Combining descriptive and functional analysis logic to evaluate idiosyncratic variables maintaining aggression

For one boy with developmental disabilities, we conducted naturalistic observations and saw that aggression occurred during instructional task presentations. Next, in an experimental analysis, we manipulated the manner in which instructions were presented. Results showed that differentially high rates of aggression were observed when the manner in which instructions were presented was manipulated. Based on the results of the assessment, a successful intervention was developed that incorporated the idiosyncratic finding observed during both the naturalistic observations and the experimental analysis. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Interchangeability of Results From Computerized and Traditional Administration of the BIDR: Convenience Can Match Reality

Although interchangeability of results across computer and paper modes of administration is commonly assumed, recent meta-analyses and individual studies continue to reveal mean differences in scores for measures of socially desirable responding (SDR). Results from these studies have also failed to include new methods of scoring and crucial aspects of scaling, reliability, validity, and administration emphasized in professional standards for assessment that are essential in establishing equivalence. We addressed these shortcomings in a comprehensive, repeated measures investigation for 6 ways of scoring the Balanced Inventory of Desirable Responding (BIDR), one of the most frequently administered companion measures of SDR in research and practice. Results for many previously unexamined, standards-driven aspects of scaling, reliability, and validity strongly supported the interchangeability of scores across modes of administration. Computer questionnaires also took considerably less time to complete and were overwhelmingly favored by respondents in relation to physical characteristics of the measures, appraisals of the the assessment experience, and perceived quality of information obtained. Collectively, these results highlight the importance of following professional standards when constructing and administering computerized assessments and the evolution of computer technology in providing viable, effective, and accepted platforms for administering and scoring the BIDR in numerous ways.     

Searching for Wholeness Amidst Traumatic Grief: The Role of Spiritual Practices that Reveal Compassion in Embodied,Relational, and Transcendent Ways

Pastoral Psychology - How can body-centered spiritual practices help those experiencing traumatic grief? Research on trauma recovery using Porges’s polyvagal theory demonstrates the central...     

Predictors of Social Anxiety in Children and Adolescents with Sickle Cell Disease

The aim of this study was to examine the potential moderating effect of age on the child-reported pain–social anxiety relationship in children and adolescents with sickle cell disease (SCD). Participants were children and adolescents (ages 8–17; 33 girls, 25 boys) diagnosed with SCD who completed measures of social anxiety and severity of usual pain. Caregivers provided demographic information, and mean hemoglobin levels were computed as a measure of objective disease severity. Ratings of more severe pain were associated with greater social anxiety, including fear of negative evaluation, for older children and adolescents only, revealing a moderating effect of age. Increased relevancy of peer relationships in adolescence, limited social contacts due to SCD complications, and misreading of social cues (e.g., maladaptive coping response to pain) may explain why older children and adolescents reported greater social anxiety in the presence of a stressor such as pain.     

Infant care from infants' viewpoint: the views of some professionals

Debate about infant care tends to focus on still unresolved questions about whether or not day care is harmful, while research studies often confine care options to an unrealistic axis of choice between group care and mother care. Research that delineates constituents of day care quality in relation to measurable outcomes for different groups of children is urgently needed and should be based on a broader view of infant care options. A postal opinion survey sought the confidential views of members of an international organization of infant mental health professionals as to the kinds of care they considered likely to be best for infants from birth to 36 months, assuming that all types of care were of equally high quality and availability. Surprisingly lengthy periods of care by mothers were consistently endorsed; fathers were almost entirely disregarded as principal or joint caregivers; all forms of family care were endorsed over all forms of purchased care, but all forms of individual care were preferred to full-day group care for all age groups and to half-day group care up to the age of 2. The patterns of care judged by these respondents as likely to be best for infants are very different from those which most infants experience now, and from those which policy- and opinion-makers, practitioners and parents aspire, publicly at least, to provide for infants in the future. ©1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Using backward chaining and a physical guidance delay to teach self‐feeding

Many children with feeding disorders lack age‐appropriate self‐feeding without intervention, irrespective of whether refusal is a motivational or skill deficit. When a target behavior is infrequent or absent, multistep tasks can be shaped using chaining by targeting a preexisting step within an individual's behavioral repertoire. Studies suggest when the preexisting response is in the final step of the chain, backward chaining may increase mastery. In this study, we investigated the use of backward chaining to increase self‐feeding of solids of a 4‐year‐old male.     

The Role of Self-Regulation Training in Developing the Motivation Management Capabilities of Salespeople

Time management, goal setting, goal attainment strategies, prioritization techniques! These are some of the self-regulation skills that today’s sales organizations are attempting to develop in a sales force through self-regulation training. This study empirically investigates self-regulation training and how it can facilitate salesperson performance. Findings suggest that self-regulatory training can enhance salesperson self-regulation capabilities, decrease role ambiguity, and thereby aid sales performance. Furthermore, our findings suggest that the value of self-regulation training may not be uniform across all sales trainees. Specifically, self-regulation training may be more beneficial to salespeople after they have developed a level of mastery over fundamental core selling capabilities.     

Age-Related Changes in Neural Activation During Working Memory Performance

Changes in frontal lobe functions are a typical part of aging of the brain. There are age-related declines in working memory performance, a skill requiring frontal lobe activation. This study examined neural activation, using [15 O] water positron emission tomography (PET) methodology, during performance on two verbal working memory tasks in younger and older participants. The results demonstrated the typical areas of activation associated with working memory performance (e.g., dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and inferior parietal cortex) in both groups. However, the younger participants utilized the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and anterior cingulate gyrus significantly more than the older participants. In turn, the older participants used the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex significantly more than the younger participants and maintained material-specific lateralization in their pattern of activation. These findings are consistent with a previous report of different age-related patterns of frontal activation during working memory.     

Social Anxiety and Specificity of Positive Alcohol Expectancies: Preliminary Findings

This preliminary study examined the relationship between social anxiety and specificity of positive alcohol outcome expectancies (AOE) in a community sample of 62 drinking adults. The sample was divided into subsets of socially anxious (n = 17) and nonsocially anxious (n = 45) men and women. The Drinking Expectancy Questionnaire (DEQ) and Alcohol Expectancies in Social Evaluative Situations Scale (AESES) were used to determine if groups differed in the general positive AOE they hold, or only in AOE specific to social situations. ANOVAs revealed that socially anxious individuals had greater positive AOE specific to social situations (DEQ—Assertion scale and AESES) than nonsocially anxious individuals, with no differences in other positive AOE. Partial correlations controlling for social anxiety revealed that AOE specific to social situations correlated with greater drinking and alcohol dependency levels. Findings indicate that identification of AOE specific to social situations may be useful in classifying socially anxious individuals at risk for alcoholism and as a focus of expectancy challenge strategies for individuals with co-occurring social anxiety and drinking problems.     

"Not another meeting!" Are meeting time demands related to employee well-being?

Using an interruptions framework, this article proposes and tests a set of hypotheses concerning the relationship of meeting time demands with job attitudes and well-being (JAWB). Two Internet surveys were administered to employees who worked 35 hr or more per week. Study 1 examined prescheduled meetings attended in a typical week (N=676), whereas Study 2 investigated prescheduled meetings attended during the current day (N=304). As proposed, the relationship between meeting time demands and JAWB was moderated by task interdependence, meeting experience quality, and accomplishment striving. However, results were somewhat dependent on the time frame of a study and the operational definition used for meeting time demands. Furthermore, perceived meeting effectiveness was found to have a strong, direct relationship with JAWB.