Elementary school teachers' strategies to handle externalizing classroom behavior: a study of relations between perceived control, teacher orientation and strategy preferences

Rydell, A.-M. & Henricsson, L. (2004). Elementary school teachers' strategies to handle externalizing classroom behavior: A study of relations between perceived control, teacher orientation and strategy preferences. Scandinavian Journal of Psychology, 45 , 93–102.
Strategies for dealing with problematic student behavior are an important part of the teacher role. Relations between teachers' perceptions of control over children's classroom behavior, teacher orientation and teachers' strategy preferences when confronted with externalizing child behaviors were investigated. Eighty-six primary school teachers, 91% of all first grade teachers in one municipality in Sweden, completed a questionnaire. Disciplinary strategy preferences were measured through vignettes describing externalizing child behaviors, with response alternatives modeled after the Parental Discipline Interview ( Scarr, Pinkerton & Eisenberg, 1991 ). Perceived control was measured with a subscale applied to teachers from the Parental Locus of Control Scale ( Campis, Lyman & Prentice-Dunn, 1986 ). Newly constructed measures of teacher orientation were used. The results indicated that perceived low control over one's classroom situation and a custodial teacher orientation were associated with preferences for authoritarian strategies (firm verbal reprimands, physical restraint) and perceived high control and a humanistic teacher orientation were associated with non-authoritarian strategies (e.g. reasoning with students). Teachers' strategy preferences and associations between perceived control, teacher orientation and strategy preferences were to some extent validated in relations to observed teacher behavior in a subsample of the classrooms.     

Decreased volume of the cerebral ventricles on CT images in Gilles de la Tourette's syndrome

The aim of the present study was to estimate the volume of the ventricular system comprising lateral plus third ventricles in patients with Gilles de la Tourette's syndrome on computed tomographic (CT) scannings using unbiased stereological principles and to compare that volume with a control group. We found a significantly reduced ventricular volume in 24 patients with Gilles de la Tourette's syndrome (GTS) compared with 28 controls.     

Preschool Children's Mastery of the Form/Content Distinction in Communicative Tasks

Preschoolers' mastery of the form/content distinction in language and communication, along its contingency on the characteristics of particular task requirements and test procedures, was investigated in two studies. The theoretical concepts principle of contrast and theory of mind are closely related to the studies. A paraphrase task and a referential communication task were used. In the paraphrase task, children from 3 to 6 years of age acted as messengers and judged whether or not a paraphrase of a message was the same as what the child had said. The results in Study 1 indicated that children as young as 3 years of age recognized this kind of form/content distinction. Fewer children, in particular the younger ones, succeeded with the referential communication task in Study 1. However, among the 6-year-olds, the two tasks showed a tendency to be significantly related. In Study 2, performance decreased among children of all ages, but in particular among the youngest children. In Study 2, the two form/content tasks were not correlated in any age group. The general conclusion is that there is a range of tasks, which may reveal awareness of the form/content distinction among young children, and that it is possible to construct tasks which would enable young children to pay attention to this distinction. Aspects of awareness of the form/content distinction may start to develop early during the preschool period, rather than appearing around the school start. However, the question of why only some children, and not the majority of them, develop this distinction at a very young age is unsettled, as well as the consequences of this early development later on at school.     

Sexual exhaustion and recovery in the male rat

Twelve male rats were left with receptive females and allowed to copulate and ejaculate until they reached a criterion of “sexual exhaustion” They were then retested after 1, 3, 6 and 15 days of sexual inactivity. Following these observations males were tested once each day or once every other day and allowed to achieve a single ejaculation.

In the course of a period of unlimited access to the receptive female males usually need approximately 10 intromissions to produce the initial ejaculation, but successive ejaculations are produced by fewer and fewer intromissions. The time to recover from the effects of an ejaculation increases progressively as exhaustion is approached.

Very few animals copulate when tested 24 hours after sexual exhaustion. Considerably more recovery is evident in tests conducted after a 3-day rest, but it is not complete and rats are not capable of achieving as many ejaculations as they tend to achieve after longer periods of inactivity. As measured by ejaculation-frequency, the curve of sexual recovery is negatively accelerated and probably reaches asymptote after 7 to 10 days of rest.

Various other measures in addition to ejaculation-frequency support this conclusion. Males allowed to ejaculate once each day or every other day are somewhat less responsive than fully rested animals, but do not show any progressive loss in sexual excitability or capacity.

A working hypothesis is proposed to explain most of the findings. It postulates the existence of an Arousal Mechanism which is distinct from a Copulatory Mechanism. The ways in which these hypothetical mechanisms are affected by sexual performance and sexual rest arc discussed.     

Affect dynamics, affective forecasting, and aging

Affective forecasting, experienced affect, and recalled affect were compared in younger and older adults during a task in which participants worked to win and avoid losing small monetary sums. Dynamic changes in affect were measured along valence and arousal dimensions, with probes during both anticipatory and consummatory task phases. Older and younger adults displayed distinct patterns of affect dynamics. Younger adults reported increased negative arousal during loss anticipation and positive arousal during gain anticipation. In contrast, older adults reported increased positive arousal during gain anticipation but showed no increase in negative arousal on trials involving loss anticipation. Additionally, younger adults reported large increases in valence after avoiding an anticipated loss, but older adults did not. Younger, but not older, adults exhibited forecasting errors on the arousal dimension, underestimating increases in arousal during anticipation of gains and losses and overestimating increases in arousal in response to gain outcomes. Overall, the findings are consistent with a growing literature suggesting that older people experience less negative emotion than their younger counterparts and further suggest that they may better predict dynamic changes in affect.     

Regional approaches to religion: Christianity in Norway

The topic of regionalisation is debated within European politics and Academia, but its topicality is hardly reflected in the History of Religions, in spite of the fact that a region may be an explicit or implicit spatial category in many studies of religion. This article sketches some understandings of the concept of region and approaches to regional studies among contemporary historians, geographers and others. In addition, some of the connections – actual or imagined – between regions and religion are discussed, exemplified by the regional impact of two popular religious movements in Norway.     

Social proximity in early mother–infant interactions: implications for gender differences?

In an exploratory study, we investigated degrees of social proximity between mothers and their 9-month-old children. Twenty-four Swedish mother–infant dyads (12 boys and 12 girls) were observed during a brief free play episode. Social proximity was measured through nine items focusing on both communication and social interaction. Overall, we found that mother–daughter dyads displayed significantly higher degrees of social proximity than mother–son dyads. More specifically, mothers with daughters displayed more physical and visual contact, and were also rated as more sensitive than mothers with sons. It was also found that girls were judged as being more compliant than boys. ©1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Psychological needs,purpose in life,and problem video game playing among Chinese young adults

The negative impacts of excessive and problematic video game playing on both children and adults are attracting increasing concern. Based on self‐determination theory (SDT; Ryan & Deci, 2000), this study hypothesized that the three basic psychological needs of autonomy, competence, and relatedness are positively associated with purpose in life, which in turn acts as a protective factor against problem video game playing among Chinese young adult players. Through a questionnaire survey with a sample of 165 Chinese adults aged between 18 and 30 years (mean age = 22.7 years), we found that perceived autonomy, competence, relatedness, and purpose in life were all negatively correlated with problem game playing. The demographic and psychological factors explained 38% of the variances of problem game playing. Specifically, gender, perceived relatedness, and purpose in life emerged as the three most salient predictors of problem game playing among the Chinese young adults. The mediating role of purpose in life was evidenced and it was found that purpose in life mediated the influences of the psychological needs proposed by SDT on problem game playing. Moreover, young men were significantly more susceptible to problem game playing than their female counterparts. To conclude, psychological needs and purpose in life influenced Chinese young adults’ vulnerability to problem game playing directly or indirectly. Intervention programs that encourage social involvement and voluntary work, as well as counseling service that helps clients to search for life purpose, are suggested for intervening in problem game playing among Chinese young adults.