Enhancing school-based prevention and youth development through coordinated social,emotional, and academic learning

A comprehensive mission for schools is to educate students to be knowledgeable, responsible, socially skilled, healthy, caring, and contributing citizens. This mission is supported by the growing number of school-based prevention and youth development programs. Yet, the current impact of these programs is limited because of insufficient coordination with other components of school operations and inattention to implementation and evaluation factors necessary for strong program impact and sustainability. Widespread implementation of beneficial prevention programming requires further development of research-based, comprehensive school reform models that improve social, health, and academic outcomes; educational policies that demand accountability for fostering children's full development; professional development that prepares and supports educators to implement programs effectively; and systematic monitoring and evaluation to guide school improvement.     

Heightened interpersonal security diminishes the monetary value of possessions

People may value their possessions, in part, because ownership of goods promotes feelings of security. If so, increasing their sense of security should reduce the value they place on possessions. In two studies we tested this prediction. In Study 1, participants who were assigned randomly to write about an instance of receiving social support placed less monetary value on a blanket they owned relative to participants who were assigned randomly to write about a pleasant restaurant experience. In Study 2, participants who were unobtrusively primed with security-related words placed less monetary value on a pen they just received relative to participants who were primed with positive or neutral words. Results suggest that enhancing interpersonal security reduces valuing possessions.     

Implementing a Comprehensive Program for the Prevention of Conduct Problems in Rural Communities: The Fast Track Experience

Childhood conduct problems are predictive of a number of serious long-term difficulties (e.g., school failure, delinquent behavior, and mental health problems), making the design of effective prevention programs a priority. The Fast Track Program is a demonstration project currently underway in four demographically diverse areas of the United States, testing the feasibility and effectiveness of a comprehensive, multicomponent prevention program targeting children at risk for conduct disorders. This paper describes some lessons learned about the implementation of this program in a rural area. Although there are many areas of commonality in terms of program needs, program design, and implementation issues in rural and urban sites, rural areas differ from urban areas along the dimensions of geographical dispersion and regionalism, and community stability and insularity. Rural programs must cover a broad geographical area and must be sensitive to the multiple, small and regional communities that constitute their service area. Small schools, homogeneous populations, traditional values, limited recreational, educational and mental health services, and politically conservative climates are all more likely to emerge as characteristics of rural rather than urban sites (Sherman, 1992). These characteristics may both pose particular challenges to the implementation of prevention programs in rural areas, as well as offer particular benefits. Three aspects of program implementation are described in detail: (a) community entry and program initiation in rural areas, (b) the adaptation of program components and service delivery to meet the needs of rural families and schools, and (c) issues in administrative organization of a broadly dispersed tricounty rural prevention program.     

Adaptive Model Checking

We consider the case where inconsistencies are present betweena system and its corresponding model, used for automatic verification.Such inconsistencies can be the result of modeling errors orrecent modifications of the system. Despite such discrepancies,we can still attempt to perform automatic verification. In fact,as we show, we can sometimes exploit the verification resultsto assist in automatically learning the required updates tothe model. In a related previous work, we have suggested theidea of black box checking, where verification starts withoutany model, and the model is obtained while repeated verificationattempts are performed. Under the current assumptions, an existinginaccurate (but not completely obsolete) model is used to expeditethe updates. We use techniques from black box testing and machinelearning. We present an implementation of the proposed methodologycalled AMC (for Adaptive Model Checking). We discuss some experimentalresults, comparing various tactics of updating a model whiletrying to perform model checking.     

Cognitive Processing of Traumas: The Role of Intrusive Thoughts and Reappraisals1

Cognitive processing theories of post-traumatic adaptation (Horowitz, 1986a; Janoff-Bulman, 1992) propose that repeated comparisons of trauma content with preexisting cognitive schemas result in trauma reappraisal or schematic revision. Thus, intrusive ruminations should facilitate cognitive integration and resolution of past traumas. However, research has shown that some survivors become stuck in endless, repetitive rumination cycles. This raises the issue of how to differentiate ruminations that promote cognitive integration from those that merely prolong or exacerbate psychological distress. Identifying substantive dimensions for categorizing cognitions about past traumas could enhance prediction of their effects on adjustment and inform clinical treatment interventions. This paper seeks to: (a) Assess the current state of theoretical knowledge concerning cognitive adaptation to trauma, (b) integrate theoretical postulates with empirical research findings, (c) define gaps or inconsistencies in our understanding of the cognitive adaptation process, and (d) identify foci for future theory and research.     

R. ARELEH ROTH'S PRISTINE FAITH

Areleh Roth responded to the Holocaust by labouring to have Jews actualize pristine faith. As the slaughter in Europe mended the sinful universe prior to the advent of the Messiah, the living were enjoined to bring to bear the faith which was experienced by Abraham and which the people of Israel inherited over the ages. This meant struggling against the forces of Amalek who clouded the perception of God's presence amid the tragedy. Under divine aegis, Amalek brought suffering to induce repentance, he tested the people in order to activate free will, and clouded the perception of God's presence amid catastrophe. The struggle centred on annulling one's personality entirely, enabling God to enter the heart so completely as to totally replace the ego. This was the experience of pristine faith, and with it one related to God, through Abraham, and gained the strength to endure the tragedy. Even more, one's soul could join the ascent of those sparks which were dispersed upon the cosmic catastrophe (described by Isaac Luria) and thereby contribute to, and participate in, the rise of Israel to the spiritual redemption of the Sabbath before Adam's sin. Roth's response to the catastrophe was not of theological exposition (for example, why the pious suffered) but of practical means to survive and thrive on the level of spirit.     

Self-determined immortality: Testing the role of autonomy in promoting perceptions of symbolic immortality and well-being

Motivation and Emotion - This pre-registered work was designed to replicate and extend previous research finding that autonomy is associated with greater extent of belief in symbolic immortality...