Teachers' ratings of disruptive behaviors: The influence of halo effects

Abstract

This study evaluated the accuracy of teachers' ratings and examined whether these ratings are influenced by halo effects. One hundred thirty-nine elementary school teachers viewed videotapes of what they believed were children in regular fourth-grade classrooms. In fact, the children were actors who followed prepared scripts that depicted a child engaging in behaviors characteristic of an attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), an oppositional defiant disorder or a normal youngster. The findings provide support for a bias that was unidirectional in nature. Specifically, teachers rated hyperactive behaviors accurately when the child behaved like an ADHD youngster. However, ratings of hyperactivity and of ADHD symptomatic behaviors were spuriously inflated when behaviors associated with oppositional defiant disorder occurred. In contrast, teachers rated oppositional and conduct problem behaviors accurately, regardless of the presence of hyperactive behaviors. The implications of these findings regarding diagnostic practices and rating scale formats are discussed.

Agreement among teachers' behavior ratings of adolescents with a childhood history of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder

“…Multiple teacher variables, such as flexibility of teacher expectations (Lloyd, Kauffman, Landrum, & Roe, 1991), knowledge of ADHD (Greene, 1996), interpretation of behavior and tolerance for misbehavior (Whalen, 1989), and behavior management practices (Good & Brophy, 1991) may lead to variability in ratings of students. Furthermore, negative halo effects may cause spuriously high ADHD ratings in oppositional children (Abikoff, Courtney, Pelham, & Koplewicz, 1993), and unrealistic expectations regarding Ritalin efficacy for adolescents may bias treatment decisions (Smith, Pelham, Gnagy, & Bukstein, 1998). Finally, student aptitude and preference for one subject over another, as well as classroom size and time of day, may further impact expression of adolescent behavior.…”

Intervención de salud mental en niños expuestos a desastre natural

“…Esto po-dría explicarse porque, al ser las derivaciones realizadas por los profesores, ellos estarían mucho más atentos a la presencia de conductas externalizantes y disruptivas que afectan el funcionamiento habitual y la organización escolar, por lo que pueden no detectar fácil-mente cuadros emocionales que no interfieren visiblemente en la conducta o rendimiento de los niños, lo que está descrito ampliamente en la literatura 23 . Este fenómeno es también es frecuentemente observado en la práctica clíni-ca, donde las derivaciones escolares suelen ser principalmente por conductas disruptivas (24,25) .…”

Profil dan Faktor yang Berhubungan dengan Masalah Perilaku pada Remaja di Kota Sorong Papua Barat

“…Abikoff 26 melaporkan bahwa anak yang mengalami hiperaktif-impulsif juga memiliki conduct problem. Hal tersebut serupa dengan penelitian Babinski dan Lambert 25 yang melaporkan bahwa gejala hiperaktif-impulsif dan conduct problem berhubungan erat dan berisiko terhadap perilaku menyimpang pada usia dewasa.…”