John R. Bergan

Consultant skill and efficiency and the implementation and outcomes of consultation

Abstract This article describes an investigation of consultant services rendered by school psychologists to teachers. Success in achieving stated problem-solving goals was analyzed using predictor variables measuring consultant efficiency, interviewing skills, and flexibility in applying psychological principles. Results indicated that the predictor variables exerted maximum impact on the initial problem-identification phase of the problem-solving process. Consultants lacking in skills failed to identify consultee problems and, as a results never reached the stage of plan development and implementation. Consultants successful in identifying problems were almost invariably able to solve those problems. Implications for training school psychologists were drawn and suggestions made for research in an area improverished by lack of empirical data.

The analysis of verbal interactions occurring during consultation

Abstract This article describes a consultation analysis technique for coding conversion between a consultant (e.g., psychologist) and a consultee (e.g., teacher) serving a client (e.g., student). Consultation analysis classifies the topics discussed in consultation, the verbal processes exhibited during consultation, and the extent to which one participant in consultation controls the kinds of things which another participant says. Uses of consultation analysis in training and research are discussed.

Identification of Patients at Risk for Nonresponse and Negative Outcome in Psychotherapy

This study evaluated the use of pretherapy patient variables as correlates of 3 categorical types of outcome: negative response (negative change of more than 1 normative SEest on depression measure); nonresponse (change within +/- 1 SEest on depression measure); and positive response (positive change of more than 1 SEest on depression measure) to psychotherapy among 62 patients with major depressive disorder. By using 4 scales from the Brief Symptom Inventory, the Inventory of Interpersonal Problems, age, and sex, 75.8% of the Ss were correctly classified into the 3 groups. Negative responders were characterized by high levels of interpersonal difficulty and low levels of subjective distress. Nonresponders displayed moderate levels of both interpersonal difficulties and subjective distress. Positive responders displayed high levels of both interpersonal difficulties and subjective distress.

Consultant cues and teacher verbalizations, judgments, and expectancies concerning children's adjustment problems

Abstract Teacher verbalization about childrens classroom problems were studied as a function of medical-model or behavioral-model cues. Medical-model or behavioral-model cues elicited descriptions of problem behavior congruent with their respective assumptions about human behavior. In addition, medical-model cues elicited more pessimistic expectancies about an instructors ability to solve classroom problem behavior in the classroom setting than did behavioral cues.

Effects of a Measurement and Planning System on Kindergartners’ Cognitive Development and Educational Programming:

This study examined the effects of a measurement and planning system on kindergarten children‘s (N = 838) cognitive development, promotion, and referral to special education. Multivariate tests of significance indicated children in the experimental group, whose teachers implemented the system, achieved significantly higher posttest scores in math, reading, and science than the control group. Two structural-equation models were developed to examine the effects of implementation of the measurement and planning system on referral and placement in special education and on promotion to the first grade. The findings on promotion underscore the importance of early basic skill acquisition in math and reading and suggest that children who are high in basic skills are not likely to be referred or placed in special education.

Effects of behavioral and medical models of consultation on teacher expectancies and instruction of a hypothetical child

Abstract Sixty first- and second-grade teachers were randomly assigned to one of four conditions representing variations in consultation where they were required to teach a hypothetical child to add. The first condition involved face-to-face behavioral consultation in which the consultant cued a teacher to verbalize antecedent and consequent conditions that might affect learning and prompted the teacher to specify the kinds of capabilities that the child would need in order to master the academic task targeted for instruction. In the second type of behavioral consultation, face-to-face consultation was augmented by a task analysis report specifying prerequisite skills. The third type, medical model consultation, involved face-to-face consultation focusing on temporally remote environmental circumstances accompanied by a traditional psychological report specifying that the child was of low ability. The control group was asked general questions about the school. Results suggested that behavioral consultation with task analysis was associated with significantly more teaching success than was control, medical model, and behavioral consultation without task analysis. Moreover, behavioral consultation without task analysis was better than medical model consultation. Implications for psychoeducational assessment are discussed within the context of teacher expectations and instruction.

The identification of resources and constraints influencing plan design in consultation

Abstract The present study investigated the effects of consultant verbalizations on consultee verbalizations reflecting consultee resources that might be used in plan implementation and constraints potentially limiting the nature of plans implemented in consultation. Interviews of 50 consultants trained in behavioral consultation and participating in a field experience with public school teachers were analyzed. Plan-tactic-elicitors verbalized by consultants were shown to have a positive effect on the incidence of resources as opposed to responses not reflecting resources or constraints. Other types of consultant elicitors all had a negative impact on resource incidence when compared to the incidence of other types of consultee responses.

Competency-based training in behavioral consultation☆

Abstract The design of competency-based training in behavioral consultation is described as involving the specification of objectives, training procedures, and evaluation techniques. The relationship of training and evaluation to behavioral-consultation training objectives and the benefits to a competency-based training approach are discussed.

Evaluating programs in applied settings through behavioral consultation

Abstract A behavioral consultation school psychology service model is presented which provides a vehicle for services and communication of process and outcome measures in program evaluation research. Within the context of the problem-solving perspective of applied behavior analysis, the consultation model (a) promotes process and outcome evaluation across a wide variety of settings, situations, and time; (b) leads to use of an applied research technology with wide applicability in educational settings; and (c) provides a communication technology for the program evaluation process through a four-stage problem-solving strategy. It is argued that the professional behavioral school psychologist can provide technical expertise to function as a system change agent within this evaluation model.

Structural Equation Modeling in Clinical Assessment Research with Children.

The use of structural equation modeling has gained increased interest in recent years in the social and behavioral sciences. This article reviews the basic tenets of structural modeling in relation to issues in research and practice involving clinical assessment and compares this approach with more traditional psychometric approaches to the validation of assessment instruments with children. Arguments for and against the inclusion of nonexperimental variables in causal studies aimed at establishing construct validity are also discussed. An illustrative example of the application of structural equation modeling in clinical assessment research is provided, and a comparison is made between this approach and traditional psychometric procedures. Implications and suggestions for the use of structural modeling are discussed for both the practitioner and the clinical researcher.