Robert M. Liebert

Effects of a Prosocial Televised Example on Children's Helping.

The possibility that regularly broadcast entertainment television programs can facilitate prosocial behavior in children was investigated. Thirty first-grade children, 15 boys and 15 girls, were individually exposed to one of three half-hour television programs: a program from the Lassie series which included a dramatic example of a boy helping a dog, a program from the Lassie series devoid of such an example, or a program from the family situation comedy series, the Brady Bunch. The effects of the programming were assessed by presenting each child with a situation that required him to choose between continuing to play a game for self-gain and helping puppies in distress. Children exposed to the Lassie program with the helping scene helped for significantly more time than those exposed to either of the other programs.

The physical and psychological experience of pain: the effects of labeling and cold pressor temperature on three pain measures in college women

&NA; Using the cold pressor test, three experiments were conducted to investigate the effects of water temperature and labeling on three dependent measures in college women: behavioral pain tolerance (BPT), a sensory rating of the pain experience (SR) and a parallel affective rating of the experience (AR). Temperature of the cold pressor was varied as the physical factor; labels (discomfort, pain, vasoconstriction pain) were varied as the psychological factor. Experiment 1 varied only water temperature; colder temperatures led to significantly lower BPT scores and significantly higher SR and AR scores. Experiment 2 varied only labeling and demonstrated that BPT decreased and AR increased as labels became more painful‐sounding; in contrast, SR was unaffected by labeling. In Experiment 3 both the psychological and physical factors were varied simultaneously. Results indicated significantly higher BPT scores as the water temperature increased and the pain label became more benign. In addition, both SR and AR were sensitive to changes in temperature, whereas only AR was affected by changes in labeling.

A delivery system for the treatment of primary enuresis

To illustrate how to deliver underutilized psychological treatments, a comprehensive, low-cost treatment for primary enuresis was developed consisting of bell-and-pad training, cleanliness training, retention control, and overlearning. Sixty primary enuretic children and their parents attended 1-hour group training sessions and implemented treatment in the home. Each case required 15 minutes of professional time, and net cost to each family was

Race, Sex and Social Example: An Analysis of Character Portrayals on Inter-Racial Television Entertainment

50. Forty-eight (81%) achieved initial arrest of bedwetting and only 11 (24%) relapsed at 1-year follow-up. Significant association between relapse and prior treatment failure with imipramine was noted. The outcome was found to compare favorably with previous treatments that required more professional time.

Role of Frustration and Anger in the Imitation of Filmed Aggression against a Human Victim

An analysis of character portrayals on inter-racial television entertainment with a focus on race, sex, and social example was performed. Nine regularly broadcast programs having bi-racial representation with at least one male and one female portrayal were selected and a total of 60 characters analyzed according to eight categories of interpersonal and self-control behaviors. White males were aggressive and persistent but non-altruistic and unable to resist temptations to break the rules of society, or repair the damage they caused to others. Black males were non-aggressive, persistent, altruistic, and more likely than any other group to make reparation for injury. White females were non-aggressive, likely to make reparation for damage to others, and altruistic; they displayed resistance to temptation but little delay of gratification/task persistence. Black women exhibited the same self-control pattern as white women and also were non-aggressive, non-altruistic, and not inclined toward reparation for damage to others. Their most outstanding behavior, though, was a high level of explaining feelings to increase understanding, resolve strife, and reassure others. The over-all pattern of findings is interpreted in terms of televisions maintaining and fostering stereotypes.

Disorders of Elimination

A factorial experiment involving 48 boys investigated the effects of frustration and an aggressive content film with a peer model on (a) aggression against a human clown and (b) a measure of anger. As predicted, exposure to the film increased imitative aggression, and anger was correlated with aggression. Neither independent variable affected anger nor did frustration influence aggression.

The Elimination Disorders

Every one of us began life wetting the bed and making a “mess” of diapers on a daily basis. Our parents and others then imposed some form of toilet training on us. By various means they taught us when to eliminate and when to withhold urine and feces and they insisted that we learn to comply with the mles. We were not alone. In a classic study of 22 cultures Whiting and Child (1953) concluded that toilet training is the most basic and universal target of socialization everywhere. Furthermore virtually every culture appears to succeed in toilet training 80-90% of its new members within the expected time limit. The few who remain untrained or who become trained but then relapse are said to have a disorder of elimination.

EMPLOYING PARAPROFESSIONAL TEACHERS IN A GROUP LANGUAGE TRAINING PROGRAM FOR SEVERELY AND PROFOUNDLY RETARDED CHILDREN

Every one of us began life wetting the bed and making a “mess” of diapers on a daily basis. Our parents and others then imposed some form of toilet training on us. By various means, they taught us when to eliminate and when to withhold urine and feces—and they insisted that we learn to comply with the rules. We were not alone. In a classic study of 22 cultures, Whiting and Child (1953) concluded that toilet training is the most basic and universal target of socialization everywhere. Moreover, bladder and bowel training are closely linked. That is, parents almost always begin training for urination and defecation concurrently and generally report that children stop soiling and become dry at about the same time, regardless of whether it is “early” or “late.”

Vicarious consequences as a source of information: A reply to peed and forehand

A study was conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of a newly developed language training program particularly suited for the severely retarded. Designed for use with non-professional staff acting as teachers, the program contains (1) a simplified introduction to operant and modeling procedures, (2) detailed lesson plans, (3) necessary materials, and (4) instructions for testing and evaluation. Institutionalized children classified as severely and profoundly retarded were pretested and assigned to four groups, based on pretest scores. Pairs of children were matched within each group according to pretest performance, language equivalence scores, mental classification, age, sex, race, and behavior problems. One member of each matched pair was then randomly designated an experimental or control child. The experimental groups received 2 mo. of language training (each group comprising one class), with two psychiatric aides conducting all activities. As training was completed, all children were posttested. Comparison of pre- and posttest performances indicated clear treatment effects, demonstrating the potential for wide-spread institutional use of such programs.

Effects of symbolic verbalization by the model on children's observational learning.

Abstract Peed and Forehands conclusion that “a theory of vicarious consequences based upon an informational analysis of imitation has serious limitations” is questioned on several grounds. In addition to the fact that Peed and Forehands research design is not sufficiently sensitive to warrant accepting the null hypothesis, a review of recent literature suggests that the effects Liebert and Fernandez originally predicted from an informational analysis have been obtained by other investigators. Finally, studies in which an informational heuristic has been employed in areas of observational learning other than vicarious consequences attest further to its usefulness in stimulating discovery.