It Only Looks the Same From a Distance: How U.S., Finnish,and Irish Schools Support Struggling Readers

This study examined how U.S., Finnish, and Irish educators identified and supported struggling readers. Using Johnston's (2011) framework for evaluating reading interventions and activity theory (Engeström, 1999), we interviewed educators in four U.S., three Irish, and three Finnish schools. In the United States, the adoption of three beliefs—reductionist reading philosophy, difficulties as cognitive and remediated through instruction, and reading problems as unexpected phenomena—reinforced a skills-driven approach. Irish and Finnish educators adopted a more holistic view of reading, and teachers used formative assessment to support struggling students over extended periods while working collaboratively with other staff. Discussion focuses on how these beliefs influenced divisions of labor, roles and responsibilities, and the urgency with which difficulties were addressed.     

Contemporary MFT Models’ Alignment with Relational Common Factors

Common factors theorists believe that therapy is effective, not only because of model specific elements, but also, because of common factors that cut across various treatment models. Common factors include extra-therapeutic factors such as treatment setting, therapeutic alliance, therapist variables and client variables. Common factors researchers have proposed a set of relational common factors that are unique to the practice of marriage and family therapy, including the ability to conceptualize difficulties relationally and the ability to disrupt dysfunctional relationship patterns. In this paper, I analyze and compare relational common factors in three contemporary models: narrative therapy, solution-focused therapy and cognitive-behavioral therapy. Finally, I discuss significant implications for theorizing, training and supervision.     

How Sex and College Major Relate to Mental Rotation Accuracy and Preferred Strategy: An Electroencephalographic (EEG) Investigation

The Psychological Record - The electroencephalogram (EEG) was used to investigate variation in mental rotation (MR) strategies between males and females and different college majors. Beta...     

Philosophical intervention and cross-disciplinary science: the story of the Toolbox Project

In this article we argue that philosophy can facilitate improvement in cross-disciplinary science. In particular, we discuss in detail the Toolbox Project, an effort in applied epistemology that deploys philosophical analysis for the purpose of enhancing collaborative, cross-disciplinary scientific research through improvements in cross-disciplinary communication. We begin by sketching the scientific context within which the Toolbox Project operates, a context that features a growing interest in and commitment to cross-disciplinary research (CDR). We then develop an argument for the leading idea behind this effort, namely, that philosophical dialogue can improve cross-disciplinary science by effecting epistemic changes that lead to better group communication. On the heels of this argument, we describe our approach and its output; in particular, we emphasize the Toolbox instrument that generates philosophical dialogue and the Toolbox workshop in which that dialogue takes place. Together, these constitute a philosophical intervention into the life of CDR teams. We conclude by considering the philosophical implications of this intervention.     

Impulsivity Moderates Promotive Environmental Influences on Adolescent Delinquency: A Comparison Across Family, School, and Neighborhood Contexts

The present study examined moderating effects of impulsivity on the relationships between promotive factors from family (family warmth, parental knowledge), school (school connectedness), and neighborhood (neighborhood cohesion) contexts with delinquency using data collected from N?=?2,978 sixth to eighth graders from 16 schools surrounding a major city in the Midwestern United States. More than half of the respondents were non-Caucasian (M _age ?=?12.48; 41.0 % male). Multilevel modeling analyses were conducted to take into account the clustering of the participants within schools. Impulsivity was positively associated with adolescent delinquency. Additionally, family warmth, parental knowledge, and school connectedness, but not neighborhood cohesion, were independently and inversely related to adolescent delinquency. Finally, impulsivity moderated relationships between family warmth and parental knowledge with delinquency but not relationships between school attachment and neighborhood cohesion with delinquency. Specifically, the negative relationship between family warmth and delinquency was significant for adolescents with high levels of, but not for those with below-average levels of, impulsivity. In addition, parental knowledge had a stronger association with decreased levels of delinquency for adolescents reporting higher levels of impulsivity. The moderating effects of impulsivity did not differ for males and females or for minority and non-minority participants. Findings indicate that impulsivity may have greater impact on adolescents’ susceptibility to positive family influences than on their susceptibility to promotive factors from school or neighborhood contexts. Implications for future research and practice are discussed.     

A meta-analytic review of the Dark Triad–intelligence connection

We conducted a meta-analytic review of the relations between general mental ability (GMA) and the Dark Triad (DT) personality traits—Machiavellianism, narcissism, and psychopathy—to determine if individuals who display socially exploitative social qualities tend to be more intelligent or less intelligent. Across 48 independent samples, GMA showed no consistent relation with any DT trait. These effects were not sufficient to support either the “evil genius” hypothesis (highly intelligent individuals tend to display socially exploitative personality traits) or the “compensatory” hypothesis (less intelligent individuals compensate for their cognitive disadvantages by adopting manipulative behavioral tendencies). However, these relations were moderated, to some extent, by the sex and age of the participants, type of sample studied, and the measure of GMA.     

Do parents’ collectivistic tendency and attitudes toward filial piety facilitate autonomous motivation among young Chinese adolescents?

The present study investigates the association of Chinese parents’ collectivistic tendency, attitudes towards filial piety (i.e., children respecting and caring for parents (RCP) and children protecting and upholding honor for parents (PUHP)), parenting behaviors (i.e., autonomy granting (AG) and psychological control (PC)) with young adolescents’ autonomous motivation. Participants were 321 Chinese parents and their eighth-grade children who independently completed a set of surveys. Results showed that parents' collectivistic tendency indirectly and positively contributes to children's autonomous motivation through the mediation of AG and PC, respectively. Parents' attitude toward RCP has an indirect and positive contribution to children's autonomy motivation through the mediation of AG while parents' attitude toward PUHP shows an indirect and negative contribution to children's autonomous motivation through the mediation of PC. The findings suggest that different cultural emphases in collectivist-based societies play different roles in adolescents’ autonomy development. The implications of the findings are discussed.     

The relation between achievement goal and expectancy-value theories in predicting achievement-related outcomes: A test of four theoretical conceptions

Although achievement goal and expectancy-value theories are both dominant in the achievement motivation literature, the relation between goals and expectancy-value variables in predicting achievement-related behaviors remains unclear. The present study evaluated the empirical validity of four contrasting theoretical conceptions which posit that (1) goals and expectancy-value variables are independent predictors of achievement-related outcomes (2) goals predict expectancy-values, (3) goals mediate the relation between expectancies and task-values, and (4) goals partially mediate the relation between expectancy-values and achievement outcomes, in predicting course performance, career intentions and academic aspirations. Path models evaluating these conceptions were tested separately in mathematics and language arts domains among 697 6th and 8th grade students. Results supported the fourth theoretical approach suggesting that expectancy-value variables predict achievement-related outcomes both directly and indirectly through achievement goals. These findings provide insight about the relation between expectancy-value and achievement goal theories and highlight their complementary role in predicting achievement behaviors.     

句子理解中颜色信息的心理表征

采用混合实验设计、实时和事后的句子-图片匹配范式, 以隐含物体典型颜色和非典型颜色信息的句子为实验材料, 以被试对图片的反应时间和阅读时间为因变量指标, 通过不同时间间隔的设置以及不同的实验程序, 探讨了句子理解中静态和动态颜色信息心理表征的特点。结果表明：(1)在加工时间有限的情况下, 两个加工任务是否竞争相同的认知资源是造成句-图范式下匹配易化和不匹配易化的关键因素。(2)对于句子隐含的静态颜色信息, 大脑对典型颜色信息的心理表征具有即时性和局部性, 而对非典型颜色信息的心理表征还具有非局部性的特点。(3)对于句子隐含的动态颜色信息, 大脑不能对其进行即时的心理表征, 这种动态颜色信息的心理表征是在句子阅读晚期发生的。     

Self-Stigma in Substance Abuse: Development of a New Measure

Little attention has been paid to the examination and measurement of self-stigma in substance misuse. This paper aims to fill this gap by reporting on the development of a new scale to measure self-stigma experienced by people who are misusing substances, the Substance Abuse Self-Stigma Scale. Content validity and item refinement occurred through an iterative process involving a literature search, focus groups, and expert judges. Psychometric properties were examined in a cross-sectional study of individuals (n?=?352) receiving treatment for substance misuse. Factor analyses resulted in a 40-item measure with self devaluation, fear of enacted stigma, stigma avoidance, and values disengagement subscales. The measure showed a strong factor structure and good reliability and validity overall, though the values disengagement subscale showed a mixed pattern. Results are discussed in terms of their implications for studies of stigma impact and intervention.