Correction of a Technical Error in the Golf Swing: Error Amplification Versus Direct Instruction

Performance errors drive motor learning for many tasks. The authors' aim was to determine which of two strategies, method of amplification of error (MAE) or direct instruction (DI), would be more beneficial for error correction during a full golfing swing with a driver. Thirty-four golfers were randomly assigned to one of three training conditions (MAE, DI, and control). Participants were tested in a practice session in which each golfer performed 7 pretraining trials, 6 training-intervention trials, and 7 posttraining trials; and a retention test after 1 week. An optoeletronic motion capture system was used to measure the kinematic parameters of each golfer's performance. Results showed that MAE is an effective strategy for correcting the technical errors leading to a rapid improvement in performance. These findings could have practical implications for sport psychology and physical education because, while practice is obviously necessary for improving learning, the efficacy of the learning process is essential in enhancing learners' motivation and sport enjoyment.     

Evaluation of Interactive Computerized Training to Teach Paraprofessionals to Implement Errorless Discrete Trial Instruction

Efficient and effective training strategies for paraprofessionals in special education settings face many challenges. Interactive computerized training (ICT)—a self-paced program that incorporates audio narration, video models, interactive activities, and competency checks—is one potential solution. ICT has been successful in training college students and special education teachers to implement discrete trial instruction (DTI), but its effectiveness to train paraprofessionals is unknown. Using a multiple-baseline design, we evaluated the feasibility of ICT, to train six paraprofessionals to implement DTI with an errorless learning procedure. Following ICT, the fidelity of implementation of DTI increased for all participants when implemented with a student in their classroom; however, competency varied. We added additional training components that progressed from low to more intensive feedback delivered remotely in attempt to increase fidelity to 90% or higher implementation. We also evaluated generalization to novel instructional programs and maintenance of instruction in the absence of feedback.     

A Comparison of Active Student Response and On-Task Instruction on the Acquisition and Maintenance of Health Facts by Fourth Grade Special Education Students

An alternating treatments design was used to compare the effects of active student response (ASR) and on-task (OT) instruction on the acquisition and maintenance of health facts during small-group lessons. Five students with learning difficulties (4 students identified as developmentally handicapped and 1 student identified as learning disabled) participated in daily instruction on weekly sets of 20 unknown health facts (10 facts assigned to the ASR condition and 10 to the OT condition). During ASR instruction, the teacher modeled the correct response to a health question that was presented visually on a health fact card, and the students immediately repeated the correct response in unison three times. During OT instruction, students attended visually to the health fact card as the teacher modeled the correct response. All 5 students made more correct responses on end-of-day tests on health facts taught with ASR instruction than they did on health facts taught with OT instruction. ASR instruction also produced consistently superior results on maintenance tests administered 2 weeks after instruction.     

The Effects of Using Response Cards on Student Participation, Academic Achievement, and On-Task Behavior During Whole-Class, Math Instruction

This study evaluated the effects of using response cards during whole-group math instruction in a fourth-grade classroom, using an ABA research design. During both A and B conditions the classroom teacher conducted her math lessons as planned. However during the A conditions, hand-raising (HR) was in effect. That is, when the teacher asked a question she instructed the students to raise their hands and after each question she called on one student whose hand was raised. During the B condition, response cards (RC) were in effect. Whenever she asked a question, the teacher instructed the entire class to write their answers on individual response cards. After each question, the teacher instructed the entire class to hold up their RC. Data were collected on five students who represented the class range in general level of participation, academic skills, and on-task behavior. Results indicated that student participation, specifically the number of student-initiated opportunities to respond and the number of student responses were higher when using RC than when HR was in effect. Students scored higher on the weekly math quiz after the RC condition than after the HR conditions. The percentage of intervals that students were on-task also was higher when RC were used.     

Linking Teacher Instruction and Student Achievement in Mathematics: The Role of Teacher Language

Although high-quality early educational environments are thought to be related to the growth of children’s skills in mathematics, relatively little is known about specific aspects of classroom instruction that may promote these abilities. Data from a longitudinal investigation were used to investigate associations between teachers’ language while teaching mathematics and their students’ growth in mathematical skill during the 2nd grade. Specifically, the extent to which mathematics lessons included cognitive-processing language (CPL)—instruction that is rich in references to cognitive processes, metacognition, and requests for remembering—was related to changes in students’ math achievement. Demonstrating the role of the language of instruction, the findings indicated that children whose 2nd-grade teachers included greater amounts of CPL during instruction evidenced greater growth in math fluency and calculation than did their peers whose teachers employed lower levels of CPL.     

Correction for Item Response Theory Latent Trait Measurement Error in Linear Mixed Effects Models

Psychometrika - When latent variables are used as outcomes in regression analysis, a common approach that is used to solve the ignored measurement error issue is to take a multilevel perspective on...     

Improving Oral Reading Fluency Through Response Opportunities: A Comparison of Phrase Drill Error Correction with Repeated Readings

The purpose of this study was to compare two oral reading fluency treatments (repeated readings and phrase drill error correction) which differ in the way they prompt student responding. Repeated readings (RR) and phrase drill (PD) error correction were alternated with a baseline and a reward condition within an alternating treatments design with an 8-year old boy referred for reading difficulties. Results indicate that RR and PD improved the participant’s reading fluency equally well relative to both baseline and reward conditions. Results are discussed in terms of the types and relevance of response opportunities afforded by each intervention.     

Assessing Parental Response Patterns in the Treatment of Noncompliance in Children

Child noncompliance is one of the most frequently reported behavior problems in clinic-referred children. One difficulty with treating noncompliance in the clinic is that the demand characteristics of the situation may alter the rates of child compliance. The observation of parent-child interactions, with an emphasis on parent behaviors, may be a more meaningful way to assess parent training programs. In the current study, the parents of three children each showed a distinctive pattern in their responding to their children's compliant and noncompliant behaviors. An in vivo direct instruction procedure, that involved the therapist working directly with the parent to provide immediate consequences was used. Following training, improvements in correct responding were evident for al parents. Particularly noteworthy was that child compliance was not an accurate indicator when assessing parents' initial skill levels.     

Assessing MMPI Constructs Through the Measurement of Response Latencies

Responses to the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) were assessed with respect to their relevance to schema theory. The relation between scores on self-reported personality dimensions and the speed of processing test items associated with each dimension was examined. With previously derived factor analytic content scales, negative correlations were obtained between scale scores and mean latencies for endorsing relevant items, and positive correlations were found between scale scores and mean latencies for rejecting relevant items. A similar analysis completed on the traditional clinical scales revealed no such pattern. Results were interpreted as supporting the conceptualization of item responding as a content-based, schema-relevant process.     

Assessing the Within‐Trial Treatment Integrity of Discrete‐Trial Teaching Programs Using Sequential Analysis

Discrete‐trial teaching is a strategy frequently used to teach functional skills to individuals with developmental and intellectual disabilities. Research has shown that the within‐trial components of the procedure should be administered with ≥90% treatment integrity to facilitate optimal learning. Usually within‐trial treatment integrity is measured using whole‐session methods such as percentage of trials correctly administered. This study demonstrated one‐step Markov transition matrices as a method of assessing within‐trial treatment integrity. All components of discrete trials were coded and time‐stamped from video recordings of therapist–learner dyads in their typical setting (home or school). Several types of within‐trial treatment integrity errors were identified using the Markov transition matrices, error sequences that could not be identified using a percentage correct analysis. Better identification of errors has the potential both to enhance treatment integrity and to gain efficiency by targeted retraining of therapists. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

社会和谐从心开始——简论宗教在构建和谐社会中的积极作用

科学和社会快速发展造成的负面效应,我国“引导宗教与社会主义相适应”和“构建社会主义和谐社会”的政策导向,为宗教向社会和谐做贡献开辟了广阔的天地。其主要途径是慰藉和化导人心,也就是在建设社会主义精神文明的总体格局中,发挥宗教“超越现实”来建构“人生意义”的功能,让它通过科学实证之外的另一途径来化解人们的价值迷失：发挥宗教在非政治非经济意义上开展活动的功能,通过宗教活动让信众得到心灵的关怀和化解失意的情绪;发挥宗教建构彼岸意义和追求出世关怀的功能,以此化解人们毫无顾忌和毫无畏惧的心气,使人们自己为自己建立起违法乱纪的心理屏障。     

The Role of Consumption Emotions in the Satisfaction Response

We report 2 studies that served to clarify the role of consumption emotions in the satisfaction response. In the 1st study, we examined the role of consumption emotions within the expectancy‐disconfirmation model of consumer satisfaction and investigated whether consumption emotions are a result of product performance or disconfirmation. The findings show that both positive and negative emotions are primarily a function of product performance and influence satisfaction even when the effects of expectations, performance, and disconfirmation are controlled. In the 2nd study, we proposed and tested an alternative framework for understanding the role of consumption emotions in the satisfaction response for situations in which consumers use more of an experiential perspective to anticipate and experience consumption. According to this model, consumers form affective expectations about how consumption of the product will make them feel, experience positive or negative emotions as a result of these expectations and product consumption, and evaluate the discrepancy between experienced and anticipated emotions. All 3 variables, then, impact satisfaction. The results empirically support many of the relations in the new model of the experiential satisfaction response but also raise several interesting avenues for future research.     

The Predictive Role of Simulations in Assessing Military Performance

The current study assessed the predictive validity of simulations to improve the military selection system. Four navy simulations were developed and their predictive validity was measured. The performance of 1007 Israeli navy soldiers was measured in a longitudinal study, which was carried on for almost two years. Participants’ performance in four simulations (naval-navigation test, raft sailing, rubber boat [zodiac] mounting, and military tent assembly) was measured and used as a behavioral predictor for their performance at the end of their first year of active military service on combat ships. All but the raft sailing simulation predicted participants’ performance.     

The Role of Active Assortment in Spousal Similarity

Previous research has established the existence of active assortment, that is, a preference for similarity in a potential mate. Few studies, however, have directly related mate preferences to dyadic similarity by examining them in the same participants. We collected both similarity and mate preference data in two studies: undergraduate students (N = 519) and newlyweds (N = 335). In both studies, women placed a higher value on desirable personality characteristics (e.g., higher Conscientiousness and Agreeableness, lower Neuroticism) than did men. Nevertheless, our data also provided strong evidence of consensual mate preferences: Men and women both desired partners who were agreeable, conscientious, emotionally stable, intelligent, and physically attractive; furthermore, participants desired partners who were better (e.g., more agreeable and attractive) than they were. In contrast, attitudinal variables such as religiousness and political orientation displayed much weaker consensus but showed significant dyadic similarity in both samples; similarity coefficients for personality tended to be positive, but lower. Finally, analyses revealed a direct link between actual and desired similarity: Couples displayed the strongest similarity on those variables for which participants expressed the strongest preference for similarity. Our findings strongly suggest that active assortment is partly responsible for dyadic similarity.     

Assessing the Intersectionality of Religious and Sexual Identities During the Coming-Out Process

Lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) individuals often experience internalized and/or externalized religious rejection due to their sexual orientation. Initial steps in the coming-out process can be especially difficult and can result in existential crises, including questioning one's place within the religious/spiritual realm. The authors propose a developmental framework for conceptualizing the role of religion and spirituality in the coming-out process. Cass's (1979, 1984) stage model of coming out and Genia's (1995) model of religious development, along with additional literature addressing LGB spirituality, serve as foundations for this framework. Counseling and research implications of the framework are also discussed.     

The Role of Student Processing of Feedback in Classroom Achievement

This study focused on students' processing of feedback during regular classroom instruction. Students in two high-school computer programming classes were observed and asked to give retrospective reports of their thoughts during feedback episodes. Feedback episodes consisted of the teacher explaining test answers to the class after her grading and returning tests to students. The data showed that students' attention to feedback on missed, but not on correct, items was significantly related to course achievement and that this relationship was moderated by content knowledge. A qualitative analysis of retrospective reports revealed the diversity of ways of processing feedback and suggested two mechanisms that led to withdrawal of attention to feedback. One was the student's perception that he or she could not understand feedback and the other was dwelling on the negative affect produced by making errors.     

Visioneering and the Role of Active Engagement and Assessment

According to some technology enthusiasts our technological developments appear to be accelerating at an exponential rate. A common vision of such enthusiasts is that the accelerating pace of science and technology development will enable us to transform the world in more profound and significant ways than at any other time in our history. More importantly, some of these technology enthusiasts have gone beyond having technological-driven visions about the future to be actively engaged in a diverse set of activities aimed at shaping the future they envision. These are not just people with visions about the future, they are visioneers.