Using focus groups to guide development of a public health Web site

This paper explores a project funded through the National Network of Libraries of Medicine to enhance effective use of the Internet by public health professionals. The processes and outcome of an effort to develop a statewide Web site for public health professionals are described. A series of focus groups was conducted as a preliminary data-gathering tool to evaluate the information needs of the target population. Results of the focus group provided a valuable framework upon which to build a successful schema for Web site development.     

The Strong African American Families Program: translating research into prevention programming

A randomized prevention trial contrasted families who took part in the Strong African American Families Program (SAAF), a preventive intervention for rural African American mothers and their 11-year-olds, with control families. SAAF is based on a contextual model positing that regulated, communicative parenting causes changes in factors protecting youths from early alcohol use and sexual activity. Parenting variables included involvement-vigilance, racial socialization, communication about sex, and clear expectations for alcohol use. Youth protective factors included negative attitudes about early alcohol use and sexual activity, negative images of drinking youths, resistance efficacy, a goal-directed future orientation, and acceptance of parental influence. Intervention-induced changes in parenting mediated the effect of intervention group influences on changes in protective factors over a 7-month period.     

Adolescent interest in human sexuality: the questions kids ask

This study demonstrates a method for obtaining data on developmental changes in adolescents' interest in human sexuality. A content analysis was done on a sample of 874 student-generated questions. Question boxes were placed in classrooms so students could anonymously submit questions. In deference to perceived community pressure, questions on abortion, homosexuality, and masturbation were not allowed. Students who wrote the questions are 7th, 8th, and 10th graders enrolled in 13 different public schools. The schools are located in several small communities and on an American Indian reservation in a rural area of northern California. All children who participated did so voluntarily and with parental permission. Of the total 874 questions. 7th and 8th graders provided 593, while sophomores accounted for 233. Gender information was available only for 7th and 8th graders. Boys asked 173 questions while girls asked 241. The data are broken down by gender and by grade (7th and 8th vs. 10th). Findings reveal that younger students show more interest in the meaning of slang terms, their reproductive physiology, and intercourse. Older students show greater interest in contraception and health risks. Males are interested in slang and intercourse while females are more concerned with health risks and communication. One unexpected finding indicates that among younger children, boys and girls are equally interested in birth control and pregnancy; in the lower grades then, may be the prime time to use sex education programs to strengthen the sense of dual responsibility for knowledge about contraception and pregnancy. Also, the relative absence of questions on disallowed issues (2.5%) makes it apparent that sex educators can effectively suppress inquiry into topics that are of great interest to youngsters; only about 1/3 of the students indicated that their parents had discussed these disllowed issues, yet 48% of the students expressed interest in knowing more about abortion.     

Differential reinforcement and resistance to change of divided-attention performance

Behavioral momentum theory provides a framework for understanding how conditions of reinforcement influence instrumental response strength under conditions of disruption (i.e., resistance to change). The present experiment examined resistance to change of divided-attention performance when different overall probabilities of reinforcement were arranged across two components of a multiple schedule. Pigeons responded in a delayed-matching-to-sample procedure with compound samples (color + line orientation) and element comparisons (two colors or two line orientations). Reinforcement ratios of 1:9, 1:1, and 9:1 for accurate matches on the two types of comparison trials were examined across conditions using reinforcement probabilities (color/lines) of .9/.1, .5/.5, and .1/.9 in the rich component and .18/.02, .1/.1, and .02/.18 in the lean component. Relative accuracy with color and line comparisons was an orderly function of relative reinforcement, but this relation did not depend on the overall rate of reinforcement between components. The resistance to change of divided-attention performance was greater for both trial types in the rich component with presession feeding and extinction, but not with decreases in sample duration. These findings suggest promise for the applicability of quantitative models of operant behavior to divided-attention performance, but they highlight the need to further explore conditions impacting the resistance to change of attending.     

Effects of naturally existing peer groups on changes in academic engagement in a cohort of sixth graders

This study examined the effects of peer groups on changes in academic engagement in 11- to 13-year-old children. From the entire cohort of 366 sixth graders in a town, 87% participated at the beginning and end of the school year. Peer groups were assessed using socio-cognitive mapping; as an indicator of motivation, teachers reported on students' classroom engagement. Peer groups were homogeneous in terms of engagement, and despite considerable member turnover across time, their motivational composition remained fairly intact. Peer group engagement levels in the fall predicted changes in children's motivation across time. Although the magnitude of effects was relatively small, evidence for group influences persisted when controlling for peer selection and the influence of teacher and parent involvement.     

Blue listerine, parochialism, and ASL literacy

There are not many elements of human life that have had as significant an impact on our development as literacy. Literacy has certainly been, and remains, a crucial issue especially in Deaf Education and in the Deaf World. The traditional definition of literacy has been exclusively understood as reading and writing. However, this article is intended to provide a thoughtful and provocative commentary that supports adopting new directions and comprehensive definitions for understanding literacy, which includes both written and signed languages. By applying ideas from Deaf Studies and New Literacy Studies we will conduct a thorough exploration of the fundamental components of literacy and illuminate important political and practical applications related to Deaf Education.