Peer Tutoring for Reading Fluency as a Feasible and Effective Alternative in Response to Intervention Systems

Peer tutoring is an evidence-based procedure for improving academic performance for a variety of skill areas. The current study evaluated the feasibility and impact of a peer tutoring package for reading fluency with 4 middle school students receiving Tier II remedial supports. This study used a multiple baseline design across participants to evaluate impact of the peer tutoring procedure on students’ oral reading rate on instructional passages. Results indicated that students’ oral reading rate on instructional probes increased following implementation of the peer tutoring procedure. Moreover, peer tutors implemented most steps of the procedure with a high degree of integrity. Results are discussed in terms of contributions to the peer tutoring and Response to Intervention literatures, as well as application to applied practice.     

Prediction of Burnout in Volunteers

This work studies the personal experience of volunteering and several antecedent and consequent variables. We studied the effect of the amount of time dedicated to the organization, motivation, social support, integration in the organization, self‐efficacy, and characteristics of the work on a consequent variable of the volunteering experience; that is, burnout, with its 3 components of efficacy, cynicism, and exhaustion. The statistical analysis shows that the time dedicated to volunteering and the extrinsic motivations (i.e., social and career) predicts higher levels of burnout, whereas intrinsic motivations (i.e., values and understanding), life satisfaction, and integration in the organization are negatively related to burnout.     

Gender-role's attitude, perceived similarity, and sexual prejudice against gay men

Two hundred and twenty-six heterosexual participants (115 women and 111 men) were asked to indicate their attitude toward gender-roles, their perceived similarities with gay men, and their attitude toward gay men (i.e., sexual prejudice). As expected, male participants showed more sexual prejudice than female participants, and perceived dissimilarities were related to a greater sexual prejudice. Support for gender-roles was related to sexual prejudice for male participants, but not for female participants. More interestingly, the three-way interaction suggested that perceived similarities moderated the link between gender-roles and sexual prejudice among heterosexual men, but not among heterosexual women. Attitude in favor of traditional gender-roles was related to sexual prejudice for male participants who perceived gay men as different, but not for those who perceived gay men as similar. These findings are discussed in terms of the defensive function of men's attitude toward homosexuality as a result of threat to masculinity.     

Spanish adaptation of the NDSS (Nicotine Dependence Syndrome Scale) and assessment of nicotine-dependent individuals at primary care health centers in Spain

The availability of adequate instruments for the assessment of nicotine dependence is an important factor that is relevant in the area of tobacco addiction. In this study, we present a Spanish validation of the Nicotine Dependence Syndrome Scale (NDSS) (Shiffman, Waters, & Hickcox, 2004). The sample was composed ofpatients, all daily smokers, who visited their General Practitioner (GP) at five Primary Health Care Centers in different cities of Spain (N = 637). The results indicated adequate reliability for the general factor that assesses nicotine dependence (NDSS-Total) (Cronbach's alpha = .76). Factor analysis confirms the five factors of the original validation: Drive, Continuity, Stereotypy, Priority, and Tolerance. It must be noted that reliability is adequate for the first, and moderate or low for the rest. The NDSS-T and its scales correlate significantly with the Fagerstr?m Test for Nicotine Dependence (FTND), with the nicotine dependence criteria of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders IV (DSM-IV) as assessed through the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV (SCID), with carbon monoxide levels in expired air (CO), and with the number of cigarettes smoked. The ROC curve indicates that the NDSS-T has a score of .79 which is under the curve (.69 for the FTND), thus the prediction of nicotine dependence is adequate. We conclude that this instrument is useful (in terms of its total score NDSS-T) for assessing nicotine dependence for Spanish smokers (in Spain), as has been found in other countries, language groups, and cultures.     

Tests of dual process theory: Word priming and recognition

Dual process theory postulates two representational processes: Activation of a representation makes the mental event more easily and automatically accessible. Elaboration of a mental event produces access to the representation through search and retrieval processes. We explored word priming in recognition and in a stem completion task where the primed word was one of several possible completions for a 3-letter stem. The main hypothesis was that priming has similar and parallel effects in the two tasks. The initial presentation (priming) of items was under conditions of either semantic or non-semantic processing. Priming was either direct, by the presentation of the target word, or indirect, by the presentation of phonologically related (rhyming) or semantically related (categorical) items. When priming occurred, RTs increased from direct to phonologically primed and to semantically primed items for both completion and recognition tests. One additional experiment confirmed the absence of semantic processing in the non-semantic condition, and another experiment showed that when response requirements for recognition and completion responses are equated, RTs to the two tests are comparable.     

Gender and the Construction of Intimacy among Committed Couples with Children

This study began with curiosity regarding how long‐term couples with children manage their relationships in view of changing societal demands and ideals. Couples interviewed for this study described the intersection of time and intimacy as a core issue. Thus, this analysis focused on how couples construct intimacy in shared time. The diverse sample included 17 heterosexual working and professional class couples in the United States who had been committed for at least 10 years and whose oldest child was aged 6–16. Analysis identified four types of shared time experiences: gender divided, elusive, growing, and emotionally connected. Four factors influenced these types: (a) negotiated gendered differences, (b) intentionality, (c) mutual attending, and (d) dyadic friendship. The most emotionally connected couples reported that time together reinforced satisfaction and pleasure from their relationships. Results help explain different ways couples successfully negotiate changing expectations for heterosexual relationships and why some couples struggle. Findings suggest that therapists help couples intentionally develop habits of friendship and mutual attending.     

Handwriting or Typewriting? The Influence of Pen- or Keyboard-Based Writing Training on Reading and Writing Performance in Preschool Children

Digital writing devices associated with the use of computers, tablet PCs, or mobile phones are increasingly replacing writing by hand. It is, however, controversially discussed how writing modes influence reading and writing performance in children at the start of literacy. On the one hand, the easiness of typing on digital devices may accelerate reading and writing in young children, who have less developed sensory-motor skills. On the other hand, the meaningful coupling between action and perception during handwriting, which establishes sensory-motor memory traces, could facilitate written language acquisition. In order to decide between these theoretical alternatives, for the present study, we developed an intense training program for preschool children attending the German kindergarten with 16 training sessions. Using closely matched letter learning games, eight letters of the German alphabet were trained either by handwriting with a pen on a sheet of paper or by typing on a computer keyboard. Letter recognition, naming, and writing performance as well as word reading and writing performance were assessed. Results did not indicate a superiority of typing training over handwriting training in any of these tasks. In contrast, handwriting training was superior to typing training in word writing, and, as a tendency, in word reading. The results of our study, therefore, support theories of action-perception coupling assuming a facilitatory influence of sensory-motor representations established during handwriting on reading and writing.     

Assessment of learning goals in university students from the perspective of ‘person-situation interaction’: the Situated Goals Questionnaire (SGQ-U) / Evaluación de las metas de aprendizaje en estudiantes universitarios desde la perspectiva de la ‘interacción persona-situación’: el Cuestionario de Metas Situadas (CMS-U)

Academic behaviour takes place in a context in which the nature of class activities and interactions can influence the student’s motivation to learn. So, in order to study this influence, it is necessary to assess not only the personal variables that can motivate academic behaviour, but also the degree to which students are sensitive to different situational or task characteristics. In this case, the interaction person-situation is analysed using a new tool, the ‘situated-goal questionnaire’ for university students. Data of 770 students were analysed using confirmatory techniques, as well as Anova and regression techniques. According to results, the questionnaire has good psychometric characteristics. Besides, they showed the effect of the kinds of situation on the degree to which students declare the pursuit of different goals, as suggested by the person/situation interaction model, as well as the validity of both goals and sensitivity to situations for predicting engagement and self-estimated mean grade.