An evaluation of a punisher assessment for decreasing automatically reinforced problem behavior

We extended research on the identification and evaluation of potential punishers for decreasing automatically reinforced problem behavior in four individuals with autism spectrum disorder. A punisher selection interview was conducted with lead clinicians to identify socially acceptable punishers. During the treatment evaluation, treatment phases were introduced sequentially and included noncontingent reinforcement (NCR), NCR and differential reinforcement of alternative behavior (DRA), and NCR‐and‐DRA with punishment. During the NCR‐and‐DRA with punishment phase, four to five potential punishers were evaluated using a multielement design. Dependent measures included the target problem behavior, appropriate item engagement, and emotional responding. For all participants, NCR‐and‐DRA was not effective and punishment was necessary. However, the most effective punisher identified in the context of NCR‐and‐DRA differed across participants.     

Eminence revisited

J.M. Cattell's 1903 study of the 1,000 most eminent people of history was repeated using current sources. Of Cattell's names, 476 recur, and on average these names have higher ranks than those appearing in only Cattell's list or the new one. Similarities between the 2 lists include the following: highest frequency of names for the century preceding that of the study; dominance of British and French names; and highest frequency of military / government people, with literature 2nd. However, the new list has less scholarship and more art/architecture and music. The new list yields a negative exponential function between the space a person receives in biographical sources and his or her eminence rank.     

The Age and Gender Effect on Four Forms of Peer Victimization among Chinese Children and Adolescents

Applied Research in Quality of Life - This study is the first to examine the effects of age and gender on different forms of peer victimization among local Chinese schoolchildren in Hong Kong. The...     

New Migrants in Residential Aged Care: Managing Diversity in Not-for-Profit Organisations

This paper draws on qualitative interviews with migrant Indo-Asian and African personal care workers and registered and enrolled nurses employed by two not-for-profit residential aged care organisations in Australia: AnglicareSA and Resthaven Inc. The paper examines the way these culturally and linguistically diverse staff talk about the safe organisational environment provided by their employers, while in the wider Australian environment, low levels of hostility towards migrants and refugees are a constant cultural force. We demonstrate the impact of these organisations’ foundational ethics and values that influence how human resource diversity management strategies impact on the quality care provided to residents. We argue that this ethic and these human resource strategies act as conduits for culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) staff to integrate into the workforce and as a mechanism in assisting new migrants to transition into the wider Australian society, while at the same time enriching the care of the older persons.     

Financial Aversion and Its Link to Attachment Anxiety

Recent research has identified a pattern of anxious and averse reactions towards the management of personal finances that particularly affects the young. A correlational study was conducted including 168 UK university students to investigate the nature of financial aversion within an attachment theory framework. It was hypothesised that, in addition to attachment style, financial aversion would be linked to financial stressors, dyslexia, and general anxiety. According to the findings, financial aversion was linked to probable dyslexia, symptoms of anxiety, attachment anxiety, and attachment dependency. Regression analysis identified attachment anxiety as the only independent predictor and suggested that it also moderated the effects of general anxiety on financial aversion. Findings may interest professionals counselling university students or other groups vulnerable to the experience of financial stress.     

Practical Disadvantage,Socioeconomic Status,and Psychological Well-Being Within Families of Children with Severe Emotional Disturbance

Although socioeconomic status (SES) has been associated with a myriad of physical and psychological health indicators, it is arguably one of the most elusive constructs in the psychological literature. Most researchers agree that SES is complex and multidimensional; however, the majority of empirical studies that focus on SES do not measure (or attempt to measure) multiple components of the construct, instead focusing on one or two indicators of SES, most commonly household income and/or levels of education. This paper explores relationships among indicators of SES, disadvantage, and psychological well-being in two independent samples of families with children with severe emotional disturbances. In addition to utilizing two common SES indicators (parental education and income), we incorporated measures reflecting resource-related challenges of living, such as adequate food and housing. Based on analyses, we argue that such variables may better capture the challenges experienced by many families than traditional SES indicators. Findings also suggest that income and education relate to different aspects of family well-being, and solely using one or both of these variables may mask relevant relationships. Moreover, assessing practical, day-to-day challenges may permit a more nuanced picture of the relationships between factors associated with SES and indicators of well-being and adjustment.     

Metaphor: Bridging embodiment to abstraction

Embodied cognition accounts posit that concepts are grounded in our sensory and motor systems. An important challenge for these accounts is explaining how abstract concepts, which do not directly call upon sensory or motor information, can be informed by experience. We propose that metaphor is one important vehicle guiding the development and use of abstract concepts. Metaphors allow us to draw on concrete, familiar domains to acquire and reason about abstract concepts. Additionally, repeated metaphoric use drawing on particular aspects of concrete experience can result in the development of new abstract representations. These abstractions, which are derived from embodied experience but lack much of the sensorimotor information associated with it, can then be flexibly applied to understand new situations.     

Infidelity, race, and gender: An evolutionary perspective on asymmetries in subjective distress to violations-of-trust

Asymmetries in subjective distress were observed among African American and white (N = 191) men and women who were asked to imagine a partner being emotionally and sexually unfaithful, and a partner committing other paired, gender-linked viola-tions-of-trust. More women than men were distressed by imagining a partner forming a deep emotional attachment to another person and more men than women were distressed by imagining a partner enjoying passionate sexual intercourse with another person. In addition, more men than women were distressed by male-linked violations, such as a partner no longer trying to look attractive, and more women than men were distressed by female-linked violations, such as a partner no longer wanting to work. The results contribute to a growing body of cross-cultural research reporting gender differences in distress to emotional and sexual infidelity. The results also provide cross-cultural validation of the extension of an evolutionary perspective to under-standing gender differences in subjective distress to other biologically relevant viola-tions-of-trust.     

Enhancing learning through strategy instruction and group interaction: is active generation of elaborations critical?

We examined strategic intervention when learners were actively engaged in group discussion to assess the impact of peer interaction. In addition, memory performance was compared between students who generated or evaluated elaborations when using the elaborative interrogation strategy, as well as between a supported strategy where learners were provided with explanatory elaborations and a self‐study condition. Introductory psychology students (N=263) in groups of 3 to 5 members studied sixty facts about familiar and unfamiliar animals. Overall, the potency of elaborative interrogation was confirmed regardless of whether students studied interactively or independently. The contribution of group members in facilitating knowledge when the group was able to share sophisticated strategic information also was highlighted. Most critically, when background knowledge was sufficient to promote connections between existing and new material, it was the active generation of elaborations that maximized learning. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.