Teacher Gender and Nonverbal Behavior in the Teaching of Gender-Stereotyped Materials1

Twenty teachers each taught a male and a female student two different lessons. One of these lessons was in a stereotypically masculine domain (mechanics), the other in a stereotypically feminine domain (vocabulary). Judges viewed clips from the videotaped lessons and rated teachers' nonverbal behaviors. The students also rated their teachers on a variety of behavioral dimensions. The results showed that teachers exhibited more positive behavior toward the students for whose gender the material being taught was stereotypically appropriate. Similarly, teachers exhibited more negative behavior toward those students for whose gender the material being taught was considered stereotypically inappropriate. Additionally, teacher gender was shown to interact with the above-mentioned biased teaching behavior. Generally speaking, women teachers behaved in a less gender-biased way than did men teachers. It is suggested that these kinds of differential teaching behaviors may contribute to the differential performance of male and female students in traditionally gender-stereotyped academic domains.     

Teaching cotherapy: Instructional and supervisory processes

A course on cotherapy for mental health practitioners is described. The authors strongly recommend that clinicians from all disciplines be taught and trained to do cotherapy, since it is a highly effective therapeutic modality in treating individuals, families and groups.     

A new typology of health behaviours for personality-health predictions: The case of locus of control

Psychological investigations of the impact of personality on health behaviours have tended to emphasize fine distinctions among personality variables while failing to distinguish among different kinds of behaviours. For example, theoretical treatments of perceived personal control are quite sophisticated; in contrast, only one well-known analysis of health behaviours exists. We propose four categories of health-enhancing behaviours, which take into account contemporary views of the shift in health care from acute and physician-directed actions to long-term and patient-directed efforts. In addition, we suggest that perceived control (we emphasize locus of control because of its generality and parsimony) is an important predictor variable when combined with other factors common to current models of health behaviour.     

Conditioned approach and withdrawal behavior in pigeons: Effects of a novel extraneous stimulus during acquisition and extinction

Three experiments examined the effects of complete removal of reinforcement and of the introduction of a novel stimulus on conditioned approach and withdrawal behavior exhibited by pigeons in an autoshaping paradigm. Experiment 1 indicated that complete omission of food from the experimental situation resulted in the gradual disappearance of both approach and withdrawal behavior in subjects that had received either explicitly paired or explicitly unpaired conditioning. Subsequent presentation of a novel visual stimulus reinstated both approach and withdrawal. Experiment 2 replicated these findings in a within-subjects, discriminative paradigm. In Experiment 3, presenting the novel visual stimulus during acquisition when approach and withdrawal behaviors were asymptotic did not produce significant disruption of performance. These data suggest that removal of reinforcement leads to the disappearance of withdrawal as well as approach performance, and that subsequent presentation of a novel stimulys reinstates whatever behavior was dominant prior to extinction—a finding that seems analogous to results of experiments concerning proactive interference.     

Psychometric and instructional validation approaches in the hierarchical sequencing of learning tasks

Two strategies used to test prerequisite relationships among intellectual skills were employed to examine the sequence of three types of subtraction tasks. A psychometric validation strategy yielded results similar to an instructional validation strategy. This finding provides support for the use of the more efficient psychometric approach for validating large numbers of learning hierarchies in relatively short periods of time.     

Property

This paper first reviews material dealing with the question of whether possession and related behaviours are innately determined or secondary. It is considered that the significance of property-related behaviour can best be understood by reference to its ontogenesis, and to the social context, and to the intentions of the actor. Some relevant material is reviewed, and it is proposed that some forms of acquisition and possession of property may be limited to societies with a high degree of role flexibility and mobility and have to do with the building and maintenance of self-respect.     

Revisiting an Analysis of Threats to Internal Validity in Multiple Baseline Designs

In our previous article on threats to internal validity of multiple baseline design variations (Slocum et al., 2022), we argued that nonconcurrent multiple baseline designs (NCMB) are capable of rigorously demonstrating experimental control and should be considered equivalent to concurrent multiple baselines (CMB) in terms of internal validity. We were fortunate to receive five excellent commentaries on our article from experts in single-subject research design—four of whom endorsed the conclusion that NCMBs should be considered strong experimental designs capable of demonstrating experimental control. In the current article, we address the most salient points made in the five commentaries by further elaborating and clarifying the logic described in our original article. We address arguments related to classic threats including maturation, testing and session experience, and coincidental events (history). We rebut the notion that although NCMBs are strong, CMBs provide an increment of additional control and discuss the application of probability-based analysis of the likelihood of threats to internal validity. We conclude by emphasizing our agreement with many of the commentaries that selection of single-case experimental designs should be based on the myriad subtleties of research priorities and contextual factors rather than on a decontextualized hierarchy of designs.     

EARLY PARENTING SUPPORT AND INFORMATION: A CONSUMER PERSPECTIVE

The transition to parenthood is a period of both joy and challenge for most parents. There is a recognized need to support parents during this period, yet existing interventions have shown limited evidence of efficacy. This study takes a consumer‐focused approach to examine the needs and preferences of parents both prenatally (n = 77) and postnatally (n = 123) for parenting support. The study used a cross‐sectional design with a purpose‐built online survey. Parents were recruited via online forums, Facebook and parenting blogs, childcare centers, and playgroups. In general, all parents were satisfied with their current levels of both formal and informal support, and about one fourth of parents had accessed a parenting intervention. Parents expressed a moderate level of interest in additional parenting information, and parents expecting their first baby indicated preferences for information about basic baby care needs whereas postnatally, parents expressed more interest in topics around self‐care and behavior management. The implications for developing interventions and engaging families are discussed.     

Predicting Compliance with Sanitary Behaviors among Students in Higher Education During the Second COVID-19 Wave: The Role of Health Anxiety and Risk Perception

To limit the spread of COVID-19, public authorities have recommended sanitary behaviors such as handwashing, mask-wearing, physical distancing, and social distancing. We recruited a large sample of higher education students in Belgium (N = 3201–3441) to investigate the role of sociodemographic variables, mental health, previous COVID-19 infections, academic involvement, and risk perception on adherence to these sanitary behaviors. This cross-sectional study took place during the second COVID-19 wave in Belgium, between February and March 2021. Analyses showed that living alone, being female, later in the academic curriculum, having higher general and health anxiety, higher academic involvement, and higher risk perception were positively associated with adherence to the four aforementioned sanitary behaviors. Conversely, previous infection with COVID-19 and having been quarantined were negative predictors. Our results show a set of predictors highly similar for the four sanitary behaviors. We discuss potential initiatives to increase adherence to sanitary behaviors in this group of highly educated youngsters.