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Ratings by 23 parents and 21 regular education teachers on the Social Skills Rating Scale (SSRS) for elementary-age students who were blind were compared to ratings for the SSRS sighted norm group. No significant differences were found in the overall ratings of social skills or on the Self-Control or Responsibility subscales, but several important differences were noted on the Assertion and Cooperation subscales. Students who were blind were rated as less academically competent and higher on problem behaviors than the sighted norm group, even though stereotypical behaviors were not assessed by the SSRS. Implications for instruction are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We evaluated the effects of white noise played through headphones on off-task behavior, percentage of items completed, and percentage of items completed correctly for 3 students with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Headphones plus white noise were associated with decreases in off-task behavior relative to baseline and headphones-only (no white noise) control conditions. Little change in academic responding occurred across conditions for all participants., (© Society for the Experimental Analysis of Behavior.)

Thirty students with profound mental retardation (age range: 3-5 to 19-11) and 30 healthy, full-term infants (5-8 months) were shown 12 stimuli, three times each. Four patterned stimuli were presented one to a card and each pattern appeared in black-and-white, black-and-yellow, and red-and-yellow. Both groups looked significantly longer at face patterns than other patterns. Students with profound mental retardation looked longer at black-and-white patterns than other color combinations. Infants looked longer at red and yellow cards than did students with profound mental retardation. The measurement method was practical, reliable, and sensitive to both within and between group differences. Results from this assessment method may help determine the most salient visual stimuli for evoking active-alert states for students with profound mental retardation. Individual variability was evident in the data, which demonstrates the importance of examining preferences for each individual when planning intervention. Implications for future research and intervention are discussed.

The survey reported on in this paper replicated and modified Levine's (1974) nationwide survey of the psychological services provided for deaf and hard of hearing students. The purpose of our survey was to up date the information in light of the requirements of PL 94-142 (1975) and current practice. We noted several changes in practice since the first survey, but unfortunately, little change has taken place in many important areas. We suggest possible areas for expanding the role of school psychologists and discuss implications for training.

This study examined the effect of a parent training program and its two components on the development of 48 graduates of neonatal intensive care units. When the infants were 6 months of age, infants whose parents participated in either of the treatment groups that included the parent education class scored higher on the Bayley Mental Scale than the other groups of infants. All treatment group parents were rated by the babies' physicians as providing better nutrition for their infants. The developmental assessment component of the training program was not found to enhance infant mental development. Implications for intervention, program development, and research are presented.

Thirty white mentally retarded children were administered the WISC-R under one of three conditions: standardized testing conditions, standardized plus immediate reinforcement, standardized plus delayed reinforcement. One reinforcement group earned tokens immediately after each correct response and the other reinforcement group received their earned tokens halfway through and at the end of the IQ test. Both reinforcement groups exchanged their tokens for a variety of backup reinforcers at the halfway point and at the end of the test. Both the immediate and delayed reinforcement groups showed significantly better performance than the standardized testing group, although the two reinforcement groups did not differ from one another. Half of the children in each of the groups that earned tokens scored above the mentally impaired range while only one child in the standardized testing group scored above the mentally impaired level. Implications for the use of intelligence tests for mentally retarded students are discussed.

Five mentally retarded infants and 5 nonretarded infants were presented a tone for 15 trials. Heart-rate change from prestimulus level showed a deceleration on four 1-second intervals for the nonretarded babies and no change for the retarded babies. Comparison of the two groups of infants revealed a difference on five of the 1-second intervals following stimulus onset. When the total heart-rate change scores were examined for each baby, no overlap of the scores was evident for the infants in the nonretarded group with the individual scores of the retarded infants.

30 mothers and their 15--17-month-old infants were videotaped in a 12-min free-play session. Vocal and nonvocal communication patterns were observed between 3 groups of mother-infant pairs including (1) homemakers who prefer not to work, (2) homemakers who prefer to work, and (3) working mothers. 10 behaviors related to visual contact, vocalization, touch, and responsiveness were rated. A 4-way repeated measures analysis of variance showed differences in a few behaviors between groups of mother-infant pairs in the first 8 mins. No differences were found during the last 4 min of observation. The data suggest differences in communication occur only during adjustment to a new situation. These results, at least in terms of the infancy period, are in contrast to earlier articles which suggest that the mother-infant relationship is affected by maternal employment.

In the first of two experiments, mildly retarded, elementary-aged, low-social status black children were administered the WISC-R under standardized-testing conditions or conditions employing token reinforcement for correct responding. Token-reinforcement subjects scored significantly higher on both the Verbal subtest and Full-Scale IQ, but not the Performance subtest. Results replicate previous findings with elementary-aged, nonretarded, black children. The same design was utilized in a second study employing mildly retarded, junior-high age, low-social status, black students. No significant differences were found between groups, suggesting that age may affect results when using tangible rewards. Coupled with previous studies, these findings imply that nonbiased intellectual assessment appears to require an analysis of motivational factors.