Factor Structure of the Parenting Scale in a Low-Income African American Sample

We evaluated the relative goodness-of-fit of two factor structures of the Parenting Scale (Arnold, O'Leary, Wolf, {&} Acker, 1993) among two samples of low-income African American families. Participants included 271 mother-child dyads from urban and rural areas in the southern and southeastern US, who completed the Parenting Scale along with other measures of parenting style and dyadic relationship. Confirmatory Factor Analyses (CFA) indicated that a two-factor solution, comprising Laxness and Overreactivity dimensions, was the better fit to the data. Some direct evidence for convergent validity was provided by a correlation between the Laxness factor of the Parenting Scale and the Firm/Lax Control subscale of the Children's Report of Parenting Behavior Inventory (CRPBI). Results are discussed in term of Brody and Flor's (1998) “no nonsense” parenting style.     

Musical stem completion: humming that note

This study looked at how people store and retrieve tonal music explicitly and implicitly using a production task. Participants completed an implicit task (tune stem completion) followed by an explicit task (cued recall). The tasks were identical except for the instructions at test time. They listened to tunes and were then presented with tune stems from previously heard tunes and novel tunes. For the implicit task, they were asked to sing a note they thought would come next musically. For the explicit task, they were asked to sing the note they remembered as coming next. Experiment 1 found that people correctly completed significantly more old stems than new stems. Experiment 2 investigated the characteristics of music that fuel retrieval by varying a surface feature of the tune (same timbre or different timbre) from study to test and the encoding task (semantic or nonsemantic). Although we did not find that implicit and explicit memory for music were significantly dissociated for levels of processing, we did find that surface features of music affect semanticjudgments and subsequent explicit retrieval.     

Suicidal behavior in schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorder: examining the role of depression

Understanding the relationship between depression and suicidal behavior among individuals with schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorder can aid assessment and treatment. In this study, 86 individuals with schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorder were assessed for past and current suicidal behavior, depression, hopelessness, and reasons for living. Thirty-four percent reported a history of suicide attempts. Suicidal behavior typically occurred 4.5 years after the onset of psychosis and 7.5 years after the onset of the first major depressive episode for those who had a history of major depression. Depression was frequent among both attempters and non-attempters, but only half of the attempters reported a suicide attempt during an episode of major depression. And almost half of those with depression never made a suicide attempt despite a long history of illness. Although depression is a potential stressor for triggering suicidal behavior in a vulnerable subset of individuals with schizophrenia, schizophrenia research must identify other risk factors for suicidal behavior. Clinicians should remember that even without a depressive episode there is still a significant risk for suicidal behavior in schizophrenia.     

GENERATING HYPOTHESES ABOUT THE FUNCTION OF STUDENT PROBLEM BEHAVIOR BY OBSERVING TEACHER BEHAVIOR

We examined whether, as predicted by research on child effects, we could generate hypotheses about the function of student problem behavior by observing the amount of attention teachers provided to students. In the first phase of the study, we observed the amount of attention teachers distributed among small groups of students who exhibited problem behavior in individual or small-group instructional settings (problem behavior presumably maintained by attention or escape). Based on the amount of attention each student received, we generated hypotheses about the function of his or her problem behavior. In the second phase of the study, we determined the accuracy of these predictions by conducting a brief functional assessment with each student. Results confirmed that, for 14 of the 15 students, we were able to generate accurate hypotheses about the function of their problem behavior. These results suggest the potential efficacy of using the amount of attention teachers distribute among groups of students to generate empirically based hypotheses about the function of student problem behavior maintained by attention and/or escape. These results also illustrate the efficiency of this procedure; by observing teacher behavior, we were able to generate hypotheses about the function of problem behavior for several students at one time.     

Developing Faculty Development Programs: A View From the Chair

The author describes a programmatic model offaculty development that can provide a framework for many of the activities and programs described in this special feature of the Journal of Counseling & Development. Building such an organizing structure around specific program activities can help a person identify the steps to be taken and set up a system that with each iteration places the department further on its way to building the faculty it seeks and the culture it needs to nurture and ensure effective faculty development.     

MODELING PROBABIUSTIC CATEGORIZATION DATA:

Abstract— In probabilistic categorization tasks, the correct category is determined only probabilistically by the stimulus pattern Data from such experiments have been successfully accounted for by a simple network model, but have posed difficulties for exemplar models In the present article, we consider an exemplar model, CLEM (concept learning by exemplar memorization), which differs from previously tested exemplar models in that exemplar traces are assumed to be stored only when the subject has guessed or made a classification error Fits of CLEM to both learning and test data were comparable to those of the network model, and better than those obtained for a version of CLEM in which encoding was independent of the subject's response The implications of these results for the processes underlying classification decisions are discussed.     

Genetic counseling for a family with two distinct anomalies: A case report of a neural tube defect and 5p- syndrome in a fetus

A couple presented for genetic counseling because of an elevated maternal serum alpha fetoprotein. Ultrasound examination revealed the presence of a neural tube defect. The couple declined an amniocentesis, but chose serial ultrasound evaluations instead. Ultrasounds eventually identified microcephaly, but the couple continued to decline amniocentesis. After the child's birth, the diagnosis of 5p- syndrome was made. The couple's decision not to have an amniocentesis allowed the family their right to autonomy; however, prenatal chromosome analysis would have provided this couple with a great deal more prognostic information. We discuss the conflict between a counselor's duty to respect a client's freedom vs. duty to care for a client's welfare. We address issues of nondirective counseling and the need for more studies looking at the decision-making process in prenatal diagnosis.     

The Port-Royal semantics of terms

Conclusion It is tempting to say from the contemporary point of view that thePort-Royal Logic is full of confusions as well as insights. I have focused on several of these confusions and their relations, in particular the confusions between complex idea and proposition, between proposition and judgment, and especially between name and predicate. In particular I have tried to emphasize the instability of the Port-Royal semantics — the ways in which their theory of terms vacillates between earlier views and something closer to a modern analysis. It may, however, be more profitable to regard this work as incorporating several logics, and to view the confusions as the inevitable results of the dynamical tensions among these different views.     

THE EFFECTS OF SEVERE BEHAVIOR PROBLEMS IN CHILDREN ON THE TEACHING BEHAVIOR OF ADULTS

Applied behavior analysts have focused on how adults can influence the problem behavior of children using a variety of behavior modification strategies. A related question, virtually unexplored, is how the behavior problems of children influence adults. This child-effects concept was explored empirically in a study involving 12 adults who were asked to teach four pairs of children in which one member of the pair exhibited problem behavior and the other typically did not. Results demonstrated that problem children displayed tantrums, aggression, and self-injury contingent on adult instructional attempts but not at other times, whereas nonproblem children showed little or no problem behavior at any time. Importantly, from a child-effects perspective, adults engaged in teaching activities with nonproblem children more often than with problem children. Also, when an adult worked with a problem child, the breadth of instruction was more limited and typically involved those tasks associated with lower rates of behavior problems. The implications of these results are discussed with respect to theories of escape behavior, current assessment practices, and intervention issues related to maintenance. The existence of child effects suggests that problem behavior may be better understood when it is conceptualized as involving a process of reciprocal influence between adult and child.