Dimensional structure and measurement invariance of the BRIEF-2 across gender in a socially vulnerable sample of primary school-aged children

The present study aims to analyze, on the one hand, the dimensional structure of the BRIEF-2 and, on the other, its measurement invariance across gender in a sample of primary school-aged children. Participants were 168 students (51.8% girls) in conditions of social risk and in foster homes, with ages ranging from 6 to 15 years old (M = 10.08; SD = 2.09). The children’s executive functioning level was obtained from their parents or caregivers. The analysis of the internal structure using confirmatory factor analysis reveals that the model with three indexes (Behavioral, Emotional and Cognitive) and nine scales (Inhibit, Shift, Self-Monitor, Emotional Control, Initiate, Working Memory, Plan/Organize, Organization of Materials and Task-Monitor) showed a good fit to the sample. Likewise, the results support the measurement invariance of the BRIEF-2 across genders. The coefficient alpha values for the index scores ranged from .71 to .91, with coefficients for the individual scales ranging from .66 to .88. The findings support the factorial validity of the BRIEF-2 scores, suggesting that it is an adequate instrument to evaluate executive functioning reported by parents and caregivers. Future studies must continue to examine the structure and invariance of the BRIEF-2 in different populations and cultures.     

Taking patterns for chunks: is there any evidence of chunk learning in continuous serial reaction-time tasks?

When exposed to a regular sequence, people learn to exploit its predictable structure. There have been two major ways of thinking about learning under these conditions: either as the acquisition of general statistical information about the transition probabilities displayed by the sequence or as a process of memorizing and using separate chunks that can later become progressively composed with extended practice. Even though chunk learning has been adopted by some theories of skill acquisition as their main building block, the evidence for chunk formation is scarce in some areas, and is especially so in the continuous serial reaction-time (SRT) task, which has become a major research tool in the study of implicit learning. This article presents a reappraisal, replication and extension of an experiment that stands so far as one of the few alleged demonstrations of chunk learning in the SRT task (Koch and Hoffmann, Psychological Res., 63:22–35, 2000). It shows that the effects which were taken as evidence for chunk learning can indeed be obtained before any systematic training and thus surely reflect a preexistent tendency rather than a learned outcome. Further analyses of the effects after extended practice confirm that this tendency remains essentially unchanged over continuous training unlike what could be expected from a chunk-based account of sequence learning.     

The relation between employee organizational and professional development activities

A model is presented showing hypothesized common and parallel antecedents of employee organizational development activity (ODA) versus professional development activity (PDA). A common antecedent is expected to affect both ODA and PDA, while a parallel antecedent is expected to affect its corresponding work referent. This model was tested using a sample of 197 medical technologists over a four year time period. Prior ODA and PDA were controlled for before testing hypotheses. Results showed that the common antecedent of learning motivation was a robust indicator of both ODA and PDA. Looking at parallel antecedents, job satisfaction and affective organizational commitment had a positive impact on ODA, while occupational satisfaction and affective occupational commitment had a positive impact on PDA. ODA had a negative impact on subsequent intent to leave organization, but PDA did not have a similar impact on intent to leave profession. Study limitations, issues around operationalizing ODA and PDA, and future research directions are discussed.     

E‐jing: Using Information Technology to Teach about Chinese Religions

Abstract. This article discusses ways in which modern online information technologies may be used to enhance students' understanding of Chinese religions and religious texts. This discussion is predicated upon a model of linguistic communication that places significant weight on the structures and “sedimented presuppositions” of language in determining the meanings of discourse. Assignments are presented that use online technologies to give even beginning students insight into the presuppositions of Chinese religious discourse, while also allowing them to explore, kinesthetically, one of Confucianism's central practices, the reading and writing of Chinese characters. Appendices providing additional materials related to the course are available online: http://www.wabashcenter.wabash.edu/journal/article2.aspx?id=14153 .     

Universal Selection Theory: Implications for multidisciplinary approaches to clinical psychology and psychiatry

Universal Selection Theory claims that the increases in the fit of a system to its environment are achieved through a process of blind variation and cumulative selection that is analogous to evolution by natural selection. The process is proposed to occur in many domains, including the gene, behavior, cognition, and culture (meme). This paper reviews the background for the theory and explains how it may contribute to clinical psychology and psychiatry. It is suggested that the theory provides: A framework for integrating biological, psychological and cultural perspectives; an account for why problem-solving and cognitive reappraisal prove to be effective interventions; and an understanding of why psychological disorders can be resistant to change. Implications for psychological treatments, theoretical integration, and future research are discussed.     

Couples, Existential Psychotherapy, and Myocardial Infarction: A Ten Year Evaluation Study

Existential psychotherapy with couples after the occurrence of a myocardial infarction can be a useful, effective, and productive service approach in combination with medical services and cardiac rehabilitation services. In this article the existential treatment dynamics of holding, telling, mastering, and honoring with couples after a heart attack are described and illustrated. In addition, data from a 10-year before-after field evaluation study is reported, which supports the usefulness of the treatment approach.     

A cross‐cultural assessment of attitudes regarding perceived breaches of ethical conduct by both parties in the business‐consumer dyad

Recent initiatives in business curricula have included emphases on global business and ethics. Using 28 scenarios which reflect potential concerns regarding the conduct of either business or a consumer, this research combines these issues by comparing the ethical predisposition of business students in Australia with their Canadian counterparts. A sample of 264 students indicated that students in both countries generally hold high expectations for the behaviour of business and consumers. Both groups exhibited quite similar views in relation to the 28 consumer and business‐related scenarios. When comparing Canadian students to Australian students, four significant differences were documented in the 14 scenarios which address the behaviour of business entities. The assessment of attitudes regarding questionable consumer actions provided even more homogeneity as only one statistically significant difference was identified. The study concludes by documenting a series of attitudinal differences on the part of groups defined not by nationality, but rather on the basis of gender or age. These demographic differences were more pronounced than were the differences across the two countries. Copyright © 2003 Henry Stewart Publications.     

World View Concepts in Existential Family Therapy

Essence oriented and existence oriented approaches to family psychotherapy are very different treatment forms. This article compares and contrasts these two orientations in an effort to clarify the basic world view beliefs in existential psychotherapy with couples and families.     

Predicting athletic performance from cardiovascular indexes of challenge and threat

This study examined the relationship between pre-performance motivational states (challenge vs. threat) and subsequent performance in athletic competition. Prior to the season, college baseball and softball players imagined and gave a speech about a specific baseball/softball playing situation while cardiovascular indexes of challenge and threat were recorded. These physiological challenge/threat indexes significantly predicted athletic performance during the subsequent season, such that players who experienced challenge in the laboratory performed better relative to those who experienced threat. The implications for personnel selection and the biopsychosocial model of challenge and threat are discussed.     

No More Like Pallas Athena: Displacing Patrilineal Accounts of Modern Feminist Political Theory

The history of modern feminist political theories is often framed in terms of the already existing theories of a number of radical nineteenth‐century men philosophers such as James Mill, John Stuart Mill, Charles Fourier, Karl Marx, and Friedrich Engels. My argument takes issue with this way of framing feminist political theory by demonstrating that it rests on a derivation that remains squarely within the logic of malestream political theory. Each of these philosophers made use of a particular discursive trope that linked the idea of women's emancipation with the idea of social progress. I argue that this trope reproduced the masculinist signification and symbolism inherent in their particular political philosophies. I argue for a more positive, less masculinist, account of the history of feminist political thought.