Intervening with Multiplication Fact Difficulties: Examining the Utility of the Instructional Hierarchy to Target Interventions

Examining the use of conceptual frameworks such as the instructional hierarchy (IH) to drive academic interventions represents an important area of inquiry in order to understand why an intervention was effective. However, to date, the IH has only been examined retroactively to explain the effectiveness of math interventions and has not been used to drive intervention implementation based on students’ needs. Therefore, the current study used a multiple baseline single-case design to examine the utility of the IH to determine an appropriately targeted acquisition (incremental rehearsal) or proficiency (timed drill) intervention for difficulties with multiplication facts. Students first received the contraindicated intervention (i.e., non-targeted) and then their correctly targeted intervention. Results showed that all students demonstrated greater fluency growth during their targeted intervention and that students in need of an acquisition intervention also demonstrated greater multiplication fact retention and growth rate during their targeted intervention. The utility of the IH as a heuristic to correctly target interventions based on students’ baseline skill levels is discussed.

     

“I Can’t Operate,that Boy Is my Son!”: Gender Schemas and a Classic Riddle

Sex Roles - To study the power of lived experiences and conscious attitudes in helping individuals to overcome nonconscious gender schemas, U.S. university students (n?=?152) were...     

Disavowing White Identity: How Social Disgust can Change Social Identities

Recent work finds that the sense of solidarity some whites feel with their racial group is strongly associated with their political attitudes, particularly since the election of Barack Obama. Prior work has also noted that levels of this identity have been stable across time and data sources. We, however, document a notable decline in levels of white identity in both panel and cross-sectional national survey data immediately after the 2016 presidential election. Using a two-wave panel design, we examine the factors associated with this decline. We examine whether particular emotional reactions, especially disgust toward Donald Trump, pushed some whites away from their racial identity. We also consider the possibility that some whites may have felt that Trump's election reduced perceptions of racial or political threat, therefore lowering levels of white identity. We find the strongest support for the former hypothesis; the decline in white identity was driven mostly by whites expressing disgust toward Trump. Our results highlight the effect that the political environment can have on group identities and point in particular to the significant role that disgust may play in attenuating the strength of group solidarity.     

Pilot Trial of Acceptance-Based Behavioral Weight Loss and Neurocognition Among American Indians

Acceptance-based behavioral therapies (ABTs) for obesity may be superior to standard behavioral therapies but have not been adequately tested with American Indians (AIs). Neurocognitive function is also unexamined in relation to behavioral weight loss among AIs despite findings that neurocognition predicts outcomes in general samples, may help explain some of the benefits of ABTs, and may be relevant to marginalized groups. The primary objective of this pilot was to examine the feasibility/acceptability of ABT in an AI sample. Exploratory analyses examined the relationship between neurocognition and weight loss. Forty-eight AI adults with overweight/obesity (ages 43.3 ± 10.3 years, 85% female; baseline body mass index = 36.8 ± 4.4 kg/m²) enrolled in a 6-month open ABT weight loss trial. Feasibility indices, including screening/enrollment, session attendance, retention rates for posttreatment assessments, and program acceptability were examined. Percent weight loss (%WL) was assessed as well as fluid and crystalized neurocognition (National Institutes of Health Toolbox Cognition Battery [NIHTB-CB]). We enrolled 79% of the eligible sample and retained 75% (N = 36) at posttreatment assessments. Program completers lost an average of 5.2 ± 4.9% of initial body weight (d_z = 1.14), whereas intent-to-treat analyses show a mean loss of 4.1 ± 4.7%. Participants reported high satisfaction, effectiveness, and cultural appropriateness. Exploratory analyses of neurocognitive domains suggested that crystalized cognition was higher among completers, and higher baseline cognitive flexibility predicted greater %WL (β = .34, p = .05). ABT resulted in clinically significant weight loss in an AI sample. A controlled trial of ABT in a larger, more diverse sample is warranted to determine whether (a) the findings are robust, generalizable, and/or superior to other treatments and (b) neurocognitive factors moderate outcomes.     

Examining the Link Between the Human Microbiome and Antisocial Behavior: Why Criminologists Should Care About Biochemistry,Too

Objective: The expansion of technology enables closer examination of human biological functioning which has exponentially increased knowledge about how the human organism interacts with surrounding environs to produce certain behaviors. The contemporary biosocial model pushes crime theorists and researchers alike to consider the many biological factors that may be implicated in violent behavior and how those factors are ameliorated or exacerbated by environmental influences (and vice versa). This paper describes the human microbiome and discusses why and how the human microbiome should be incorporated into biosocial investigations of violent behavior.

Method: To date, a fairly significant knowledge-base has accumulated regarding the evolutionary, genetic, and sociological bases of violent behavior but has not yet carefully considered other factors related to biochemistry: namely, the microbiome. We review the emerging literature on the role of the microbiome on phenotypes––particularly antisocial behavior––and synthesize the contribution of this literature to the study of antisocial behavior.

Results: The microbiome is likely an important contributor to animal and human behavior. Recent studies show that the microbiome holds promise in explaining antisocial behavior among a wide range of species including humans.

Conclusion: Criminological theory and public policy can incorporate knowledge about the microbiome in the explanation of violent behavior, and prevention and intervention efforts.     

Using subjective and objective measures to predict level of reading fluency at the end of first grade

This study compared reading rate to reading fluency (as measured by a rating scale). After listening to first graders read short passages, we assigned an overall fluency rating (low, average, or high) to each reading. We then used predictive discriminant analyses to determine which of five measures—accuracy, rate (objective); accuracy, phrasing, pace (subjective)—would best predict our fluency ratings. The objective measure of rate and the subjective measure of phrasing were clearly the best predictors, classifying approximately 90% of the cases correctly. The results support the use of reading rate as a proxy for reading fluency in first grade.     

Integrating Fast and Frugal Heuristics with a Model of Memory‐based Cue Generation

Although the fast and frugal heuristics have been studied extensively, relatively little attention has been paid to how cues are generated to be used within the heuristics. The goal of this paper is to propose and test a memory‐based model of how cues are generated and used in cue‐based inferences. The current study advances theory by integrating the fast and frugal heuristics with HyGene, a memory‐based model of how decision makers generate and evaluate hypotheses. Using archival data in which memory retrieval variables were not directly manipulated, we demonstrate that participants' cue selection behavior is consistent with memory‐based retrieval. Further, by directly manipulating memory retrieval within a cue‐based stock‐forecasting task, we demonstrate that memory processes underlie cue use. Participants' cue use varied depending on the relationship between cue validity and the frequency with which the cues were seen during learning. The HyGene model provided the best account of the empirical data, providing further evidence for the critical role of memory in judgment and decision making. Copyright © 2018 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Teacher stress and burnout in Australia: examining the role of intrapersonal and environmental factors

Social Psychology of Education - Concerns regarding high rates of teacher stress and burnout are present globally. Yet there is limited current data regarding the severity of stress, or the role of...     

Australian normative data for the Overall Assessment of the Speaker's Experience of Stuttering

People who stutter often report negative impacts on their wellbeing as a result of their chronic fluency disorder. The need for a comprehensive assessment of the wellbeing and experience of stuttering should be a prime consideration when measuring treatment outcomes. One such measure designed to evaluate wellbeing and aspects of the individual's experience of his or her stuttering is the Overall Assessment of the Speaker's Experience of Stuttering (OASES). Normative data for the OASES Adult version (OASES-A; and hereafter referred to simply as the OASES) has begun to be collected over the past 10 years, though none are available for an Australian population. This paper presents Australian normative data for the OASES for 200 adult males and females who stutter, aged between 18 and 85 years. Additionally, the influence of age, sex, and frequency of stuttering on the Australian OASES scores are also presented. No significant relationships between OASES scores were found for sex and age, which is in keeping with the USA original dataset. However, those participants who had more severe stuttering were more likely to have higher negative impacts for 'General Information', Communication in Daily Situations,' and for the overall OASES score. Implications for further research are discussed. EDUCATIONAL OBJECTIVES: The reader will be able to: (i) describe the purpose of the Overall Experience of the Speaker's Experience of Stuttering for Adults (OASES), (ii) evaluate the relevance of the OASES to treatment planning and the evaluation of stuttering treatment outcomes in the adult population, and (iii) compare Australian normative dataset with the USA and Dutch normative datasets for the OASES.