Behavior modification: Human rights and legal responsibilities

246

Journal of School Psychology

Now, in order to experience positive achievement, the film/audiocassette emphasizes five factors that should be considered: (1) selecting fundamental movement experiences which are developmentally appropriate, (2) allowing children the opportunity to experience adventure or somewhat dangerous activities, (3) proper sequencing of movement activities which will encourage rather than discourage further performance, (4) establishing goals for children that can be achieved and allowing for these objectives to be attained, and (5) giving positive encouragement, cautiously, for a child's accomplishments. The booklet carries into effect the concepts developed in the f'ilm/andiocassette, namely that childrens' movement abilities will differ because they have varying levels of development and that success-oriented movement experiences aid in developing a positive self-concept. These are the bases for a successful individualized motor development program. In the booklet are sections on the development of both locomotive skirls such as running and jumping and manipulative skills such as throwing and hitting. Also included are sections on movement exploration and quiet classroom games and activities. Within each section certain specific movement skills have each been divided into three competency levels according to proficiency. Level I, which is basically exploratory, is structured for the kindergarten and first grade. Level 2, which begins relating basic movement abilities to sport skirls and lead-up activities, is structured for the second or third grades. Level 3 delves into more specific activities and is aimed at the ability level of the fourth and fifth grades. The booklet Individualized Movement Experiences for Elementary School Children, used in conjunction with the film/audiocassette "Yes I Can!", presents a complete, concise package which emphasizes developing a child's self-concept with success-oriented experiences. Its advantages and disadvantages for the teacher and child will be discussed briefly. A child needs to maintain a positive self-concept. With activities geared toward success a child can easily sense his importance, and therefore, can develop a positive self-image. However, if each task or activity to be undertaken by the child is success-oriented and is achieved, does the child learn to cease trying those activities which, at f'~rst, he can not achieve? Does the child lower his opinion of himself if he falls, or does he realize that he simply is not physically mature enough yet? Indeed, a positive self-concept developed with success-oriented experiences is important; however, a child does need to recognize his limitations of physical maturity and ability. Frequently educators and parents ignore or overlook the physical and emotional levels of a child. Competition at an early age can easily ruin a child's self-concept. Also, offering premature exercises or activities might create a negative feeling toward ever attempting these in the future. The package (booklet and filmstrip/ audiocassette) has been constructed to aid in developing a child's belief in himself by acquainting "the classroom teacher who is not a physical education specialist with a variety of individuafized movement experiences that are developmentally appropriate for inclusion in the elementary school curriculum." Educators who apply these concepts and activities discussed in these materials can be quite certain of positive results, that is, a development of a wholesome self-image. Eric N. Taylor Christ Lutheran School Fort Wayne, Indiana 46880

Marks, P. A., Seeman, W., & Hailer, D. L. The actuarial use of the MMP! with adolescents and adults. Baltimore, Md.: Williams and Wilkins, 1974. Pp. xix + 324, $14.75 cloth. In 1963 Marks and Seeman's The Actuarial Description of Abnormal Personality: An Atlas for Use with the MMPI was published. One of the early efforts to provide

Reviews o f S c h o o l P s y c h o l o g i c a l Materials

247

an actuarial description of MMPI prof'fles, this work was both clinically useful and seemed to avoid some vf the pitfalls o f Hathaway and Meehl's earlier Clinical Arias. Marks and Seeman's Atlas (1963), however, had three specific shortcomings. First, the book had been restricted to adults, providing no descriptive information for profiles of younger individuals. Since professional interest was moving increasingly toward earlier detection of emotional problems in order to provide either early therapeutic intervention or primary prevention, the Atlas had no utility in settings such as schools and clinics serving adolescents and teenagers. A second shortcoming was that the adult code types given failed to include enough cases, so that clinicians frequently were unable to fred actuarial descriptions to accurately fit profiles they were interpreting. The final shortcoming was that the actuarial statements provided too narrow and sterile a description of personality. In their present book The Actuarial Use of the MMPI with Adolescents and Adults, Philip Marks and William Seeman, with the addition of Deborah Hailer, have quite satisfactorily remedied these limitations. The present text provides, for the first time, comprehensive actuarial personality descriptions in narrative form for adolescents as young as 12 for 29 different MMPI code types. In addition, the authors provide an extensive revision of the original 16 adult code types of 1963. The authors feel they have designed the book for broad practical use in clinics, hospitals, schools, and private practice settings. The next few years undoubtedly will support that this was not an idle hope. Part one of the book discusses the MMPI, describes the individual validity and clinical scales, and contrasts "clinical vs. actuarial" description. Part two presents, step by step, the detailed a~.count of the procedures utilized in developing the 16 adult code types. Discussion includes selection of cases, Q-sort, case history, and clinical descriptions, and organization of these data and preparation and classification of the profiles. The last chapter (four) of part two provides "average patient" descriptions for these codes employing a narrative approach. The narrative approach involves three levels of description: dynamic-causal, e.g., "the kind of aggressive or passive aggressive behavior characteristically displayed by these patients is essentially a defense against inner conflict revolving around strong dependency needs"; purely descriptive, e.g., "patients who present this profile are in general immature, insecure, indecisive, and passively manipulative"; and general action tendencies in selected situations, e.g., "25% committed suicide while in the course of outpatient treatment." This variety and range of descriptions would certainly allow readers with varying training, theoretical allegiances, and clinical experience flexibility in finding a satisfactory descriptive picture for protocols they are evaluating. Part three begins the adolescent section ana describes the selection of the normal anti abnormal cases, along with the selection of descriptions and how they were related to code types. Chapter 6 contains the "average patient" personality descriptions for adolescents. Part four contains a four-sectioned appendix, including a glossary of symbols and abbreviations; the conceptual scheme for personality description (the organization and classification of the Q-sort descriptors); a section of frequencies of characteristics for adults and rules for profile discrimination; and finally, base rate characteristics for the adolescent sample. The style of the text is such that the authors regularly summarize directly following each new topic the key points they have just presented. This format provides a precise and effective way to ensure continued understanding and clarity for the reader, in addition to giving an immediate review of essentials. There is little doubt that Chapters 4 and 6 will be the most important and frequently consulted part of the text for the professional user. Chapter 4 presents each of the 16 adult code typos along with a considerable amount of psychometric data. Mean profile graphs appear followed by the mean and range of age of the patient population comprising the code type. Rules for classification are given next. The mean and range of Shipley and WAIS IQ (Verbal, Performance, Full Scale) scores and median WAIS subtest scores are also provided. Psychiatric diagnoses are presented in order of those most frequently occurring with the code type. Following the diagnoses of psychoneuroses, psychosis, etc., are the most frequently occur-

248

Journal of School Psychology

ring subcategories, i.e., depressive/physiological, schizophrenic/paranoid. Two additional mean profiles (for females only) for each code type are presented. One is the "projected" discharge MMPI filled out shortly following hospitalization with the instructions "answer the items as you expect to be when you get out of the hospital," and the other is the "actual" discharge MMPI. A narrative personality description is written in paragraph form for each of the 16 code types. A number of cautions are advised and should be firmly in mind by the user. The adult data, being derived on literate persons over 18 who voluntarily requested help for problems of personal adjustment, would limit cookbook interpretations to similar subjects. The cookbook would be incorrectly consulted for individuals with limited intelligence or where the setting is quite unlike the typical psychiatric situation with the patient motivated for help, e.g. prison. Since the descriptive data for adult profiles were largely based on women, "some unspecifiable proportion" of these are inappropriate to apply to men. This code book was also clearly not meant to be consulted for routine screening of normal individuals who are not seeking psychological intervention. The "normal k t " provided was developed on hospitalized patients and should not be used in interpreting profiles of nonhospitalized individuals. Before the practitioner utilizes the adolescent code types in Chapter 6 it is critical to note that these code types are based on MMPI profiles without the k correction added for scales 1, 4, 7, 8, and 9. Pages 155 to 162 of the text contain T-score conversions without k for adolescent males and females and must be consuited before turning to code book personality descriptions. The 29 adolescent code type descriptions are ordered by the highest first two digits of the code. Each code type is illustrated with a mean profile graph and is followed by mean age of the sample on which it is based. Unfortunately and unlike Chapter 4, psychometric data and diagnostic information are not provided. It may take some years before enough data can be gotten and collated by the authors to supplement the present adolescent information. There are several limitations of which the user of the adolescent section of the cookbook should be aware. First, the normal adolescent sample (N = 1,800) of boys and girls lacks nonwhite subjects. Second, approximately 20% of the cases that fall into the 14-year-old group norms are actually as young as 9 years old. Third, none of the profiles of the supposedly "normal" adolescents was eliminated from analysis regardless of the elevations of the validity scales and for that matter the clinical scales. However, from the "abnormal" sample of adolescents (all of whom were in psychotherapy) "any subject who left 50 or more MMPI questions unanswered, exhibited poor vision, refused to cooperate, or showed gross mental confusion was either retested or excluded from the study." MMPI users will find this test, on the whole, an indispensable aid to them and those new to MMPI cookbooks will wonder how they have ever managed without the wealth of actuarial data they will glean from this book. Lawrence Donner University of Maryland School of Medicine Baltimore, Maryland 21201

Baker, E. J., & McPheeters, H. L. Middle-level workers." Characteristics, training and utilization o f mental health associates. New York: Behavioral Publications (Monograph Series, Community Mental Health Journal, No. 8), 1975. Pp. 67, $4.50 paper. Mental health services typically have been provided by two levels of workers: fully accredited professionals and aides. Beginning in the early 1960's, stimulated by the report of the Joint Commission on Mental Illness and Health, efforts were made to recruit, train, and utilize middle-level mental health workers, especially through two-year programs in community colleges. Supported by grants from the