Significance of violence in stories of young children

Stories told by 72 5-yr.-old children were scored for themes of violence and correlated with their mothers' reports of aggressive or fearful behaviors. Values for the entire sample were not significant. However, when data for Hispanic children were removed from the sample the correlation of violent stories to ratings of children's aggression was significant (r = .27) and for a count of violent words r = .30. The correlation of violent words to fearfulness was .28 and for girls only .35. The count of violent words was also correlated with African-American children's ratings of fearfulness (r = .64).     

The Values of Chinese Students: At Home and Abroad

The Rokeach Value Survey was administered to two groups of Chinese students: Those residing in the People's Republic of China (P.R.C.) and those who had emigrated to the United States (U.S.A.). Results indicated that the two groups have very different value hierarchies. The traditional stereotypes, which depict the Chinese as dependent and collectivistic in nature, in contrast to the independent and individualistic Americans, were not confirmed; instead the converse appeared. P.R.C. students assigned greater importance to individualistic values, whereas the U.S.A. group deemed collectivistic values more salient. The dimension of class as a meaningful variable was discussed as a tentative explanation of the results.     

Phenomenology, Bruno Klopfer, and individualized/collaborative assessment

This presentation celebrates commonalities of Bruno Klopfer's philosophical phenomenological approach to the Rorschach and my similarly grounded approach to individualized/collaborative psychological assessment. The article begins with an excerpt from such an assessment to ground what follows. It then addresses what phenomenology is and is not in relation to psychological assessment, and reviews Klopfer's phenomenological approach to the Rorschach. It presents the findings from an empirical phenomenological research study relevant to collaborative assessment. Finally, the article reviews some common inquiries and observations about individualized/colloaborative assessment and closes with some shifts in American psychology that are consonant with this approach to psychological assessment.     

“Why am I so stuck?”: A Collaborative/Therapeutic Assessment Case Discussion

Assessors from 3 continents worked together on a single multimethod case study. Their goal was to hold the client at the center and forefront of their attitudes and thinking as each assessor focused on a specific measure or group of measures. The adult client requested a neuropsychological assessment and completed a full battery of cognitive measures as well as the MMPI–2, the Rorschach, and the Wartegg. A basic tenet of collaborative/therapeutic assessment holds that the client is a full partner in the assessment process; he or she is also seen as the final arbiter of the usefulness of the ideas derived. With that in mind, the client worked with the lead assessor to create 6 questions she wished answered by the assessment. Feedback and discussion occurred in a number of ways: through discussion sessions with the lead assessor that included extended inquiry; individualized letters from the other assessors, each addressing her 6 questions; a summary letter from the lead assessor; and a metaphorical, therapeutic story that stressed key findings from the assessment. Results converged powerfully, with similar findings from each assessor. The client stated that she felt heard and understood in the process, even by individuals who she had never met personally.     

Depression and stressful environments: identifying gaps in conceptualization and measurement

Background and Objectives: Stress is well known as a trigger of depressive reactions, fear, anxiety, and behavioral disorders. However, there are many gaps in the conceptualization and measurement of environmental stress. Results: Exciting developments in the neuroscience of stress have increasingly expanded our knowledge of mechanisms by which stress may affect emotional and behavioral adjustment. Ironically, environmental stress has often been a silent player in human studies of stress processes. There is a significant need for increased efforts to include environmental stress variables in models of internalizing and other disorders. Measurement and conceptualization issues are prominent, and this article makes the case for improved methods of measuring acute, chronic, and early life stress, and for additional conceptualization of the dynamically changing and bidirectional effects of stress on disorder over time. Conclusions: There is a critical need for greater focus on and better measurement of the environment and its impact on emotional and other disorders, with emphasis on developmentally informed hypotheses. Empirical findings and new perspectives may contribute enormously to our understanding of normal and abnormal outcomes, and also to the challenge of effective interventions to promote mental health and optimal functioning.     

Links among the Self,Stress, and Psychological Distress during Emerging Adulthood: Comparing Three Theoretical Models

The authors tested three theoretical models linking self, stress, and psychopathological distress in emerging adulthood. The vulnerability model posits that self-concept pathology leads to distress. The scarring model postulates that distress and stress lead to self-concept pathology. The stress generation model stipulates that distress and self-concept pathology lead to the experience of episodic and chronic life stress. Change in ruminative brooding was examined as a potential mechanism in all models. One-hundred and seventy Israeli freshmen (M_[age]?=?23.19, 68% females) were followed up three times over the duration of one year. Distress and six dimensions of the self (self-criticism, self-concept inadequacy, hated sense of self, self-esteem, generalized self-efficacy, and self-concept clarity) were assessed repeatedly. Acute and chronic stresses were measured at Time 2 using the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) Stress Interview. Distress prospectively predicted self-concept pathology pertaining to all of the dimensions, except self-concept clarity, which was adversely affected by chronic stress. Change in ruminative brooding mediated scarring for self-criticism, a hated self, and self-concept clarity. Low self-esteem emerged as a powerful chronic stress generator. Self-concept clarity was as the only dimension leading to change in distress. In emerging adulthood, psychological distress and—to a lesser extent—chronic stress might “scar” the self.     

Examining the Reading of Informational Text in 4th Grade Class and Its Relation with Students' Reading Performance

Being proficient in independently reading and writing complex informational text has become a need for college and career success. While there is a great deal of agreement on the importance of the reading of informational text in early grades and teachers are encouraged to increase amount of the reading of informational text in early grades, few quantitative studies have been conducted to examine if the frequency of reading informational text is relevant to student reading achievement. This study aims to investigate the relationship of reading informational text and students' reading performance in 4th grade based on PIRLS 2011 data through multilevel modeling.