The quality of teacher-student interactions: associations with first graders' academic and behavioral outcomes

The associations between the quality of teacher-student interactions and first grade academic and adaptive behavior outcomes were examined in a study of 106 Portuguese students in 64 first grade classrooms. Students' vocabulary, print concepts, math, and adaptive skills were assessed both at the end of preschool and in first grade. Classrooms were observed in the spring of first grade. After taking into account family risk factors and preschool skills, the quality of teacher-student interactions, particularly in terms of classroom organization, was positively associated with students' first grade vocabulary and print concepts. In addition, classroom quality predicted number identification outcomes differently depending on student skills prior to school entry. Students with lower preschool math skills seemed to benefit from higher quality teacher-student interactions. These findings provide further support for the unique contribution of the quality of teacher-student interactions in first grade and suggest that it may be an important mechanism to improve academic skills.     

Externalizing Metaphors Therapy and Innovative Moments: A Four-Session Treatment Group for Anxiety

The zeitgeist for brief services psychotherapy efficacy is well underway within the individual and family therapy treatment modalities. However, this paradigm shift, to produce clinically significant mental health outcomes in a much shorter time, has evolved to a much lesser degree within the treatment group format. Longer-term treatment group protocols typically do not match treatment-seeking behaviors with high dropout rates for clients. The current authors describe a structured, four-session treatment protocol that integrates the tenets of Externalizing Metaphors Therapy (EMT) with Innovative Moments (IMs) in addressing anxiety for children and youth. EMT is based upon the externalization of problems, transformation of metaphoric imagery, and the shifting of underlying maladaptive emotional schemas. It is suggested that treatment outcomes are enhanced through the integration of three IMs between-session exercises.     

The attractiveness-positivity link: Let’s contextualize it

The statement “what is beautiful is good” reflects a persuasive heuristic that may be supported either by a general association of attractiveness with positivity or by a specific association with the perceived credibility of an attractive source. In one study (N = 58), we approach this question using an explicit and an implicit measure (Stroop Task) to assess whether attractiveness is more likely associated with valenced words when these are related (vs. unrelated) to credibility. Results show that this effect occurs but only for the implicit measure. When the word-face associations were made at an explicit level, we found a general association between positivity and attractiveness, unrestricted to the dimension of credibility. We discuss how these results inform about attractiveness as a shortcut to judgments of validity.     

The overlooked ubiquity of first-person experience in the cognitive sciences

Synthese - Science aims to transform the subjectivity of individual observations and ideas into more objective and universal knowledge. Yet if there is any area in which first-person experience...     

Effects of a Mindfulness-based Intervention on Adolescents’ Depression and Self-concept: The Moderating Role of Age

Journal of Child and Family Studies - During adolescence, there are important changes in both depressive symptoms and self-concept; thus, the present study aimed to examine the effects of a...     

Self-regulation in early childhood: the interplay between family risk,temperament and teacher–child interactions

Abstract

This study investigates the interplay between family risk and the quality of classroom interactions and their impact on self-regulation skills in two groups of children—children from socioeconomically disadvantaged backgrounds (at-risk) and non-risk children. Participants included 485 children (N = 93 classrooms)—233 (N = 47 classrooms) of which were from socioeconomically disadvantaged areas. Temperament was measured using teacher report. Trained observers rated classroom quality via live observations of a typical preschool day. Behavioral regulation was assessed using direct measures and emotional regulation was assessed using a teacher report. Analyses using multiple group structural equation modeling showed that at-risk children had lower levels of cool behavior regulation than non-risk children. In addition, classroom quality was positively linked to cool behavioral self-regulation. Moderating effects were additionally found between family risk and classroom quality on both hot behavioral regulation and emotional regulation. Classroom quality served as a protective factor for children exposed to more risk factors. Results showed complex associations between individual characteristics, classroom quality, and family risk, indicating a need to further explore the interplay among these variables.     

Theoretically informed qualitative psychotherapy research: A primer

This paper presents an introduction to theoretically informed qualitative psychotherapy research (QPR). Although QPR researchers have traditionally remained silent on theory, we suggest this has resulted in an implicit and unacknowledged use of theory. We argue instead for a clear articulation of qualitative researchers' theory and outline how theory can be incorporated to inform the entire qualitative research process. This approach assumes the research problem is embedded in a clearly defined and articulated theoretical framework, which also informs data collection and data analysis. We outline how researchers can use explicit theoretical frameworks to inform research question formulation, data collection and data analysis and illustrate this with specific applications of the method in practice. We believe that starting from a declared theoretical framework sets up a dialogue between the research problem, the type of data required and their meaningful analysis and interpretation. This aims not only to achieve greater depth in the final product of research, but also to enhance its utility in terms of practice; it contributes to building, altering and differentiating theory; and it allows for greater transparency by openly articulating the theoretical framework that scaffolds the entirety of the research process.     

Lexical competition is enhanced in the left hemisphere: evidence from different types of orthographic neighbors

Two divided visual field lexical decision experiments were conducted to examine the role of the cerebral hemispheres in orthographic neighborhood effects. In Experiment 1, we employed two types of words: words with many substitution neighbors (high-N) and words with few substitution neighbors (low-N). Results showed a facilitative effect of N in the left visual field (i.e., right hemisphere) and an inhibitory effect of N in the right visual field (left hemisphere). In Experiment 2, we examined whether the inhibitory effect of the higher frequency neighbors increases in the left hemisphere as compared to the right hemisphere. To go beyond the usual N-metrics, we selected words with (or without) higher frequency neighbors (addition, deletion, or transposition neighbors). Results showed that the inhibitory effect of neighborhood frequency is enhanced in the right visual field. We examine the implications of these findings for the orthographic coding schemes employed by the models of visual word recognition.     

The effect of neighborhood frequency in reading: evidence with transposed-letter neighbors

Transposed-letter effects (e.g., jugde activates judge) pose serious models for models of visual-word recognition that use position-specific coding schemes. However, even though the evidence of transposed-letter effects with nonword stimuli is strong, the evidence for word stimuli is scarce and inconclusive. The present experiment examined the effect of neighborhood frequency during normal silent reading using transposed-letter neighbors (e.g., silver, sliver). Two sets of low-frequency words were created (equated in the number of substitution neighbors, word frequency, and number of letters), which were embedded in sentences. In one set, the target word had a higher frequency transposed-letter neighbor, and in the other set, the target word had no transposed-letter neighbors. An inhibitory effect of neighborhood frequency was observed in measures that reflect late processing in words (number of regressions back to the target word, and total time). We examine the implications of these findings for models of visual-word recognition and reading.