The social and ecological validity of a body of research may impact the degree to which interventions will be used outside of research contexts. The purpose of this review was to determine the extent to which social and ecological validity were demonstrated for interventions designed to increase social skills for young children with autism…

Behaviorally anchored rating scales (BARS) are an essential component of structured interviews. Use of BARS to evaluate interviewees' performance is associated with greater predictive validity and reliability and less bias. BARS are time-consuming and expensive to construct, however. This report explores the feasibility of gathering participants'…

As pressure builds to assess students, teachers, and schools, educational practitioners and policy makers are increasingly looking toward student perception surveys as a promising means to collect high-quality, useful data. For instance, the widely cited Measures of Effective Teaching study lists student perception surveys as one of the three key…

Early Childhood Mental Health Consultation (ECMHC) has been linked to increased teacher competence and efficacy, as well as increased social skills and decreased challenging behaviors for participating children (Green, 2009). Partnerships for Early Childhood Mental Health ("Partnerships") is an ECMHC program in Southeastern Ohio. This…

In this paper, we describe a quality checklist that parents, teachers, clinicians, and policy-makers with basic research skills can use to systematically evaluate the methodological quality of single-case studies on social skill training of children with autistic spectrum disorder (ASD). We provide a rationale for included quality indicators, and…

A substantial research literature is beginning to develop regarding social skills excesses and deficits for children with autism spectrum disorders. These developments are likely to continue given the increasing recognition that these behaviors are among the most critical core symptoms of these disorders. A review is provided of developments in…

Examined generalizability of social-skills and social-anxiety global ratings made by judges trained in six different experimental laboratories. Found moderate degrees of generalizability across laboratories for the social-skills and social-anxiety ratings based on brief role plays. For more extended interaction, obtained moderate generalizability…

Self-report and judges' ratings of anxiety and social skill were moderately generalizable across the facets investigated. The relationship between anxiety and skill varied considerably among methods. Substantial variance was found within judges for anxiety ratings and within judges and methods for skill ratings. Variance was influenced by mode of…

A great deal of research has been done in the area of "compliance-message" tactics and strategies, but this research has not produced a coherent framework for studying this interpersonal communication process. Based on six axioms concerning the nature of communication behavior in general and on one postulate and five theorems defining…

This article reviews research conducted by the author and colleagues over a 27-year period on enhancement of peer-related social skills in young children with behavioral disorders or autism. It argues that a logical positivist approach has yielded significant quality-of-life benefits to participants while effectively challenging many outdated…

This paper reports a factor analytic investigation of the interpersonal attraction construct. Two hundred-fifteen subjects completed 30 Likert-type, 7-step scales concerning an acquaintance. Factor analysis indicated three dimensions of the interpersonal attraction construct which were labeled "task,""social," and "physical." Obtained internal…

With its roots in clinical and educational psychology, school psychology is an ever-changing field that encompasses a diversity of topics. "The Oxford Handbook of School Psychology" synthesizes the most vital and relevant literature in all of these areas, producing a state-of-the-art, authoritative resource for practitioners,…

This article presents the methodology used by the Finnish Education Evaluation Council in the national evaluation of social and communication skills in vocational education and training. The evaluation concentrates on key competences such as learning-to-learn skills, communication skills, social skills and entrepreneurship (Implementation of…

Examined dimensions of social competence by several measures of adaptive behavior, social skills, and peer acceptance among 452 elementary school students. Found method of measurement to be most important factor in assessment of social competence. Considers interacting influences of method, setting, and content on assessment of social competence.…

Results of individual evaluations of four successive classes of first-year medical students' performance in a communication and interviewing skills curriculum were studied using meta-analysis. Carkhuff's (1969) Standard Indexes of Discrimination (DI) and Communication (CI) were administered before and after course completion. Enrollment in the…