Guidelines for flash card instruction

Flash card drills provide students with a means to memorize information such as sight words, math facts, state capitols, foreign language vocabulary, and equations. Because of the utility of flash cards in educational practice, information on behavioral strategies to increase the effectiveness of their use may be especially valuable to teachers. This article provides guidelines for flash card instruction based on current research. These guidelines are to: a) intersperse known items, b) minimize errors, c) use feedback for correct and error responses, and d) select an instructional arrangement (e.g., group format) that will enhance responding. Future research may refine these guidelines to improve teaching effectiveness.     

Auditory priming in an implicit memory task that emphasizes surface processing

Auditory priming was examined in an implicit memory task, phoneme monitoring, that emphasized surface processing. The contribution of voice to priming was investigated in single- and multiplespeaker environments by repeating studied words at test in either the same voice or different voices. Multiple-speaker environments, which preserved both acoustic and word repetition, eliminated priming when more than two voice changes between words were introduced. When voice familiarity attenuated acoustic variability, priming was reestablished in the condition in which three voices were heard. Voice changes between study and test, which eliminated acoustic repetition, also abolished priming. Word frequency affected reaction times but not priming. This demonstrated that priming entailed subword processing rather than word processing. This study demonstrates that the significance of voice in implicit memory is dependent on the level of processing required by the task and the acoustic environment. Supported in part by an OMRDD Fellowship in the CSI/IBR Center for Developmental Disabilities to M. P., portions of this study were conducted in partial fulfillment of her requirements for the Ph.D. in the Department of Psychology of The City University of New York Graduate School and University Center.     

An examination of the validity and reliability of a measure of sexual orientation identity exploration,resolution, and affirmation

The processes of identity exploration and resolution are salient during adolescence and young adulthood, and awareness of sexual orientation identity (SOI), in particular, is heightened in early adolescence. Much of the research on SOI development has focused on identity milestones (e.g., age of awareness and disclosure) or internalized homonegativity, rather than the developmental processes of exploration and resolution. Psychometric properties of the Sexual Orientation Identity Development Scale, which was adapted from a developmentally-informed measure of ethnic-racial identity, were evaluated in a sample of 382 Latina/o sexual minority adolescents and young adults. Results supported the reliability and validity of the adapted measure, as well as measurement equivalence across language (Spanish and English) and development (adolescence and young adulthood).     

When motivation is not enough: Effects of prosociality and organizational socialization in volunteers’ intention to continue volunteering

Retention of volunteers is a main issue for no‐profit organizations. In the present study, using a cross‐sectional design, determinants of volunteers’ intentions to continue their service were investigated in a sample of 116 volunteers at different Italian organizations (M_age = 42.32, SD_age = 15.91). Guided by the conceptual model of the volunteer process, we hypothesized that organizational socialization should mediate the link between prosocial personality and intention to continue volunteering. Results confirmed our prediction. Findings provide suggestions for organizations concerned about volunteers’ dropout that focus on ameliorating the socialization process of less prosocial volunteers in order to support their intention to remain in the organization.     

Improving Financial Inclusion through Communal Financial Orientation: How Financial Service Providers Can Better Engage Consumers in Banking Deserts

Banking deserts, vulnerable communities that lack access to mainstream banks, represent a serious societal problem. Mainstream banks successfully entering banking deserts can help to assuage this problem. Drawing from research on the psychological consequences of poverty, we propose that mainstream banks can more successfully operate in banking deserts by increasing consumers’ perception of communal financial orientation as a bank benefit (i.e., consumers’ perception that engaging with the bank is beneficial for their community's well‐being). Two field studies, comparing customers of a credit union who live in a banking desert and those who do not, show that the perception of communal financial orientation as a bank benefit increases banking‐desert consumers’ beliefs that engaging with the credit union is beneficial and increases their likelihood of patronizing and recommending it; consumers living outside banking deserts do not display these effects. These findings provide novel insights into psychological mechanisms distinctly associated with banking‐desert consumers and establish the importance of communal financial orientation. This is a win‐win proposal for under‐served communities and financial service providers because it helps both improve financial inclusion and increase the viability of serving banking deserts.     

Group cognition,membership change,and performance: Investigating the benefits and detriments of collective knowledge

This study analyzes the effects of group membership change on group cognition and performance to determine how groups can simultaneously leverage oldtimers’ collective knowledge and a newcomer’s expertise. Our analysis focuses specifically on the interrelated effects of the two components of a transactive memory system (TMS)—TMS structure and TMS processes—to explain the cognitive mechanisms through which membership change affects group performance. Results from a laboratory study show that groups that experience partial membership change tend to rely on the TMS structure that oldtimers developed in their original group, and that doing so is ultimately detrimental to performance because it creates inefficient TMS processes. Results from a supplemental study indicate that these TMS process inefficiencies can be avoided when oldtimers are instructed to reflect upon their collective knowledge prior to task execution. We discuss the implications for managing group cognition in organizations where membership change is prevalent.     

Agnes Arber: form in the mind and the eye

Agnes Arber (1879–1960) was a British botanist who was a leading plant morphologist during the first half of the 20th century. She also wrote on the history and philosophy of botany. I argue in this article that her philosophical work on form and on how the work of the mind and the eye relate to each other in morphological research are relevant to the science of today. Arber's unusual blend of interests—in botany, history, philosophy, and art—put her in a unique position to examine issues of form. Even her unorthodox ideas on evolution can now be seen as fitting in well with discussions of natural selection as the predominant engine of evolutionary change. Arber's views also throw light on present work dealing with developmental plant genetics and with the study of protein form. I will further argue that her marginal position relative to institutional science, while it may have left her vulnerable to criticism, also made possible her deep philosophical reflections on morphology.     

"Living Our Faith:" The Lenten Pastoral Letter of the Bishops of Malawi and the Shift to Multiparty Democracy, 1992–1993

From 1964 to 1993, Dr. Hastings Kamuzu Banda ruled the nation of Malawi by a singular mixture of terror and ritualized paternalism, relying on religious institutions to bolster his own moral authority. In the changing global and regional political context of the early 1990s, however, it was the Roman Catholic bishops of Malawi who challenged the prevailing culture of silence. In the lenten pastoral letter entitled "Living Our Faith," the seven bishops reproached the Banda regime for its authoritarianism. Relying on New Testament images of Christians as inherently free, the bishops ultimately contributed to the development of representative democracy. Acting not as biased proponents of specific political groups but rather as the champions of government accountability and human dignity, Malawan Catholic clerics and the external rituals and symbols of their faith have attained (at least in the short term) a greater prestige and popular appeal in a religiously heterodox nation.     

Engagement within occupational trainees: Individual difference predictors and commitment outcome

The present study examines occupational entrants' experiences of their vocational training, its relation with relevant internal characteristics, and its proposed impact on commitment to the profession. Particular focus is paid to trainees' engagement, hypothesizing motivation and self-efficacy as predictors, and occupational commitment as a distal outcome. Data were from 247 recent entrants into professional degree programs (architecture, engineering). All hypothesized predictive relations were supported, such that motivation (as both a composite and as solely intrinsic) and self-efficacy are predictive of engagement, and engagement is predictive of occupational commitment among early-stage trainees. Further, engagement partially mediated the relation between self-efficacy and commitment, and fully mediated the relation between motivation and commitment. Squared multiple correlations for endogenous variables indicated substantial variance in engagement and commitment accounted for by their respective predictors. Moreover, two structural equation models were examined and compared, proposing more holistic nomological nets for how these constructs fit together. A respecified model accounting for a sole focus on intrinsic motivation and a direct path between motivation and commitment was an excellent fit, superseding a competing model conceptualizing motivation as a composite and only an indirect motivation–commitment path. Finally, need for achievement moderated the relation between motivation and engagement such that the relation is stronger for individuals high in need for achievement than it is for those low in the desire to grow in their profession. The study contributes to our understanding of how early occupational trainees' experiences of work and individual characteristics impact their commitment to their intended profession.     

Culturally Adapted Psychosocial Interventions for Schizophrenia: A Review

Recent research examining the potential efficacy of culturally adapted interventions for various mental disorders illustrates increasing interest in the integration of cultural perspectives into mental health systems. Despite recent evidence demonstrating that culturally adapted interventions may be more effective than a one-size-fits-all approach, few psychosocial treatments for schizophrenia consider cultural factors that may enhance their efficacy with diverse populations. The aim of this review is to discuss the empirical evidence examining the potential utility of culturally adapted group interventions for schizophrenia, as a means to encourage further work and expansion in this area. Specifically, this article provides an in-depth review of the empirical literature on culturally adapted psychosocial interventions for individuals with schizophrenia and their family members, with a focus on group-based interventions. This review is followed by a discussion of a few cultural constructs that may impact patient and family member functioning, and therefore may be important to address in psychosocial treatments for schizophrenia. Finally, we end this review with a broad discussion of research limitations and potential areas for additional research, clinical implications for adapting EBTs to better address cultural concerns, and a case vignette to illustrate how cultural considerations can be integrated into a traditional multifamily group therapy approach.