Do psychosocial and study skill factors predict college outcomes? A meta-analysis

This study examines the relationship between psychosocial and study skill factors (PSFs) and college outcomes by meta-analyzing 109 studies. On the basis of educational persistence and motivational theory models, the PSFs were categorized into 9 broad constructs: achievement motivation, academic goals, institutional commitment, perceived social support, social involvement, academic self-efficacy, general self-concept, academic-related skills, and contextual influences. Two college outcomes were targeted: performance (cumulative grade point average; GPA) and persistence (retention). Meta-analyses indicate moderate relationships between retention and academic goals, academic self-efficacy, and academic-related skills (ps =.340,.359, and.366, respectively). The best predictors for GPA were academic self-efficacy and achievement motivation (ps =.496 and.303, respectively). Supplementary regression analyses confirmed the incremental contributions of the PSF over and above those of socioeconomic status, standardized achievement, and high school GPA in predicting college outcomes.     

Configural face processing develops more slowly than featural face processing

Expertise in face processing takes many years to develop. To determine the contribution of different face-processing skills to this slow development, we altered a single face so as to create sets of faces designed to measure featural, configural, and contour processing. Within each set, faces differed only in the shape of the eyes and mouth (featural set), only in the spacing of the eyes and mouth (spacing set), or only in the shape of the external contour (contour set). We presented adults, and children aged 6, 8, and 10 years, with pairs of upright and inverted faces and instructed them to indicate whether the two faces were the same or different. Adults showed a larger inversion effect for the spacing set than for the featural and external contour sets, confirming that the spacing set taps configural processing. On the spacing set, all groups of children made more errors than adults. In contrast, on the external contour and featural sets, children at all ages were almost as accurate as adults, with no significant difference beginning at age 6 on the external contour set and beginning at age 10 on the featural set. Overall, the results indicate that adult expertise in configural processing is especially slow to develop.     

When ignorance excuses

An ingenious argument – we may call it the Argument from Excuse – purports to show that the Standard View of Ignorance is false and the New View of Ignorance is true. On the former, ignorance is lack of knowledge; on the latter, ignorance is lack of true belief. I defend the Standard View by arguing that the Argument from Excuse is unsound. I also argue that an implication of my case is that Factual Ignorance Thesis (FIT) is false. According to FIT, whenever an agent A acts from factual ignorance, A is morally blameworthy (culpable) for the act only if A is morally blameworthy (culpable) for the ignorance from which A acts.     

Slave,Sister, Sexborg,Sphinx: Feminine Figurations in Nick Land's Philosophy

Given that Nick Land is one of the central influences on certain strands of accelerationism, xenofeminism, and inhumanism, it is important to understand how he himself first developed and deployed the concepts of acceleration, the feminine, and the inhuman, which others would go on to appropriate for their own purposes. This article will trace the four feminine figures throughout Land's philosophical trajectory, which he sees as agents for accelerating the transcendental critique of both anthropocentrism and phallocentrism: the slave turned lesbian; the sister; the sexborg; and the Sphinx. Having elucidated the importance of these figures for Land's thought, this article will conclude by drawing upon the younger Land's feminist resources to immanently critique the disappearance of women from his more recent neoreactionary philosophy in favor of concessions to patriarchal traditionalists.     

Tic Treatment Goes Tech: A Review of TicHelper.com

TicHelper.com (“TicHelper”) is an interactive online treatment program for youth with chronic tic disorders (CTDs) or Tourette Syndrome (TS) and their parents. It is based on Comprehensive Behavioral Intervention for Tics (CBIT), an individual, outpatient therapy protocol shown to effectively reduce tics in randomized controlled trials. The TicHelper website offers a user-friendly dashboard that is effective in making it easy to navigate through different treatment modules. Modules parallel core CBIT procedures and consist of interactive exercises, informational videos, and self-report ratings. TicHelper has some weaknesses (e.g., no outcomes research specific to the program has been published to date); however, its strengths (easily navigable, clear instructions, appropriate content) outweigh its weaknesses, making it a potentially useful dissemination tool to make CBIT more accessible to families and youth with tics.     

Psychometric Properties of a Social Skills Assessment using a Virtual Environment

Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD) is a marked and persistent fear of social and/or performance situations in which embarrassment or scrutiny from others may occur. One form of behavioral assessment is a Role Play Task (RPT). However, RPTs often are not feasible in clinical settings due to the common obstacles in implementation. Thus, the current study examines the feasibility, acceptability and psychometric properties of a virtual environment based social skills assessment compared to the traditional RPT. Forty-six children, ages 7 to 14, participated in two assessment conditions: RPT and a virtual environment behavioral assessment (VE BAT). Participants reported self-ratings of anxiety and acceptability, while blinded observers rated social skills and overall social anxiety. An ANCOVA, covarying for age, revealed (a) no significant task difference for voice volume, speech latency, number of words spoken, effectiveness, and SAM ratings; (b) that the VE BAT was more feasible to implement in terms of personnel time and costs and; (c) more overall anxiety during the RPT task than during the VE BAT task. In addition, the VE BAT demonstrated moderate concurrent validity when correlating the self-report ratings of anxiety with the Social Phobia and Anxiety Inventory for Children (SPAI-C). The current study addresses many of the impediments to conducting RPTs in a clinical setting and, overall, supports the utilization of VE BATS as a viable alternative for the behavioral assessment of social skills in children. Further implications address the potential for the armamentarium for social skills training with children with SAD.     

中学生社会支持对数学学习坚持性的影响:数学自我效能感的中介作用

以北京市通州区一所普通中学的228名初一和初二学生为被试,采用领悟社会支持量表、数学自我效能感和数学学习坚持性问卷,考察在中学生数学学习中不同来源的社会支持对数学学习坚持性的影响,并检验数学自我效能感在其中的中介作用。结果发现:(1)社会支持中的教师支持和同伴支持能够显著正向预测数学学习坚持性水平,而父母支持的预测作用不显著;(2)数学自我效能感在同伴支持和数学学习坚持性之间起完全中介作用,在教师支持和数学学习坚持性之间起部分中介作用。