Teaching mands by manipulating conditioned establishing operations

Skinner’s (1957) analysis of verbal behavior suggests the functional independence of the verbal operants. However, only a few empirical studies have directly examined the nature of these operants, and their independence. The present study evaluated whether teaching topographies as tacts would lead to their emission as mands. The results indicated that manding only occurred reliably after direct mand training, which consisted of the use of imitative and tact prompts, and fading those prompts, to transfer stimulus control from nonverbal stimuli to conditioned establishing operations. The results contribute to the existing data on the functional independence of mands and tacts, as well as demonstrate the value of manipulating conditioned establishing operations for mand training.

     

Same Difference? Older People's Organisations and Disability Issues

This paper addresses some important areas of commonality in the political interests of older and disabled people. The paper reports findings from survey and interview research with local organisations representing older people, and their engagement with disability issues. We begin by reviewing similarities in the claims and mobilisation of older and disabled people, and by reviewing the groups that participated in the study. The main part of the paper identifies substantive policy issues that were perceived as important to older people. Here, there are considerable areas of overlap with the claims of disabled people's organisations (for example, in relation to information, independent living, accessible housing, transport, social support, and incomes). We review these commonalities and offer some thoughts on the potential for political alliance between the two movements. The paper concludes that, while there are considerable areas of common ground, there remain cultural barriers to the mobilisation of such alliances.     

Statusmasse light: Statusskalen bei unzureichenden Berufsangaben

Using prestige and SES measures requires information on the occupation performed. Because gathering and coding this information is time consuming and expensive, appropriate data are often missing. This article presents proxy-scales that may be used in this situation. These scales are derived from original status measures on the basis of commonly available variables. After presenting the derived status scales their validity is examined. It turns out that they capture approximately half of the variance of the original measures. Using a simple status attainment model, the utility of the derived status scales is demonstrated. Finally, we discuss how the scales may be adjusted to other data structures.     

A Framework of Asset-Accumulation Stages and Strategies

Based on a study with 298 low-income participants, we propose that asset accumulation occurs in 3 stages. In the first stage (reallocation), current resource inflows exceed current outflows. To do this, people reallocate resources from consumption or leisure. In the second stage (conversion), people may convert resources from liquid to illiquid forms. In the third stage (maintenance), people resist temptations to dissave. We theorize that people adopt psychological and behavioral strategies to achieve these objectives. Putting psychological and behavioral strategies together with the stages of reallocation, conversion, and maintenance results in 6 strategy groups. We provide real-world examples of each strategy group and discuss implications for encouraging account ownership among the unbanked, improving asset-accumulation programs, and improving financial education.     

Critiquing the goal of autonomy: Towards strengthening the 'relational self' and the quality of belonging in casework practice

An argument re-affirming a progressive role for casework is introduced. This argument seeks to articulate an acknowledgement of the atomising effects of ongoing structural change with the profession's long-standing interest in promoting the quality of interpersonal relations and proceeds in three steps. Firstly, recent theoretical work is brought forward to advance the premise that the self can be understood as 'relational' as well as 'autonomous'. Secondly, a summary is offered of the research concerning the relationship between well-being and the quality of a person's social network which, more recently, has been framed in terms such as 'social connectedness' and 'attachment'. Building on these two propositions it is then suggested that it is possible for caseworkers, particularly those whose roles tend to be concerned with less urgently material and advocacy tasks, to promote the quality of interdependence and connectedness of those service users we work with irrespective of their presenting problem and the practitioner's preferred method and assigned practice role. Preliminary suggestions as to how this may be commenced are then briefly introduced.     

African-american mortality at older ages: Results of a matching study

In this paper we investigate the quality of age reporting on death certificates of elderly African-Americans. We link a sample of death certificates of persons age 65+ in 1985 to records for the same individuals in U.S. censuses of 1900, 1910, and 1920 and to records of the Social Security Administration. The ages at death reported on death certificates are too young on average. Errors are greater for women than for men. Despite systematic underreporting of age at death, too many deaths are registered at ages 95+. This excess reflects an age distribution of deaths that declines steeply with age, so that the base for upward transfers into an age category is much larger than the base for transfers downward and out. When corrected ages at death are used to estimate age-specific death rates, African-American mortality rates increase substantially above age 85 and the racial “crossover” in mortality disappears. Uncertainty about white rates at ages 95+, however, prevents a decisive racial comparison at the very oldest ages.