Previous research has suggested there is a relationship between perception of aggression and actual aggression. Gender, participation in sport, and varying trait aggression levels have an impact on perceptions of aggression in sports. This study examined the combined effects of gender, type of sport (contact versus noncontact), and trait aggression levels on children's perceptions of legitimacy of aggressive acts in youth sports. Buss and Perry's Aggression Questionnaire (AQ) determined aggression levels of children ages 9–14. Children's perceptions of legitimacy of aggressive acts was determined by The Perceived Aggression Questionnaire (PAQ), derived from Rainey (1986). Analysis of the data, using the normative AQ data, found no significant effects. Analysis of the median split data found a significant effect of aggression levels on perceptions. Multiple regression analysis found that aggression levels were correlated with perceptions. Findings led us to a better understanding of how differences in gender, type of sport, and trait aggression levels relate to children's perceptions of aggression.

Previous research in the area of performance feedback has typically focused on normally functioning adults within an organizational setting. This study was designed to evaluate the effectiveness of performance feedback in a volunteer program for adults with mental illness. Graphic feedback and verbal feedback based on job performance was provided simultaneously to participants to improve volunteer performance. Results showed that feedback was effective in improving job performance.

Research has shown the verbal and physical aggression committed against certified nursing assistants (CNAs) by clients in psychiatric settings is a problem in need of attention and that often the behaviors of the CNAs may provoke or exacerbate these attacks. Research also shows that performance feedback improves behavior in many settings. This study sought to evaluate the efficacy of a performance feedback treatment package on altering behaviors of 12 CNAs and reducing violent interactions in a psychiatric facility using a multiple baseline across participants design. The intervention provided performance feedback, antecedents, goal setting, and behavioral consequences. Data evaluation included visual inspection and t-tests. As hypothesized, the performance feedback treatment package was found to be an efficacious method of causing clinically significant changes in inappropriate and appropriate behaviors, resulting in more a professional direct-care staff. The package was also associated with a decrease in incidents of violence within the facility.

Behavioral interventions were used to attempt to lower electricity consumption in a sample of persons who are diagnosed as having a mental disability. The effectiveness of prompting, modeling, and written feedback were investigated. Participants were 43 chronically mentally disabled adults who live in a supported living apartment community. Electricity meter readings in kilowatts per hour (kWh) were recorded to measure consumption. With specified .05 significance level, the 4 x 2 split-plot ANOVA showed a significant interaction effect. Examination of the interaction revealed that prompting was the only effective intervention. These findings can help the already poverty stricken mentally disabled population and agencies providing them with housing to save money on their living expenses.

The present study looked at the use of basic learning modalities: visual, audio, and textual, to ascertain whether a certain combination of two modalities (i.e., audio-visual, audio-textual, and visual-textual) produced better recall of content material. Past research has studied the effects of using multimedia software on recall by implementing additional components such as animation and other auditory adjuncts (e.g., sound effects or music). The present study measured recall without these additional adjuncts by using tutorial software made from a PowerPoint program about the structure and function of the human heart. Implementing a between-groups design, participants were randomly assigned to one of the following conditions: audio-visual, audio-textual, or visual-textual. In the audio-visual condition, participants were presented with Heartware containing only the audio version of the tutorial and the visual illustrations of the heart. The audio-textual version of the software consisted of the same audio lesson as in the audio-visual condition, in combination with the textual presentation of the information. Lastly, in the visual-textual presentation, participants were exposed to a combination of the textual format and the visual illustrations format of the lesson. Results did not indicate a significant difference in recall between the three experimental conditions. Additional tests also found no significant interaction effect between the three experimental conditions and the three lessons presented in Heartware.

Recurrent abdominal pain (RAP) is a chronic pain problem of childhood and adolescence. It is not yet clear whether RAP should be considered a single psychosocial diagnosis or a distinct set of physical symptoms. Reported prevalence rates of RAP vary greatly, especially for the adolescent age group. Stress and depression have been linked to RAP in clinic and community samples. More research is needed on treatments of RAP using larger sample sizes, appropriate controls, and multi-component treatments. Important areas to explore include RAP in non-Caucasian samples, and the relation of RAP to coping strategies. The current study examined the relationship between stress, coping, and abdominal pain in a large, multi-ethnic sample. In addition to psychological variables, prevalence of RAP in multicultural high school students was examined. One hundred fifty-one high school students completed a series of questionnaires which evaluated the students' abdominal pain, stressful life events, daily subjective stress, and coping strategies. The ethnic comparisons in this study were between Asian Americans, Mexican Americans, and White Americans. Four outliers were removed from the sample. The diagnostic criteria for abdominal pain were met by 7.3% of the sample. This is similar to rates of RAP in younger samples. There were no significant mean differences in abdominal pain between gender or ethnic groups. Gender, negative life events, common “hassles,” active coping, and passive coping predicted a significant amount of the variability in reported abdominal pain. Active coping and common hassles seem to be the most important factors in the prediction of pain. Implications of these findings and limitations in the current RAP literature are discussed.

Noncompliance in children constitutes a major problem for educators and is often the precursor for several other common behavior problems (e.g., aggression and tantrums). Errorless compliance training, derived from the errorless learning model, uses positive methods of behavior change and may be an ideal intervention for classroom settings. The child is likely to make fewer errors (i.e., noncompliant responses) during training, because the child begins with easier requests and progresses to more difficult requests. Therefore, the need for punitive consequences for noncompliance is eliminated. Research has not been published on the use of errorless compliance training in a classroom setting. The present study examined the effectiveness of errorless compliance training on noncompliance of four preschool-aged children in a daycare classroom setting. Two of the four children demonstrated significant gains in compliance. Results indicated that errorless compliance training may be an effective, nonpunitive method of increasing child compliance; however, further research is necessary to identify the variables that influence treatment efficacy.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate different methods of instruction and their effects on increasing the medication knowledge of adults with a psychiatric diagnosis. Thirty-one participants were randomly assigned to one of the three groups based on their target prescribed medication (i.e., Zyprexa, Risperdal, Haldol, & Seroquel). Direct instruction and precision teaching methods of instruction were evaluated along with a self-taught control condition using a three-group between subjects group design. The results indicated that both precision teaching and direct instruction facilitated an increase in the participants' knowledge about their prescribed medication; however, participants in the precision teaching condition demonstrated quicker acquisition of the target information and more durable recall at the follow-up session. The results suggest that precision teaching is a more effective means of instructing and facilitating an increase in medication knowledge with adults with a psychiatric diagnosis in comparison to direct instruction and self-teaching.

Pica is a potentially life-threatening behavior problem displayed by many individuals with developmental disabilities that can result in serious medical complications. The purpose of this study was to compare findings from a functional analysis (FA), which is the state of the art method of behavioral assessment, with two indirect assessment measures: the Motivational Assessment Scale (MAS) and the Questions About Behavioral Function (QABF). For three participants, results from the indirect measures paralleled those of the FA in identifying the function of pica. The indirect measures were more cost and time efficient. Use of these indirect methods of assessment not only identified the functional relations that served to maintain pica, but also served as a simpler, less time consuming and accurate alternative to an FA. When an FA is time or cost prohibitive, use of the MAS and QABF may be helpful in suggesting the function of pica.

The use of variable interval reinforcement and dependent group contingencies to increase the on-task behavior of students in general education classrooms was investigated. The study was conducted in general education third and fourth grade classrooms with 31 and 33 students, respectively. The intervention, which consisted of a classroom-wide program in which students could gain access to preferred items/activities contingent upon being on-task at random times that were unknown to them, was implemented when the students were working on mathematics. A multiple baseline design across classrooms was used to evaluate intervention effects. In addition, social validity measures were utilized to determine the extent to which the intervention was judged to be feasible for teachers to implement and acceptable to students.