Generalizing Effective Teaching Skills: The Missing Link in Teacher Preparation

A clear need to teach preservice teachers to generalize newly acquired teaching skills across time and settings has been well established in the literature. Few empirical studies exist that inform teacher educators on ways to promote generalization of teaching skills with beginning teachers, however. Programming for generalization continues to be a missing link between preservice teacher preparation and inservice application of skills. Four factors emerge as important to sustaining teaching skills in classrooms based on a review of the research. A model for promoting generalization of teaching skills using these factors is described including using immediate feedback to promote acquisition of skills, training to mastery to promote maintenance of behavior, programming for generalization, and providing performance feedback in classroom settings. Implications for teacher preparation are discussed such as requiring generalization training in teacher preparation programs and training supervisors to sequentially implement model components.     

Forgiveness of Interpersonal Offenses in Younger and Older Roman Catholic Women

Forgiveness involves replacing negative thoughts, feelings, and behaviors with constructive responses following an interpersonal offense. Although older adults report themselves to be more forgiving than younger adults, it is unclear why. The current study examined forgiveness of specific offenses in two samples of Roman Catholic women. Participants wrote about an interpersonal offense and completed a multi-dimensional measure of forgiveness with regard to the offense. On 5 of 10 dimensions, older women (n = 26; mean age = 74 years) were significantly more forgiving of specific offenses than were younger women (n = 37; mean age = 19 years). Religiousness/spirituality and current hurt/anger about the offense partially mediated the associations between age group and forgiveness. The results support models of successful aging, with older women showing greater likelihood of responding to interpersonal conflicts with forgiveness.     

Inhibitory neurotransmission and olfactory memory in honeybees

In insects, gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) and glutamate mediate fast inhibitory neurotransmission through ligand-gated chloride channel receptors. Both GABA and glutamate have been identified in the olfactory circuit of the honeybee. Here we investigated the role of inhibitory transmission mediated by GABA and glutamate-gated chloride channels (GluCls) in olfactory learning and memory in honeybees. We combined olfactory conditioning with injection of ivermectin, an agonist of GluCl receptors. We also injected a blocker of glutamate transporters (L-trans-PDC) or a GABA analog (TACA). We measured acquisition and retention 1, 24 and 48 h after the last acquisition trial. A low dose of ivermectin (0.01 ng/bee) impaired long-term olfactory memory (48 h) while a higher dose (0.05 ng/bee) had no effect. Double injections of ivermectin and L-trans-PDC or TACA had different effects on memory retention, depending on the doses and agents combined. When the low dose of ivermectin was injected after Ringer, long-term memory was again impaired (48 h). Such an effect was rescued by injection of both TACA and L-trans-PDC. A combination of the higher dose of ivermectin and TACA decreased retention at 48 h. We interpret these results as reflecting the involvement of both GluCl and GABA receptors in the impairment of olfactory long-term memory induced by ivermectin. These results illustrate the diversity of inhibitory transmission and its implication in long-term olfactory memory in honeybees.     

Auditory warnings, signal-referent relations, and natural indicators: re-thinking theory and application

In auditory warning design the idea of the strength of the association between sound and referent has been pivotal. Research has proceeded via constructing classification systems of signal-referent associations and then testing predictions about ease of learning of different levels of signal-referent relation strength across and within different types of auditory signal (viz., speech, abstract sounds, and auditory icons). However, progress is hampered by terminological confusions and by neglect of the cognitive contribution (viz., learning) of the person or user. Drawing upon semiotics and cognitive psychology, the authors highlight the indexical (as opposed to iconic) nature of so-called auditory icons, and the authors identify the cogniser as an indispensable element in the tripartite nature of signification. Classifications that neglect this third element, defining signal-referent relation strength only dyadically, yield results confounded by learning; classifications that correctly include the triadic relation yield research predictions that are redundant. These limitations of the standard method of constructing and testing classification systems suggest that auditory warning design must take the cognitive contribution of the user into account at an earlier stage in the design process.     

Cyberbullying: youngsters' experiences and parental perception.

This paper describes a survey on the prevalence and nature of cyberbullying of and by youngsters and the parental perceptions. Two questionnaires, one for youngsters and one for their parents, were sent to 1,211 final-year pupils of primary schools and first-year pupils of all levels of secondary schools and their parents. Pupils completed the questionnaires in their classroom, and parents completed them at home. The results show that about 16% of the youngsters had engaged in bullying via the Internet and text messages, while about 23% of the youngsters had been victims of cyberbullying. Cyberbullying seems to be a rather anonymous, individualistic activity, which primarily takes place at home. The most frequently used nature of harassment were name-calling and gossiping. Youngsters mostly react to cyberbullying by pretending to ignore it, by really ignoring it, or by bullying the bully. Most parents set rules for their children about the way to they should use the Internet but are not really conscious of the harassments. They underestimate their own children's bullying behavior and have insufficient notion of their children as victims of bullying.     

Basal ganglia, dopamine and temporal processing: performance on three timing tasks on and off medication in Parkinson's disease

A pervasive hypothesis in the timing literature is that temporal processing in the milliseconds and seconds range engages the basal ganglia and is modulated by dopamine. This hypothesis was investigated by testing 12 patients with Parkinson's disease (PD), both 'on' and 'off' dopaminergic medication, and 20 healthy controls on three timing tasks. In a seconds range (30-120 s) time production task, patients tested 'on' medication showed a significantly different accuracy profile compared to controls and when tested 'off' medication. However, no group or on vs off medication differences in accuracy were found on a time reproduction task and a warned reaction time task requiring temporal processing within the 250-2000 ms range. Variability was measured using the coefficient of variation, with the performance of the patient group on the time reproduction task violating the scalar property, suggesting atypical temporal processing mechanisms. The data suggest that the integrity of the basal ganglia is necessary for 'typical' time production in the seconds range as well as for time reproduction at shorter intervals. Exploratory factor analysis suggested that the time production task uses neural mechanisms distinct from those used in the other two timing tasks. The dissociation of the effects of dopaminergic medication and nature of task on performance in PD raises interesting questions about the pharmacological mediation and task-specificity of deficits in temporal processing.     

Client Uncertainty and the Process of Change in Psychotherapy: The Impact of Individual Differences in Self-concept Clarity and Intolerance of Uncertainty

We describe a number of ways in which two major components of client uncertainty, namely, self-concept clarity and intolerance of uncertainty may either facilitate or impede change in psychotherapy. Clients with low self-concept clarity find it much more difficult to clearly identify and understand their problematic thoughts, emotions, and behaviors; thus slowing down their progress through the various stages identified in Prochaska’s model of psychotherapeutic change. To illustrate, they may engage in much more contemplation prior to action, as they struggle to increase their awareness and insight. Clients with high intolerance of uncertainty experience substantial discomfort when faced with uncertainty, causing them to be highly motivated to avoid or minimize any aspects of psychotherapy that focus on change. This may cause them to avoid confronting their problems during the action stage of therapy. We further suggest that it would be beneficial to assess these two components of client uncertainty very early on in the therapeutic process, in order to facilitate a given client’s progress. Finally, we indicate a need for much more research that explores the role of these two individual difference constructs during therapy. This might include, for example, studies that directly examine how self-concept clarity and intolerance of uncertainty may relate to progress through each stage of change, or the selective use of avoidance strategies. Authorship of this paper is equal. A special thanks to Joan Olinger for her many helpful comments on this paper. This paper won the 2007 Wilfred Quaytman Award for Innovations in Psychotherapy, jointly sponsored by the Long Island Consultation Center and International Scientific Comminucations, Inc. to commemorate the spirit and dedication of Dr. Wil Quaytman, psychologist, psychotherapist, and founding editor of the Journal of Contemporary Psychotherapy.     

The effect of stimulus availability on task choice in voluntary task switching

The voluntary task switching paradigm allows subjects to choose which task to perform on each trial in a stimulus environment affording multiple tasks. The present study examined the effect of stimulus availability on task choice. Subjects viewed displays containing a digit and a letter and performed either an even/odd or a consonant/vowel judgment on each trial. The target stimuli appeared with a stimulus onset asynchrony (SOA) of 0, 50, 100, or 150 msec. The probability of performing the task associated with Stimulus 1 increased as SOA increased, indicating an effect of external or stimulus-driven factors on task choice. This effect of stimulus availability on task choice was greater when the response-stimulus interval was 400 msec than when it was 2,000 msec. This interaction of preparation interval and stimulus availability is explained within a model of task choice that includes both internal processes and external influences.     

Mimicking aphasic semantic errors in normal speech production: evidence from a novel experimental paradigm

Semantic errors are commonly found in semantic dementia (SD) and some forms of stroke aphasia and provide insights into semantic processing and speech production. Low error rates are found in standard picture naming tasks in normal controls. In order to increase error rates and thus provide an experimental model of aphasic performance, this study utilised a novel method- tempo picture naming. Experiment 1 showed that, compared to standard deadline naming tasks, participants made more errors on the tempo picture naming tasks. Further, RTs were longer and more errors were produced to living items than non-living items a pattern seen in both semantic dementia and semantically-impaired stroke aphasic patients. Experiment 2 showed that providing the initial phoneme as a cue enhanced performance whereas providing an incorrect phonemic cue further reduced performance. These results support the contention that the tempo picture naming paradigm reduces the time allowed for controlled semantic processing causing increased error rates. This experimental procedure would, therefore, appear to mimic the performance of aphasic patients with multi-modal semantic impairment that results from poor semantic control rather than the degradation of semantic representations observed in semantic dementia [Jefferies, E. A., & Lambon Ralph, M. A. (2006). Semantic impairment in stoke aphasia vs. semantic dementia: A case-series comparison. Brain, 129, 2132-2147]. Further implications for theories of semantic cognition and models of speech processing are discussed.     

Correlates of suicidality among patients with psychotic depression

The independent association of age and other factors with suicidality in patients with major depression with psychotic features was examined. Of the 183 study participants, 21% had a suicide attempt during the current episode. Male gender, Hispanic background, past suicide attempt, higher depression scores, and higher cognitive scores were each independently associated with greater intensity of current suicidality. Older age was independently associated with a lower risk of a lifetime suicide attempt. These findings reinforce the evidence that patients with psychotic depression are at high risk for suicide and underscore the importance of examining correlates of suicidality specific to patients with psychotic depression.