The development of the Game Engagement Questionnaire: A measure of engagement in video game-playing

Deep engagement in video game-playing has the potential to be to be one important determinant of the impact of playing violent video games, but there are currently no reliable measures of this subjective experience. To fill this gap, the Game Engagement Questionnaire (GEQ) was developed using both classical and Rasch analyses. In Study 1 Rasch analyses provide support for the reliability and functionality of the GEQ scores. Rasch analyses also demonstrate that the GEQ has adequate separation, fit, rating scale functioning, and dimensionality, suggesting that one’s tendency to become engaged in video game-playing is a quantifiable construct. In Study 2, behavioral and questionnaire data supported the reliability and validity of the GEQ for predicting engagement in violent video games. The GEQ provides a psychometrically strong measure of levels of engagement specifically elicited while playing video games, and thus shows promise for future research examining risk and protective factors for negative game impact.     

A comparison of methods to teach foreign-language targets to young children

Using instructional strategies based on derived relational responding (DRR) to teach foreign-language targets may result in emergent, untrained foreign-language relations. One benefit of using DRR instructional strategies is the efficiency with which an individual acquires additional stimulus relations as a result of emergent responding following acquisition of one or a small number of relations. In the current study, we compared the efficiency of tact training alone to a traditional foreign-language teaching strategy (i.e., teaching all relations concurrently—mixed training) with four, 4-year-old children. The results demonstrated that tact training was more efficient than mixed training for 5 of 7 stimulus sets. The findings add to the research demonstrating that DRR instructional strategies, specifically tact training, may be more efficient than concurrently teaching all targeted relations.     

Stop-Think-Relax: An Adapted Self-Control Training Strategy for Individuals with Mental Retardation and Coexisting Psychiatric Illness

Published self-instructional techniques for stress/anger management for those with mental retardation and developmental disabilities are often impractical due to the demands of complex instructional sequencing and of applying the technique during distressing situations. The development and implementation of an adapted, self-instructional, self-control technique employing a simple, 3-step method, reinforced by iconic visual cues, will be presented. The application of this strategy in individuals with mental retardation and concurrent mental illness will be reviewed in 3 detailed clinical cases. The Stop-Think-Relax strategy is a highly versatile and easily taught method for self-control that can be successfully applied in adults with limited cognitive capacities and with coexisting psychiatric features.     

Poverty after Birth: How Mothers Experience and Navigate U.S. Safety Net Programs to Address Family Needs

Journal of Child and Family Studies - Although pregnancy and the first year of life are sensitive windows for child development, we know very little about the lived experiences of mothers living in...     

Feasibility of and teacher preference for student‐led implementation of the good behavior game in early elementary classrooms

The Good Behavior Game (GBG) is a classwide group contingency shown to reduce disruptive student behavior. We examined the feasibility of training young students to lead the GBG in one first‐grade and three kindergarten classes. We also examined teacher preference for teacher‐led GBG, student‐led GBG, or no GBG using a concurrent chains procedure. We successfully trained students in all classes to lead the GBG, and the GBG reduced disruptive behavior regardless of who implemented it. Preference for who implemented the game varied across teachers. Results of this study suggest that students as young as kindergarten age can be trained to implement the GBG and that teacher preference should be taken into account when determining how classwide interventions are to be implemented.     

Evaluation of the Good Behavior Game with a child with fetal alcohol syndrome in a small‐group context

We evaluated the Good Behavior Game (GBG) on levels of disruptive behavior of a 4‐year‐old boy with fetal alcohol syndrome during small‐group reading time. We also compared the effectiveness of and preference for choice of a reward to a surprise reward for winning the GBG. Results showed that the GBG was effective to decrease disruptive behavior to similar levels as peers in the group. We did not observe a difference in the effectiveness of the GBG with a choice of reward compared to a surprise reward, but the participant preferred having a choice of reward. We discuss the potential benefit of utilizing the GBG to reduce disruptive behavior during small‐group learning instruction for individual students with disabilities and to aid in the inclusion of students with disabilities in general education classrooms.