The study was designed to determine interobserver agreement in analyzing behavioral conflict interactions of young children. Selected portions of recorded interactions were subjected to four observers. An observational instrument containing 26 well defined observational categories was used by observers to analyze interactions. Prior to the use of this observational instrument, it was pilot tested and necessary improvements were instituted. Observers were provided systematic training for a total period of 14 hours. At the termination of the training period each observer viewed the selected videotape episodes with the help of a prepared word-by-word transcript. Observers were to mark the occurrence of behavioral interactions on a specifically devised record form. Recorded interactions from each observer were analyzed by use of Cohen's Kappa for determination of interobserver agreement. The findings indicated that obtained K's ranged from a low of .60 to a high of .69 suggesting a moderate reliability of observational instrument. A related finding suggested that observers perception of difficulty involved in using the behavioral categories was directly related to interobserver agreement for categories with certain levels of difficulty. Implications of these findings for replication were discussed.

Typescript (photocopy). / Digitized by Kansas Correctional Industries

Thesis (EdD)--Open University.

The purpose of this study was to develop, implement, and evaluate a comprehensive interpersonal problem solving training program with four and five year old children. The goal of the program was to teach children the necessary skills to successfully resolve problems with their peers. The interpersonal problem solving training program consisted of the following core components: language, perception, problem identification, empathy, alternative generation, consequential thinking, and integration. The sample consisted of 46 children, 23 children in the experimental group and 23 children in the control group. Both experimental and control group subjects met for ten weeks (15-20 minutes a day) with trained graduate students. Control group subjects participated in reading story sessions while experimental group subjects participated in the interpersonal problem solving training sessions. Experimental and control group subjects were assessed at pretest and posttest on two measures. The BPIPS (a behavioral assessment of interpersonal problem solving ability) and the BOS (a behavioral observation scale). Analysis of variance of gain scores demonstrated significant differences between experimental group subjects and control group subjects on: (a) ability to generate solutions in interpersonal problem solving situations and (b) frequency of positive verbal and nonverbal interaction with peers. Analysis of variance of gain scores indicated no significant differences between experimental and control groups on: (a) the frequency of positive interactions with adults or (b) the frequency of negative interactions with either peers or adults. Discussion focused on the measured and observed results from training in the interpersonal problem solving program, possible explanations for insignificant differences relative to adult interactions, and program generalizability.

No description available.

This is a study of the nature and extent of third grade Papago Indian children's use of personal experiences in their writing. It examines the reflection of their experiences as individuals with unique personalities and interests, their experiences as Papago Indians, their experiences as third grade school children, influenced by the curricular content of their conventional school experiences and such multi-media as books, newspapers, television and film, and finally, their experiences as young children with the ability to fantasize. The study examines the extent to which these children introduce personal experience into both assigned and unassigned writing, considering such variables as their control over the assignment, their knowledge of the content of the assignment. The study also investigates how developmental maturity and gender factors influence the reflection of real life experiences in the children's writing. The seventeen subjects, seven boys and ten girls, are Papago Indian students, either eight or nine years old, enrolled in a public elementary school on the reservation, and all members of the same third grade class. The main data base contains at least eight compositions from each subject for a total of two hundred and thirty-seven writing samples. It also includes retrospective interviews conducted by the researcher at the end of the school year with each subject providing evidence about how they developed their ideas for each piece they wrote, and the extent to which the people, places and events in their written compositions represent real-life experiences. The findings demonstrate that children do introduce personal experience into their writing, clearly revealing the many facets of their experiences such as the ethnic, the religious and the environmental. The extent to which the children's personal experience is reflected in their writing is not affected by the degree of control they exercise over the selection of the writing topic; rather, it is influenced by the function for which the children are writing and by the content of the topic they are writing about. The study raises questions about the relationship between developmental maturity and the ability to fantasize and reveals striking differences between male and female writers in the extent to which they utilize their real life experiences in their writing.

This study examines the enactment of leadership communication during videotaped play sessions of thirty kindergarten children. Eighteen of the children demonstrated skills in a cluster of five specific leadership behaviors. All five coders agreed that these eighteen children were sometimes leaders of their individual triad. The coders further agreed that the leadership in the triads flowed from one child to another as the session progressed. The study concluded that leadership is a facilitative process that is fluid rather than statically centered in one or more participants.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2006. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Open University.

Thesis (EdD)--Open University.