Ethnic Differences in Grade Trajectories During the Transition to Junior High

The transition from elementary to junior high school is difficult for some children, as indicated by a drop in grades in the new school setting from the beginning to end of the year. Finer-grain analysis of grade trajectories in the first year of junior high may reflect important differences among groups. In the present study, variables predicting linear and quadratic grade trajectories over the seventh grade were examined using a structural equation model (SEM, AMOS-4) and curve estimation procedures. Participants were 214 boys and 259 girls entering junior high (52% Anglo, 36% Hispanics, primarily of Mexican descent, and 12% Blacks). Three trajectory patterns were observed: “sliders,” students who showed a fairly steady grade decline over the year (characteristic of Anglos), “steadies,” students who varied little over the year (characteristic of Blacks), and “rebounders,” students whose grades dropped to a minimum in the fourth 6-week period, then showed limited recovery (characteristic of Hispanics). In the SEM, a lower intercept (representing the average of sixth grade grades) was associated with minority ethnic/racial status (Hispanic or Black), using more emotional discharge to cope, having a lower percentage of adults in the support network, poorer family functioning, and greater depression. Being Black was associated with a positive path coefficient to the linear slope of the grade trajectory, while a negative path coefficient was associated with using more emotional discharge in coping. The quadratic element (drop in grades with some recovery) was more pronounced for Hispanic participants, less pronounced for Black participants, and more pronounced when poorer family functioning was reported. Curve estimation procedures confirmed these ethnic/racial group differences. Reasons for such differences and their implications for schools and families are discussed.     

Computation and Causation

The computer's effect on our understanding of causation has been enormous. By the mid-1980s, philosophical and social-scientific work on the topic had left us with (1) no reasonable reductive account of causation and (2) a class of statistical causal models tied to linear regression. At this time, computer scientists were attacking the problem of equipping robots with models of the external that included probabilistic portrayals of uncertainty. To solve the problem of efficiently storing such knowledge, they introduced Bayes Networks and directed graphs. By attaching a causal interpretation to Bayes Networks, the philosophy of causation changed dramatically. We are now able to be extremely general about how causal structure connects to data, and systematic about when causal structures are empirically indistinguishable. In this essay I try to motivate and describe this synthesis.     

Moderator effects of attitudinal ambivalence on attitude–behaviour relationships

Attitudinal ambivalence is generally construed as existing when the same attitude object is evaluated simultaneously as both positive and negative. The present research examined the moderating role of attitudinal ambivalence (as assessed by split‐semantic differential measure) on the relationship between bipolar semantic differential measures of attitude and subsequent behaviour using moderated regression analysis. In Study 1, higher levels of attitudinal ambivalence were shown to result in weaker attitude–behaviour relationships for eating a low‐fat diet (N = 140) and eating 5 portions of fruit and vegetables per day (N = 142). Study 2 (N = 361) replicated this effect when also including a measure of past behaviour for eating a low‐fat diet. Implications for understanding the relationship between attitudes and behaviour are discussed. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Weyl’s Appropriation of Husserl’s and Poincar“s Thought

This article locates Weyl's philosophy of mathematics and its relationship to his philosophy of science within the epistemological and ontological framework of Husserl's phenomenology as expressed in the Logical Investigations and Ideas. This interpretation permits a unified reading of Weyl's scattered philosophical comments in The Continuum and Space-Time-Matter. But the article also indicates that Weyl employed Poincaré's predicativist concerns to modify Husserl's semantics and trim Husserl's ontology. Using Poincaré's razor to shave Husserl's beard leads to limitations on the least upper bound theorem in the foundations of analysis and Dirichlet's principle in the foundations of physics. Finally, the article opens the possibility of reading Weyl as a systematic thinker, that he follows Husserl's so-called transcendental turn in the Ideas. This permits an even more unified reading of Weyl's scattered philosophical comments.     

Suicide reduction and prevention: strategies and interventions

This paper focuses on suicide reduction and prevention. It considers what the United Kingdom government and associated bodies such as Department of Health, the National Health Service and Prison Service could do and are considering doing to prevent suicide in Britain. UK suicide statistics for the period 1971 and 1997 are compared and the Highland Health Board suicide prevention strategy for the 1990s is considered. The articles in this symposium are introduced and the recent UK legal cases involving Ms B and Diane Pretty are included.

Counsellors and psychotherapists have always been concerned, to varying degrees, about clients committing or attempting suicide [1]. It is a topic which can trigger much concern and interest with both neophyte and experienced therapists [2]. In the past decade there has been a growth in individual membership of counselling and psychotherapeutic professional bodies with more therapists becoming accredited and/or registered as qualified practitioners. Thus there has been additional pressure on therapists to adhere to professional codes of practice and ethics.To take the correct action and to be seen to take the correct action within client-therapist relationships is now paramount. It could be argued that this has always been the case. However, therapists not working within a professional framework may have had less incentive to act in a professional manner. A proactive approach may be recommended when seeing clients with suicidal ideation and/or intention (Palmer, 1995). In these cases, inaction can sometimes prove fatal so it is incumbent upon the therapist to support and help the client through the difficult period (Curwen, 1997).     

Is there a Preferred Performance Rating Format? A Non-psychometric Perspective

Les échelles d'appréciation constituent une forme d'évaluation des performances qui a rencontré un grand succès ces dernières décennies. En particulier, de gros efforts ont été consacrés au développement d'échelles relativement insensibles aux erreurs et biais cognitifs. Mais on s'est beaucoup moins intéressé au fait de savoir si et comment le type d'évaluation affecte les attitudes professionnelles et les réactions des personnes évaluées. Des données en provenance de quatre études différentes avec des échantillons tirés dans deux pays (lsraël et le Canada) apportent des éléments en faveur de l'idée selon laquelle une évaluation de la performance basée sur le BOS peut être supérieure aux autres méthodes en ce sens qu'elle entraîne des conséquences plus positives au niveau des attitudes.
One aspect of performance appraisal that has received considerable attention over past decades is the rating format. In particular, much effort has been devoted to developing rating scales that are relatively impervious to cognitive rating errors and biases. However, much less attention has been accorded the issues of whether and how an appraisal's format affects work attitudes and reactions of ratees. Data collected in four separate studies and with samples in two nations (Israel, Canada) lend credence to the proposition that a BOS-based performance appraisal and review may be superior to other appraisal methods in terms of yielding more favorable attitudinal effects.     

Improving Parent‐Child Relationships Through Filial Therapy: An Interview With Garry Landreth

Internationally known counselor educator and author Garry Landreth has a passion for filial therapy. In this interview article, Landreth discusses the basic principles and procedures of filial therapy, the 10‐week Filial Therapy Training Model he has developed, and the research that he and his colleagues and students are doing on filial therapy.     

Memory for events after twenty years

This is a study of one person's memory for events that occurred twenty years earlier. Memory was observed to follow an asymptotic rate of decay. No experience of recovered memories occurred. Factors found to be related to recall were the rarity of the event, its vividness, and the emotional intensity experienced at the time. Factors unrelated or only weakly related were perceived importance of the event, its association with knowledge, and intensities of physical sensations. Pleasant events were recalled a little better than unpleasant. Though less strongly associated with memory than is location, moderate marking of events with date and time was found. The results suggest that personal memory declines as the images of events one by one submerge into the mass of generalized experiences. The more vivid, rare, and emotional experiences are more likely to remain discriminable, and may be sustained by rehearsal. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Two sets of twins with selective mutism: neuropsychological findings.

Neuropsychological data are reviewed from two sets of dizygotic twins presenting with selective mutism characterized by situation specific anxiety, extreme passive behavior, lack of responsivity, lack of peer interaction, and a chronic course of selective mutism. Both sets of twins had a history of prematurity and delayed speech development. One set of twins presented with normal intelligence and normal receptive language skills but with expressive language and oral motor sequencing difficulties. The second set of twins presented with Verbal IQ deficits and significant receptive and expressive language deficits. A summary of current conceptualizations regarding etiology and treatment of selective mutism is provided.     

The Differential Effects of Extracurricular Activities on Attributions in Résumé Evaluation

This study examines the effects that extracurricular activities have on the attributions a résumé reader makes about an applicant. Three characteristics of extracurricular activities (number of activities, holding positions of leadership, and relevance of the activities) were manipulated across 24 résumés of fictitious college graduates. Some 219 raters read the résumés and made judgments about the level of the applicant’s quality. The results showed a main effect for the number of activities, a main effect for holding leadership positions, and a main effect for relevance of the activity. Furthermore, a three–way interaction revealed the differential effects that the relevance of the activities had on the attributions at different levels of leadership and number of activities. A mix of career–related and social activities garnered higher ratings for those who held leadership positions in five activities. However, for those who were leaders in only two activities or were not leaders in five, having only career–related activities earned them higher ratings. For applicants who were not leaders in two activities, relevance of the activities played no role.