School Psychology International

My speculations regarding possible futures of school psychology in the United States of America are offered. However, it is recognized that the methodology necessary to make reliable and valid prognostications is not available in the social sciences, the existing data base is narrow and meagre and that moralistic and ideological beliefs often prevail, producing tenuous and often conflicting prognostications. The accuracy and comprehension of my speculations will be improved, it is hoped, by the identification of four current conditions, first within the fabric of US society and then within its school systems.

The starting point of this study is the often-voiced opinion that gifted children and adolescents would 'make their way' independently from socio-economic or socio-cultural disadvantages. In order to discuss this prejudice, a social area analysis of San Diego, CA, USA, is conducted: the percentage of identified/treated gifted children and adolescents in all state schools of each zip-(postal) code area and county area is determined. The rank correlation with the corresponding average housing price shows a very high relationship. The discussion comments on deviations from the observed tendency. Further considerations stress the need for identification and promotion of gifted children from lowstimulating disadvantaged homes and minority groups. In respect of future similar studies, it is proposed to look for (more adequately operationalized) specified social area types as units of analysis in addition to the frequently used individual indicators (e.g., occupation of the bread-winner).

The purpose of this investigation was to identify the best combination of tests or subtests in a psychoeducational screening battery which would predict kindergarten children's Grade 1 achievement. The subjects were 48 male and 37 female kindergarten children. The predictor variables in the test battery were: pupil rating scale (PRS), test of visual-motor integration (VMI), visual aural digit span test (VADS), human figure drawing (HFD), Evanston Early Identification Scale (EEIS), Bender Gestalt Test (Bender) and 'global' teacher rating in kindergarten (TRK). The criterion measures were: reading (report card mark), mathematics (report card mark), a 'global' teacher rating in Grade 1 (TR1) and the Metropolitan Readiness Test (MRT). Correlation and stepwise regression analysis indicated that (a) different subsets of the predictor variable best predicted each of the criterion measures; (b) the total VADS score is the contributory variable for the reading report card mark; (c) the 'global' teacher rating in kindergarten is effective in predicting academic readiness; (d) the VMI is contributory to measuring academic readiness; (e) the Bender did not contribute a significant amount to the prediction of academic readiness; (f) the PRS verbal score can be used with a kindergarten population; and (g) the human figure drawings have little predictive significance in a screening battery.

During the Spring term of 1982, the author and the faculty of the Psychology Teaching Group of South China Normal University, Guangzhou (Canton), People's Republic of China, administered Raven's Standard Progressive Matrices to a population of students at the Primary School attached to South China Normal University and a population of students at the Guangzhou School for the Deaf/Mute.

Chinese characters are logographic. They differ from the English alphabet system and produce the distinguishing features of Chinese reading. This paper introduces some recent discoveries made by Chinese psychologists about Chinese reading, neuropsychological differences between Chinese and English reading, and strategies for comprehending Chinese sentences. Two methods of teaching Chinese characters, concentration recognition and dispersion recognition, are also discussed.

Reading is a very complex behaviour by means of which printed words are assigned a conventional sound and meaning; if this is stated in behavioural terms, printed words are stimuli controlling vocal and semantic responses (Staats et al, 1964; Staats and Butterfield, 1965).

The present study was an extension of previous research on the perceived harmfulness of commonly used illicit and licit drugs. A large number of college students were asked to report on their experience with a number of drugs. These students were also asked to rate each drug on the degree to which they perceived that drug to be harmful or harmless. From their pattern of use, subjects were classified as being members of one of the following five groups: principled non-users, non-users, light users, moderate users and heavy users of marijuana. One-way analysis of variance was performed on the harmfulness ratings for each of the 12 drugs across groups. Results indicated that the groups differed significantly on their rating of the harmfulness of several drugs. Typically, these differences can be attributed to the contrast between the principled non-users of marijuana group and the other user groups. Cluster analysis was performed on the matrix of intercorrelations among the harmfulness ratings of the drugs by the combined non-users groups, the combined users groups and the total sample. The results of the cluster analysis indicated that for all subjects combined there were five major clusters, and for all non-users there were four major clusters as there were for all users. The drugs that comprise each cluster of drugs for each group and the mean harmfulness rating of the drugs within each cluster are reported. It was found that the users groups clustered LSD with cocaine, marijuana and hashish while the non-users clustered LSD with heroin. It was also found that within this sample, there were sex differences on the usage of marijuana, hashish, heroin, cocaine, alcohol, caffeine and aspirin. There were also sex differences on the harmfulness ratings of marijuana, hashish, cocaine, LSD and alcohol. The results of this study were compared with the results of previous research on the relationship between drug usage and the perceived harmfulness of drugs. Implications for future research are discussed.

For adolescents who exhibit psychopathology, mental health costs have been exorbitant, while the various traditional forms of psychiatric treatment have neither demonstrated significant improvement in success rate nor significant ability to generalize whatever improved behaviour is obtained from the treatment setting to the adolescent patient's general life adjustment. Thus the luxury of theoretical philosophical positions should (in our opinion) be tabled pending further research developments and a more practical treatment model adopted for the interim.

Relationship enhancement therapy' is a dramatic, powerful and effective methodology. Its rationale, principles and structure have been described by Guerney and his colleagues (Guerney, 1977a, 1983). This paper is an attempt to communicate the importance of this methodology to the field of psychotherapy and clinical and community work. As such, it is directed to the therapy's implementation in clinical practice.