William A. Poppen

Content and intensity of fears in middle childhood among rural and urban boys and girls

Abstract The purpose of this study was to determine gender, grade, and rural/urban differences in content and intensity of self-reported fears of fourth-, fifth-, and sixth-grade boys and girls (N = 650). The Childrens Fear Survey Schedule (Ryall & Dietiker, 1979) was used to determine the content and intensity of childrens fears, and a three-way analysis of variance was used to analyze the data. The results indicated that girls were more fearful than boys, rural children were more fearful than urban children, and fourth- and fifth-grade children were more fearful than sixth-grade children. These differences were the result of greater intensity of fears; content of fears appeared to be relatively comparable across groups.

The Effect of Grade Contracts on Student Performance

AbstractEach of four classes of Educational Psychology 2430(Child Study) was randomly divided into two groups: experimental (N=55) and control (N=55). The experimental group’s course performance was evaluated by a grade contract approach while the control group was evaluated by a traditional method. Group differences favored the experimental group; however, such differences were not statistically significant.

An Integrative Theoretical Model of Children's Fears

This article describes the development of an integrative theoretical model of childrens fears that provides a comprehensive view of the normal development of fear. The model integrates an overview of the process of stress as described by Maccoby (1983) and individual fear variables proposed by Graziano, DeGiovanni, and Garcia (1979). Incorporated into the model are environmental, social, and intrapersonal variables that begin with individual characteristics and proceed in a circular chain of events, including fear stimuli, arousal, and affective state of fear, and conclude with coping strategies and adaptation. Each stage of the model is supported by research studies on childrens fears. Suggestions for using the model as a basis for future practice and research are presented.

Identification of Teacher Verbal Response Roles for Improving Student-Teacher Relationships

AbstractThe purpose of this study was to determine which of seven verbal response roles (feelings, thoughts, motives, behavior, encounter/ encouragement, confrontation, and sharing) hold the greatest potential for improving student-teacher relationships at the junior high school level. One hundred and one ninth grade students reported the frequency with which teachers with whom they had had the best and poorest relationships had used each response role as it was demonstrated on videotape. When response roles were rank ordered for each relationship by means, different role sequences resulted. The two relationships were then compared using a Wilcoxon signed ranks test for each role, with six of the seven response roles showing significant difference in use. Five of the response roles were used proportionately more in best relationships, two in poorest.

Expectations of Junior High School Pupils for Counseling

THE DEVELOPMENT of a unique school organization, and within that organization, a guidance program to serve pupils in grades seven through nine is based on the concept that the pr? adolescent or early adolescent has distinctive characteristics and needs. The growing volumes of recent writings on the psychology of early adolescents emphasize that early adolescence is a period of clear-cut individual differences and that persons of this age group possess distinctive and identifying characteristics. Despite the educational and psychological approach of treating early adolescence in a unique manner, many counselors and counselor educators seem content to rely on the findings of research with college and high-school pupils as a basis for developing a theory of counseling for the junior high pupil. Others in the field of counseling think that methods of counseling developed for older counselees may not be completely applicable to the younger pupil in the junior high school. To date, little research has been attempted concern ing the individual counseling process as it relates to junior high-school pupils. One area of concern in the counseling process as it relates to junior high pupils might be what do junior high-school pupils expect of counsel ing? How do they expect the counselor to behave during the interview? Do the students have an expectation of certain topics to be discussed in the interview? These and similar questions have stimulated the investigation of the expectations of junior high-school pupils for counseling.

Student Perceptions of “Group Work: Leading in the Here and Now”

Abstract Students of group dynamics use Systematic Multiple Observation of Groups (SYMLOG) to rate interaction in the videotape series “Group Work: Leading in the Here and Now.”

Peer acceptance in middle childhood among rural and urban boys and girls

Abstract Childrens peer acceptance in the classroom setting was investigated for fourth-, fifth-, and sixth-grade boys and girls in both rural and urban schools. The sample comprised 650 children from 33 classrooms in four different schools. Each child completed the Peer Acceptance Index on which they rated each child in the classroom on a scale of never my friend (1) to my best friend (5). The Peer Acceptance score was a composite of all the ratings of their classmates for each child. A 2 × 2 x 3 (Location x Gender x Grade) analysis of variance was employed to examine the between-group differences on peer acceptance. Significant between-group differences were found for the location and grade variables. A significant location-by-grade interaction also was found. When the grade variable was examined by location, there were significant between-group differences for urban children but not for rural children, with diminishing levels of peer acceptance for fifth and sixth graders. The contrast of location by ...