This longitudinal study attempted to assess how environmental factors affect the development of competence, as defined by White, by delineating in detail the everyday environmental transactions of a group of children from age 1 to 3. The key questions of this research were: (1) Are certain experiences encountered by the young child in his everyday…

This package contains five home-based intervention curricula for families with children between 12 and 30 months of age. Three independent curricula (each emphasizing children's language, play or social development) enlist the mother's aid as observer, teacher and researcher, and promote a three-way interaction among mother, child, and…

This study investigates sociopsychological variables in an educational context. The question of interest concerns the relationship between the conceptual complexity of teachers and the type of teacher-student interaction in the classrooms. Specifically, this study asks if a teacher's belief system is related to a pattern of asymmetrically or…

The VHF system used by the Satellite Technology Demonstration had a built-in digital response system to collect data about student programing. This paper describes the hardware and software required to implement and operate the system. In addition, information on the applications of this device is provided along with the results of a field…

A study was conducted to compare teaching and control patterns used by mothers of 4- to 6-year-old trainable mentally retarded (TMR) children to patterns used by mothers of nonretarded children, and to evaluate an analysis strategy identifying sequential behavior chains from observational data. Literature was explored on three topics: cognitive…

This speech presents the use of experimental designs and research procedures to help counselors develop effective treatment methods for clients. Baseline and treatment phases are delineated as the two basic phases occuring in most "N=1" designs. These designs are divided into the categories of single and multiple time series designs. The…

Interaction theory has not been applied to interpersonal communication because the Western scientific model requires that variables be consciously apparent. A simple model of sending and receiving is not adequate to explain the complex nature of human communication, however. The dyadic pattern of interrelationship may be expanded to reflect the…

This study describes and tests the aptitude treatment interaction (ATI) approach to reading. The rationale which forms the basis of ATI--pairing student to method--evolved from the works of Piaget and other psychologists whose studies focus on the general, and cognitive, development of children. From these studies, it was determined that…

This study examined the effects of high and low communication inhibition on small group interaction. Communication inhibition was identified in terms of a scale developed through the factor analysis of the Personal Report of Confidence as a Speaker--Short Form, the Personal Report of Communication Apprehension--College, and Unwillingness to…

This second in a series of five papers on communication reticence discusses the establishment of a setting for the treatment of communicationally reticent individuals. Eleven years of operation of a formal program at the Pennsylvania State University provides the basis for discussion of factors in the operation of the system. An eclectic…

The student who has come to be called "reticent" expresses concern about many oral, communicative behaviors, ranging from public speaking to meeting strangers and carrying on a few minutes of "small talk." A rhetorical method of instruction was utilized in a study conducted to determine the effects of treatment on a selected…

The purpose of this paper, the fourth in a series of five dealing with communication reticence, describes the residual effects of training in a treatment program for communicationally reticent individuals. A questionnaire to assess the specific problems which led students to seek instruction in the special speech sections of the Pennsylvania State…

The study objective was to identify factors shown to have influenced the acceptance of a career guidance system in six high schools. The theoretical framework was based on characteristics of the advocates, consumers, system, and interrelationships among those three. Records, interviews, field notes, and surveys were used to collect data. The…

A computer-based test administration and monitoring system developed at the University of Delaware is described. Using six terminals connected to a Burroughs B-6700 computer, the system provides numerous capabilities for interactive testing and evaluation of students' course learning, while also providing statistical data to faculty in a variety…

This study is an attempt to apply ethological tools of observation and analysis to the social behavior of 25 communally-reared children, ages 6 months to 4 years. The focus of this analysis is aggression and dominance relations. Findings indicate that: (1) agonistic behavior reveals stable and linear dominance hierarchies for children from 6…