Novice teachers’ experience of teaching: a dynamic aspect of burnout

This article addresses the question of how novice teachers perceive their work environment and how their perceptions affect burnout. Data were obtained from a questionnaire administered to novice teachers at the beginning and at the end of the school year. It was found that (1) novice teachers experienced high levels of burnout as early as the beginning of their first year of teaching; (2) novice teachers’ perception of their work environment at the beginning and at the end of their first year significantly and meaningfully explained their sense burnout; (3) three variables contribute to predicting burnout at the beginning and at the end of the first year of teaching: (a) lack of appreciation and professional recognition from students; (b) lack of appreciation and professional recognition from the public, and (c) lack of collaborative and supportive ambience.     

The Ecclesial Ethics of John Howard Yoder’s Abuse

In the last decade – now that his sexual abuse is no longer deniable – Christian ethicists have had to reconsider John Howard Yoder’s theological contributions in the late twentieth century. This essay considers how the witness of the women who survived his abuse exposes the sexism latent in his development of a framework for moral discernment and community discipline. Yoder designed an ecclesiology that was congruent with his pursuit of unaccountable power over the women he used as subjects for working out his exploitative sexuality. His theological contributions, I argue, cannot be separated from his behavior.     

Depression secondary prevention in primary care

In order to analyse efficacy, effectiveness and efficiency of several depression secondary prevention programs, three group interventions were developed in Primary Care Centres: cognitive-behavioral therapy, promotion of one's coping resources therapy (just paying attention to abilities, without training) and social support. The sample was composed by 60 people with from-mild-to-moderate depressive symptoms, who were randomly assigned either to any of the treatments or to a control group (waiting list). Psychopathology, quality of life and attendance to mental health services variables were assessed at pretest, posttest and two follow-up evaluations, 6 and 12 months afterwards. Outcomes: both therapies had more efficacy, effectiveness and efficiency compared to the social support group, and this one was better than the waiting list.     

Dissimilarities as indices of individual perceptual structure

The generality of dissimilarity judgments and of configurations obtained by multidimensional scaling (MDS) as indices of perceptual structure was examined. The Ss made magnitude estimates of dissimilarity of pairs of photos, and MDS configurations were constructed separately for each S. The compatability of dissimilarities (judgments or distances in MDS configurations) with two other tasks Ss performed was then examined. These additional tasks, an “encoding” and a “decoding” task, required the S to first construct a message by making use of a set of four photos and, a week later, to decode the messages. Results obtained were interpreted as indicating a degree of generality of the dissimilarities and supporting a hypothesis of individual differences in perceptual structure for the stimulus set. A “data-purification” hypothesis for MDS was discussed and examined.

     

Evaluation of a break-to-choice chained-schedule intervention for multiply maintained problem behavior

Interventions for multiply maintained problem behavior often involve developing separate treatment conditions to address each function. Although isolating treatment conditions lead to positive outcomes, developing individual treatments for each identified function may be time-consuming. Alternatively, synthesizing treatment procedures may allow for more efficient treatment effects. We extended previous research by evaluating functional communication training (FCT) and chained schedules of reinforcement to treat multiply maintained problem behavior in children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder. First, we conducted a functional analysis that concluded problem behavior was multiply maintained. Next, we taught functional communication responses (FCRs) and implemented a chained schedule of reinforcement. During the initial link, FCRs for a break resulted in the presentation of a choice menu with the other putative reinforcers in the terminal link. The relevant reinforcer was delivered contingent on the emission of subsequent FCRs. Finally, we systematically schedule thinned to caregiver-informed terminal schedules for each participant. The results of our study demonstrated that FCT, in combination with a sequential compound schedule of reinforcement, effectively decreased multiply maintained problem behavior and increased appropriate alternative responses (FCRs and compliance) even at terminal schedules of reinforcement.     

A randomized trial comparing the effects of self-help materials and proactive telephone counseling on teen smoking cessation.

We conducted a 2-arm randomized trial to test the efficacy of self-help materials with or without proactive telephone counseling to increase cessation among teen smokers. Teen smokers (N = 402) recruited from 11 shopping malls and 1 amusement park in the southeastern United States were randomized to 1 of 2 groups: written self-help material plus video; or written self-help material, video, and telephone counseling. Cessation rates based on 7-day point-prevalent abstinence for the self-help and counseling arms were 11% and 16%, respectively (p = .25), at 4 months postbaseline and 19% and 21%, respectively (p = .80), at 8 months postbaseline. Sustained abstinence, reflecting 7-day abstinence at both time points, in the self-help and counseling arms was 7% and 9% (p = .59). Results suggest that minimal self-help cessation approaches that target youth have comparable success to that shown among adult smokers. However, refinements in telephone-counseling approaches may be needed to achieve the success observed in adult populations.     

Partitioning default effects: why people choose not to choose

Default options exert an influence in areas as varied as retirement program design, organ donation policy, and consumer choice. Past research has offered potential reasons why no-action defaults matter: (a) effort, (b) implied endorsement, and (c) reference dependence. The first two of these explanations have been experimentally demonstrated, but the latter has received far less attention. In three experiments we produce default effects and demonstrate that reference dependence can play a major role in their effectiveness. We find that the queries formulated by defaults can produce differences in constructed preferences and further that manipulating queries can also mitigate default effects. The experimental context involves two environmentally consequential alternatives: cheap, inefficient incandescent light bulbs, and expensive, efficient compact fluorescent bulbs. Within this context we also measure the impact of each potential rationale for a default effect.     

Visual landmarks facilitate rodent spatial navigation in virtual reality environments

Because many different sensory modalities contribute to spatial learning in rodents, it has been difficult to determine whether spatial navigation can be guided solely by visual cues. Rodents moving within physical environments with visual cues engage a variety of nonvisual sensory systems that cannot be easily inhibited without lesioning brain areas. Virtual reality offers a unique approach to ask whether visual landmark cues alone are sufficient to improve performance in a spatial task. We found that mice could learn to navigate between two water reward locations along a virtual bidirectional linear track using a spherical treadmill. Mice exposed to a virtual environment with vivid visual cues rendered on a single monitor increased their performance over a 3-d training regimen. Training significantly increased the percentage of time avatars controlled by the mice spent near reward locations in probe trials without water rewards. Neither improvement during training or spatial learning for reward locations occurred with mice operating a virtual environment without vivid landmarks or with mice deprived of all visual feedback. Mice operating the vivid environment developed stereotyped avatar turning behaviors when alternating between reward zones that were positively correlated with their performance on the probe trial. These results suggest that mice are able to learn to navigate to specific locations using only visual cues presented within a virtual environment rendered on a single computer monitor.