Test anxiety and metacognitive skillfulness: Availability versus production deficiencies

Abstract

This paper focuses on the role of metacognition in test anxiety. In two experiments, the metacognitive skillfulness of high vs. low test-anxious secondary school students was contrasted. Low test-anxious subjects exhibited a superior metacognitive skillfulness during math performance relative to high test-anxious subjects. Furthermore, differences in metacognitive skillfulness were performance related. In order to unravel causality in the relation between metacognition and test anxiety, two types of test-anxious students may be distinguished analogous to Naveh-Benjamin (1991). Type-1 students would lack metacognitive skills (availability deficiency), through which they experience failure and develop test anxiety. Type-2 students would experience task irrelevant thoughts, which causes cognitive interference with available metacognitive skills (production deficiency). Results of Study 1 reveal that metacognitive cueing may represent an adequate method for the identification of both types. Due to time-constraints, metacognitive cueing in Study 2 failed to do so.     

Long-Term stress reactions in new immigrants to israel exposed to the chernobyl accident

Abstract

This comparison study examined the relation between presumed level of exposure to the accident at Chernobyl in 1986 to symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and other psychological symptoms (depression, somatization, anxiety, obsessive-compulsive style and interpersonal sensitivity), life events and the negative appraisal of the events surrounding the accident. The sample (N = 708) included new immigrants from the former Soviet Union (Confederation of Independent States) who arrived in Israel since 1989 from more exposed areas (n = 137), less exposed (n = 240) and a comparison sample (n = 331) who immigrated from other republics. The exposed groups had higher mean scores on all psychological outcome measures than the comparison group, particularly symptoms of PTSD. Both subsequent stressful life events and a negative, cognitive assessment of events contributed to present psychological distress, independent of exposure.     

Visitor Usage of Digital and Physical Artifacts in Two Museum Programs

ABSTRACT

This article reports on a study designed to explore how digital and physical reproductions of original artifacts could be incorporated into museum programs that teach visitors about mechanical motion. Museum visitors were introduced to 3 different types of models through 2 different programs: an engineering design challenge and an exhibit interpretation exploring mechanical motion in every-day objects. Research, based on visitor observation and interviews (n = 79), explored how user interaction with the digital and physical models compared with interactions with the original artifacts, assessed what effect the integration of digital and physical models had on learning, and examined what the learning experience looked like for learners using the mechanisms in the museum activities. Analysis of the learning conversations in additional in-depth case studies (n = 8) for both programs provides a detailed look at how visitors integrated the 3 different model types into their group's experience. Results showed that visitors' usage of, attitudes toward, and learning from the three different types of mechanical models varied based on the visitor or educators' perceived value of the particular model, which was impacted by the context in which the objects were presented.     

Going Home Again: Transitioning Youth to Families After Group Care Placement

This paper presents results from the transitioning youth to families intervention, which aimed to promote family care for youth served in group care programs in the child welfare system. The intervention was conducted in two counties in a Mid-Atlantic state. The effort encompassed administrative case review and family involvement meetings. We assessed the effect of the intervention in promoting placement in family settings within 12 months. We also explored other effects of the intervention identified by participants. Using propensity score matching with administrative data to compare one-year placement settings for the intervention counties and non-intervention counties, a higher rate of family reunification was identified for youth in the treatment counties. To provide a richer contextual understanding of the effects of the intervention, thematic analysis of open-ended comments from youth and caregiver participants was conducted. These resulting themes provided further understanding of the value of the intervention especially in the areas of planning for the transition, improving youth insight about placement options, and the importance of family involvement. Participants also made recommendations for how to enhance the intervention and promote the transition of youth from group care to family settings. Overall, the effect of the intervention in transitioning youth to family settings was nominal; however unanticipated benefits of engaging youth and family in the transition process were noted. From this evaluation, we provide suggestions for future research and the development of effort to transition youth from group care settings.     

Predictors of Differential Responding on a Sentence Completion Task in Traumatized Children

Information-processing theories posit that persons who have experienced trauma may have disturbed emotional processing and therefore exhibit an excess of negative responses to otherwise neutral cues. The role of this mechanism in traumatized children has yet to be fully investigated. This study examined the relationship of varied clinical characteristics and theoretically relevant moderating variables to increased trauma related responding on a non-idiographic sentence completion task. One hundred and eighty-nine children (ages 6–17) residing at a residential home between 1996 and 2011 who had experienced physical, emotional and/or sexual abuse were administered a sentence completion task and the Trauma Symptom Checklist for Children (TSCC) shortly after their admission. Three independent raters determined whether sentence completion responses were trauma related (TRR), non-trauma related, or ambiguous. Trauma related responses were then reviewed for either avoidant/denial style responding or loss related responding. The TSCC posttraumatic stress subscale (PTS) was the only subscale that was uniquely related to TRR. A significant interaction between abuse type and PTS was found with sexual abuse moderating the effect of PTS on TRR. Additionally, age at assessment was positively correlated with both TRR and loss related responding. Time since removal from home was negatively correlated with TRR. Gender differences were found for TRR and loss related responding. These findings highlight the empirical relevance of the sentence completion task in clinical research. Results are discussed in terms of their implications for research, assessment, and intervention.     

The Relation of Parent and Child Gender to Parental Tolerance of Child Disruptive Behaviors

Parental tolerance has been defined as the degree to which a parent tends to be annoyed by his or her child’s disruptive behavior. The purpose of the current study is to examine the relation of both parent and child gender to parental tolerance of child disruptive behaviors. Participants were 150 parents with 3–6 year-old at-risk children (47.5 % girls) who sought help with parenting of their child’s oppositional defiant behaviors. Tolerance was measured by the difference between parent ratings of intensity on 36 disruptive behaviors and whether each behavior was identified as a problem (resulting in a score of either high, expected, or low tolerance). A 2 (child gender) by 2 (parent gender) analysis of variance was conducted on the tolerance score. A significant interaction between child and parent gender emerged: Mothers were equally tolerant of boys’ and girls’ oppositional defiant behavior but fathers were more tolerant of boys’ than girls’ oppositional behavior. Exploratory analyses suggested that this interaction may be qualified by clinical status of the child. Implications and future directions are discussed.     

Confirmatory and Exploratory Factor Analyses of Parental Authority Questionnaire in Urban India

The present study examined the factor structure of a widely used measure of parenting style in three samples from Northwestern India. College Students (n = 195) completed Parental Authority Questionnaire (PAQ; Buri in J Pers Assess 57:110–119, 1991), and mothers of children attending high-school (n = 275), and middle-school (n = 145) completed its parent-report version Parental Authority Questionnaire-Revised (PAQ-R; Reitman et al. in J Psychopathol Behav Assess 24:119–127, 2002). Preliminary findings revealed that across three samples Cronbach’s alpha values ranged from poor to acceptable, with permissive parenting subscale of the PAQ/PAQ-R having the lowest value, whereas the authoritarian parenting had the highest value. Confirmatory factor analysis revealed that none of the models achieved satisfactory fit (i.e., CFI > .90). Exploratory factor analysis revealed that a two factor structure (with first component consisting of authoritative and permissive items, and the second component consisting of authoritarian items) rendered Cronbach’s alpha in the acceptable range. Only PAQ/PAQ-R authoritarian scale was correlated with youth adjustment problems across all three samples, while findings concerning authoritative and permissive scales were mixed. The findings suggest that only PAQ/PAQ-R authoritarian scale is reliable and valid in urban, middle-class, educated families in India, and encourage researchers to develop culturally relevant measures of parenting for this population.     

The Role of Contextual Threat in Predicting Self-Reported Distress among Siblings of Children with Cancer

Each year, 14,000 children are diagnosed with cancer in the United States. Prolonged, intensive treatment regimens disrupt the entire family system, but effects on siblings are poorly understood. In this preliminary investigation, we employed a risk and resistance framework to study adjustment among 30 siblings (aged 10–17) of children undergoing cancer treatment. We examined whether or not objective stress associated with the cancer experience (contextual threat) predicted sibling distress and explored demographic and disease-related predictors of sibling adjustment. Contextual threat was positively associated with sibling-reported distress, independent of sibling age, gender, birth order relative to the child with cancer, and cancer treatment intensity. From among the demographic and disease-related factors, only younger birth order relative to the child with cancer was independently associated with sibling distress. These results suggest that a subset of siblings may be at increased risk for elevated distress in the face of their brother’s or sister’s illness.