Students' state motivation and instructors' use of verbally aggressive messages

This study examined the relationship between college students' (107 men, 123 women) state motivation and their instructors' perceived use of 10 verbally aggressive messages, e.g., attacks on competence, character, background, and physical appearance; malediction, teasing, ridicule, threats, swearing, or nonverbal symbols. Significant negative correlations were obtained between students' state motivation and instructors' use of seven verbally aggressive messages: attacks on competence, character, or background, malediction, ridicule, threats, and nonverbal symbols. These findings suggest that these types of verbally aggressive messages are related to students' state motivation whereas attacks on physical appearance, teasing, and swearing by the instructor are not related to students' state motivation.     

The funds, friends, and faith of happy people

New studies are revealing predictors of subjective well-being, often assessed as self-reported happiness and life satisfaction. Worldwide, most people report being at least moderately happy, regardless of age and gender. As part of their scientific pursuit of happiness, researchers have examined possible associations between happiness and (a) economic growth and personal income, (b) close relationships, and (c) religious faith.     

Reducing playground bullying and supporting beliefs: an experimental trial of the steps to respect program

Six schools were randomly assigned to a multilevel bullying intervention or a control condition. Children in Grades 3-6 (N=1,023) completed pre- and posttest surveys of behaviors and beliefs and were rated by teachers. Observers coded playground behavior of a random subsample (n=544). Hierarchical analyses of changes in playground behavior revealed declines in bullying and argumentative behavior among intervention-group children relative to control-group children, increases in agreeable interactions, and a trend toward reduced destructive bystander behavior. Those in the intervention group reported enhanced bystander responsibility, greater perceived adult responsiveness, and less acceptance of bullying/aggression than those in the control group. Self-reported aggression did not differ between the groups. Implications for future research on the development and prevention of bullying are discussed.     

Visual search for object orientation can be modulated by canonical orientation

The authors studied the influence of canonical orientation on visual search for object orientation. Displays consisted of pictures of animals whose axis of elongation was either vertical or tilted in their canonical orientation. Target orientation could be either congruent or incongruent with the object's canonical orientation. In Experiment 1, vertical canonical targets were detected faster when they were tilted (incongruent) than when they were vertical (congruent). This search asymmetry was reversed for tilted canonical targets. The effect of canonical orientation was partially preserved when objects were high-pass filtered, but it was eliminated when they were low-pass filtered, rendering them as unfamiliar shapes (Experiment 2). The effect of canonical orientation was also eliminated by inverting the objects (Experiment 3) and in a patient with visual agnosia (Experiment 4). These results indicate that orientation search with familiar objects can be modulated by canonical orientation, and they indicate a top-down influence on orientation processing.     

Bilateral Art: Integrating Art Therapy,Family Therapy,and Neuroscience

This paper describes the systemic use of a neurologically-based art therapy modality—bilateral art—that engages both dominant and non-dominant hands in the process of creating images in response to opposing cognitions or feelings. It describes both neuroscience and family therapy perspectives that argue for the use of bilateral art. A specific protocol for bilateral art therapy is provided along with a case study demonstrating integration of the protocol into the systemic treatment of a young family. Carole M. McNamee, PhD, is Research Professor and Clinical Associate, Director of the Arts in Healthcare Project, The Family Therapy Center, Department of Human Development, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, VA 24061 (cmcnamee@vt.edu).     

Childhood amnesia in children and adolescents: their earliest memories

Investigations of childhood amnesia have almost exclusively focused on the earliest memories of adults. Here we investigate the earliest memories of children of 6--19 years old. Parents confirmed the memory events and dated the memories. There were surprisingly few developmental differences between the earliest memories of children. Although 6--9-year-olds recalled earlier events than did older children, there were no differences between older age groups. Memories from all age groups were similar in structure, social orientation, and the nature of the recalled event. However, memories of older children were more likely to involve negative affect. There were also few gender differences, although girls were more likely to recall traumatic or transitional events while boys were more likely to recall play events. Overall, results deepen the paradox of early memory: 6--9-year-olds have verbally accessible memories from very early childhood that then seem to disappear as they get older.     

Implementation of a comprehensive schoolwide behavioral intervention: The ABC program

The Academic and Behavioral Competencies (ABC) Program, a schoolwide program to reduce classroom disruption and encourage rule following, academic task completion, and homework completion, is described. The program was initially developed and implemented in an elementary school with a high-risk population. Data from teachers, parents, and children indicate high levels of satisfaction with the program. In addition, unobtrusive measures of program impact, reported as reductions in referrals to the principal's office, suspensions, and increases in homework completion rates relative to the year prior to implementation of the program, suggest a preliminary positive impact of the program. A replication is reported for another school district, with teacher evaluations of satisfaction and effectiveness reported, supporting the flexibility and adaptability of the program. Although the present article does not constitute a systematic evaluation of the ABC Program, it presents preliminary data on the process of implementation and stakeholder satisfaction.     

ProtoMatch: a tool for analyzing high-density, sequential eye gaze and cursor protocols

ProtoMatch is a software tool for integrating and analyzing fixed-location and movement eye gaze and cursor data. It provides a comprehensive collection of protocol analysis tools that support sequential data analyses for eye fixations and scanpaths as well as for cursor “fixations” (dwells at one location) and “cursorpaths” (movements between locations). ProtoMatch is modularized software that integrates both eye gaze and cursor protocols into a unified stream of data and provides an assortment of filters and analyses. ProtoMatch subsumes basic analyses (i.e., fixation duration, number of fixations, etc.) and introduces a method of objectively computing the similarity between scanpaths or cursorpaths using sequence alignment. The combination of filters, basic analyses, and sequence alignment in ProtoMatch provides researchers with a versatile system for performing both confirmatory and exploratory sequential data analyses (Sanderson & Fisher, 1994).     

Providing misleading and reinstatement information a year after it happened: effects on long-term memory

The question addressed here is whether misleading suggestions made to children a year after target events had occurred will alter long-term recall. One group (3-13 years old when injured and treated in a hospital Emergency Room) were given both misleading and accurate reinstating information a year later, and recall of target events assessed both 1 week and another year later (i.e., 2 years post-injury). A control group had recall assessed both 1 and 2 years post-injury. Misleading had little effect on children's recall 1 week later, although a few misled details were reported. However, a year later virtually none of the misleading information was incorporated into long-term recall. Rather, children were more, not less, accurate when recalling details about which they had been misled. Results were attributed to target events having been highly memorable and well rehearsed via previous recalls, and detection of discrepancies between memory and misleading information focusing attention on targeted details.     

Adaptive user displays for intelligent tutoring software.

Intelligent tutoring software (ITS) holds great promise for K-12 instruction. Yet it is difficult to obtain rich information about users that can be used in realistic educational delivery settings--public school classrooms--in which eye tracking and other user sensing technologies are not suitable. We are pursuing three "cheap and cheerful" strategies to meet this challenge in the context of an ITS for high school math instruction. First, we use detailed representations of student cognitive skills, including tasks to assess individual users' proficiency with abstract reasoning, proficiency with simple math facts and computational skill, and spatial ability. Second, we are using data mining and machine learning algorithms to identify instructional sequences that have been effective with previous students, and to use these patterns to make decisions about current students. Third, we are integrating a simple focus-of-attention tracking system into the software, using inexpensive, web cameras. This coarse-grained information can be used to time the display of multimedia hints, explanations, and examples when the user is actually looking at the screen, and to diagnose causes of problem-solving errors. The ultimate goal is to create non-intrusive software that can adapt the display of instructional information in real time to the user's cognitive strengths, motivation, and attention.