Robert A. Bartsch

Police work and the police profession: Assessing attitudes of city officials, spanish-speaking hispanics, and their english-speaking counterparts

Abstract This exploratory study examined attitudes toward police work and the police profession among Whites, Blacks, English-speaking Hispanics, and Spanish-speaking Hispanics. A sample of 581 residents and 18 city officials in Midland and Odessa, Texas were randomly interviewed by telephone. Among the significant findings are the observations that: (1) compared to English-speaking Hispanics, Spanish-speaking Hispanics and Whites are more likely to cooperate with the police; (2) Spanish-speaking Hispanics are significantly more likely (compared to Whites and English-speaking Hispanics) to agree with the concept of a house visit by a police officer and of a racially and ethnically diverse police department; and (3) Spanish-speaking Hispanics feel more comfortable talking with an officer who has the same ethnic background, express a greater desire to become police officers compared to Whites and Blacks, and more likely believe that excessive use of force by the police exists in their neighborhood compared to Whites. The article also presents a summary of the methodology and the findings regarding the impact of demographic measures on attitudes.

Police Performance: A Model for Assessing Citizens' Satisfaction and the Importance of Police Attributes:

This study examined the attitudes of 581 residents of Midland and Odessa, Texas regarding their satisfaction with 14 police attributes and the importance of these attributes. Descriptive findings showed the citizens are generally satisfied with police performance but still rated the importance of attributes higher than the satisfaction. The satisfaction-importance graph revealed that the professional conduct factor (professional knowledge, professional conduct, honesty, quality of service, and fairness) received relatively higher satisfaction and importance scores compared to the friendliness factor (friendliness, putting one at ease, concern, politeness, and helpfulness) and the crime control/prevention factor (level of police protection, investigative skill, ability to fight crime, and ability to prevent crime). The friendliness factor received relatively moderate satisfaction scores as did the crime control/prevention factor but was considered the least important among the three factors. Finally, the findings showed the attribute that needs the most improvement is the ability to prevent crime.

Examining the Effects of an Electronic Classroom Response System on Student Engagement and Performance

This experiment examines the causal effect an electronic classroom response system (ECRS) has on students. Previous studies using an ECRS in the classroom indicate improved performance; however, many have confounds typical of classroom studies. To complement these studies, we conducted a laboratory study to minimize these confounds and concentrate on student engagement. We randomly assigned participants (n = 52) to receive a 10–minute lecture either with or without an ECRS. The lecture contained questions to increase student engagement but not provide student and instructor feedback of concept mastery. Afterwards, the lecture participants were given a surprise quiz. Students using the ECRS scored significantly higher. We discuss the implications of this experiment for the ECRS literature.

The effects of amount of contact, contact expectation, and contact experience with police on attitudes toward police

This study examined the relationship of amount of contact, contact expectation, and contact experience with attitudes toward police. A telephone survey conducted in Midland and Odessa, Texas, was given to 581 individuals. Participants were asked questions regarding their attitudes toward police. Participants who had contact with police in the last two years (n=258) were also asked about the amount and type of contact they had with police. Results indicated that overall (1) the amount of contact did not predict attitudes: (2) positive experiences correlated with more positive attitudes, and negative experiences correlated with more negative attitudes; and (3) contact expectation, when factoring in the effect of contact experience, did not predict attitudes. Recommendations are made regarding when and what types of contact are likely to improve attitudes toward police.

Increasing Academic Self-Efficacy in Statistics With a Live Vicarious Experience Presentation

This study investigated the effect of a vicarious experience on the academic self-efficacy of graduate students enrolled in a statistics and research methods course. Participants (N = 39) completed a self-efficacy scale during the first two meetings of the course. Two weeks later, a portion of these students participated in a randomly assigned intervention to increase statistics self-efficacy. In the experimental condition, a former statistics student came to the class and explained her own math anxieties and outlined the behaviors that led to her personal success in the same course. Comparison students wrote about the characteristics of a successful student in the course without the experience of a peer model presentation. Analysis of pre- and postintervention academic self-efficacy indicated students in the peer model group showed a significant increase compared to the writing group. We discuss the potential of using live vicarious experience presentations to increase self-efficacy in psychology statistics courses.

Investigating Treatment Outcomes Across OCD Symptom Dimensions in a Clinical Sample of OCD Patients

Despite the heterogeneous nature of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), many self-report assessments do not adequately capture the clinical picture presenting within each symptom dimension, particularly unacceptable thoughts (UTs). In addition, obsessions and ordering/arranging compulsions are often underrepresented in samples of treatment outcome studies for OCD. Such methodological discrepancies may obscure research findings comparing treatment outcomes across OCD symptom dimensions. This study aimed to improve upon previous research by investigating treatment outcomes across OCD symptom dimensions using the Dimensional Obsessive-Compulsive Scale, which offers a more comprehensive assessment of UTs. The study included a primarily residential sample of 134 OCD patients. Results indicated that there were no significant differences in treatment outcomes across symptom dimensions. However, the severity of UTs remained significantly greater than other symptom dimensions at both admission and discharge. Thus, it is possible that UTs may exhibit uniquely impairing features, compared with other symptom dimensions. It is also possible that these findings may reflect the characteristics of the residential OCD samples. These speculations as well as implications for OCD treatment and future research are discussed.

School Problems and Learning about Crime and Justice Systems: Principals' Views.

This paper examines the attitudes of 207 junior high/middle school and high school principals in Texas regarding: (1) the severity of four school problems (school loyalty, drugs, student-student problems and serious problems); and (2) the possibility of five criminology and criminal justice concepts (type of crime, justice system, juvenile justice, deviance and crime prevention) that are considered important and helpful for junior high/middle school and high school students to learn in order to help deter and prevent school crime. Although school problems were generally found to be relatively minor at both school levels, drug problems in high schools were rated most serious. School principals considered a crime prevention concept (which included information about crime deterrence, crime prevention, social control and conflict resolution) as the most important and helpful topic to learn. The study concluded that schools should make crime prevention information more available to students in addition to other school crime deterrence and prevention strategies.

A Design to Improve Internal Validity of Assessments of Teaching Demonstrations

Internal validity is important in assessing teaching demonstrations both for ones knowledge and for quality assessment demanded by outside sources. We describe a method to improve the internal validity of assessments of teaching demonstrations: a 1-group pretest–posttest design with alternative forms. This design is often more practical and ethical than random assignment, and it is more valid than a single posttest-only or simple 1-group pretest–posttest design. We describe how to interpret results from this design and discuss the advantages and disadvantages.

Assessment of Psychology Graduate Program Information on the Web

We gathered information on MA and PhD psychology programs from direct mailings and Web sites from 70 universities in the United States. Analyses revealed that Web sites provided more information about graduate programs than direct mailings, especially in areas not directly related to graduate applications. Further analyses indicated that information on the Web was, overall, not more difficult to find than information through direct mail. We make suggestions to universities and students for maximizing their use of Web sites.

Using the cognitive abilities test (cogat) 7 nonverbal battery to identify the gifted/talented: An investigation of demographic effects and norming plans

The nonverbal battery of the Cognitive Abilities Test (CogAT) is one of the two most common nonverbal measures used in gifted identification, yet the relationships between demographic variables and CogAT7 performance has not yet been fully examined. Additionally, the effect of using the CogAT7 nonverbal battery on the identification of diverse demographic groups based on various norming, cutoff, and modifier plans has only just begun to be explored. In this study, we analyzed the CogAT7 nonverbal battery scores of kindergartners from a very large urban school district with a high minority, low socioeconomic status, and high English language learner population to determine the relationships between demographic variables and CogAT performance. The results suggest relationships between CogAT scores and multiple demographic variables, similar to other nonverbal instruments. We also examined the effects of various norming practices, including school-level and group-specific norming, on identification using the CogAT7 nonverbal battery.