Promoting Mental Health in Disadvantaged Preschoolers: A Cluster Randomized Controlled Trial of Teacher Training Effects

The literature provides solid documentation of the negative consequences of poor psychosocial functioning and behavioral problems in early childhood. Children facing economic disadvantage are at higher risk for poor socio-emotional development and problem behaviors, which draws attention to the need for prevention targeted at this risk group. The aim of our study was to analyze the impact of an evidence-based teacher-training program, the Incredible Years Teacher Classroom Management (IY-TCM), on the behavior of economically disadvantaged Portuguese children. Participants were 1030 children aged 3–6 years, from 65 preschool classrooms selected for their high percentage of children from economically disadvantaged backgrounds. The study followed an experimental randomized controlled between-group design, with pre- and post-intervention assessments. Teachers in the experimental group attended the IY-TCM program, implemented in six monthly workshops, and four sessions of individual in-class support. Children outcomes were evaluated with the Preschool and Kindergarten Behavior Scales—2nd Edition (Social Skills and Problem Behavior scales). After the intervention, preschoolers in the IY-TCM classrooms showed more improvements in their social skills and more decreases in problem behavior. Children with lower levels of social skills (high risk) at pre-intervention and those coming from families in economic need showed greater improvements in social skills, but these effects were not observed for problem behavior. Results support the growing evidence of the effectiveness of the IY-TCM as a stand-alone, non-adapted program in a Portuguese cultural context, which can play a protective role in children’s lives and thus bridge the gap between children coming from different economic backgrounds.     

Family conflict shapes how adolescents take risks when their family is affected

Numerous studies have established that the social context greatly affects adolescent risk taking. However, it remains unexplored whether adolescents' decision‐making behaviors change when they take risks that affect other individuals such as a parent. In the current study, we sought to investigate how the social context influences risky decisions when adolescents' behavior affects their family using a formalized risk‐taking model. Sixty‐three early adolescents (M_age = 13.3 years; 51% female) played a risk‐taking task twice, once during which they could make risky choices that only affected themselves and another during which their risky choices only affected their parent. Results showed that adolescents reporting high family conflict made more risky decisions when taking risks for their parent compared to themselves, whereas adolescents reporting low family conflict made fewer risky decisions when taking risks for their parent compared to themselves. These findings are the first to show that adolescents change their decision‐making behaviors when their risks affect their family and have important implications for current theories of adolescent risk taking.     

Location,Location, Location: Effects of Cross-Religious Primes on Prosocial Behavior

Priming with religious concepts is known to have a positive effect on prosocial behavior; however, the effects of religious primes associated with outgroups remain unknown. To explore this, we conducted a field experiment in a multicultural, multireligious setting (the island of Mauritius). Our design used naturally occurring, ecologically relevant contextual primes pertinent to everyday religious and secular life while maintaining full experimental control. We found that both ingroup and outgroup religious contexts increased generosity as measured by a donation task. In accordance with previous research, we also found an interaction between individual religiosity and the efficacy of the religious primes. We discuss these findings and their interpretation, and we suggest potential avenues for further research.     

An Evaluation of Pyramidal Training to Teach Implementation of the Picture Exchange Communication System

The pyramidal training or train‐the‐trainer model is a method of training in which a professional teaches a skill to a small group of individuals who then teach that skill to another set of individuals. This model has demonstrated efficacy to teach several behavioral intervention techniques to parents, teachers, and direct care staff in a timely manner. The purpose of the present study was to extend the literature on pyramidal training to teach implementation of the first four phases of the Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS) to university students working with a confederate learner. We used a multiple baseline across participants design (Tier 1 and 2) and a non‐concurrent multiple baseline design (Tier 3) to demonstrate the efficacy of this model. Results replicate and extend the literature on pyramidal training. Discussion focuses on implications and limitations to be addressed in future work. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The sunk cost effect across species: A review of persistence in a course of action due to prior investment

The sunk cost effect is the bias or tendency to persist in a course of action due to prior investments of effort, money or time. At the time of the only review on the sunk cost effect across species (Arkes & Ayton, 1999), research with nonhuman animals had been ecological in its nature, and the findings about the effect of past investments on current choice were inconclusive. However, in the last decade a new line of experimental laboratory‐based research has emerged with the promise of revolutionizing the way we approach the study of the sunk cost effect in nonhumans. In the present review we challenge Arkes and Ayton's conclusion that the sunk cost effect is exclusive to humans, and describe evidence for the sunk cost effect in nonhuman animals. By doing so, we also challenge the current explanations for the sunk cost effect in humans, as they are not applicable to nonhumans. We argue that a unified theory is called for, because different independent variables, in particular, investment amount, have the same influence on the sunk cost effect across species. Finally, we suggest possible psychological mechanisms shared across different species, contrast and depreciation, that could explain the sunk cost effect.     

Impacts of Flooding on the Quality of Life in Rural Regions of Southern Slovakia

Human activity has significantly influenced energy flows in the landscape. Physical and geographical features of an area in the context of natural processes highlight their influence on the human lives in the affected regions of Slovakia. The paper aimed on the influence of the extraordinary flooding impact in June 2013 on the quality of life in Slovak rural regions. We have investigated the impact of the resulting damage on human activities in the rural municipality of Ch?aba. The case study of southern Slovakia can provide a more realistic view at regularly flooded areas in Slovak geographical conditions. The target of our research was to map and monitor the situation during the floods and shortly after them and to draw proposals leading to a more operative approach in the context of comprehensive flood protection in Slovakia. The added value of the research is a creation of such graphical supporting documents, which could be served as a basis for creating the plan of flood prevention management in rural territories, as a part of negative impacts of floods reduction on human activities.     

Hands Support and Postural Oscillation During Sit-to-Stand Movement in Children With Cerebral Palsy and Typical Children

The authors aimed to compare the weight bearing on hands during sit-to-stand (STS) movement in children with cerebral palsy (CP) and typical children (TC), verify its effect on postural oscillation, and analyze the relationship between weight bearing on hands and postural oscillation. Twenty children with CP (Gross Motor Function Classification System levels I and II) and 35 TC performed STS with and without anterior hands support. Mann-Whitney test compared weight bearing between groups. Wilcoxon test investigated differences in postural oscillation between the conditions with and without anterior hand support for both groups. The Spearman correlation tested the relationship between weight-bearing and postural oscillation during the hand support condition. Children with CP bore more weight on hands than TC to perform STS. The hand support reduced postural oscillation during the second phase of STS in both groups. In the CP group, greater weight bearing was related with lower postural oscillation in the beginning of STS. Although children with CP were able to perform STS without support, they bore more weight on their hands to perform the task than TC. Moreover, children with CP and TC use mechanical and somatosensory information to modulate their postural control during STS in different ways.     

Cooperative responding in rats maintained by fixed‐ and variable‐ratio schedules

The present study investigated the effects of fixed‐ratio (FR) and variable‐ratio (VR) reinforcement schedules on patterns of cooperative responding in pairs of rats. Experiment 1 arranged FR 1, FR 10, and VR 10 schedules to establish cooperative responding (water delivery depended on the joint responding of two rats). Cooperative response rates and proportions were higher under intermittent schedules than under continuous reinforcement. The FR 10 schedule generated a break‐and‐run pattern, whereas the VR 10 schedule generated a relatively high and constant rate pattern. Experiment 2 evaluated the effects of parametric manipulations of FR and VR schedules on cooperative responding. Rates and proportions of cooperative responding generally increased between ratio sizes of 1 and 5 but showed no consistent trend as the ratio increased from 5 to 10. Experiment 3 contrasted cooperative responding between an FR6 schedule and a yoked control schedule. Coordinated behavior occurred at a higher rate under the former schedule. The present study showed that external consequences and the schedules under which the delivery of these consequences are based, select patterns of coordinated behavior.     

Scientific productivity and Hirsch's h index of Spanish social psychology: convergence between productivity indexes and comparison with other areas

This article describes Hirsch's h index as a measure of researchers' scientific productivity and quality, examining its convergent validity with other productivity and quality measures (total citations, maximum citation, sexennials, years since earning Ph.D., and years as a full professor). It shows the distribution of the index among Spanish Social Psychology professors, and a comparison is made among the ten professors with highest h index of the six knowledge areas into which academic Psychology is divided in Spain. The results show that the index largely correlates with the citations but only very modestly with the number of sexennial investigations. The distributions by areas show that Psychobiology and Basic Psychology, as a whole, have a higher h index than the other areas, with Social Psychology in fourth place. Lastly, we discuss the implications of these results and we offer some recommendations for using the index in academic and research decision making.