Differential Effects of Self-graphing on Self-monitoring of Early Literacy Outcomes in Kindergarten Students

The purpose of this study was to examine how an early literacy intervention, Kindergarten Peer-Assisted Learning Strategies (K-PALS; Mathes et al. Kindergarten peer-assisted literacy strategies (K-PALS): Sopris West, 2001), can be intensified to extend the positive outcomes to students who do not initially demonstrate an adequate response to intervention. K-PALS was intensified by incorporating a self-monitoring package that included self-graphing. An alternating treatment design was used to compare the effectiveness of K-PALS with self-graphing alone and K-PALS with a self-monitoring package to baseline/K-PALS for the purpose of increasing student performance on the early literacy measure of phonemic awareness. The results of the study indicate that while the self-monitoring package was the more effective intervention for two of the three student participants, the self-graphing alone intervention also resulted in positive outcomes for both of these participants. There was no change in the phonemic awareness performance for the third participant throughout the alternating treatment phase. Implications for intensifying academic interventions within the context of a Response to Intervention framework are discussed.

     

A preliminary exploration of predictors of outcome and cognitive mechanisms of change in cognitive behaviour therapy for psychosis in people not taking antipsychotic medication

BackgroundCognitive behaviour therapy (CBT) has been shown to be effective in an open trial for people with psychotic disorders who have not been taking antipsychotic medication. There is little known about predictors of outcome in CBT for psychosis and even less about hypothesised mechanisms of change.Method20 participants with schizophrenia spectrum disorders received CBT in an exploratory trial. Our primary outcome was psychiatric symptoms measured using the PANSS. Secondary outcomes were dimensions of hallucinations and delusions, self-rated recovery and social functioning, and hypothesised mechanisms of change included appraisals of psychotic experiences, dysfunctional attitudes and cognitive insight. We also measured patient characteristics that may be associated with outcome.ResultsT-tests revealed that several of the hypothesised mechanisms did significantly change over the treatment and follow-up periods. Correlational analyses showed that reductions in negative appraisals of psychotic experiences were related to improvements on outcome measures and that shorter duration of psychosis and younger age were associated with greater changes in symptoms.ConclusionsCBT based on a specific cognitive model appears to change the hypothesised cognitive mechanisms, and these changes are associated with good outcomes. CBT may be more effective for those who are younger with shorter histories of psychosis.     

Couple therapy for military veterans: overall effectiveness and predictors of response

Despite the numerous challenges facing U.S. veterans and their relationships, there have been no examinations of the effectiveness of couple therapy for relationship distress provided to veterans. In the present study, 177 couples presenting for couple therapy at two Veteran Administration Medical Centers completed assessments of relationship satisfaction prior to therapy and weekly during therapy. Results revealed that the average couple showed significant gains in relationship satisfaction during treatment (d=0.44 for men; d=0.47 for women); gains were larger for couples beginning therapy in the distressed range (d=0.61 for men; d=0.58 for women) than for couples in the nondistressed range (d=0.19 for men; d=0.22 for women). Rates of premature termination were high, with 19% of couples completing fewer than three sessions and 62% rated as not completing a "full course" of therapy. Benchmarking analyses demonstrated that the average gains were larger than would be expected from natural remission and similar to previous effectiveness trials; however, average gains were smaller than those observed in couple therapy efficacy trials. Relationship, psychological, and demographic characteristics were generally unrelated to the amount of change in therapy after controlling for initial satisfaction. However, African American couples showed significantly larger gains than Caucasian, non-Hispanic couples. Thus, though yielding smaller effects than those shown in efficacy trials, the impact of couple therapy for veterans' relationship problems appears to generalize across various demographic, psychological, and relationship characteristics.     

Not too little, but not too much: The perceived desirability of responses to personality items

Paradigms typically employed to investigate socially desirable responding in personality assessment implicitly assume linear relationships exist between trait level and desirability but recent research has called this assumption into question. In this study, participants rated the desirability of a hypothetical applicant to one of four jobs on the basis of which five-point Likert-type scale option he/she selected when responding to personality items. Results generally indicated that the most extreme option, on the desirable side of the response scale, was rated as most desirable, but perceived desirability asymptotes with the penultimate option. The middle (neutral) option, however, was consistently regarded as being much less desirable. The occupational context also significantly moderated the patterns of desirability ratings for many items.     

Psychometric properties of Yelland and Tiggemann's Drive for Muscularity Scale

The purpose of the current study was to examine the dimensionality and validity of Yelland and Tiggemann's Drive for Muscularity Scale (YT-DMS). Participants were college students (305 women, M(AGE)=20.15 years, SD=4.00; 356 men, M(AGE)=20.24 years, SD=3.85) who completed the YT-DMS, the Drive for Muscularity Attitudes Questionnaire, the Drive for Leanness Scale, the Drive for Thinness Scale, and a socio-demographic questionnaire. Results indicated the YT-DMS had a stable unidimensional factor structure in both genders, and the pattern of relationships generally supported the measure's criterion and construct validity. These results reveal the YT-DMS has promise, but helps identify possible areas for improvement, such as a greater focus on sampling the content domain associated with the drive for muscularity.     

Heterosexuality and home: Intimacies of space and spaces of touch

This paper uses the notion of touch to understand further the production of heterosexual bodies and home spaces. Specifically, it argues that the everyday geographies of heterosexual touch are an important constituent of homemaking. Considering the ordinary acts of heterosexual touch and home encourages a more nuanced reading of the mutually constitutive relationship between bodies and space. It challenges normative notions about the naturalness and normality of heterosexuality. Drawing on data from joint semi-structured interviews, solicited diaries and self-directed photography with 14 women in heterosexual relationships who live in Hamilton, Aotearoa New Zealand, I offer an in-depth, critical and nuanced analysis of sexualised touch. Building on suggestions that touch is more than simply cutaneous contact, I show that heterosexual bodies touch and feel bodies, spaces and objects in a variety of ways.