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Biomedical subjects

E Zigler

Publications and source records attributed to E Zigler.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed1993

Special Olympics: an evaluation by professionals and parents.

Attitudes toward Special Olympics were examined in a group of 41 experts in the field of mental retardation and 40 parents of participants in the Special Olympics program. Experts completed a 15-item questionnaire that included Likert-type items regarding possible Special Olympics goals and their importance and fulfillment and open-ended questions regarding program benefits, strengths and weaknesses. Experts were also asked how the program might fit into the normalization debate. Parents were given a similar survey that also included child and parent participation questions. Generally, both groups viewed the program as highly beneficial, particularly in terms of social adjustment and life satisfaction. As to concerns cited, some experts noted potentially segregative aspects of the program, whereas parents focused on administrative issues.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1992

Early childhood intervention. A promising preventative for juvenile delinquency.

Programs to reduce or prevent juvenile delinquency have been generally unsuccessful. Apparently the risk factors that make a child prone to delinquency are based in too many systems--including the individual, the family, and community networks--to make isolated treatment methods effective. Surprisingly, longitudinal studies of some early childhood intervention programs suggest they may help to reduce future delinquency. These programs take an ecological approach to enhancing child development by attempting to promote overall social competence in the many systems impacting on children. Not engaging in criminal acts is one indicator of competence that is related to others, such as being successful in school and in personal relationships. Evaluators must gather more data to confirm this unanticipated benefit of comprehensive interventions.

Child Abuse↗
PubMed1992

Psychosocial adjustment among intellectually gifted adolescents: the role of cognitive-developmental and experiential factors.

Levels of psychological adjustment were examined among 51 high achieving, intellectually gifted adolescents with a mean age of 14.1 years. These students were compared with older adolescents matched with them on cognitive maturity (n = 30), and with two groups matched with them on chronological age (CA). One of the CA-matched groups contained children not identified as gifted (n = 47), while the other consisted of athletically talented youngsters (n = 39). All participants belonged to upper middle class families. On multiple indices of adjustment, intellectually gifted adolescents were comparable to older adolescents with similar cognitive skills, but differed from both groups of age mates. Differences between the gifted and non-gifted CA-matched groups were stronger than were those between the gifted group and the athletes of the same age. The findings were interpreted in terms of cognitive-developmental and experiential influences on psychological adjustment. The study also revealed gender effects which appeared to be linked with conflicts faced by gifted females between issues of achievement and those of social acceptance.

Achievement↗
PubMed1992

An observational study of the affective concomitants of mastery in infants.

The hypothesis that attempts at motor mastery were accompanied by positive affective responses was tested in an observational study of 9-11-month old infants in a daycare setting. Five infants were observed as they attempted three age-appropriate motor tasks--pulling to stand, standing with support, and taking steps with support. Positive affective responses included smiling, babbling, and laughing. The five infants were observed for a total of 82 hours. The proportion of positive affective behaviors associated with practicing new motor tasks was compared to the proportion associated with well-practiced tasks. The hypothesis that more positive affective behaviors would be associated with attempts at mastering the new motor tasks was confirmed. There was no diminution in the association between the new motor tasks and positive affect as the infants continued to practice and master the three motor tasks. The results are discussed in terms of individual differences in mastery motivation and the often suggested continuity between early mastery motivation and later competencies.

Child↗
PubMed1992

Is outerdirectedness employed in a harmful or beneficial manner by students with and without mental retardation?

Factors affecting the desirability of an outerdirected problem-solving approach were examined in 56 students with mental retardation and 53 MA-matched students without mental retardation in order to determine whether these groups employed outerdirectedness in a useful or detrimental manner. Students without mental retardation were sensitive to characteristics of the criterion task, such as task difficulty and usefulness of the external cue, and used outerdirected approaches in a strategic and beneficial manner. Characteristics of the task did not affect use of outerdirected approaches by students with mental retardation, who relied on all types of external cues, task-relevant as well as incidental and misleading, much more than did students without mental retardation. Yet their greater outerdirectedness was strongly affected by the difficulty of the preceding task. After easy initial tasks, students with mental retardation were no more outerdirected than their counterparts without mental retardation. Implications of the findings for lowering the harmful reliance of students with mental retardation on external cues were discussed.

Achievement↗
PubMed1991

Vulnerability and competence: a review of research on resilience in childhood.

The developmental psychopathology literature addressing issues of children's resilience and vulnerability in dealing with life stresses is reviewed. The contribution and methodological limitations of research on stress and competence are examined, theoretical concepts of resilience are discussed, and findings with respect to protective mechanisms, as well as data from longitudinal studies, are presented. Directions for further research are outlined.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed1991

Self-image and guilt: a further test of the cognitive-developmental formulation.

The cognitive-developmental formulation of self-image disparity holds that an increasing disparity between the real and ideal self-image is due to (a) increasing differentiation of the real from the ideal self with maturity and (b) the increased capacity for incorporation of social mores with a greater propensity for guilt as a result. Guilt and self-image disparity were assessed in 47 young adults in Study 1, and in 108 children, of varying intellectual abilities, in the 5th, 8th, and 11th grades in Study 2. In both studies, guilt was related to self-image disparity. At all age levels, guilt was related to a higher ideal self-image. Guilt was related to a higher real self-image among 5th graders, but not among older individuals. Brighter children had a higher ideal self-image, greater self-image disparity, and marginally more guilt than children of average intellectual abilities. Guilt and self-image disparity were not related to grade level. The pattern of findings indicated that self-image is influenced by both cognitive-developmental and experiential determinants.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1990

From theory to practice in the care and education of mentally retarded individuals.

Issues related to the care and education of mentally retarded individuals were examined from a historical perspective. Historical analysis shows that institutions and special education services spring from common, although not identical, societal and philosophical forces. The adequacy and implications of the normalization concept were discussed in relation to both deinstitutionalization and mainstreaming, with the conclusion that mental retardation workers must pay more attention to bettering the lives of retarded individuals and less to the "social address" at which interventions take place. Suggestions for the future care and education of retarded individuals were provided, and the proper role of science in the mental retardation field was discussed.

Combined Modality Therapy↗
PubMed1990

Intentional and incidental memory in organically mentally retarded, familial retarded, and nonretarded individuals.

Groups of organically mentally retarded, familial retarded, and nonretarded subjects were compared on two tasks of intentional memory and one of incidental memory. With mental age being covaried, the familial group did better than the organic group on both tasks of intentional memory. However, the performance of both retarded groups was inferior to that of the nonretarded children. The three groups did not differ on incidental learning. The finding of differences between organically retarded and familial retarded persons supports the view that etiology needs to be considered when studying cognitive functioning in mentally retarded persons. The differences between the familial retarded and nonretarded groups appear to be in contradiction to the similar structure hypothesis of mental retardation.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1990

Rigidity in mentally retarded and nonretarded children.

The dependence of rigidity on task difficulty was examined. The hypothesis was that mentally retarded subjects would be more rigid than would nonretarded subjects on difficult but not on easy tasks. An intelligence test and seven rigidity tests varying in difficulty were administered to 45 retarded and 45 MA-matched nonretarded subjects. Factor analyses yielded one rigidity factor for the retarded group and two for the nonretarded group. In both groups the rigidity tests were interrelated and formed a Guttman simplex structure in terms of difficulty. The groups did not differ on three easy tests but did differ on four more difficult tests. The results were interpreted mainly in a motivational framework, with implications concerning mental retardation and rigidity as an interactional concept.

Attention↗
PubMed1989

Personality development and the dually diagnosed person.

Researchers in mental retardation have traditionally focused on cognitive aspects of the disorder and ignored social and personality factors. One consequence is that little attention has been paid to the mental health of mentally retarded persons. The argument is made that the personalities of mentally retarded persons are affected by the same factors that impact upon the personalities of nonretarded persons. The life experiences of mentally retarded persons, however have been shown to lead to personalities that are often characterized by overdependency on others, low aspiration levels, and outerdirected problem-solving styles. These personality characteristics are implicated in the high rate of mental unhealth in mentally retarded persons. Finally, the value of extending the developmental approach to the study of psychiatric problems in mentally retarded persons is discussed.

Child↗
PubMed1989

Imitation, recall, and imitativeness in children with low intelligence of organic and familial etiology.

Groups of noninstitutionalized organic and familial mentally retarded and borderline mentally retarded children at two CA levels were given tasks designed to assess imitation. In contrast to findings from studies of average IQ children, organic low IQ children showed as much imitativeness at the older as at the younger age levels. Consistent with expectations, etiology, independent of IQ, was found to be significant. Familial low IQ children showed more absolute imitation and recall, whereas organic children were more imitative and responsive to the irrelevant behaviors modeled. Findings are discussed in terms of the developmental approach to imitation.

Attention↗
PubMed1989

America's family support movement: strengths and limitations.

Current social and environmental trends have increased the family's need for support. Both grass roots and university-based programs have emerged to meet this need. This paper, the first of four on the family support movement, outlines the advantages of integrating these two types of program, discusses problems of funding and evaluation, and underscores the importance of family support and education programs finding their niche within the established social services system.

Child↗