Parent management training for reducing oppositional and aggressive behavior in preschoolers

This article provides an overview of parent management training (PMT) for preschool-age children with aggressive and oppositional behaviors. Assessment strategies and basic concepts of PMT are provided. Theoretical underpinnings and research outcomes are highlighted for some variations of PMT programs that have strong empirical support. These programs include Helping the Noncompliant Child, Parent–Child Interaction Therapy, Incredible Years Training Series, Triple P-Positive Parenting Program, and Oregon Early Intervention Foster Care.     

The stability of function of automatically reinforced vocal stereotypy over time

Although prior research has suggested the function of socially reinforced problem behavior can change across time, the stability of the function of automatically reinforced behavior is largely unknown. Further, some authors have suggested automatically reinforced behavior is likely to enter into socially mediated contingencies. The present study compared 2 functional analyses conducted on the same target behavior at least 1 year apart. Participants were 6 individuals diagnosed with an intellectual or developmental disability displaying automatically reinforced vocal stereotypy. Results indicated the function of each participant's vocal stereotypy remained stable over time (i.e., no new functions were acquired); however, future research on functional stability for automatically reinforced behavior of other topographies is needed.     

A cry unheard: Sudden reductions in blood pressure while talking about feelings of hopelessness and helplessness

This paper describes sudden extreme drops in blood pressure in both experimental and clinical situations when a person is talking about or describing situations of hopelessness and helplessness. These changes are discussed in the context of historical perspectives about the cardiovascular system. A new perspective is introduced, one in which these blood pressure changes are seen as part of an unheard cry for understanding. It is hypothesized that such changes do not occur in response to a person’s attempts to communicate a sense of hopelessness, but rather are the biological foundations of the hopelessness itself. Viewed from such a context an entirely new therapeutic approach is outlined regarding the treatment of patients suffering from a wide variety of psychosomatic as well as psychological disturbances.     

Activity, Passivity, Self-Denigration, and Self-Promotion: Toward an Interactionist Model of Interpersonal Dependency

ABSTRACT Although dependency in adults is inextricably linked with passivity and submissiveness in the minds of many theoreticians, clinicians, and researchers, evidence has accumulated which suggests that in certain situations, dependency is actually associated with high levels of activity and assertiveness. Three experiments were conducted to test the hypothesis that when a dependent person is concerned primarily with getting along with a peer, he or she will “self-denigrate” (i.e., will utilize strategies that ensure that a peer will be evaluated more positively than he or she is on a laboratory task), but when a dependent person is concerned primarily with pleasing an authority figure, he or she will “self-promote” (i.e., will adopt strategies that increase the likelihood that he or she will be evaluated more positively than a peer on a laboratory task). This hypothesis was supported in all three experiments. Theoretical implications of these findings are discussed, and an interactionist model of interpersonal dependency is briefly described.     

Specificity effects in training and transfer of speeded responses

In 3 experiments, participants, on signal, moved a cursor from a central position to 1 of 8 numerically labeled locations on the circumference of a clock face. Movements were controlled by a mouse in 1 of 4 conditions: vertical reversal, horizontal reversal, combined reversals, or normal (i.e., no reversals). Participants were trained in 1, 2, or 3 of these conditions and were tested 1 week later with either the same or a different condition. There were improvements across training and perfect retention across the delay. There was little or no transfer, however, even when training involved combined reversals or multiple conditions. These results illustrate severe specificity of training and are interpreted in terms of acquired inhibition of normal responses.     

Genetic and environmental influences on mothering of adolescents: a comparison of two samples

This study examined 2 samples of adolescents and mothers using a child-based design (Nonshared Environment in Adolescent Development [NEAD] project, N = 395 families) and a parent-based design (Twin Moms [TM] project, N = 236 twin family pairs) to compare genetic and environmental influences on mothering. For both samples, the same measures of positivity, negativity, control, and monitoring were used. The use of matched child-based and parent-based samples enabled passive and nonpassive genotype-environment (GE) correlations to be approximated, providing information about process. Passive GE correlations were suggested for mother's positivity and monitoring. For mother's negativity and control, primarily nonpassive GE correlations were suggested. In several cases, both types of GE correlation were indicated. Finally, observer ratings of negativity and monitoring were influenced only by environmental factors.     

Further psychometric support for the Sensation Seeking Scale--Form V

In this study, we investigated the psychometric properties of the Sensation Seeking Scale-V (SSS-V; Zuckerman, Eysenck, & Eysenck, 1978). Participants were 498 undergraduate students at a public university. A confirmatory factor analysis supported the SSS-V four-factor structure. In addition, the internal consistency was high and the convergent validity of the SSS-V was supported. These findings replicate research supporting the construct validity and reliability of the SSS-V in a nonclinical college sample.     

Use them or lose them: Are manipulatives needed to assess numeracy and geometry performance in preschool?

In two studies, we investigated whether using three-dimensional (3D) manipulatives during assessment aided performance on a variety of preschool mathematics tasks compared to pictorial representations. On measures of children's understanding of counting and cardinality (n = 103), there was no difference in performance between manipulatives and pictures, with Bayes factors suggesting moderate evidence in favor of the null hypothesis. On a measure of children's shape identification (n = 93), there was no difference in performance between objects and pictures, with Bayes factors suggesting moderate evidence in favor of the null hypothesis. These results suggest flexibility in the materials that can be used during assessment. Pictures, or 2D renderings of 3D objects, which can be easily printed and reproduced, may be sufficient for assessing counting and shape knowledge without the need for more cumbersome concrete manipulatives.     

The “Skinny” on Body Size Requests in Personal Ads

The message that women should be thin comes from many sources; some of which may be using the terminology loosely. To test this, the Figure Rating Scale was mailed to 547 personal ad writers to examine the actual preferences of those seeking a thin partner, those seeking a physically fit partner, and those giving no weight preference. Respondents indicated ideal and acceptable body sizes for partners. The ethnicity of respondents was 85.1% White, 7.5% Hispanic, 1.4% African American, 0.7% American Indian, and 4.1% other. The mean education level was 16.6 years and the average annual income was about $40,000. Although males in the three ad categories had statistically significant differences in their choice of an ideal figure, the actual figure size differences appeared negligible, and men did not differ in the number of figures they found acceptable. Females chose the same figure as ideal despite different weight requests. The implications of males accepting a wide range of body sizes for a partner despite specifically requesting a thin one are discussed.