Sex differences in grade three students' attitudes toward physical activity.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the attitudes children have towards physical activity and whether boys and girls differ significantly. Sex differences were hypothesized on one or more of the subdomains of Grade 3 Children's Attitudes Toward Physical Activity inventory. The 46 boys and 51 girls ranged from 8 to 10 years of age. A multivariate analysis of variance indicated a significant effect for sex, and subsequent univariate analysis indicated that the boys had significantly lower scores than the girls on the Aesthetic subscale. Results were discussed in terms of attitides about activity in physical education classes and continued research with younger children.     

A survey of psychological assessment feedback practices

There have been no previous studies on how often psychologists conduct feedback and whether they view this practice as a useful component of assessment. To explore psychologists' feedback practices and their perception of the effects of feedback on their clients, the authors examined survey data from 719 psychologist members of the International Neuropsychological Society, the National Academy of Neuropsychology, and the Society for Personality Assessment who regularly conducted assessments as part of their professional activities. The results indicated that the majority of respondents (71%) frequently provided in-person assessment feedback to their clients and/or their clients' families. Furthermore, most respondents (72%) indicated that clients found this information to be helpful and positive. Factors contributing to perceived positive feedback effects, including graduate training and feedback session length, were also examined. Last, differences in the feedback practices of psychologists predominantly practicing neuropsychology versus those predominantly practicing personality assessment were sampled and discussed.     

Identifying work preferences among supported workers with severe disabilities: efficiency and accuracy of a preference‐assessment protocol

Despite considerable research on assessing preferences among people with severe disabilities, relatively little investigatory attention has been directed to preferences in supported work situations. We evaluated a protocol for identifying work preferences among adults with severe disabilities in supported jobs. The protocol involved obtaining opinions of support staff regarding most and least preferred tasks of a supported worker, conducting a multi‐task preference assessment and then if necessary, a paired‐task assessment for workers for whom the former assessment did not reveal work preferences. For the 12 participating workers, the multi‐task assessment revealed preferences for 7 of the workers and subsequently, the paired‐task assessment revealed preferences for 4 of the 5 remaining workers. The former assessment required 40% less time than the latter. Staff opinion required much less time to obtain, but accurately identified preferences (based on validation through systematic assessment) only somewhat consistently. Results are discussed regarding guidelines for efficiently identifying supported work preferences, and future research areas are noted for developing more definitive guidelines. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Neural correlates of arithmetic calculation strategies

Recent research into math cognition has identified areas of the brain that are involved in number processing (Dehaene, Piazza, Pinel, & Cohen, 2003) and complex problem solving (Anderson, 2007). Much of this research assumes that participants use a single strategy; yet, behavioral research finds that people use a variety of strategies (LeFevre et al., 1996; Siegler, 1987; Siegler & Lemaire, 1997). In the present study, we examined cortical activation as a function of two different calculation strategies for mentally solving multidigit multiplication problems. The school strategy, equivalent to long multiplication, involves working from right to left. The expert strategy, used by “lightning” mental calculators (Staszewski, 1988), proceeds from left to right. The two strategies require essentially the same calculations, but have different working memory demands (the school strategy incurs greater demands). The school strategy produced significantly greater early activity in areas involved in attentional aspects of number processing (posterior superior parietal lobule, PSPL) and mental representation (posterior parietal cortex, PPC), but not in a numerical magnitude area (horizontal intraparietal sulcus, HIPS) or a semantic memory retrieval area (lateral inferior prefrontal cortex, LIPFC). An ACT-R model of the task successfully predicted BOLD responses in PPC and LIPFC, as well as in PSPL and HIPS.     

Contemporary Muslim Families: Research and Practice

This research project was undertaken to provide family professionals with the basic information necessary to work appropriately with Muslim families. The Muslim population represents 4–6 million people in the United States, yet it is significantly underrepresented in the family literature. Qualitative analysis of focus groups and interviews revealed multiple key findings. Emergent themes include an interest in gender respect rather than gender equity, the importance of extended family, the centralism of Islam in daily life and the qualified acceptance of professional interventions. Implications for practice are discussed.     

Manipulation of Verbal Behavior of Chronic Hospitalized Schizophrenics in a Group Therapy Situation

This paper describes a semistructured, time-limited model of group treatment for latency age children. The members, all of whom came from reconstituted families, had a variety of reactive, somatoform, and characterological problems. With help from the therapists, each member constructed his or her own genogram which was then discussed by the group as a whole. Because this format incorporated a technique for mapping family structure into a traditional model of children's group therapy, it focused the group's manifest communication on changing family roles and relationships, both as they had occurred in reality and as they were symbolically reenacted within the group process. Feelings of shame, guilt, anger, and loss were markedly ameliorated as the group members studied the structure of their extended families within an environment which encouraged normative peer interaction and progressive emotional development. A brief review of the recent literature on time-limited, theme centered groups for children is included to provide a context for understanding the group.     

Construction of Circumplex Scales for the Inventory of Interpersonal Problems

We constructed a set of circumplex scales for the Inventory of Interpersonal Problems (IIP; Horowitz, Rosenberg, Baer, Ureno, & Villasenor, 1988). Initial scale construction used all 127 items from this instrument in two samples of university undergraduates (n = 197; n = 273). Cross-sample stability of item locations plotted against the first two principal components was high. A final set of eight 8-item circumplex scales was derived from the combined sample (n = 470) and cross-validated in a third university sample (n = 974). Finally, we examined the structural convergence of the IIP circumplex scales with an established measure of interpersonal dispositions, the Revised Interpersonal Adjective Scales (IAS-R; Wiggins, Trapnell, & Phillips, 1988). Although both circumplex instruments were derived independently, they shared a common Circular space. Implications of these results are discussed with reference to current research methods for the study of interpersonal behavior.     

Augmenting Hopkins SCL Scales to Measure Dissociative Symptoms: Data From Two Nonclinical Samples

4A 13-item Dissociation scale is introduced, and preliminary data regarding its reliability are presented. Designed to complement the Symptom Checklist (SCL-90; Derogatis, Lipman, & Covi, 1973) and the Hopkins Symptom Checklist (HSCL; Derogatis, Lipman, Rickels, Ulenhuth, & Covi, 1974), this scale may be especially useful in research on the effects of psychological trauma.