Speed-accuracy decomposition yields a sudden insight into all-or-none information processing

The existence of discrete all-or-none information processing has often been assumed as a basis for stage models and also as an important characteristic of nonlinear connectionist models; however, there has been little or no hard empirical evidence supporting the existence of this phenomenon. In search of such evidence, we applied speed-accuracy decomposition (Meyer et al., 1988), a technique for detecting partial response information, to the examination of the time-course of processing in a (Gestalt) insight-like task, namely, anagram solution. This task was chosen because the Gestalt psychologists conjectured that insight is a sudden, discrete phenomenon. Supporting this view, we found little or no evidence of partial information in two experiments, thereby providing what may be the strongest evidence to date for all-or-none processing.     

A note on monotone polygons fitted to bivariate data

The monotone regression function of Kruskal and the rank image function of Guttman and Lingoes were fitted to bivariate normal samples and their statistical properties contrasted.This paper was written while the author was a Visiting Professor in the Department of Psychology, University College, London.     

Correction to: Religiosity and Health-Related Quality of Life: A Cross-Sectional Study on Filipino Christian Hemodialysis Patients

Journal of Religion and Health - The authors regret that the following error occurred in the original publication of the article. The corrected text has been presented with this erratum. In the...     

Tactile Prompting and Weekly Performance Feedback for Increasing Teachers’ Behavior-Specific Praise

The school-based consultation literature includes a variety of empirically supported procedures for increasing teachers’ implementation of classroom management strategies. However, teachers may respond differently to empirically supported consultation procedures. This study used a multiple baseline design across three elementary teachers to test the effects of a tactile prompting and weekly performance feedback consultation procedure for increasing teachers’ behavior-specific praise. Additionally, this study included data for teachers’ rate of reprimands and their classrooms’ appropriately engaged behavior and disruptive behavior. Results indicated that tactile prompting and weekly performance feedback increased behavior-specific praise for all three teachers. However, a functional relation between tactile prompting and weekly performance feedback and changes in teachers’ reprimands and their classrooms’ appropriately engaged and disruptive behavior was not established. Implications for applied practice, and limitations and directions for future research are discussed.     

Critical consciousness: current status and future directions

In this chapter, the authors consider Paulo Freire's construct of critical consciousness (CC) and why it deserves more attention in research and discourse on youth political and civic development. His approach to education and similar ideas by other scholars of liberation aims to foster a critical analysis of society--and one's status within it--using egalitarian, empowering, and interactive methods. The aim is social change as well as learning, which makes these ideas especially relevant to the structural injustice faced by marginalized youth. From their review of these ideas, the authors derive three core CC components: critical reflection, political efficacy, and critical action. They highlight promising research related to these constructs and innovative applied work including youth action-research methodology. Their conclusion offers ideas for closing some of the critical gaps in CC theory and research.