Research on the effectiveness of the Neonatal Behavioral Assessment Scale (NBAS) in enhancing the mother-newborn relationship has had inconsistent results. A study was conducted to assess the effectiveness of an NBAS intervention with a high-risk mother group. The study focused on low-income, drug-using mothers, measuring the effectiveness of the…

The International Resilience Project was launched to determine the role of parents, teachers, other adults and children themselves in promoting resilience in children. In this study, 589 children and their families or caregivers participated; most children were 9-11 years old, with children ages birth to 6 years represented also. Subjects reported…

Psychosocial correlates of exposure to violence are explored to gain insight into how adolescents are affected in areas of school-based adjustment, and also whether specific groups of youth are affected more than others. Data were gathered as part of a study on academic adjustment across two groups of adolescents: one from a Northeastern…

During the 1984-1986 academic years, the Nebraska Prevention Center for Alcohol and Drug Abuse again cooperated with the Omaha Public Schools to assess the effects of the videotape-based educational program, "Resisting Pressures to Drink and Drive." This report summarizes the activities of the 1984-1985 year and presents an assessment of…

Effects of answer changing on tests by 133 fifth- and sixth-grade students were investigated to determine the degree to which these students changed answers, the extent to which they gained from changing, and the reasons they advanced for the changes. Students were from a predominantly suburban district (n=88) and a predominantly rural district…

This research report describes alcohol, tobacco, and other drug use among a representative sample of 7,187 Nebraska junior and senior high school students. The research is from an ongoing project: the Nebraska Adolescent Drug Use survey, which was initiated in 1982. The stated purpose of the project is to provide baseline and updated survey…

The high prevalence of alcohol and substance abuse by adolescents poses a significant threat to the wellness of youth. Adolescents appear to use drugs for a variety of reasons. In addition to the multiple etiologic and risk factors present for substance abuse, there are many pathways teenagers may follow on their way to substance abuse. The…

This report describes what has been learned from three surveys about undergraduate academic dishonesty at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). The surveys involved 891 undergraduates, approximately 490 faculty, and 481 graduate teaching assistants. Cheating was examined as a literal reality rather than as an abstract concept.…

Social and health service utilization have been the subject of numerous studies, but most have examined service utilization from the perspective of the type of service delivered to older adults. To determine the factors that predict overall utilization of services, data that had been collected in 1975 for the General Accounting Offices' survey of…

One approach to increasing our understanding of the rating process is to examine behavioral components of decision-making. Although observable rater behavior during appraisal is still removed from the actual contents of internal processing, these behavioral indices may provide important clues toward identifying determinants of rating success. To…

Drawing on Roger Schank's and Robert Abelson's theory of scripts as a way of viewing learning as behavior at four hierarchical levels, the study examined the literacy learning behavior of two Chicano sisters (one in the second grade and the other in kindergarten) reading orally from storybooks in a home setting. The English story books received in…

Observations were made of coaches' interactive behavior during competitive games, and the quantity and quality of interaction between 38 coaches and their athletes were recorded. Interactions were categorized as: (1) positive--verbal praise, nonverbal affirmative gestures; (2) neutral--lecturing, giving commands, pointing, demonstrating; and (3)…

Height is one important variable among many in the elicitation of the submissive response. In addition to overt behavioral components, the submissive response involves a cognitive component, in which oneself is perceived as smaller and weaker, and an affective component, consisting of a feeling of intimidation by the other. Submission is a…

The relationship between visual-motor perception and classroom behavior was investigated for a sample of 76 first-grade children. Analysis of regression indicated that three types of classroom behavior tend to be associated with poor visual-motor perception. These behaviors are described. (Author)

Examined black and white adolescent dating behavior before and after desegregation in a Northeast Texas Community. Questionnaires were administered in segregated high schools in 1964 and the desegregated high school in 1974 (N's are 367 and 432, respectively). Results indicate blacks' dating behavior has changed in direction of whites, while…