The Effects of a Learning Station on the Completion and Accuracy of Math Homework for Middle School Students

We studied the effects of a Learning Station on the completion and accuracy of math homework of middle school students who had chronic homework problems. The Learning Station was a three sided free-standing panel with theoretically and empirically-based components involving (a) stimulation (color, music, activity breaks, and choice) and (b) self-attention (mirror and self-monitoring). Two students who used the Station tripled their accuracy and the amount of homework completed as assessed in a multiple baseline across participants design. One student with high academic abilities elected not to use the intervention, because he worked quickly (albeit carelessly) at school to complete his homework during baseline and during intervention. The practical and research implications of the findings are discussed.     

Increasing parenting self-efficacy: The Fussy Baby Network® intervention

High levels of infant crying place families at risk for disrupted relationships, parenting stress, and even for child maltreatment. We conducted an evaluation of the Fussy Baby Network^® (FBN), a program supporting families struggling with infant crying and related concerns. The study contrasted 29 families who sought help from FBN with 27 families with excessively crying infants who did not seek services. Researchers measured parenting self-efficacy, depression, and stress in each group before and after the intervention. Results from hierarchical multiple regression analysis indicated greater improvements over time in parenting self-efficacy for parents receiving FBN services. Furthermore, the greater improvements in parenting self-efficacy in the intervention group were not directly attributable to reductions in infant crying. These findings provide preliminary evidence that the FBN approach may be effective at boosting the confidence of parents struggling with caring for their infants. Future research with larger samples with baseline equivalence and stronger research designs should explore this intervention further. This study also suggests that interventions for families with excessively crying infants should move beyond the focus of reducing infant crying to a broader strategy of supporting parents and strengthening relationships between parents and their infants to build parenting capacity.     

Reducing online application redundancy: Effects on applicant attrition and quality

Job applications have long been a staple of the hiring process and online applications have rapidly become the new norm. The ability to examine applicant attrition—those who start the application but do not finish—and applicant quality are the two benefits of online applications. This study evaluates the effect of reducing application redundancy (not making applicants re‐enter information contained on their resumes) on applicant attrition and quality, with hypotheses derived from signaling theory and economics (cost/benefits). Results demonstrate that reducing redundancy leads to a reduction in applicant attrition across jobs, with the largest magnitude of change found in computer‐related jobs. This reduced attrition does not reduce applicant quality and some evidence suggests that applicant quality may even increase.     

Support networks of adolescent mothers: Effects on parenting experience and behavior

The relation between social support and lower-income African-American adolescent mothers' parenting experience, parenting behavior, and psychological symptoms was studied. Larger support networks were associated with better maternal adjustment unless individuals providing support were also providers of conflict. The young women's own mothers were their most prominent providers of support, and the number of different types of support the grandmother provided was related positively to quality of the adolescent's parenting behavior, but negatively to her experience of parenting. Having more friends in the network was related to better parenting behavior, but having more siblings in the network was related to poorer parenting behavior as well as more psychological symptoms. Although most of the young women relied on male partners for support, no variables related to provision of support by male partners were correlated with maternal adjustment.     

中医药临床实践的价值

把现代病因病理医学作为参照物,通过比较,指出中医的证是病人的全身综合反应状态,是病因病理医学之外的另外一个临床医学范畴。状态与病因病理是人类疾病的两个不同方面。从单纯状态病,西医难治和不治的疾病,常见病的治疗,中医药的近期疗效和远期疗效等方面阐述了中医药的临床价值。     

Integrative Complexity Coding Raises Integratively Complex Issues

Conway, Conway, Gornick, and Houck (2014) report a major effort to automate integrative complexity coding. Judging this effort requires researchers to be more explicit in articulating key methodological assumptions about the coding process and theoretical assumptions about the construct. Unresolved issues include: (1) when, and on what basis, we should attribute divergences between human coders and algorithms to overestimations or underestimations by one or the other approach; and (2) to what extent second‐generation algorithms can yield Pareto improvements that reduce errors of both underestimation and overestimation. Further progress in developing natural language processing measures of this cognitive style will require sharper definitions of target constructs: in particular, different types of differentiation (dialectical and elaborative) and integration (hierarchical and flexible) and clearer guidelines for factoring context into assessments.     

From Resistance to Buy-In: Experiences of Clinicians in Training Using Feedback-Informed Treatment

In this qualitative research study, the authors use grounded theory analysis to examine the experiences of clinicians in training and use client feedback to inform treatment. Twenty-six marriage and family therapy graduate students in their first or second semester of clinical practicum participated in this study. Participants were trained in eliciting and responding to client feedback at the end of every therapy session. At the end of the semester, participants reflected on their learning experience. Participant experiences reflected a developmental learning process beginning with significant challenges followed by positive clinical changes and positive clinician changes, culminating in overall buy-in regarding the importance of client feedback for nearly all clinicians. The results support the literature that client feedback directly informs the therapeutic process while suggesting important recommendations for training new clinicians in learning to use client feedback.