Improving spelling for at‐risk kindergartners through element skill frequency building

A student's ability to spell affects literacy outcomes. Students profit from explicit spelling instruction but may also benefit from frequency building or systematic practice. The method of frequency building leads toward effortless performance or behavioral fluency. Reaching certain frequencies of behavior produces a critical learning outcome called application. The current study focused on the effects of building element spelling behaviors for at‐risk kindergartners and the subsequent application to a compound spelling skill. Visual and quantitative analysis suggest a clear experimental effect between the attainment of performance criterion for letter sounds, letter naming, and sequencing on students' spelling behavior. A discussion of the results precedes future research directions.     

Effects of an iPad-Supported Phonics Intervention on Decoding Performance and Time On-Task

Despite their recent popularity in schools, there is minimal consensus in the educational literature regarding the use of mobile devices for reading intervention. The word box intervention (Joseph Read Teach 52:348–356, 1998) has been consistently associated with improvements in student decoding performance. This early efficacy study examined an iPad-supported approach to the word box intervention. The participants were three students from the same first grade classroom, all of whom lacked basic decoding skills and two of which were English language learners. The research question was evaluated with a multielement single-case experimental design that compared the standard materials to an equivalent iPad application. Results did not reveal a clear pattern on measures of decoding across the participants. Time on-task was high for both conditions for all three participants. Results indicated a need for future study of mobile-supported reading interventions in similar contexts.     

The spiritual wellness of Beyers Naudé: A psychobiographical study of a South African anti-apartheid theologian

The study explores and describes Beyers Naudé's (1915–2004) spiritual wellness across his lifespan. Naudé's life history was uncovered through the systematic collection and analyses of life history materials. Data were interpreted applying the Wheel of Wellness model (WoW) by Sweeney and Witmer (1991 Sweeney, T. J., & Witmer, J. M. (1991). Beyond social interest: Striving toward optimum health and wellness. Journal of Individual Psychology, 47(4), 527–540. Retrieved from http://www.utexas.edu/utpress/journals/jip.html [Google Scholar], 1992). Findings suggest that spirituality, as the major life task of the WoW, characterised Naudé's earlier years and also epitomised his later years. Underlying life-span and life-space influences included important life-forces such as the roles of the community, religion, government and politics in his life. Hope and optimism embodied Naudé's belief about promoting and preserving human dignity, human rights and respect for life.     

Psychosocial factors influencing American men and women in their decision for sterilization

A self-administered questionnaire was answered by nearly 300 surgically sterilized men and over 200 such women 6 weeks after their surgery. Nearly half of these Americans were from large families. More women than men reported a history of medical, gynecologic, or psychiatric problems; one half had been pregnant four or more times; one third reported recent pregnancy. Most sterilized people reported an unsatisfactory contraceptive history. Despite that women had more complications from the procedure than men, improved psychosocial adjustment between 6 weeks before and 6 weeks after sterilization was reported by more women than men.     

Women's self-reported responses to abortion

The legalization of abortion in many states has allowed an alternative for women with unplanned or unwanted pregnancies who do not wish to deliver and raise their children or to place them for adoption. Of 158 women asked to recall their responses to the experience, 21% reported psychosocial satisfaction at the time of abortion, and 45% reported satisfaction several months later; over half reported an improved outlook on life, and nearly half found abortion preferable to other alternatives for future unplanned pregnancies. It may prove important to make counseling or therapy available to about 10% of women who report negative responses (guilt and confusion) to the abortion.     

Measuring racial essentialism in the genomic era: The genetic essentialism scale for race (GESR)

Current Psychology - Racial essentialism is the belief that races are biologically distinct groups with defining core “essences,” a notion associated with increased social distance and...     

Weekly Fluctuations in Nonjudging Predict Borderline Personality Disorder Feature Expression in Women

Borderline personality disorder (BPD) features have been linked to deficits in mindfulness, or nonjudgmental attention to present-moment stimuli. However, no previous work has examined the role of fluctuations in mindfulness over time in predicting BPD features. The present study examines the impact of both between-person differences and within-person changes in mindfulness. 40 women recruited to achieve a flat distribution of BPD features completed 4 weekly assessments of mindfulness (Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire; FFMQ) and BPD features. Multilevel models predicted each outcome from both 1) a person’s average levels of each facet and 2) weekly deviations from a person’s average for each facet. Average acting with awareness, nonjudging, and nonreactivity predicted lower BPD features at the between-person level, and weekly deviations above one’s average (i.e., higher-than-usual) nonjudging predicted lower BPD feature expression at the within-person level. Within-person fluctuations in the nonjudging facet of mindfulness may be relevant to the daily expression of BPD features over and above dispositional mindfulness.     

Motivation and self‐regulation: The role of want‐to motivation in the processes underlying self‐regulation and self‐control

Research on self‐regulation has largely focused on the idea of effortful self‐control, which assumes that exerting willpower will lead to greater success. However, in recent years, research has challenged this perspective and instead proposes that effortless self‐regulation is more adaptive for long‐term goal pursuit. Taking into consideration the burgeoning literature on effortless self‐regulation, here we propose that motivation—or the reasons why we pursue our goals—plays an integral role in this process. The objective of the present paper is to highlight how motivation can play a role in how self‐regulation unfolds. Specifically, we propose that pursuing goals because you want‐to (vs. have‐to) is associated with better goal attainment as a function of experiencing less temptations and obstacles. While the reason why want‐to motivation relates to experiencing fewer obstacles has yet to be thoroughly explored, here we propose some potential mechanisms drawing from recent research on self‐regulation. We also provide recommendations for future research, highlighting the importance of considering motivation in the study of self‐regulatory processes.