The relative effectiveness of positive and negative adult preference statements in controlling children's behavior was studied. Results indicated that the adult's antecedent negative comments exerted greater control over the children than did the positive comments. (ST)

Explored prevention of learned helplessness through the use of thermal biofeedback training and varied explanations of performance. It was found that only in the biofeedback group receiving accurate feedback was there any prevention of the subsequent development of learned helplessness behavior. (Author)

THE EFFECT OF FEEDBACK OF ACTUAL AND IDEAL BEHAVIOR RATINGS BY HIGH SCHOOL TEACHERS ON THEIR DEPARTMENT CHAIRMEN WAS STUDIED. IT WAS HYPOTHESIZED THAT SUCH INFORMATION WOULD INFLUENCE THE BEHAVIOR OF DEPARTMENT CHAIRMEN IN WHAT THEIR TEACHERS DESCRIBED AS A DESIRABLE DIRECTION. THE VARIOUS REQUIREMENTS OF THE EXPERIMENT WERE COMPLETED BY 208…

This study was designed to determine the extent to which (speech) motor timing control, as defined by a statistical model, improves in consistency with age and the degree to which peripheral feedback is used by children to maintain this consistency. Clinical applications and possible genetic implications are discussed. (Author/ED)

In testing Weiner's (1972) attribution theory of achievement behavior, success was found to produce (1) no differential attribution to effort for those high and low in achievement motivation, and (2) an early performance asymptote for those high in achievement motivation, while (3) it also facilitated performance independently of attributions. The…

Teachers in eight matched schools, four experimental and four control, were videotaped to examine the effects of a staff development program utilizing knowledge of objectives and immediate videotape feedback to modify the behavior of classroom teachers. Concomitants of teacher success in the program were also investigated. (Author)

This study was designed to test two major hypotheses: (1) Validity of expectation is an increasing monotonic function of development. (2) Invalidity of expectation is more a function of overestimation of hedonistic tendencies than a function of underestimation. A total of 277 middle class children in the first, fourth, and fifth grades were given…

This paper presents a study designed to determine if providing information to primiparous mothers about the behavioral characteristics of their infants would affect reciprocity in mother-infant interaction. Thirty married, Caucasian, middle class mothers of healthy, normally carried and delivered 48-hour-old first-born infants served as subjects.…

Tests how perceived self-efficacy influenced cognitive task performance among 64 Canadian college students. Shows students with high perceptions of self-efficacy, induced by positive feedback, completed more problems, had more efficient problem-solving strategies, and accurately self-evaluated responses. Illustrates self-efficacy's context…

Significant desired changes occurred in the conference behavior of a group of supervisor-trainees who participated in a microteaching practicum. There was also a significant shift in the way the group evaluated teaching skills; at the end of the practicum their ratings more closely approximated those assigned by a group of experienced supervisors.…

Experimental and ethological studies were undertaken to clarify the role of positive and negative evaluations in the control of the child's performance on laboratory and classroom learning tasks. The results indicate that "social reinforcers" are effective to the extent that they communicate to the child unambiguous information on the adequacy of…

Research into teacher nonverbal behavior is needed. Although teachers are usually aware of their verbal behavior, they may be unaware of many nonverbal cues they express through gesture, facial expression, posture, vocal tone, or similar mechanisms. Such nonverbal expressions convey attitudes and impressions which may affect the teaching-learning…

Reviews salient findings of media research involving young children and discusses implications of these findings for future research and applications in instructional computing. Effects of television viewing on attention and comprehension, achievement, development of mental skills, and behavior and socioemotional development, and comparative media…

A study investigated 210 secondary vocational/technical education students' cognitive, affective, and behavioral responses to a skill assessment process. Students received feedback on their skill strengths and weaknesses and those skills in which they over- or under-estimated their abilities. Results from hierarchical multiple regression indicated…