A Comparison of Within- and Across-Activity Choices for Reducing Challenging Behavior in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders

Offering children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) choices between activities (e.g., working on math or English), instructional materials (e.g., using a pen or pencil), or environmental arrangements (e.g., where to sit) has been shown to reduce challenging behavior maintained by escape from task demands. However, the majority of research investigating choice-based interventions for challenging behavior has examined across-activity choices (i.e., choosing between activities) and relatively few studies have examined within-activity choice (i.e., choosing between instructional materials or environmental arrangements). The purpose of this study is to replicate and extend previous research on choice-based challenging behavior interventions by comparing the effects of across-activity choices and within-activity choices on the escape-maintained challenging behavior of 4 children with ASD. An alternating treatment design was embedded within the “B” phase of an ABAB design in which the “A” phase represented a no-choice baseline condition. Both choice formats resulted in less challenging behavior than the baseline condition for all participants. Across-activity choice resulted in less challenging behavior than within-activity choice for 3 participants. Implications for research and practice are discussed.     

Rhythm and Semiotic Structures of Long-Term Ambivalence in the Dialogical Self: Eating Disorder and Recovery Voices

Ambivalence in the dialogical self is conceptualized as resistance to change. The cyclic processes that characterize ambivalence are seen to maintain a balance between opposing voices, producing dynamic stability in the self-system. What has not been incorporated in the study of ambivalence so far is consideration of structural levels from which the opposing voices are speaking. This prompted the present case study of long-term eating disorder ambivalence, which joins a consideration of semiotic system structure with process. In interviews with a young woman conducted over a three-year period, cyclic processes of eating disorder and recovery voices were pervasive, yet structural analysis of the subsystems and their transactions suggested that change was actually occurring in this presumably change-resistant system, pointing to a need for reconceptualizing ambivalent systems in relation to development.     

Integrating research into practice: The Forward-Focused Model of adolescent sexual behavior treatment

Knowledge of adolescents with sexual behavior problems has continued to grow over the past two decades, further differentiating the needs of this group from adult sex offenders. However, treatment programs based upon the current literature have yet to be fully articulated. In an attempt to address this gap between knowledge and practice, a comprehensive treatment program for adolescents with sexual behavior problems was developed: the Forward-Focused Model. The Forward-Focused Model is rooted in cognitive–behavioral theory, incorporates motivational approaches, and is developmentally-sensitive to address the unique needs of adolescents. This empirically-based model is introduced in this article.     

The Development of Structural Complexity in the Child's Concept of Family: The Effect of Cognitive Stage,Sex, and Intactness of Family

Twenty-eight boys and 28 girls at each of the Piagetian preoperational, concrete operational, and formal operational cognitive stages were given an interview focusing on their concepts of family. Half of each group were from intact families, and half were from divorced families. Interviews were scored for two structural aspects of the concept of family: conceptual level, and use of dimensions that structure the concept. The complexity of children's concepts was strongly related to cognitive stage and, to a lesser degree, to sex. Frequency of use of concept dimensions was strongly affected by general developmental level, though not specifically cognitive stage, and by intactness of family, but to a lesser degree by sex. Specific information is provided on the effect of these factors on perceptions of family composition, parental roles, and breadth of family activities.     

tranny boyz: cyber community support in negotiating sex and gender mobility among female to male transsexuals

Female-to-male transsexuals (FTMs) are aware that manhood is a test that is separate from simple anatomical maleness. Failure to pass the test carries a penalty of exclusion from the desired rank as well as stigmatization as deviant for having attempted such a feat. Armed with this awareness, they are utilizing modern technology to form a community of virtual support, a study group of sorts, that will facilitate passing that test. This project identifies, through content analysis, various themes of concerns of female-to-male transsexuals who post on the Internet. The themes include concerns about gender status production, including issues such as “passing,” surgical worries, legal avenues and blockades, and social support. These themes relate directly to FTMs’ real-world ideologies about themselves as men. They recognize their central problem as one which debates the nature of manhood as either an ascribed or achieved status, and in self-reflexive fashion are able to see themselves as non-deviant in one gender category, yet deviant to onlookers while in another gender category. For FTMs, the fear is that even if medical and legal obstacles can be overcome, social obstacles and social stigmatization may not. Yet, in their cyber-community, a number of FTMs have found acceptance and understanding to be less elusive than what they find in the real world.     

Everyday Morality

This essay explores the nexus between Buddhist discourse, moral reasoning, and aspects of indigenous ethnopsychology in a Shan community in northern Thailand. I suggest that these three strands of thought are routinely braided together in intricate ways and, furthermore, that some version of this conceptual arrangement is necessary in order for any moral thinking to take place. That is, all moral thought entails some conception of the way the world is structured (a conception that may or may not be based on religion) and some ethnotheory of human nature, both of which are culturally mediated. Finally, I discuss the implications of this view for our understanding of human agency and autonomy.     

Effects of Relationship Values and Goal Interdependence on Guanxi Between Foreign Managers and Chinese Employees1

Foreign managers are advised to develop effective relationships with Chinese employees who as collectivists are thought to value relationships, particularly guanxi, with their leaders. However, foreign managers typically do not have the background and prior experiences typically used to develop guanxi in China. In an experiment with 120 participants in South China, Chinese employees with foreign managers who communicated that they wanted a relationship (compared to no relationship) with them concluded that they interacted better and had little relational and task conflict. Chinese employees who discussed their views within a cooperative (compared to competitive) context helped their leader, productively integrated their diverse views into the decision, and concluded that they had little relational and task conflict.