The effects of mainstreaming on children with disabilities have been well-documented, yet its effects on typical children are not well known. In this study, multiple measures were used to examine social behavior and possible determinants of social behavior of typical preschoolers in integrated and non-integrated classrooms. Measures were selected to build toward a comprehensive and convergent picture of what typical children in both settings do and think in reference to their peers. Methodological problems in earlier research were circumvented by increasing the number of settings and size of samples used, and by matching subjects on the variables of gender, age and social-economic status. Sixty typical preschool children in integrated and non-integrated classrooms were compared on the variables of social behavior, self-competence, social distance and attitudes and cognitions about disabilities. Results challenge research reports asserting children with disabilities are assigned low social status in integrated classrooms. In comparison to non-integrated children, children in integrated settings demonstrate more accurate understanding of issues involving disability, and higher competence ratings. They also exhibit more prosocial and communicative behaviors. Children in integrated classrooms demonstrate positive attitudes and behavior toward special needs peers. Findings suggest that children in mainstreamed classrooms demonstrate social interactions, beliefs and attitudes that are socially desirable.

The exchange of information between therapist and client has long been understood as an essential part of any therapeutic relationship; however, the perceptions of the client have often been overlooked in favor of the expert position of the therapist. Over the past several years research in family therapy has attempted to address this imbalance with methodologies that are grounded in the epistemological assumption that there are multiple realities and, as a result, considers the views of the client and therapist as equally valid. Spradley's Developmental Research Sequence (DRS), an open ended interview procedure designed for ethnographic studies, was used to study the perceptions of both client and therapist within the context of an Early Intervention Clinic. These perceptions emerged from 19 interviews conducted with three therapeutic systems that involved three families and three therapists. The interviews revealed eight primary topics of discussion that provided feedback to the therapeutic system in the form of identifying gaps of information that may exist between client and therapist. The results of this study suggest that there are differences in expectation and understanding that exist between members of the treatment system. Based on the result of this study, it was concluded that both therapist and client need to understand any differences in understanding and expectations that may exist within the therapeutic system. The results are discussed in terms of gaps of information that, if unaddressed, can inhibit the therapeutic process.

The purpose of this study was to describe the behavior of children engaged in two different Peer Work Group (PWG) tasks and to search for patterns of behavior that relate to learning. The study was exploratory in nature and was designed to investigate the processes children use under different PWG task-structure conditions. Two groups of children in a 1st-2nd grade classroom were studied; each group worked for one week on each task and all interaction was videotaped. Detailed information about requests and responses was recorded onto a checklist. Pretests and posttests were administered for each task to assess gains and to search for relationships among tasks, behaviors, and learning. Results include identification of eleven task-related behaviors with differences across tasks in level of engagement for the following: Independent Seatwork, Group Discussion, Time Off-Task, Waiting for Peers, Cooperative Problem Solving, Approaching the Teacher, and Requesting Help. Patterns in the data for request-response behaviors agree with sociolinguistic theory regarding "effective speakers". Significant differences were not found within or between groups and tasks on achievement measures. Implications are drawn regarding the influence of task structure on group process and children's use of requesting behavior for obtaining elaborated responses from peers.

The major focus of this study is to identify the effect of teacher's verbal expression on children's learning during the free-play period. The verbal expression of teachers was identified as a form of the adult's reinforcement of the child's performance during the free-play period. This reinforcement of the primary learnings which are the children's on-going activities, lead to the elaboration of learning into associate and concomitant learnings. Fifty four-year-old children in ten classrooms were selected and observed. The Child Activity Observation Form designed for 40 minute observations and adapted from Day and Weinthaler (1982) was used to collect the data. A videotape of two classrooms was used for training twelve teachers for inter-observer reliability. The researcher and the twelve teachers observed the tapes and recorded observations. The observation results were correlated with each other to identify the percentage of agreement amongst the thirteen observers. The percentage agreement for all variables was calculated for the activities observed. Findings indicate average percentage agreement amongst variables in two activities ranged between 84% and 94%. SPSS/PC+V.3.1--Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (1988) was used to analyze the data. Contingency table analysis was used, which showed the frequency distribution and crosstabulations. The analysis of the results indicate that there was no significant difference between teacher and child on "who initiated activities." The teacher initiated in 61 activities while the child initiated in 53 activities. In looking at the effect of teacher interaction on the child's achievement of elaborated learnings, results revealed significant differences in the roles of the teacher and the frequencies of both associate and concomitant learnings. Results show that teachers were observing in 43 percent of all the activities, directing in 28.9 percent, participating in 17.5 percent and absent in 10.5 percent. There was no observed associate learnings in 61.4 percent of all activities and no observed concomitant learnings in 57.0 percent of all activities.

There is evidence that maltreated school-aged children have an elevated incidence of expressive language delay, which is often attributed to the cumulative effects of maltreatment. Younger children and toddlers do not consistently demonstrate this delay. There is some ambiguity whether language delays can be observed in toddlers since language is not well developed at this age. However, if gestural communication is also studied as part of language development, a broader sample of behavior becomes available. Intentional communication includes the use of words and gestures to express a child's intent or desire. Examining maltreated toddlers' intentional communication provides an opportunity to study how language develops under less than optimal conditions. This study examines communicative intents in maltreated and nonmaltreated toddlers (ages 22 to 31 months) and the caregiving interactions of their mothers. The sample is composed of thirty-nine mother-toddler dyads from a Mid-Western city. Maternal maltreatment was documented on thirteen lower class toddlers, who were matched on sex, age, race and SES. Ten middle class dyads composed another comparison group. The lower class toddlers were given the Bayley Scales of Infant Development (BSID) as part of a larger study. Videotapes of a play session between mother-toddler dyads were coded using The Parent/Caregiver Interaction Scale to rate maternal behaviors plus two child communication inventories to code Intentional Communication and Negotiation of Failed Messages. Competency scores were computed for all toddlers on Intentional Communication and Developmental Competence was compared on the lower class toddlers. Two scores compared maternal appropriateness to toddler reactivity and communication competence. Results showed that maltreatment was not related to child Intentional Communication, except that maltreated toddlers acknowledged their mothers' messages more frequently. Social class accounted for differences on most maternal and some toddler variables. Developmental Competence accounted for significant differences in lower class toddlers' Intentional Communication and Social Competence. Patterns of high maternal verbal interaction and control over child's activities were related to toddler's competence in Intentional Communication, suggesting that mothers who are more verbal and appropriate in their control have more competent toddlers.

An ethnographic approach was used to determine how families of young special needs children and the staff of an early intervention program perceived the process of developing an Individual Family Service Plan (IFSP). With the emphasis placed by Public Legislation 99-457 on family involvement when treating these children the study was organized to better understand the environment as a culture where families and professionals interacted. A naturalistic investigation was considered the most appropriate way to gather these data. Five families were followed over a nine-month period where they were observed during all aspects of the Early Intervention (EI) program and were interviewed about the IFSP document and process. Another five families served as a focus group in order to validate the data. The data revealed that perceptions were associated with decision making, whether the IFSP was child or family focused, and how families and staff related based on their assumptions about reach other's roles. The results are discussed in terms of how cultural imperatives construct the way early intervention programs operate and how they must be taken into consideration if families are to be fully incorporated into the education of their disabled child.

The purposes of this dissertation were to compare the creative thinking of kindergarten students from three different child rearing backgrounds who participated in two curriculum approaches. Another purpose was to identify suggestions for promoting and developing creative thinking in children. The three child rearing styles examined were: democratic, autocratic and overprotective. The two curriculum approaches were: Readiness Activities Oriented Curriculum and the Academic Oriented Curriculum. The Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking Figural Form A was translated and adapted to suit Thai students (Rungsinan, 1978). The Torrance Tests yielded three measures: fluency, originality and elaboration. The Kindergarten Curriculum Evaluation Form developed by the researcher was used to identify fourteen kindergarten schools that participated in the study. The Questionnaire Concerning Child Rearing Practices was adapted from the questionnaire developed by Thumnut (1979) and revised by Kiattikul (1988). A total of three hundred and seventeen children participated in the study. The data were analyzed using analysis of variance procedures. The following findings emerged from the study: (1) There were no significant differences in fluency, originality and elaboration scores among students from different child rearing backgrounds. (2) The students in the readiness kindergarten programs scored significantly higher on fluency, originality and elaboration than students in the academic kindergartens. (3) The measure of elaboration emerged as a variable which was highly significant and may be of practical significance. In promoting and developing creative thinking in kindergarten students, the researcher suggests the use of brainstorming, webbing and pretending as techniques to help students produce new ideas and form relationships between concepts, to encourage their imagination and to involve students with minimal amounts of direction, exposition and instruction.

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