This structured yet flexible manual presents an innovative group treatment approach that targets deficits in self-regulation—a central problem for sex offenders. Safe Offender Strategies (SOS) comprises 10 evidence-based modules that teach participants the skills to desist from problem behaviors, manage their emotions and impulses, and break unhealthy relationship patterns. Motivational enhancement and validation techniques are woven throughout this collaborative treatment. SOS can be used with a range of clients—including high-risk offenders and those with mental illness or intellectual disabilities—in institutional or outpatient settings. Fifteen reproducible forms and worksheets can be downloaded and printed in a convenient 8 1/2" x 11" size. / https://dc.etsu.edu/etsu_books/1065/thumbnail.jpg

Being a teacher is not an easy job. There is an increased emphasis on evidence-based methods. Teacher praise is an effective classroom management tool. Behavior specific praise statements is a low intensity teacher delivered strategy where teachers say or write the precise behavior exhibited and how it met an expectation or affected academic/social achievement. This study aimed to increase Behavior Specific Praise Statements among three teachers in Mathematic, English and Social subject studies on student’s social behavior as a group. An intervention consisting of an hour of counseling, post-it notes, and self-registration was given. The teachers decided their own pre-set criteria. Two teachers sat a criterion of three and one teacher sat a criterion of six. The results showed that the intervention had an effect on the teachers use of BSPS. However, one teacher did not reach the pre-set criteria. Practical implications are discussed.

ABSTRACT Public speaking is a challenge faced by people from all walks of life. Research in the area of public speaking has focused on examining techniques to reduce public speaking anxiety. Very little research, however, has focused on the acquisition of public speaking skills. While presenting speeches, many people engage in nervous habits that have the potential to decrease the effectiveness of the speech and their credibility as a speaker. This study evaluated the effectiveness of simplified habit reversal in reducing three of these nervous habits: filled pauses, tongue clicking, and inappropriate use of the word like. Following baseline, participants received simplified habit reversal training that consisted of awareness training and competing response training. During post-intervention assessments all 6 participants exhibited an immediate decrease in all three target behaviors.

Brief experimental analysis (BEA) is a well-documented analysis strategy that rapidly manipulates instructional variables to identify the most effective intervention to support a student’s academic needs. However, consensus on how BEA data should be evaluated is not evident in published BEA articles. This study investigated the agreement between evaluation methods (i.e., visual analysis, no assumptions effect size, percentage of nonoverlapping data, nonoverlap of all pairs) used in BEA. Overall, the measures of effect size resulted in a higher percentage of positive agreement with other measures of effect size, in comparison to visual analysis paired with effect size measures. Use of effect size measures also resulted in less equivalency between intervention outcomes within a BEA. These data suggest that using a measure of effect size can be a beneficial component to visual analysis; however, each measure of effect size has its own strengths and limitations and should be used cautiously when interpreting results of a BEA.

Prior research endorsed two theories of misattribution of interpersonal attraction. Both the two-component theory and the excitation transfer theory demonstrate misattribution and, in combination, enhance the probability of misattribution. However, which theory provides the primary source of misattribution has not been distinguished. The present study asked 60 undergraduate males to rate their interpersonal attraction toward a female in a video recording engaging in self disclosure. A manipulation of different levels of environmental saliency and physiological arousal was used to determine which condition or combination of conditions is most likely to elicit misattribution of interpersonal attraction. An analysis of variance followed by an analysis of covariance was performed on the interpersonal attraction ratings. The covariate of base pulse rate was used to control for individual difference of arousal. The results did not indicate a statistical difference of misattribution under any of the manipulated conditions. The expansion of the arousal conditions is discussed as a prerequisite of misattribution effects. Further research is recommended in the areas of female misattribution of interpersonal attraction and individual cognitive recovery levels.

In an experiment which investigated the effects of stress on the Protestant Ethic Effect (PEE) 12 Wistar rats were trained for 20 days to barpress for their total water intake. Following training the rats were divided into two groups and were allowed to choose between barpressing for a 10% sucrose solution and consuming a freely available sucrose solution under either stress or nonstress conditions. Stress was defined as a .01 cc per 36g body weight injection of norepinephrine. The stress and nonstress conditions were counterbalanced during the choice session. Regardless of stress order both groups preferred the free over the earned solution. The preference for the free reinforce is discussed in terms of strain of rat used in the experiment as well as the physiological effects of norepinephrine.

Twelve kindergarten and 16 first grade children were placed in a four Protestant Ethic to obtain tokens choice situation in order to investigate the Effect (PLE). The task for each child was to trade for candy. These tokens were available from three black boxes (choice locations) which were rotated in a clockwise manner around the four corners of the testing room. These three choice locations were as follows: (B1) a location where the child was allowed the option to manipulate switches and/or obtain freely accessible tokens, (82) a location at which tokens were freely accessible, and (84) the work location where the delivery of tokens was made contingent on the operation of the switches. A split-plot analysis of variance indicated that there was not a significant difference in the number of tokens obtained at B4 when t was rotated around the four corners of the testing room, but that there was a significant difference in the number of tokens obtained at the three locations (81), (B2), and (B4). A record of the number of tokens obtained at each location indicated that the majority of the tokens, 61.5%, were obtained at the work location (B4). The number of manipulations of the toggle switches was also recorded for each child. Each child had the opportunity to manipulate the switches at choice locations (B1), and (84) described above and at an additional location (83) where toggle switches were also available for manipulation. As with the analysis performed on the number of tokens earned, there was not a significant difference in the number of manipulations performed at (B4) when moved around the room, but there was a significant difference in the number of manipulations performed at the three choice locations. Eighty-eight percent of all manipulations were performed at the work location (34). The children's preference to earn tokens by manipulation of toggle switches rather than take tokens from a free source was explained in terms of White's competency hypothesis which suggests that an organism has a need to actively control his environment.

The purpose of this experiment was to determine if stress, induced by intraperitoneal (IP) injections of epinephrine, influenced rats' preference to freeload (drink sucrose solution from a drinking tube) or to work for a liquid reinforcer (obtain sucrose solution by barpressing). Furthermore, the order in which stress was introduced was investigated. Following two weeks of water deprivation, 6 female and 6 male Hooded rats approximately 90 days old were divided into two experimental groups. The first group (S-N) was stressed the first and second experimental testing days in which a choice was presented between barpressing and freeloading for a 10% sucrose solution. The choice was presented the third and fourth testing days in the absence of stress. The second group (N-S) was given the choice of barpressing or freeloading the first and second experimental testing days in the absence of stress, and was presented with the same choice the third and fourth days in the presence of stress. Two dependent variables were measured: the ratio of the amount of solution earned by barpressing to the total amount of solution consumed and the amount of solution earned by barpressing. The results of the study indicated that rats in the stress condition preferred to freeload. Furthermore, the order in which the stress was introduced affected work versus freeloading preference. When permitted to make the initial choice between barpressing or freeloading in the absence of stress, all rats chose to barpress. When the stress was subsequently introduced on the third experimental testing day, all rats preferred to freeload. Results of the (S-N) group were not as significantly conclusive because of the large variance of choice in both the stress and nonstress conditions.

A review of the literature on decision making indicated a lack of research attention given to the effects of the dynamics of the social context surrounding participation on decision outcomes. The present study examined the relationship between social context and group decision making formats, and its implications for the effective implementation of group participation in decision making The effectiveness of three decision -making formats, the nominal technique, the interacting technique, and the consensus technique, were compared under conditions of cooperation and competition on the three decision effectiveness dimensions of quality, acceptance, and synergy. Two-hundred and forty-eight undergraduate students, working in four or five-person groups, solved the NASA Moon Survival Problem under one of six conditions. Quality, synergy, and both self -report and behavioral measures of acceptance were assessed. An 3 X 2 (decision format X social context) analysis of variance indicated that social context and decision format have no effect on measures of decision quality, behavioral acceptance, and synergy, although the results were in the hypothesized direction. The study did indicate that self-reported acceptance, satisfaction with the dynamics within participation, and representation in discussion were contingent upon the social context. Cooperative groups facilitate the acceptance of the groups' decision and were more satisfied with the dynamics within participation. Also, competitive groups felt that people did not dominate the discussion in their groups more than cooperative groups.

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between the constructs measured by the Watson-Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal and the Graduate Record Examination Analytical Scale in "gifted" adolescents 15 to 17 years of age. There were three hypotheses addressed in this study: 1) "gifted" adolescents would be able to think critically as measured by college level norms when measured by the Watson-Glaser and the GRE-Analytical; 2) significant differences would exist between different levels of gifted populations; and 3) a factor or group of factors of the Watson-Glaser subscales would significantly predict performance on the GRE-Analytical Scale. The Watson-Glaser and the GRE-Analytical were administered to 104 high school students, most of whom were seniors in high school or in the summer preceeding their senior year. The subject pool labeled "national gifted" consisted of 50 students in summer programs for academically gifted sudents at the University of Indiana and Western Kentucky University. The "local gifted" group consisted of 54 students in secondary schools in western Kentucky and northern middle Tennessee. Analysis of Watson-Glaser total scores indicated that the national group mean was at the 60th percentile and the local group mean was at the 30th percentile when compared to college senior women. GRE-Analytical total raw scores converted to scaled scores were 580 for the national group and 440 for the local group. Statistical analysis confirmed the significantly superior performance of the national group over the local group on both instruments. Pearson product-moment correlation coefficients were calculated to examine the relationship between the GRE-Analytical and the Watson-Glaser for both national and local samples. The relationship between the performance on the two instruments was highly significant for both groups. The local group data were subjected to stepwise regression analysis to determine which individual subscale or group of subscales best predicted GRE-Analytical performance. In the local sample, Subscale 4 clearly emerged as the best single predictor. Pearson product-moment correlation coefficients based on a median-split of data from each test indicated that lower half total (national plus local) and local group scores were slightly more consistent than were the upper halves of these groups. Implications of these results for expanding the cognitive processes and motivating the gifted student were discussed.