Radmila Prislin

Evaluating Evaluations: The Case of Parent Involvement Programs

This article analyzes 41 studies that evaluated K–12 parent involvement programs in order to assess claims that such programs are an effective means of improving student learning. It examines the characteristics of the parent involvement programs, as well as the research design, data, and analytical techniques used in program evaluation. Our examination of evaluations found little empirical support for the widespread claim that parent involvement programs are an effective means of improving student achievement or changing parent, teacher, and student behavior. We do not conclude that programs are ineffective. Rather, serious design, methodological, and analytical flaws inherent in studies evaluating the effectiveness of parent involvement programs must be addressed before definite conclusions about program effectiveness can be reached. The findings of this study are particularly significant given the substantial federal support for parent involvement.

Immunization status and sociodemographic characteristics: the mediating role of beliefs, attitudes, and perceived control.

OBJECTIVES This study examined how immunization-related beliefs, attitudes, and perceived control mediate up-to-date immunization among various sociodemographic groups. METHODS Statewide estimates of immunization rates among children up to the age of 2 years were obtained via a multistage cluster sample. In-person interviews were conducted with 4832 parents. Information about immunization was obtained from official records or from health care providers. RESULTS Differences in immunization among sociodemographic groups were mediated by beliefs about objective barriers to immunization, protection, medical contraindication, safety concerns, distrust, and natural immunity. Protection beliefs contributed to positive attitudes toward immunization; beliefs in natural immunity and safety concerns contributed to negative attitudes. Beliefs about objective barriers, distrust, safety concerns, and medical contraindications influenced perceived control over immunization. Positive attitudes and a strong sense of control contributed to higher immunization rates. CONCLUSION These findings provide a basis for efficient educational campaigns by specifying which beliefs should be bolstered (because they facilitate proper immunization) and which should be targeted for change (because they hinder proper immunization) in various sociodemographic groups.

Motivated Cognitive Processing and Attitude Change

Two experiments investigated cognitive processing and attitudes under different motivations. In Experiment 1, 63 participants had either strong nondirectional (accuracy) or directional (defensive, impression) motives. Accuracy motivation resulted in extensive objective processing. Defensive motivation resulted in extensive biased processing. Impression motivation resulted in extensive processing that was directional in some measures but balanced in other measures. Cognitive processing mediated the effects of motivation on attitudes, which were stable across measurements. In Experiment 2, 44 participants processed under two combined strong motivations. Accuracy was successfully combined with directional motivation in both processing and attitudes. It reduced bias when combined with impression motivation but not when combined with defensive motivation. Two opposing directional motivations were difficult to combine, and participants eventually abandoned extensive processing.

From Majority to Minority and Vice Versa: The Asymmetrical Effects of Losing and Gaining Majority Position Within a Group

Two studies examined the effects of stable, partially changed, and completely changed majority and minority positions within a group on perception and evaluation of the group. It was hypothesized that loss of majority position (majority-to-minority change) would have stronger effects than gain of majority position (minority-to-majority change). The hypothesized asymmetrical effect was demonstrated in that loss of majority position decreased perception of group-self similarity, group attraction, and expectations for positive interactions with the group, whereas a corresponding gain of position did not increase them. Thus immediately following changes, the group is especially fragile because disintegrative forces created by the loss of majority position are stronger than integrative forces created by the gain of majority position.

When it is Embedded, it is Potent: Effects of General Attitude Embeddedness on Formation of Specific Attitudes and Behavioral Intentions

Attitude embeddedness, defined as the degree of connectedness of an attitude to other cognitive elements, was operationalized as the number of free associations subjects produced in relation to the attitude issue. Two experiments demonstrated that embeddedness moderated the effects of general attitudes on specific attitudes in situations that were ambiguously related to general attitudes. Highly embedded general attitudes but not low-embedded general attitudes toward capital punishment or the right to die served as a basis for the formation of specific evaluations of situations that were only moderately relevant for the broader issue. A third experiment demonstrated that highly embedded attitudes toward preservation of the environment were more strongly related to behavioral intentions than low-embedded attitudes were.

A prenatal intervention study to improve timeliness of immunization initiation in Latino infants.

This was a prospective randomized cohort study to assess the effectiveness of an educational immunization intervention with pregnant Latinas on timely initiation of infant immunization. Study participants were recruited from two community clinics in north San Diego County. A total of three hundred and fifty-two Latinas in the third trimester of pregnancy were recruited and randomly assigned to intervention or control groups. Participants received either a culturally and linguistically appropriate session on infant immunization (intervention) or a session on prevention of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (control). The main outcome measures were pre-post immunization knowledge change and infant immunization status at 92 days. Immunization knowledge increased significantly in the intervention group [p < .0001, 95%CI (1.76, 2.47)]. No difference was found between groups in immunization series initiation: 95 percent of the children in the intervention group were up-to-date by 92 days from birth, and 93 percent of the control group was up-to-date at 92 days. The lack of significant association between receiving immunization education and infant immunization series initiation suggests that parent education may be necessary but not sufficient for timely immunization, particularly in clinics with effective well-child programs. Given the significant increase in immunization knowledge, the broader and perhaps more important implication is that language- and culturally specific infant health education messages in the prenatal period may have a positive long-term impact on the childs health and promote well-child care overall. Future studies should assess the role of prenatal well-child education in the context of clinics with low immunization levels

Physicians' immunization knowledge, attitudes, and practices: a valid and internally consistent measurement tool.

Because physicians play a crucial role in immunizations,1–3 there is a need for reliable and valid assessments of physician-related determinants of immunizations. As part of a project aimed at improving immunization rates by targeting physicians,4 we developed measures of factors, which, according to theories of planned behavior5 and cognitive social learning,6 influence physicians’ immunization practices. Our measures include knowledge (understanding of the schedule, efficacy, and side effects of vaccines); attitudes (evaluative reactions toward immunizations); vested interest (perceptions of personal professional consequences of immunizations); self-efficacy (beliefs in personal capability to properly immunize); and perceived barriers (factors hindering proper immunizations). With few exceptions,7–9 studies measuring these variables either do not examine or do not report reliability and validity of their measures. Interventions based on potentially unreliable or invalid measures of needs may result in wasted resources or may not detect real improvements in immunization practices. Our measures should be of interest to those who plan interventions to improve physicians’ immunization practices or evaluate the effects of such interventions.

More Polarized but More Independent Political Party Identification and Ideological Self-Categorization Among U.S. Adults, College Students, and Late Adolescents, 1970-2015

In three nationally representative surveys of U.S. residents (N = 10 million) from 1970 to 2015, more Americans in the early 2010s (vs. previous decades) identified as Independent, including when age effects were controlled. More in the early 2010s (vs. previous decades) expressed polarized political views, including stronger political party affiliation or more extreme ideological self-categorization (liberal vs. conservative) with fewer identifying as moderate. The correlation between party affiliation and ideological views grew stronger over time. The overall trend since the 1970s was toward more Americans identifying as Republican or conservative. Older adults were more likely to identify as conservative and Republican. More Millennials (born 1980-1994) identify as conservative than either GenXers or Boomers did at the same age, and fewer are Democrats compared with Boomers. These trends are discussed in the context of social identification processes and their implications for the political dynamics in the United States.

The Effects of Social Change Within a Group on Membership Preferences: To Leave or Not to Leave?

Two studies examined immediate (Study 1) and long-term (Study 2) behavioral consequences of previously documented asymmetries in cognitive and evaluative reactions to change in majority and minority positions within a group. Study 1 found an overall decrease in preferences for group membership immediately following change, which was preceded by decategorization and devaluation of the group in response to loss, together with lack of categorization and positive evaluation in response to gain of the majority position. Study 2 found a gradual increase in preference to stay with (vs. exit) the group among former minorities with prolonged interactions that confirmed their gained majority position. A gradual increase in preference for group membership was paralleled with gradual increases in perception of both inclusion within and differentiation from the group.

Changing Majority and Minority Positions within a Group Versus an Aggregate

The study examined reactions to stable and reversed majority and minority positions within a group or an aggregate of individuals. In support of the hypothesized asymmetrical reactions to changes within a group, it was found that change away from the majority position within a group decreased attraction and expectations for beneficial interactions with others, whereas change toward the majority position did not increase them. Change away from the majority position also increased appreciation for differences in opinions and perceptions of others’ mutual conformity within a group. As expected, preference for the majority position was weaker in an aggregate than in a group; in addition, there was no significant difference in the measured reactions to changes away and toward the majority position within an aggregate. Implications of changes for the functioning of social groups are discussed.