The Effects of Numbered Heads Together with and Without an Incentive Package on the Science Test Performance of a Diverse Group of Sixth Graders

A clear and consistent finding of educational research has been the importance of active student responding. During lectures and discussions, active responding most often takes the form of student responses to teacher questions. This whole group responding to questions, however, does not permit every student to respond and does not assure that all students are actively engaged. Previous research has shown that Numbered Heads Together is an efficient and effective instructional technique to increase student responding and to improve achievement. Using an A-B-BC-B-BC design, we examined the effects of two versions of Numbered Heads Together on 6th graders daily quiz scores and pretest-posttest performance in chemistry. Findings indicated that the addition of a behavioral incentive package noticeably improved student performance during Numbered Heads Together instruction. Implications are discussed for teachers and educational researchers.     

In defense of an epistemic probability account of luck

Synthese - Many philosophers think that part of what makes an event lucky concerns how probable that event is. In this paper, I argue that an epistemic probability account of luck successfully...     

A qualitative analysis of the vaccine intention–behaviour relationship: parents’ descriptions of their intentions,decision-making behaviour and planning processes towards HPV vaccination

Objective: The objective of this study is to identify factors influencing the vaccine intention–behaviour relationship. Design: A total of 445 parents who received a brief intervention to promote HPV vaccination were categorized based on their intentions post-intervention (yes/unsure/eventually/never) and subsequent adolescents’ vaccine status (yes/no). Fifty-one of these parents participated in qualitative interviews. Main Outcome Measures: Parents described their intentions, decision-making and planning processes towards vaccination. Framework analysis was used to analyse the data. Results: Parents in the ‘Yes/Yes’ category were knowledgeable about HPV/vaccine, described strong, stable intentions, considered themselves the primary decision-makers about vaccination and said they vaccinated immediately. ‘Yes/No’ parents described strong intentions and thought their adolescent was vaccinated OR described hesitant intentions, seeking advice/agreement from others and noting barriers to vaccination without solutions. ‘Unsure/Yes’ parents described their intentions as strengthening with information from credible sources and identified strategies for overcoming barriers. ‘Unsure/No’ and ‘Eventually/No’ parents had misinformation/negative beliefs regarding vaccination, described being ambivalent or non-supportive of vaccination and cited barriers to vaccination. ‘Never/No’ parents held negative beliefs about vaccination, described strong, stable intentions to NOT vaccinate, deferring the decision to others, and reported no planning towards vaccination. Conclusions: Intention characteristics and planning processes could moderate the vaccine intention–behaviour relationship, potentially serving as targets for future vaccine strategies.     

Mechanisms linking height to early child development among infants and preschoolers in rural India

Stunting has been negatively associated with children's development. We examined the range of height by testing hypotheses: (a) height is positively associated with children's development, with associations moderated by inflammation and (b) home environments characterized by nurturance and early learning opportunities is positively associated with children's development over time and attenuate associations with height. Data included 513 infants (mean age 8.6 months) and 316 preschoolers (mean age 36.6 months) in rural India from a randomized controlled trial of multiple micronutrient powders (MNPs). Measures included height (height‐for‐age z‐scores based on WHO standards), inflammation (C‐reactive protein concentration >5 mg/L), nurturance (HOME Inventory), child development (Mullens Scales of Early Learning), and inhibitory control (preschoolers). Linear mixed effects models accounting for repeated measures, clustering, and confounders were used to assess associations between height and child development over time (infants: enrollment, 6 and 12 months; preschoolers: enrollment and 8 months). Moderating effects of inflammation and nurturance were tested with interaction terms. Among infants and preschoolers, height and nurturance were positively associated with all domains of child development over time, with the exception of inhibitory control. Among preschoolers, in the presence of inflammation, height was not associated with child development. Among infants, but not preschoolers, a nurturant home environment attenuated significant associations between height with fine motor and receptive language development. The mechanisms associated with children's development over time are multifactorial and include direct and indirect associations among nutrition, health, and the home environment, as supported by the Nurturing Care Framework.     

Dissemination and Implementation of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Depression in the Kaiser Permanente Health Care System: Evaluation of Initial Training and Clinical Outcomes

Notwithstanding its empirical status and strong recommendation in clinical practice guidelines, cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) continues to be delivered infrequently and with low fidelity on the clinical front lines. Recently, organized efforts and policies within the public sector to disseminate and implement CBT and other evidence-based psychotherapies have yielded encouraging results and provided optimism for bridging the research-to-practice-gap. Following from these efforts, the current article examines the initial impact and experience of the implementation of an individualized approach to CBT training and treatment within the Kaiser Permanente health care system. Initial training outcomes, including changes in general and specific competencies, were assessed using divergent assessment methods within the initial cohort of therapists undergoing training. Initial patient outcomes, including changes in depression and anxiety, were assessed among patients receiving treatment from therapists in training. Results revealed training in and implementation of CBT-D was associated with overall large improvements in therapist competencies and in clinically significant improvements in both depression and anxiety among patients. Findings from the initial phase of dissemination and implementation within a large private system provide support for, and extend recent findings related to, the feasibility and effectiveness of training in and implementation of CBT-D in a real-world context.     

Responsibility for forgetting

Philosophical Studies - In this paper, we focus on whether and to what extent we judge that people are responsible for the consequences of their forgetfulness. We ran a series of behavioral studies...     

Self‐esteem,stigma and community participation amongst people with learning difficulties living in the community

A cross‐sectional study examined the relationship between self‐esteem, community participation, age, perceived stigma and social support amongst a sample of 50 people with mild to moderate learning difficulties attending two day centres. Respondent‐paced, structured interviews following ethical and assessment guidelines were used to gather data. Retest interviews were conducted with 20% of the sample 3 months subsequently and only those measures with good test–retest reliability were used to test hypotheses. The results showed fairly high levels of community participation and self‐esteem. Self‐esteem was negatively correlated with stigma and a sub‐group with high concerns regarding meeting strangers was identified. In accordance with studies of non‐disabled samples, self‐esteem was positively associated with age. Social support was comparable to, or higher than, that observed in non‐disabled samples. High social support was observed for staff going out with respondents and for practical help from liked persons and friends. Community participation appeared to be related to higher self‐esteem in older participants but lower self‐esteem in younger participants. Implications for future research and practice are discussed. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Placing Age Differences in Cultural Context: A Comparison of the Effects of Age on PTSD After Disasters in the United States, Mexico, and Poland

Criterion symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) were measured 6–12 months after Hurricane Andrew in the United States (non-Hispanic n = 270), Hurricane Paulina in Mexico (n = 200), and the 1997 flood in Poland (n = 285), using English, Spanish, and Polish versions of the Revised Civilian Mississippi Scale. The samples ranged in age from 18 to 88. Linear and quadratic effects of age were tested by using hierarchical multiple regression, with the effects of gender, trauma, and education controlled. Among Americans, age had a curvilinear relation with PTSD such that middle-aged respondents were most distressed. Among Mexicans, age had a linear and negative relation with PTSD such that younger people were most distressed. Among Poles, age had a linear and positive relation with PTSD such that older people were most distressed. Thus, there was no one consistent effect of age; rather, it depended upon the social, economic, cultural, and historical context of the disaster-stricken setting.     

The functional domain specificity of self-esteem and the differential prediction of aggression

On the basis of an evolutionary theory of self-esteem (SE), it was hypothesized that the SE-aggression relationship differs across functionally distinct domains of SE and across contexts. In 2 experiments, participants had the opportunity to aggress against the evaluator of an essay they had written. In Study 1, self-perceived superiority was positively related to aggression, whereas social inclusion was inversely related to aggression. In Study 2, in which the context was altered to simulate a mating competition, only a measure of self-perceived mate value emerged as a (positive) predictor of aggression. Global SE failed to contribute to the prediction of aggression in either experiment. Statistically controlling for narcissism did not eliminate either set of findings. Implications for the conceptualization and measurement of SE and narcissism are discussed.