseling and mental health counseling

Summary Career counseling cannot be neatly separated from the counseling that affects the remainder of clients' lives, and mental distress cannot be considered independent of the career which encompasses so much of an individual's world. Life is complex and includes many facets which counselees bring to the counseling relationship. Counselors must be able to deal with the major issues in clients' lives including career issues and issues of mental health. Minimum skill for counselors would include the ability to assist a range of clients and the knowledge to effectively refer others. For too long career counseling and mental health counseling have been viewed as separate entities. This view of career and mental health counseling as separate is inconsistent with the development of counseling as a profession and does not serve potential clients well.Spencer G. Niles, D.Ed. is an Assistant Professor of Counselor Education and Robert H. Pate, Jr., Ph.D. is a Professor of Counselor Education and Chair of the Department of Human Services in the Curry School of Education at the University of Virginia.