Technological Resources to Support Adaptive Responding with Persons with Multiple Disabilities

This study assessed technological resources for supporting adaptive responses in 2 men with profound multiple disabilities. The technological resources (an electronic control device connected to optic sensors and pleasant stimuli) ensured the activation of those stimuli contingent on adaptive responses. The responses consisted of putting various objects in a container fitted to a desk. Data showed that both participants reached satisfactory levels of adaptive responses in the intervention and generalization settings. Procedural issues, practical implications of the findings and measures for promoting response maintenance were discussed.     

Meaning Coconstruction in Group Counseling: The Development of Innovative Moments

This study discusses a model of group counseling, the narrative mediation path (NMP), which is a unique narrative, multimodal approach that combines four narrative modes (metaphoric, iconographic, writing, and bodily) and the narrative group. The purpose of the NMP is to foster reflexive processes with underachieving university students and to improve their academic performance. The study analyzes a single case of group counseling for seven underachieving economics students at an Italian university and the process of meaning construction among NMP narrative modes and the follow-up session. It applies the innovative moments coding system, a reliable method for studying change by tracking narrative innovations in sessions. More specifically, we focus on how innovative moments (IMs: action, reflection, protest, and reconceptualization) evolve during the four different narrative modes and the follow-up session. The findings suggest that the NMP fosters narrative innovations, mainly of a reflexive nature (reflection and reconceptualization). Moreover, during counseling and the follow-up session, the pattern of change is primarily characterized by reconceptualization IMs, the most complex form of narrative innovation.     

The Legitimate Name of a Fungal Plant Pathogen and the Ethics of Publication in the Era of Traceability

When more scientists describe independently the same species under different valid Latin names, a case of synonymy occurs. In such a case, the international nomenclature rules stipulate that the first name to appear on a peer-reviewed publication has priority over the others. Based on a recent episode involving priority determination between two competing names of the same fungal plant pathogen, this letter wishes to open a discussion on the ethics of scientific publications and points out the necessity of a correct management of the information provided through personal communications, whose traceability would prevent their fraudulent or accidental manipulation.

     

Give them what they want: The benefits of explicitness in gift exchange

Five studies show that gift recipients are more appreciative of gifts they explicitly request than those they do not. In contrast, gift givers assume that both solicited and unsolicited gifts will be equally appreciated. At the root of this dilemma is a difference of opinion about what purchasing an unsolicited gift signals: gift givers expect unsolicited gifts will be considered more thoughtful and considerate by their intended recipients than is actually the case (,  and ). In our final two studies, we highlight two boundary conditions for this effect: identifying a specific gift and using money as a gift. When gift recipients request one specific gift, rather than providing a list of possible gifts, givers become more willing to purchase the requested gift (Study 4). Further, although givers believe that recipients do not appreciate receiving money as much as receiving a solicited gift, recipients feel the opposite about these two gift options (Study 5).     

Who took the "x" out of expectancy-value theory? A psychological mystery, a substantive-methodological synergy, and a cross-national generalization

Expectancy-value theory (EVT) is a dominant theory of human motivation. Historically, the Expectancy × Value interaction, in which motivation is high only if both expectancy and value are high, was central to EVT. However, the Expectancy × Value interaction mysteriously disappeared from published research more than 25 years ago. Using large representative samples of 15-year-olds (N = 398,750) from 57 diverse countries, we attempted to solve this mystery by testing Expectancy × Value interactions using latent-variable models with interactions. Expectancy (science self-concept), value (enjoyment of science), and the Expectancy × Value interaction all had statistically significant positive effects on both engagement in science activities and intentions of pursuing scientific careers; these results were similar for the total sample and for nearly all of the 57 countries considered separately. This study, apparently the strongest cross-national test of EVT ever undertaken, supports the generalizability of EVT predictions--including the "lost" Expectancy × Value interaction.     

Relationship Education for Incarcerated Adults

As relationship education (RE) programs become more widely implemented, it is important to measure and document the changes associated with RE for diverse audiences. Also, researchers have been challenged to examine the impact of RE with more disadvantaged groups. While we are seeing an increase in this area, only three studies have examined RE with an incarcerated sample. These previous studies examined only those currently in a relationship and focused primarily on couple functioning. The aim of this study was to expand the existing literature by examining RE with a broader sample of incarcerated adults, regardless of current relationship status, and to expand our understanding of its association with outcomes beyond the couple domain by also including measures of individual and parental functioning. In addition, we examined whether change from pre‐ to posttest was moderated by individual characteristics. Using a sample of incarcerated adults (N = 122), the study found positive change in three domains of functioning (couple, individual, and parental). Specifically, results indicated change on five of the eight outcome variables examined. Overall, we found both similarities and differences among program participants on changes from pre‐ to posttest. For the majority of outcomes, the positive change from pre‐ to posttest emerged regardless of individual characteristics.     

Exploring Children's Induced Defensiveness to the Tell Me a Story Test (TEMAS)

This study examined the effect of inducing a defensive attitude (fake good) in children on their responses to the Tell Me a Story test (TEMAS; Costantino, Malgady, &; Rogler, 1988 Costantino, G., Malgady, R. G., &; Rogler, L. H. (1988). TEMAS (Tell-Me-A-Story) manual. Los Angeles, CA: Western Psychological Services. [Google Scholar]). Different story elicitation procedures were employed to explore their efficacy for inducing a defensive response style in children. Eighty-four Italian children aged 8 to 10 years old completed the TEMAS and the L scale of the Behavioral Assessment Scale for Children–2 (BASC–2; Reynolds &; Kamphaus, 2004 Reynolds, C. R., &; Kamphaus, R. W. (2004). BASC–2: Behavior Assessment System for Children (2nd ed.). Circle Pines, MN: American Guidance Service. [Google Scholar]), which were used to detect the adoption of a defensive attitude. Children completed the tests under 1 of 3 conditions: (a) honest condition, (b) fake good with verbal instructions, and (c) fake good with verbal instructions and visual stimuli illustrating what was verbally explained. Using simultaneous verbal instructions and visual stimuli facilitated children's understanding of the researcher's instructions compared to using verbal stimuli alone. Results showed that children instructed to fake good used less time to tell stories and tended to modify the simpler and more face valid aspects of their stories. Still, 29 out of 47 children failed to fake good on the BASC–2 L scale. More complex TEMAS variables showed no significant difference between story elicitation conditions.     

“Hunting with a knife and … fork”: Examining central coherence in autism,attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder,and typical development with a linguistic task

A local processing bias, referred to as “weak central coherence,” has been postulated to underlie key aspects of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Little research has examined whether individual differences in this cognitive style can be found in typical development, independent of intelligence, and how local processing relates to executive control. We present a brief and easy-to-administer test of coherence requiring global sentence completions. We report results from three studies assessing (a) 176 typically developing (TD) 8- to 25-year-olds, (b) individuals with ASD and matched controls, and (c) matched groups with ASD or attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). The results suggest that the Sentence Completion Task can reveal individual differences in cognitive style unrelated to IQ in typical development, that most (but not all) people with ASD show weak coherence on this task, and that performance is not related to inhibitory control. The Sentence Completion Task was found to be a useful test instrument, capable of tapping local processing bias in a range of populations.     

SPINOZA AND PROCESS ONTOLOGY

In this paper, I put forward some remarks supporting a reading of Spinoza's metaphysics in terms of process ontology, that is, the notion that processes or activities, rather than things, are the most basic entities. I suggest that this reading, while not the only possible one, offers advantages over the traditional substance‐properties interpretation. While this claim may sound implausible vis‐à‐vis Spinoza's language of ‘substance’ and ‘attributes’, I show that process ontology illuminates important features of Spinoza's thought and can facilitate solutions to some interpretive problems.