Mate guarding and parental influence on mate choice

The hypothesis that the degree to which parents control the mate choice of their children may explain differences in mate guarding across and within cultures was tested. Study 1, in a sample of 80 students from 30 different countries studying in The Netherlands, showed that the perceived level of parental influence on mate choice in a culture was associated with more mate guarding reported by individuals from that culture. Study 2, in a sample of 242 Argentinean individuals, showed that individuals who were more in favor of parental influence on mate choice did report more mate guarding. The effects remained intact when controlling for potentially confounding variables.     

PREDICTORS OF RESPONSES TO UNWANTED SEXUAL ATTENTION

Data were collected from 4,011 male and female university students, faculty, and staff regarding responses to unwanted sexual attention. Women and undergraduate students reported the highest incidence of unwanted sexual attention; most harassers were peers. Ignoring the behavior was the most common response, followed by avoiding the harasser and talking to others about the harassment. Harassment severity was the strongest predictor of responses, with more direct responses being made to more severe harassment. Bivariate correlational analyses suggested that unwanted sexual attention was rated as more distressing by women than by men, by faculty/staff than by students, by individuals with less tolerant attitudes toward harassment, and when the harasser was in a position of authority or when the harassment was of longer duration. In path analyses, only the relations between attitudes and responses were mediated by differences in perceived severity. The gender and status (i.e., student vs. faculty/staff) of the harassee, the duration of the harassment, and whether the harasser was in a position of authority had direct effects on responses not attributable to perceived severity. Implications for policy and future research are discussed.     

The effects of self-monitoring on the procedural integrity of a behavioral intervention for young children with developmental disabilities

The effects of self-monitoring on the procedural integrity of token economy implementation by 3 staff in a special education classroom were evaluated. The subsequent changes in academic readiness behaviors of 2 students with low-incidence disabilities were measured. Multiple baselines across staff and students showed that procedural integrity increased when staff used monitoring checklists, and students' academic readiness behavior also increased. Results are discussed with respect to the use of self-monitoring and the importance of procedural integrity in public school settings.     

INCREASING INDEPENDENCE AMONG CHILDREN DIAGNOSED WITH AUTISM USING A BRIEF EMBEDDED TEACHING STRATEGY

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of a brief embedded teaching procedure, involving least‐to‐most prompting for two paraprofessional staff in order to increase independent responses of two children diagnosed with autism in an inclusive setting. Training was given using a behavioral skills training approach, involving instructions, modeling, rehearsal, and feedback. A multiple‐baseline design across behaviors was used to evaluate the effects of the embedded teaching procedure. Maintenance of training effects was evaluated two weeks, following the end of the study. After training of the brief embedded prompting procedure and during following up probes, both students showed increased independence in each skill that staff were trained to teach. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Sexual harassment of university students

The sexual harassment of junior, senior, and graduate student women and men by male and female professors, graduate assistants, and staff was investigated to determine students' personal experiences in the classroom, outside the classroom, and in job-related settings. Usable survey responses were returned by 393 students, and incidents were detailed by 38 women and 9 men who noted their responses to the harassment and its effects. Attitudes toward and acceptance of sexually harassing behaviors were measured by a 10-item Tolerance for Sexual Harassment Inventory (TSHI). The frequency of initiation of sexual behaviors was also assessed. More women than men reported being sexually harassed. Male and female perceptions of classroom behaviors were in agreement for most items. Men and women differed significantly on the TSHI, with men more tolerant of sexual harassment than women, and highly significant age differences were found, indicating a greater acceptance of sexual harassment by younger students. There was little difference between male and female students in the frequency of their initiating sexual behaviors. The TSHI was assessed; reliability coefficients and a factor analysis are presented.This research was supported by a grant from the College of Arts and Sciences. We are grateful to Betty Jones and Joan Bentley for their secretarial assistance.     

Differential Perceptions of College Environment: Student Personnel Staff and Students

The College Characteristics Index was administered to 160 randomly selected students, 15 head residents, and 20 members of the student personnel staff. Considerable disparity in perception of the environment was found among the 3 groups. Generally, students perceived the environment as possessing a greater degree of all the characteristics measured and valued by the academic community (i.e., aspiration level, intellectual climate, and academic achievement) than did the other reference groups. The differences in perceptions suggest that head residents and other student personnel staff may be involved with selected aspects of the campus life and with atypical groups of students.     

Functional analysis and operant treatment of food guarding in a pet dog

The present study extended functional analysis (FA) methodology to human-directed resource guarding in a dog in an in-home setting. The subject underwent four conditions including control, attention, escape, and tangible, arranged in a modified FA. The results indicated multiply controlled resource guarding (i.e., escape, attention, and tangible functions). The experimenter then conducted a treatment evaluation involving three function-based treatments in a concurrent multiple baseline design. Resource guarding decreased to zero levels in treatments for each maintaining contingency. Treatment effects were maintained when the subject was tested with an owner, with an untrained handler, a highly preferred treat, in an untrained setting, as well as after 2 weeks in the absence of training. Behavior analytic techniques may hold promise for lasting behavior change for resource guarding in domestic dogs, and should be examined in other populations and with other canine problem behavior.     

Sexual Violence in and around the Classroom

Sexual violence on campus is a major issue facing students, faculty, and administrators, and institutions of higher education are struggling to respond. This forum brings together three responses to the problem, with a focus on the religious studies classroom. The responses move from the institution to the faculty to the classroom, exploring three separate but linked spaces for responding to sexual violence. The first contribution (Graybill) critiques common institutional responses to sexual violence. The second contribution (Minister) advocates for long‐term, classroom‐based responses to sexual violence and describes a faculty/staff workshop response. The third contribution (Lawrence) emphasizes the classroom, examining the issues that arise when perpetrators of sexual assault are part of the student body. Read together, the pieces offer a comprehensive view of the complicated intersections of sexual violence, the university, and pedagogical issues in religious studies.     

Prayer spaces in schools: a subversion of policy implementation?

Based on a major evaluation project, this article presents an emerging theme from research on the activities supported by Prayer Spaces in Schools, an organisation supporting ‘pop-up’ prayer spaces in schools across the UK and internationally. Evaluating the activities primarily in terms of their possible contribution to spiritual development, a number of important issues arose relating to policy on education and religion. This article focuses on how some engage with these prayer spaces as a way of reimagining and renegotiating educational policy. Based on data gathered from interviews with staff and students (aged 7–16) across seven schools in England, questionnaire responses from 555 students across 15 schools and feedback from two prayer spaces conferences, a hermeneutic approach is used to compare the interpretations of staff with those of students and the implicit positions of policy documents. This article explores various forms of policy implementation and how staff engagement with prayer spaces can be seen as a form of subversion, with staff tactically subverting policy implementation sometimes in order to promote the very intention of those policies – a form of what we refer to as subversive obedience.     

Towards cultural competence: Australian Indigenous content in undergraduate psychology

This paper discusses the development and preliminary analysis of psychology undergraduate courses on cultural competence in relation to Indigenous Australians. The paper summarises the process that led to the formation of draft curriculum guidelines for psychology academics, including the need to critically examine the assumptions and history of Western psychology in relation to Indigenous peoples, the inclusion of non‐conventional teaching and learning methods, staff and institutional support, and appropriate staff development. The paper then discusses the responses of students to one of the courses developed from these guidelines. The courses were well received by students and although they do not in themselves teach professional psychological skills in working effectively with Indigenous people, they provide a solid basis for the development of such skills. Because this is a relatively new area, it is likely that there will be much refinement of these courses in coming years.     

TRAINING STAFF TO INCREASE MANDING IN STUDENTS WITH AUTISM: TWO PRELIMINARY CASE STUDIES

Two case studies evaluated two versions of behavioral skills training on peer‐to‐peer manding. Case Study 1 evaluated the full package of instructions, modeling, rehearsal, and feedback, and Case Study 2 used modeling and feedback only. Both case studies employed AB designs. In both case studies, staff increased correct teaching responses, and students increased the number of independent peer‐to peer mands. These pilot data suggest that staff can readily acquire teaching skills to increase peer‐to‐peer manding and that modeling and feedback may be sufficient to train staff to do so. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Utilizing Staff Incentives to Increase School-Wide Praise

The authors evaluated whether an incentive raffle increased teachers' use of written praise and appropriate student behavior. Participants included 93 staff members and 755 students at an elementary school in Central Illinois. School staff received didactic instruction for the importance of using praise, and praise notes were measured on a weekly basis by praise type, staff member type, and student type. Results indicated that the faculty incentive produced medium effects for praise for students, but did not impact the number of office discipline referrals. Staff members reported praise notes to be an acceptable school-wide system for managing student behavior, but had mixed feelings regarding faculty receiving incentives for writing praise notes. Implications as well as future research are discussed.     

The influence of therapist experience upon evaluative perceptions of family members

Abstract

This study investigated the influence of experience in family therapy on therapists' evaluative perceptions of family members. Beginning students in family therapy, advanced students, and experienced staff rated members of 100 families according to the Semantic Differential technique. Contrary to expectations, beginning students did not evaluate identified patients more favorably than parents. Staff and advanced students, however, rated parents more favorably than identified patients. Beginning students were also found to evaluate all family members more favorably than staff and advanced students. These results were discussed in terms of experienced therapists initially taking the side of the parents and the effects this potential source of bias may have on the course of family therapy.     

Item-by-Item Versus End-of-Test Feedback in a Computer-Based PSI Course

This study examined the effects of three different types of computer feedback on the following variables in a Personalized System of Instruction (PSI) course: unit quiz and final exam performance, the amount of time tutors and other teaching staff spent answering student questions, and students' preference for each type of feedback. The feedback conditions were the following: (a) end-of-test, (b) item-by-item with the option to skip questions during the test, and (c) item-by-item without the option to skip questions during the test. Students who received item-by-item feedback with the skip option performed the same as students who received end-of-test feedback on the unit quizzes and final exam. However, the teaching staff spent significantly less time answering questions when students received item-by-item feedback with the skip option than when they received end-of-test feedback. Finally, 65% of the students preferred item-by-item feedback with the skip option. The authors concluded that this type of item-by-item feedback decreases the workload on teaching staff in a PSI course without sacrificing performance, and students like it more than the other types of feedback.     

Providing Ongoing Skill Development and Support for Educators and Parents of Students with Emotional and Behavioral Disabilities

Target six of the national agenda to improve outcomes for students with or at risk of emotional disturbance is reviewed. Having discussed this target with multiple stakeholders, the authors present four underlying themes that support ongoing skill development of providers and parents alike. These include building capacity of providers, decreasing isolation of school staff, gaining commitment of all school staff to support students with challenging behavior, and including parents and family members in staff development activities. The four underlying themes are discussed and recommendations given for ensuring ongoing skill development and support in education.     

Social class and wellbeing among staff and students in higher education settings: Mapping the problem and exploring underlying mechanisms

Within Higher Education (HE), staff and students from lower social class backgrounds often experience poorer wellbeing than their higher social class counterparts. Previous research conducted outside educational contexts has linked social class differences in wellbeing with differences in the extent to which low and high social class individuals feel respected (i.e., status), in control (i.e., autonomy), and connected with others (i.e., inclusion). However, to our knowledge, there has been no research that has investigated these psychosocial needs within HE settings. Furthermore, inclusion, status and autonomy are correlated, yet little is known about how these psychosocial needs contribute to wellbeing simultaneously, and independently, of one another. To fill these gaps, we report the results of two studies; firstly with HE students (Study 1; N = 305), and secondly with HE staff (Study 2; N = 261). Consistently across studies, reports of poor wellbeing were relatively common and more than twice as prevalent amongst lower social class staff and students compared to higher social class staff and students. Inclusion, status and autonomy each made a unique contribution and accounted for the relationship between social class and wellbeing (fully amongst students, and partially amongst staff members). These relationships held across various operationalizations of social class and when examining a range of facets of wellbeing. Social class along with inclusion, status and autonomy explained a substantial 40% of the variance in wellbeing. The present research contributes to the literature exploring how social class intersects with psychosocial needs to impact the wellbeing of staff and students within HE.     

Prediction of symptoms of emotional distress by mood regulation expectancies and affective traits

Three studies examined negative mood regulation expectancies (NMRE) and affective traits as independent predictors of self‐reported symptoms of emotional distress. NMRE represent individuals' beliefs that they can alleviate unpleasant emotional states. Stronger NMRE are associated with more adaptive coping, more positive cognition during negative moods, more effective responses under stress and less emotional distress. Affective traits represent long‐term tendencies toward particular affective experiences; they confer risk for specific symptoms of emotional distress. In Study 1, NMRE, trait negative affect (TNA) and trait positive affect (TPA) were all independently associated with depression among students and staff of a German university. In Study 2, in prospective analyses among U.S. college students traits exhibited hypothesised relationships with anxiety and depressive symptoms, and NMRE uniquely predicted anhedonic depression. Study 3 revealed independent prediction of change in symptoms over time by NMRE among U.S. college students, whereas traits were not associated with change in distress, anxiety and depression symptoms. Results suggest independent roles for NMRE and traits in the development of depression and anxiety symptoms and highlight the importance of NMRE as a potential target of therapeutic intervention in the process of symptom change.     

Evaluating educational—vocational counseling: a model for change

This study sought to assess students' reactions toward their vocational and educational counseling at a university counseling center. Students receiving educational-vocational counseling during the 1968-69 academic year served as subjects whose responses to a 29-item questionnaire were used to determine their reactions to counseling. The majority of clients who were counseled by advanced trainees or doctorate level staff viewed their counseling experience positively. A large percentage of the clients of beginning practicum students viewed their counseling negatively. The findings suggested weaknesses in vocational counseling facilities, in counselors' skills, and in training of beginning practicum students. Implications for change are suggested and the need for assessment in counseling agencies is emphasized.     

BULLY PREVENTION IN POSITIVE BEHAVIOR SUPPORT

Bullying behaviors are a growing concern in U.S. schools. We present here a behavioral approach to bully prevention utilizing a schoolwide intervention. Bully prevention in positive behavior support (BP‐PBS) teaches students to withhold the social rewards hypothesized to maintain bullying. A single‐subject multiple baseline design across 6 students and three elementary schools was implemented in an empirical evaluation of the intervention's effectiveness. Results indicated that implementation was functionally related to decreased incidents of bullying for all 6 students observed. In addition, we observed a decrease in the social responses from victims and bystanders. Finally, school staff implemented the program with a high degree of fidelity and rated the program as effective and efficient. Limitations and implications of these results are discussed.     

How does optimism suppress immunity? Evaluation of three affective pathways.

Studies have linked optimism to poorer immunity during difficult stressors. In this study, when 1st-year law students (N = 46) relocated to attend law school, reducing conflict among curricular and extracurricular goals, optimism predicted larger delayed-type hypersensitivity responses, indicating more robust in vivo cellular immunity. However, when students did not relocate, increasing goal conflict, optimism predicted smaller responses. Although this effect has been attributed to negative affect when difficult stressors violate optimistic expectancies, distress did not mediate optimism's effects on immunity. Alternative affective mediators related to engagement--engaged affect and fatigue--likewise failed to mediate optimism's effects, although all 3 types of affect independently influenced in vivo immunity. Alternative pathways include effort or self-regulatory depletion.