The relationship between compliance with "do" and "don't" requests was examined with six developmentaly disabled children with severe behavior disorders. Generalized compliance occurred only with requests of the same types as the target exemplar ("do" or "don't"). (Author/SEW)

A study was conducted to demonstrate and evaluate instructional procedures for teaching cooperative leisure skill activities to 23 school-age children with severe learning disabilities. The approach of modeling, social reinfocement, and the availability of cooperative type materials (e.g., games) was effective in facilitating cooperative leisure…

Invitational education maintains that people respond best when they are invited to feel valuable, able, and responsible, and that teachers can transmit verbal and nonverbal messages that promote positive student reactions. An overview of the concept is presented, and four types of behavior of physical education teachers and their effects are…

Three factors are contributing to the redefinition of sex roles: (1) the equal education mandates of Title IX; (2) growing recognition of the need for female role models; and (3) the reconceptualization of androgyny and transcendence in scholarly research. Physical activity programs are one of the socialization agents that can aid in the process.…

Undergraduates rated their affective reactions to hypothetical test performances under four success conditions. Then, in the role of teachers, they administered rewards to hypothetical students under identical conditions. Both positive self-evaluation and teacher praise were greatest when success followed effort. Perceptions of ability also…

Forty experienced and inexperienced teachers, twenty male and twenty female, were observed in preschool classes to determine (1) what determines differential responses to boys and girls with regard to sex-preferred behaviors, and (2) whether male and female teachers differ in their teaching styles. (ST)

Six experiments investigated the informational value of praise and criticism. Praise after success and neutral feedback after failure led to perceptions that an acting person's ability was viewed as low. Neutral feedback after success and criticism after failure led to perceptions that an acting person's ability was viewed as high. (Author/RD)

Small-group cooperative learning methods have improved achievement, low and high level cognitive learning, race relations and mutual student concern. Most of the research focuses on four approaches: Teams Games Tournament (DeVries), Student Teams Achievement Divisions (Slavin), Jigsaw (Aronson) and Small Group Teaching (Sharan). (Author/CP)

The central question for this study is whether the improvement of group instruction can increase achievement to the same level as or even higher than that produced by the feedback-corrective process used in mastery learning. It is hoped that the findings can be of interest to developing countries. (RL)

Reports on a study that used positive reinforcement on a group of fourth and fifth graders to underscore the contingent relationship between student behavior and environment and thus develop a more internal locus of control. Shows that experimental subjects were significantly more internal than their placebo or control group counterparts following…

Applying the business technique of management by objectives to high school business subjects calls for students to think about and set class goals for themselves, with teacher guidance and encouragement. Difficulties may include the additional time needed for the program and evaluations of different individual objectives. (MF)

Discusses classroom computer applications in engineering: a student learning assessment program providing remedial work, positive reinforcement, teacher information for follow-up lesson preparation, and a record-keeping matrix and an expert trouble-shooting system that allows students to debug their own circuit designs by testing simulated…

Assesses the extent to which children can be taught to increase the frequency of good things in their day and to be more aware of these highlights. A study of 39 students who participated in a positive perspectives intervention program showed both an increased awareness of highlights and positive feelings. (RJM)

This article describes positive behavior support as it is applied in the context of early intervention and as children progress into elementary school. Variables that contribute to effective interventions are discussed, as are issues that must be considered in order to construct optimally beneficial transitions for children with behavioral…

Creativity measures and samples of private speech were collected from 42 preschool and kindergarten children. Statistical analysis revealed significant positive relationships among creativity measures, solving speech, and coping/reinforcing speech. Coping and reinforcing private speech were linked with high creativity measures. (DB)