Comparing Multicultural With General Counseling Knowledge and Skill Competency for Students Who Completed Counselor Training

This study evaluates the effectiveness of a counselor education program in teaching multicultural counseling knowledge and skills. Standardized examination scores and rater evaluations compare multicultural with general counseling knowledge and skill competency for students who completed a counseling master's program. The relationship between multicultural knowledge and multicultural and general skills is examined. Este estudio evalúa la efectividad de un programa educativo para consejeros a la hora de enseñar conocimientos y habilidades multiculturales en consejería. Se emplean tanto resultados estandarizados de exámenes como evaluaciones docentes para comparar los conocimientos de consejeria y la competencia en habilidades de tipo general con los multiculturales en estudiantes que han completado un Máster en Consejería. Se examina la relación entre conocimientos multiculturales y habilidades generales y multiculturales.     

A Psychometric Evaluation of the Approach and Avoidance of Alcohol Questionnaire (AAAQ) in Alcohol Dependent Outpatients

The Approach and Avoidance of Alcohol Questionnaire (AAAQ; McEvoy et al. in Addiction 99:482–497, 2004) was administered to a clinical sample of 138 alcohol dependent men and women. An exploratory factor analysis was used to determine the AAAQ factor structure and a confirmatory analysis run on a second administration of the AAAQ. Convergent validity was examined by conducting an alcohol cue reactivity test and by administering the Timeline Follow-Back (TLFB), a retrospective calendar method for assessing alcohol consumption, and several measures of alcohol-related problems. The factor analysis supported a two-factor solution representing approach and avoidance dimensions. Regressions predicting measures of alcohol cue reactivity, alcohol consumption, and other alcohol-related constructs with the AAAQ provide support for its convergent validity. The results suggest that alcohol craving may be viewed as a multi-dimensional construct that includes both approach and avoidance inclinations which may vary depending on the population under examination.

Incremental Validity of Cognitions in a Clinical Case Formulation: An Intraindividual Test in a Case Example

Incremental validity, the ability of a measure to predict or explain variance over and above other measures, is an important psychometric characteristic of standardized measures, but has received little attention idiographically. Idiographic assessment may be an important part of developing a clinical case formulation, guiding treatment by developing an individualized understanding of the variables that trigger and maintain distress. This study examined whether the idiosyncratic cognitive schema hypothesized by a clinician in a cognitive case formulation explained distress incrementally over that of situational triggers. Using daily ratings of situational triggers, idiosyncratic cognitions, and distress, the incremental validity of cognitions in predicting each of six distress measures was tested in a case example using dynamic time series regression. The incremental variance explained by cognitions varied across the distress measures, suggesting that, in this case example, targeting thoughts and beliefs for treatment may be important for only certain types of distress.

An Evaluation of a Holistic Program for at-Risk Teens and Their Parents

Increasing evidence indicates that adolescent behavior problems are related to family functioning. In general, findings have demonstrated the family’s critical role in facilitating developmental outcomes. This study evaluated a 6-week holistic program for at-risk teens and their parents entitled Creating a Responsible Thinker at baseline, post-test, and 3-month follow-up. Results demonstrated gender differences in the program’s effects on self-efficacy, specifically increased self-efficacy for females and reduced self-efficacy among males. Follow-up results suggested that teens reported better communication with their parents. These results underscore the appropriateness of a family-based approach to treatment for at-risk teens and their parents.     

Infant rule learning facilitated by speech

Sequences of speech sounds play a central role in human cognitive life, and the principles that govern such sequences are crucial in determining the syntax and semantics of natural languages. Infants are capable of extracting both simple transitional probabilities and simple algebraic rules from sequences of speech, as demonstrated by studies using ABB grammars (la ta ta, gai mu mu, etc.). Here, we report a striking finding: Infants are better able to extract rules from sequences of nonspeech--such as sequences of musical tones, animal sounds, or varying timbres--if they first hear those rules instantiated in sequences of speech.     

Neurocognitive Effects of Methamphetamine: A Critical Review and Meta-analysis

This review provides a critical analysis of the central nervous system effects of acute and chronic methamphetamine (MA) use, which is linked to numerous adverse psychosocial, neuropsychiatric, and medical problems. A meta-analysis of the neuropsychological effects of MA abuse/dependence revealed broadly medium effect sizes, showing deficits in episodic memory, executive functions, information processing speed, motor skills, language, and visuoconstructional abilities. The neuropsychological deficits associated with MA abuse/dependence are interpreted with regard to their possible neural mechanisms, most notably MA-associated frontostriatal neurotoxicity. In addition, potential explanatory factors are considered, including demographics (e.g., gender), MA use characteristics (e.g., duration of abstinence), and the influence of common psychiatric (e.g., other substance-related disorders) and neuromedical (e.g., HIV infection) comorbidities. Finally, these findings are discussed with respect to their potential contribution to the clinical management of persons with MA abuse/dependence.     

Promoting Generalization of Oral Reading Fluency: Providing Drill versus Practice Opportunities

Extensive evidence exists demonstrating the benefits of repeated readings (RR) interventions at increasing students’ fluency on intervention passages. Few studies however have examined the extent to which repeatedly reading one passage improves students’ reading fluency on similar passages. Using an alternating treatment design, we examined the extent to which two interventions resulted in improvements in students’ fluency on generalization passages. While both interventions incorporated RR, one intervention involved students reading one passage four times and the other involved students reading two similar passages each twice. Intervention effects were evaluated by having students read a generalization passage prior to and following intervention implementation. Results indicate that both interventions were effective in increasing students reading fluency on generalization passages. For 3 participants the RR intervention produced greater gains in fluency on the generalization passages, while data for the remaining 3 participants are inconclusive. Implications of these findings for practice and for better understanding application of the instructional hierarchy to the development of reading interventions are discussed.

Volition and the idle cortex: beta oscillatory activity preceding planned and spontaneous movement

Prior to the initiation of spontaneous movement, evoked potentials can be seen to precede awareness of the impending movement by several hundreds of milliseconds, meaning that this recorded neural activity is the result of unconscious processing. This study investigates the neural representations of impending movement with and without awareness. Specifically, the relationship between awareness and 'idling' cortical oscillations in the beta range (18-24Hz) was assessed. It was found that, in situations where there was awareness of the impending movement, pre-movement evoked potentials were associated with a decrease in beta range oscillations. In contrast, when awareness of the impending movement was not present, the onset of the pre-movement potential was associated with tonic levels of beta range oscillations. A model is considered where by distributed neural activity remains outside of conscious awareness through the persistence of tonic slow wave cortical oscillations.     

Adolescent Perceptions of Parental Behaviors,Adolescent Self-Esteem,and Adolescent Depressed Mood

Using symbolic interaction, we developed a research model that proposed adolescent perceptions of parental support and psychological control would be related to adolescent depressed mood directly and indirectly through self-esteem. We tested the model using self-report questionnaire data from 161 adolescents living with both of their biological parents. To examine possible gender of adolescent differences, we tested two multigroup models separately for adolescents’ perceptions of mothers’ and fathers’ parental behaviors. Both the fathers’ and mothers’ models yielded (a) direct paths from self-esteem to depressed mood (for boys and girls), psychological control to depressed mood (for boys) and (b) an indirect path from support to self-esteem to depressed mood (for girls and boys) and an indirect path from psychological control to self-esteem to depressed mood (for girls). In addition, in the fathers’ model a significant direct path was found between fathers’ support and depressed mood (for girls).     

Taxometric analysis of the antisocial features scale of the personality assessment inventory in federal prison inmates

The Antisocial Features (ANT) scale of the Personality Assessment Inventory (PAI) was subjected to taxometric analysis in a group of 2,135 federal prison inmates. Scores on the three ANT subscales-Antisocial Behaviors (ANT-A), Egocentricity (ANT-E), and Stimulus Seeking (ANT-S)-served as indicators in this study and were evaluated using the following taxometric procedures: mean above minus below a cut (MAMBAC), maximum eigenvalue (MAXEIG), and latent mode factor analysis (L-Mode). Objective and subjective evaluation of the results revealed consistent support for a dimensional interpretation of latent structure across the di ferent taxometric procedures as well as across gender, race, and security level. As a dimensional construct, antisocial personality disorder arranges respondents along one or more quantitative dimensions (degree of antisociality), rather than assigning them to qualitatively distinct categories (antisocial or not antisocial).