Perceptual and conceptual variants of the oddity task as a predictor of learning disability

This paper compares LD and non-LD peers on eight variants of the oddity task. This study is part of a larger programmatic research effort aimed at the development of a screening test to detect preschool children who currently pass existing screening tests but, nonetheless, subsequently experience school failure. The theoretical orientation of this approach is to assess active, ongoing cognitive processing ability. The oddity task, which can be structured to assess such processing ability, was evaluated in the present study as a potential component of this screening test. Consistent with a priori predictions, the data resulted in strong group and developmental differences. Oddity performance increased over age, with the non-LD children performing consistently better than their LD peers at each age. Perceptual and conceptual factors were manipulated across the oddity variations, and both factors contributed to group differences. These results were discussed in relationship to early diagnosis and prognosis for learning disabilities that might result from deficiencies in abstract processing ability.The authors would like to express their thanks to the schools, teachers, and students who participated in this study. This research was supported in part by the Mailman Foundation and FDLRS/MAILMAN, a specialized university center of the Florida Diagnostic Learning Resources System, funded through State General Revenue appropriation to provide multidisciplinary evaluation services in exceptional student education programs.     

An evaluation of the family adaptability and cohesion evaluation scales and the circumplex model

Two basic assumptions of the Circumplex Model of family systems were evaluated: (1) Healthy families evidence balanced degrees of cohesion and adaptability, whereas problem families evidence extreme degrees, and (2) families with balanced degrees of cohesion and adaptability possess more positive communication skills than families with extreme degrees. Subjects were 58 mother-son dyads from father-absent families. In 29 of the families the adolescent was a juvenile offender, while in the remaining families there was no history of arrest or psychiatric referral. The dyads completed the Family Adaptability and Cohesion Scales (FACES) and an unrevealed differences interaction task. FACES was highly proficient at differentiating delinquent from nondelinquent families. Moreover, in families with balanced degrees of cohesion and adaptability, the mothers' communication was significantly more supportive and explicit, and the dyads evidenced significantly greater warmth and affection than dyads with extreme degrees.This research was supported by funding to the Department of Psychology at Memphis State University granted through the Centers of Excellence Program of the State of Tennessee. We thank the staff of the Memphis-Metro Youth Diversion Project for their consideration and assistance.     

Longitudinal relations among perceived parental warmth,self-esteem and social behaviours from middle childhood to early adolescence in China: Disentangling between- and within-person associations

Although several studies have addressed the relations between perceived parental warmth and social behaviours, few have distinguished their between- and within-person effects or explored their within-person mediating mechanisms. This study examined the transactional relations among perceived parental warmth (i.e. maternal warmth and paternal warmth), children's self-esteem and children's positive/negative social behaviours (i.e. prosocial behaviour and delinquent behaviour) along with the mediating role of self-esteem after disentangling between- and within-person effects. A total of 4315 Chinese elementary children (44.9% girls; M_age = 9.93 years, SD = 0.73) completed relevant measures on four occasions employing 6-month intervals. Results of random-intercept cross-lagged panel models showed that (a) perceived parental warmth reciprocally and positively predicted prosocial behaviour and self-esteem; (b) perceived paternal warmth reciprocally and negatively predicted delinquent behaviour; (c) self-esteem reciprocally predicted prosocial and delinquent behaviour; (d) perceived maternal warmth reciprocally and positively predicted prosocial behaviour through self-esteem; (e) perceived parental warmth reciprocally and negatively predicted delinquent behaviour through self-esteem; and (f) perceived maternal and paternal warmth differed in their relations with prosocial and delinquent behaviours through self-esteem. These findings illuminated the complicated longitudinal within-person interactions among perceived parental warmth, self-esteem, and social behaviours, the specific mediating mechanism of self-esteem, and the differing results associated with perceived maternal and paternal warmth, all of which yield significant implications for assessments and early interventions aimed to promote positive social behaviour.     

Religiosity and Secular and Ascetic Deviance

According to the antiascetic hypothesis, religiosity should be strongly related to behaviors that violate ascetic standards (getting drunk and using marijuana), but only weakly related to behaviors that violate social standards (violence and stealing). Using the second wave of the National Study of Youth and Religion, I tested the antiascetic hypothesis using a question about the most important basis for deciding what is morally right or wrong. Contrary to the antiascetic hypothesis, individuals who believe that God's law is the most important for deciding what is morally right or wrong, compared to those who believe that society is the most important, are not less likely to get drunk or use marijuana. Furthermore, for getting drunk and marijuana use, differences in behavior are not the result of different ethical standards (ascetic or social), but rather differences in the willingness to uphold those standards (is it OK to break moral rules).     

Police,courts, and corrections: Experiences of procedural injustice among Black adults

Racial disparities and a corresponding lack of trust have been documented within the criminal legal system. In response, criminal legal system actors have sought to strengthen the legitimacy of their agencies. However, legitimizing these agencies can be problematic. Some argue that the current criminal legal system continues the legacy of slavery and Jim Crow as Blacks are disproportionately policed and incarcerated. As a framework, procedural injustice can offer a unique backdrop and interrogate ways in which the criminal legal system engages in delegitimizing actions that provoke noncompliance and enable social control. Using a procedural injustice lens, this study examines how justice-involved Black adults experience mistreatment by justice system actors. Semistructured interviews were conducted with 84 Black adults in Newark and Cleveland. Study findings offer a comprehensive account of how participants experience procedural injustice as arrestees, defendants, and incarcerated persons. More specifically, participant narratives describe deliberately antagonistic, abusive, and dehumanizing treatment by justice-system agents—often depicted as racially motivated. Participant accounts also describe this mistreatment as occurring in a context of coercion and powerlessness and as being institutionally sanctioned. Implications for the preservation of racial hierarchies, research, practice, and community psychology are discussed.     

DISPOSABLE BODIES,DISABLED MINDS,AND CHRISTIAN HOPE: RESURRECTION IN LIGHT OF TRANSHUMANISM AND INTELLECTUAL DISABILITY

This piece brings into critical conversation Christian resurrection hope, virtual versions of transhumanism, and intellectual disability and demonstrates that Christian resurrection provides a more cogent hope for people with severe intellectual disabilities than transhumanism. I argue that transhumanist virtual futures are theologically problematic, as bodily resurrection is neither required nor desirable. It is particularly problematic for people with severe intellectual disabilities given the way they would be excluded from these futures. Disability theology also raises issues with the traditional notions of “healing” in the resurrection and the implications for the value and identity of persons with intellectual disabilities. Starting with these problems, I explore the nature of Christian hope, noting the inadequacies of a virtual transhumanist future with respect to both resurrection faith and intellectual disability, and address how resurrection hope can account for issues raised in disability theology, and so properly include people with intellectual disabilities.     

Communities as conduits of harm: A social identity analysis of appraisal,coping and justice-seeking in response to historic collective victimization

Social identity approach (SIA) research shows that community members often work together to support survivors of collective victimization and rectify social injustices. However, complexities arise when community members have been involved in perpetrating these injustices. While many communities are unaware of their role in fostering victimization, others actively deny their role and responsibility to restore justice. We explore these processes by investigating experiences of community violence and collective justice-seeking among Albanian survivors of dictatorial crimes. Survivors (N = 27) were interviewed, and data were analysed using theoretical thematic analysis guided by the SIA. The analysis reveals the diverse ways communities can become harmful ‘Social Curses’. First, communities in their various forms became effective perpetrators of fear and control (e.g., exclusion and/or withholding ingroup privileges) during the dictatorship because of the close relationship between communities and their members. Second, communities caused harm by refusing to accept responsibility for the crimes, and by undermining attempts at collective action to address injustices. This lack of collective accountability also fosters survivors' feelings of exclusion and undermines their hope for systematic change. Implications for SIA processes relating to health/wellbeing (both Social Cure and Curse) are discussed. We also discuss implications for understanding collective action and victimhood.