Jerome L. Schulman

Stability of Sociometric Responses in Classrooms.

Summary Since most studies which employ sociometric measures have either ignored the sensitivity of these measures to changes in group structure or have failed to indicate the relative sensitivity of the different types of measures across time and at different age levels, a way to categorize sociometric responses according to the usefulness in reflecting changes both across time and at various age levels was hypothesized. A total of 607 students in grades four through eight responded to a sociometric questionnaire. These responses were analyzed by obtaining test-retest correlations for choices given, choices received, and reciprocal choices. The results indicate that reciprocal choices are less affected by age and time changes than all other ways of interpreting sociometric data.

Sequences of staff-child interactions on a psychiatric inpatient unit

Six psychiatry inpatients were observed during mealtimes to determine and evaluate staff intervention techniques. To extend and further elaborate the findings of a previous work (Pines, Kupst, Natta, & Schulman, 1985), staff behaviors (positive, punitive, isolating, and neutral) were investigated for their potential relationship to subsequent child behaviors (positive, negative, and inactive) via a lag sequential analytic approach. Staff punitive and isolating behaviors tended to be associated with significant increases in the likelihood of subsequent child negative behaviors and with significant decreases in child positive behaviors. Staff positive behaviors tended not to be related to a subsequent increase or decrease in any of the coded child behaviors. Findings demonstrate the utility of assessing conditional probabilities of sequences of staff-child behaviors in psychiatric inpatients.

Use of a Coping Approach in the Management of Children with Conversion Reactions

Abstract In some children with conversion reactions there is lack of certainty or agreement about the diagnosis and complicating organic factors when chronic symptoms are unrelieved by standard medical treatments. It is suggested that these children can be managed by stressing their need to cope: it is best for them to carry on with normal functioning, including lack of complaining. All family members must be involved. All mention of symptoms disappeared rapidly. Most children required therapeutic help during the treatment.

A Study of the Inter-Judge Reliability in Scoring the Responses of a Group of Mentally Retarded Boys to Three Wisc Subscales

THE purpose of this paper is to report an investigation of the inter-judge reliability of the Comprehension, Similarities and Vocabulary subscales of the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC), (Wechsler, 1949). These subscales have in common the fact that the subject responds with an explanatory verbal statement which must be judged by the examiner as to its adequacy. The norms and samples provided for judging these responses are frequently felt to be difficult to follow. Delp, (1953, p. 480) in his

The Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test in Comparison with other Intelligence Tests and an Achievement Test in a Group of Mentally Retarded Boys

IN the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (PPVT) Manual, Dunn (1959) reports &dquo;congruent validity&dquo; coefficients of .58 to .94 with other intelligence tests for the PPVT and &dquo;concurrent validity&dquo; coefficients of .39 to .87 with various achievement measures. These data were obtained in normal, retarded, and cerebral palsied groups. Kimbrell (1960) reports significant correlations between PPVT IQ’s and Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC) Verbal and Full Scale IQ’s, and nonsignificant correlations with Performance IQ’s for a sample of educable educational retardates. In the same study, the PPVT MA’s did not correlate with grade placement on the Gray-Votaw-Rogers General Achievement Tests, while the derived WISC MA scores did. Tobias and Gorelick (1961) found significant correlations between the PPVT raw scores, the three IQ scores of the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS), the MA scores of the Revised Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale (S-B), specific form not given, and the reading subtest of the Wide Range Achievement Test for a group of adult retardates who were working in a community sheltered-workshop situation. However, the subjects scored

The CPI subscales as predictors of parental coping with childhood leukemta

Determined the role of the standard CPI subscales, the Summed Coping Scale, and the current Adjustment Rating Scale in prediction of parental coping with leukemia, with 30 mothers and 25 fathers of children with Leukemia. None of the standard CPI subscales was found to be a significant predictor of coping, as measured by a situation-specific instrument, the Family Coping Scale. The Summed Coping Scale and the CARS were significant as predictors for fathers, but not for mothers. It is suggested that coping with the specific situation may be a better predictor of later coping in a similar situation than more global assessments.

AN OBJECTIVE TEST OF SPEED OF FINE MOTOR FUNCTION

A sample of 375 Ss between the ages of 3 and 8 were given a series of fine motor tasks of which 7 comprised a single instrument. Speed of performance on these measures was found to relate primarily to age, although social class was occasionally a factor. Sex did not affect performance on the test. Speed of performance was found to be an exponential function of age. The measures on the test were found to be highly interrelated. Further, a sample of children referred for diagnosis for presumed retardation, organicity or learning difficulties differed significantly from the standardization population on these measures.

Use of the timeout procedure in a child psychiatry inpatient milieu: combining dynamic and behavioral approaches.

An observational study of naturally-occurring timeouts was conducted in a child psychiatry inpatient milieu over a three-month period. Data from nine children were assessed. Child negative behavior was generally low in the timeout, processing, and return to activity phases. Results from individuals were discussed in terms of their diagnosis and events taking place on the unit. Staff behavior during timeouts were also described. The crucial role of processing after the timeout was discussed.

Effects of Schools’ Racial Composition on the Self-Concept of Black and White Students1

AbstractAn investigation of self-esteem and self-concept of ability of black and white students attending integrated and segregated schools was undertaken. A total of 696 students in sixth, seventh, and eighth grades from six parochial elementary schools (two all-black, three integrated, and one all-white) in similar socioeconomic sections of Chicago was administered the Cooper smith Self-Esteem Inventory (CSEI), the How I See Myself Rating Scale, and Brookover’s self-concept of ability measure (SCA). A multivariate analysis of variance performed on the test-battery scores yielded significant differences for type of school on the self-esteem measure and the rating scale, and for grade on both the SCA measure and the peer and school subscales of CSEI, but did not yield significant differences for any of the interactions.

Staff-patient ratio and type of interaction on a child psychiatry inpatient unit

Eight children from a child psychiatry inpatient unit were observed during mealtimes to examine the effects of varying staff-patient ratios on their behavior. The frequency of negative behavior was lowest during the moderate ratio periods for most subjects. Type of staff attention, rather than number of staff, appeared to be related to acting-out behavior in the children.