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Biomedical subjects

C K Sigelman

Publications and source records attributed to C K Sigelman.

31 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed1982

Evaluating alternative techniques of questioning mentally retarded persons.

In an examination of methodological issues involved in interviewing retarded persons, alternatively worded or structured questions were embedded in interviews with three samples. Questioning techniques were evaluated according to the extent to which (a) interviewees could provide answers, (b) their answers agreed with parallel responses given by attendants or parents, and (c) answers were free of systematic response bias. Open-ended questions were found to be unanswerable by many persons, and supplementing them with clarifying examples and probes for additional information only exacerbated response bias. By comparison, yes-no checklists enhanced responsiveness but introduced serious acquiescence bias, whereas multiple choice questions, particularly with pictures, yielded valid answers from high proportions of interviewees. Implications for question design were discussed.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1981

Teaching interview skills to mentally retarded persons.

Five types of behavior found to be predictive of impressions made by mentally retarded persons in interviews were designated as targets of interview skills training: responsiveness to questions, speech intelligibility, eye contact, smiling, and attractiveness. Two training conditions, using an instruction-modeling-rehearsal-feedback format and differing only in type of feedback (video tape and verbal vs. verbal alone), were compared to a placebo condition. Although formal training proved to be little more effective than did the placebo experience, significant improvements in responsiveness and eye contact in the verbal-feedback condition and other trends pointed to the feasibility of improving interview skills with minimal intervention.

Education of Persons with Intellectual Disabilitie↗
PubMed1980

Surveying mentally retarded persons: responsiveness and response validity in three samples.

In an exploration of the feasibility and utility of survey research with retarded populations, interviews were conducted with 52 institutionalized children, 58 institutionalized adults, and 57 community children, as well as with their parents or attendants. Analyses indicated that higher IQ interviewees were generally more responsive to questions, more often in agreement with the nonretarded informants, and less acquiescent on yes-no questions than were lower IQ interviewees. Although these relationships varied in strength from sample to sample, overall differences among samples were nonsignificant. Implications for researchers interviewing retarded persons were discussed.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1980

Interview behavior of and impressions made by mentally retarded adults.

Interviews were held with 88 mentally retarded institutionalized adults in order to identify types of verbal and nonverbal behavior that are associated with making positive or negative impressions on others and that, therefore, might be priority targets for communication-training efforts. Video-taped segments of the interviews were shown to panels of 4 graduate students in special education and 6 students in rehabilitation counseling, who recorded ratings of personality and competence for each interviewee. Ten predictors were found to account for 69 percent and 68 percent of the variance in overall ratings given by the special education and rehabilitation groups, respectively. Certain types of verbal behavior, which were relatively independent of the nonverbal behavior, were found to be the most potent predictors. Subjects who gave adequate responses to questions and whose speech was understandable were more likely to make favorable impressions.

Attitude to Health↗