Use of a reference group in researching children’s views of psychotherapy in Malta

This paper explores the process and outcomes of a children’s reference group within the context of child psychotherapy research in residential care. The reference group was set up to consult children about the design of a research project which seeks to evoke, represent and understand children’s views of psychotherapy. No work to date has explored the experience of reference groups in the context of child psychotherapy in residential care in Malta. The paper contextualises the research within the literature on reference groups in child research, which identifies the potential of reference groups as a participative and co-reflexive activity which can inform research design. The paper critically examines the nature and conduct of the reference group by acknowledging the specific context of this work rather than assuming this is necessarily positive. It does so by specifying and evaluating the outcomes of the reference group in line with its aims. The paper draws on the recordings of the reference group meetings and reference group field notes taken by the researcher as key data which were thematically analysed. The main outcomes of the reference group include children’s contribution to the design of data collection methods especially in terms of not relying only on words during data collection. Children also identified key ethical issues from the point of view of young psychotherapy service users, especially in relation to issues of trust within a residential care context. Children also reviewed and appraised research information material. The reference group process drew from the researcher’s and participants’ contexts and contributed significantly to the researcher’s reflexive process especially in terms of acknowledging his power and positioning as an adult and his dual role as a practitioner/researcher.     

Teachers’ Use of Technology in Elementary Reading Lessons

Proponents claim technology will transform classroom teaching and improve children's engagement and learning. Opponents argue that such benefits are oversold because little evidence exists that technology improves teaching and learning. We examined how elementary teachers in an urban school that was well resourced with technology used it when teaching reading. After 25 hours of observation we found teachers used technology to display multimedia content, generate interactive learning activities, focus student attention, display texts for shared reading, and individualize children's learning activities. Primary-grade reading lessons were often more participatory and multimodal than those in the intermediate grades.     

Korean Migrants’ Use of the Internet in Canada

Drawing on qualitative interviews with South Korean migrants in Canada, this study examines how full-time working migrants appropriate the Internet to maintain sociocultural connections with their homeland, their diasporic community, and the host society. The present study raises the question of how the rapid diffusion of the Internet may redefine the meanings of the Korean diaspora, and it explores how migrants engage in, or negotiate, the digital mediascape of the host society. While Korean migrants in the present study encountered no difficulty with accessing and using the Internet, it was largely appropriated in Korean language and in relation to Korean community rather than serving as a platform through which they could actively engage in the host society’s mediascape. Thus, it is questionable how the ethnic use of the Internet may contribute to the co-construction between migrant and host media users.     

Getting a Grasp on Children’s Representational Capacities in Pantomime of Object Use

This study examined how 5- and 9-year-old children (N = 40) produce pantomimes of object use on verbal request. The task required participants to enact an action with an imagined object. Results showed that with age, children (a) proceeded from body part as object to imaginary object and (b) incorporated into their pantomimes more distinctive features of the object and its use. While the first result replicated previous findings with more items and a more sophisticated coding procedure, the latter result revealed new insights. Children’s selection of distinctive features in pantomime was related to their performance on a semantic odd-one-out task that requires the abstraction of specific features without situational support. The discussion focuses on the cognitive requirements of the task and the potential of pantomime being a reflection of children’s representational development. We suggest an explanation of the findings within the more general developmental model of Karmiloff-Smith.     

Exploring Master Therapists’ Use of Power in Conversation

Various theoretical approaches to therapy place different emphases on the use of power in therapy. In this study, we explore six master therapists’ use of power via communicational control for theoretical consistency. Results indicate that all therapists, regardless of their stance on power, use the role of therapist to exert power in an initial therapy session. Master therapists, in general, did appear to be theoretically consistent with their stated philosophies of therapy. Suggestions for future studies exploring power therapists have are included.     

On the Concept of Fair Competition Prevalent in Today’s European Soccer Leagues

The notion of competition depicted in sport literature appears to be inconsistent with the goals of current European soccer competitions. This paper examines two misconceptions of fair competition which are prevalent in these competitions. First, it aims at refuting the view that professional soccer only requires some basic equality of chances beyond the differences in players’ skills and managers’ knowledge of game strategy. In other words, it refutes the view that professional soccer only demands a notion of fair competition understood as fair play. Second, the paper also aims at refuting the view that fair competition, in professional soccer, is simply a matter of financial viability. Hence, it calls for both genuine legal and ethical reforms, since professional soccer competition requires a notion of equality as both a goal and a right. Such a notion, we argue, must conceive of the differences in players’ skills and managers’ knowledge of game strategy as one of the primary factors in establishing a platform founded in fair competition. Therefore, this paper calls for a radical change of attitude toward or a radical approach to fair competition among European sport fans, policy-makers, and administrators.     

National Study of School Psychologists’ Use of Evidence-Based Assessment in Autism Spectrum Disorder

This study aimed to better understand predictors of evidence-based assessment practices for autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Nationwide, 402 school psychologists were surveyed for their knowledge of and training and experience with ASD on assessment practices, including reported areas of training needs. The majority of school psychologists reported that they did not engage in comprehensive assessment of ASD, which was defined as assessments that consider all areas of development in addition to the use of ASD-specific instruments. Results from logistic regression revealed that experience and training, working with young children with ASD, and geographic location predicted use of evidence-based assessment practices. Experience and training with ASD was the strongest predictor of evidence-based assessment. No differences in training needs were indicated by school psychologists whose practices were consistent with evidence-based assessment and those whose practices were not. Overall, the results identified gaps between best and current practices by school psychologists and highlight areas of need for additional training and professional development.     

Wittgenstein’s Peculiar Use of “Internal Relation” in Aspect-Seeing

“Internal relation” is a significant term in both Wittgenstein’s early and later philosophy. The term is used in relation to many problems, including our topic here, “aspect-seeing.” Some scholars have attempted to present a persuasive interpretation of this terminology; however, Wittgenstein’s remarks on “aspect-seeing” somehow thwart their approaches. The obstacle lies in the relata involved: Which terms are connected by an internal relation in the perception of an aspect? In this paper, I review the existing interpretations and present two proposals, one of which is conservative and the other slightly more radical. I argue that Wittgenstein makes divergent use of the distinction between “internal/external relations,” and that this may reveal the potential ambiguities of the words “internal” and “relation.”     

Gender Differences in Video Game Characters’ Roles, Appearances, and Attire as Portrayed in Video Game Magazines

Video game characters have the potential to shape players’ perceptions of gender roles. Through social comparison processes, players learn societal expectations of appearances, behaviors and roles. Forty-nine articles were coded from current U.S. gaming magazines, resulting in 115 coded characters. This content analysis of video game magazine articles investigated how characters are portrayed, focusing on gender differences. Males were more likely to be heroes and main characters, use more weapons, have more abilities, and were more muscular and powerful. Females were more often supplemental characters, more attractive, sexy, and innocent, and also wore more revealing clothing. Understanding these video game messages is an important first step in understanding the effects games and magazines may have on behavior and attitudes.     

Predicting Adolescents’ Self-Objectification from Sexualized Video Game and Instagram Use: A Longitudinal Study

A growing body of research has demonstrated negative effects of sexualization in the media on adolescents’ body image, but longitudinal studies and research including interactive and social media are scarce. The current study explored the longitudinal associations of adolescents’ use of sexualized video games (SVG) and sexualized Instagram images (SII) with body image concerns. Specifically, our study examined relations between adolescents’ SVG and SII use and appearance comparisons, thin- and muscular-ideal internalization, valuing appearance over competence, and body surveillance. A sample of 660 German adolescents (327 female, 333 male; M_age?=?15.09 years) participated in two waves with an interval of 6 months. A structural equation model showed that SVG and SII use at Time 1 predicted body surveillance indirectly via valuing appearance over competence at Time 2. Furthermore, SVG and SII use indirectly predicted both thin- and muscular-ideal internalization through appearance comparisons at Time 1. In turn, thin-ideal internalization at Time 1 predicted body surveillance indirectly via valuing appearance over competence at Time 2. The results indicate that sexualization in video games and on Instagram can play an important role in increasing body image concerns among adolescents. We discuss the findings with respect to objectification theory and the predictive value of including appearance comparisons in models explaining the relation between sexualized media and self-objectification.

     

Violations of Fitts’ Law in a Ballistic Task

ABSTRACT

The authors explored changes in the postural preparation and movement times during jumps into targets of different sizes placed at different distances from the participant. Both movement and preparation times scaled with movement distance. Neither movement nor preparation time showed an effect of target size, although preparation time showed a tendency to increase for smaller targets. These observations show that the classical Fitts’ law can be violated in tasks that involve a ballistic component. The data corroborate a hypothesis that Fitts’ law originates at the level of movement planning.     

Certified Athletic Trainers’ Understanding and Use of Sport Psychology in Their Practice

Nine certified athletic trainers from one National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I institution participated in semistructured interviews about their understanding of sport psychology and use of psychological strategies in their work with injured athletes. Through Consensual Qualitative Research (Hill, 2012 Hill, C. E. (2012). Consensual qualitative research: A practical resource for investigating social science phenomenon. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association. [Google Scholar]) procedures, three major domains were constructed: (a) recognition of the common psychological challenges of injury rehabilitation, (b) knowledge and understanding of sport psychology, and (c) utilization of sport psychology skills and strategies for rehabilitation. Although athletic trainers utilized basic psychological strategies (e.g., goal setting, reassurance) during injury rehabilitation, findings support the need for an interprofessional team approach to enhancing psychological recovery.     

The Impact of the Built Environment on Children’s School Conduct Grades: The Role of Diversity of Use in a Hispanic Neighborhood

A population-based study examined the relationship between diversity of use of the built environment and teacher reports of children’s grades. Diversity of use of the built environment (i.e., proportion of a block that is residential, institutional, commercial and vacant) was assessed for all 403 city blocks in East Little Havana, Miami—a Hispanic neighborhood. Cluster analysis identified three block-types, based on diversity of use: Residential, Mixed-Use, and Commercial. Cross-classified hierarchical linear modeling was used to examine the impact of diversity of use, school, gender, and year-in-school on academic and conduct grades for 2857 public school children who lived in these blocks. Contrary to popular belief, mixed-use blocks were associated with optimal outcomes. Specifically, follow-up analyses found that a youth living on a residential block had a 74% greater odds of being in the lowest 10% of conduct grades (conduct GPA <2.17) than a youth living on a mixed-use block. In fact, an analysis of the population attributable fraction suggests that if the risk associated with residential blocks could be reduced to the level of risk associated with mixed-use blocks, a 38% reduction in Conduct GPAs <2.17 could be achieved in the total population. These findings suggest that public policy targeting the built environment may be a mechanism for community-based interventions to enhance children’s classroom conduct, and potentially related sequelae.     

The Role of Separation Anxiety in Mothers’ Use of Autonomy Support: An Observational Study

Parental separation anxiety has been identified as a detrimental factor for parent-adolescent relationship quality and, ultimately, for adolescents’ psychosocial adjustment. However, few studies have examined how separation anxiety is related to parents’ style of interaction with their adolescent, which is unfortunate as this interaction style could explain why separation anxiety is related to negative outcomes. The present study (a) examined the association between maternal separation anxiety and mothers’ autonomy-supportive, relative to controlling, conversation style as observed in mother-adolescent interactions about the adolescents’ friendships, and (b) investigated the link between maternal separation anxiety and mothers’ personal experiences during the conversation. A total of 62 mother–adolescent dyads (M age mothers?=?44 years, M age adolescents?=?14 years) were willing to participate in this study. After mothers filled out a measure of separation anxiety, mothers’ autonomy-supportive and controlling practices were observed and coded during a 10-min conversation. Further, mothers reported on their emotional and motivational experiences during the conversation. Mothers high on separation anxiety were observed to be less autonomy-supportive and to experience the conversation as more stressful (e.g., more pressure, more tension, and more relief at the end). Clinically, our results suggest that maternal separation anxiety is an important target for intervention and prevention efforts aimed at promoting autonomy-supportive parenting.     

The Perverse Effects of Competition on Scientists’ Work and Relationships

Competition among scientists for funding, positions and prestige, among other things, is often seen as a salutary driving force in U.S. science. Its effects on scientists, their work and their relationships are seldom considered. Focus-group discussions with 51 mid- and early-career scientists, on which this study is based, reveal a dark side of competition in science. According to these scientists, competition contributes to strategic game-playing in science, a decline in free and open sharing of information and methods, sabotage of others’ ability to use one’s work, interference with peer-review processes, deformation of relationships, and careless or questionable research conduct. When competition is pervasive, such effects may jeopardize the progress, efficiency and integrity of science.     

Variation in the Use of Pronouns as a Function of the Topic of Argumentation in Young Writers Aged 11 Years

In our view, the ability to impose moral values which may be, to some extent, either shared or conflictual, influences the strategy adopted when writing argumentative texts. Our hypothesis is that the greater the socio-moral distance between the writers’ representations (the writers in this case being children) and those of the recipients (here the parents), the more likely it is that writing will be successful. Three topics derived from a preliminary experiment and corresponding to significant differences in opinion between children and parents were tested in a population of 11-year-old pupils. The pupils had to write a letter designed to convince their parents about one of these topics. We analyzed the texts in order to identify the different configurations in the frequencies of use of the pronouns (frequencies of Je (I), Tu (You), Il (He), On (One/We)) and adverbs. These frequencies differed depending on the topic that was being written about (the moral context that is mobilized).

Teachers’ Use of and Attitudes Toward Informational Text in K–5 Classrooms

The purposes of this research were (a) to understand the frequency with which K–5 teachers use informational text in their routine classroom instruction, (b) to understand the percentage of informational text in classroom libraries, and (c) to explore teachers’ attitudes about informational text. Survey data of 318 participants indicated that K–5 teachers used an average of 31.55 minutes (SD = 22.24) of informational text per day and that classroom libraries consisted of an average of 32.77% (SD = 14.16) of informational text. Participants were overwhelmingly positive about the instructional value of informational text but also reported that a lack of time, a lack of resources, and curricular limitations restricted their use of informational text. Implications on how to increase the use of informational text in K–5 classrooms are provided.