Children's interpretive understanding,moral judgments,and emotion attributions: Relations to social behaviour

The study investigated interpretive understanding, moral judgments, and emotion attributions in relation to social behaviour in a sample of 59 5‐year‐old, 123 7‐year‐old, and 130 9‐year‐old children. Interpretive understanding was assessed by two tasks measuring children's understanding of ambiguous situations. Moral judgments and emotion attributions were measured using two moral rule transgressions. Social behaviour was assessed using teachers' ratings of aggressive and prosocial behaviour. Aggressive behaviour was positively related to interpretive understanding and negatively related to moral reasoning. Prosocial behaviour was positively associated with attribution of fear. Moral judgments and emotion attributions were related, depending on age. Interpretive understanding was unrelated to moral judgments and emotion attributions. The findings are discussed in regard to the role of interpretive understanding and moral and affective knowledge in understanding children's social behaviour.     

Effects of computer‐based training on procedural modifications to standard functional analyses

Few studies have evaluated methods for training decision‐making when functional analysis data are undifferentiated. The current study evaluated computer‐based training to teach 20 graduate students to arrange functional analysis conditions, analyze functional analysis data, and implement procedural modifications. Participants were exposed to training materials using interactive software during a 1‐day session. Following the training, mean scores on the posttest, novel cases probe, and maintenance probe increased for all participants. These results replicate previous findings during a 1‐day session and include a measure of participant acceptability of the training. Recommendations for future research on computer‐based training and functional analysis are discussed.     

Teaching children with autism spectrum disorder to tact olfactory stimuli

Research on tact acquisition by children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) has often focused on teaching participants to tact visual stimuli. It is important to evaluate procedures for teaching tacts of nonvisual stimuli (e.g., olfactory, tactile). The purpose of the current study was to extend the literature on secondary target instruction and tact training by evaluating the effects of a discrete‐trial instruction procedure involving (a) echoic prompts, a constant prompt delay, and error correction for primary targets; (b) inclusion of secondary target stimuli in the consequent portion of learning trials; and (c) multiple exemplar training on the acquisition of item tacts of olfactory stimuli, emergence of category tacts of olfactory stimuli, generalization of category tacts, and emergence of category matching, with three children diagnosed with ASD. Results showed that all participants learned the item and category tacts following teaching, participants demonstrated generalization across category tacts, and category matching emerged for all participants.     

On the dynamics of work identity in atypical employment: setting out a research agenda

Starting from the notion that work is an important part of who we are, we extend existing theory making on the interplay of work and identity by applying them to (so called) atypical work situations. Without the contextual stability of a permanent organizational position, the question “who one is” will be more difficult to answer. At the same time, a stable occupational identity might provide an even more important orientation to one’s career attitudes and goals in atypical employment situations. So, although atypical employment might pose different challenges on identity, identity can still be a valid concept to assist the understanding of behaviour, attitudes, and well-being in these situations. Our analysis does not attempt to “reinvent” the concept of identity, but will elaborate how existing conceptualizations of identity as being a multiple (albeit perceived as singular), fluid (albeit perceived as stable), and actively forged (as well as passively influenced) construct that can be adapted to understand the effects of atypical employment contexts. Furthermore, we suggest three specific ways to understand the longitudinal dynamics of the interplay between atypical employment and identity over time: passive incremental, active incremental, and transformative change. We conclude with key learning points and outline a few practical recommendations for more research into identity as an explanatory mechanism for the effects of atypical employment situations.     

I TO WE: THE ROLE OF CONSCIOUSNESS TRANSFORMATION IN COMPASSION AND ALTRUISM

It is clear that human consciousness can be transformed through spiritual experiences and practices. Little is known, however, about what the predictors, mediators, and outcomes are of such transformations in consciousness. In‐depth structured interviews were conducted with forty‐seven teachers and scholars from religious and spiritual traditions and modern transformative movements to identify factors common to the transformative process across traditions. Compassion and altruism were almost universally identified as important outcomes of positive consciousness transformation. Results of our analysis suggest that altruism and compassion may arise as natural consequences of experiences of interconnection and oneness. These experiences appear to lead to shifts in perspective and changes in one's sense of self and self in relationship to others. Based on these findings, we suggest several mechanisms by which transformative experiences and practices might influence the development of compassion and altruism.     

Belongingness and Burdensomeness in Adolescents: Slovene Translation and Validation of the Interpersonal Needs Questionnaire

The Interpersonal Needs Questionnaire (INQ) for assessing thwarted belongingness (TB) and perceived burdensomeness (PB) has not been validated with community adolescents. We translated and administered the INQ to 307 Slovenian adolescents twice over 2–3 months and found that the 15‐item version (INQ‐15) did not fit without modification. TB and PB scales correlated with concurrent and later suicide ideation and lifetime suicide attempt history. The latent PB factor was associated with concurrent and later ideation controlling for TB, age, gender, depressive symptoms, binge drinking, and peer victimization. Suicide ideation and binge drinking were independently related to attempt history. Assessing and intervening on PB and binge drinking may be promising approaches to suicide prevention with community adolescents.     

Group Narrative Therapy for Women With Attention‐Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder

Women with attention‐deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) often struggle with the developmental challenges of adulthood and ADHD‐related problems. The authors provide specific clinical interventions from a narrative‐based group approach to help women with ADHD understand their symptoms, create strength‐based narratives, and apply these narratives to the developmental tasks of early adulthood.     

Working memory interference during processing texts and pictures: Implications for the explanation of the modality effect

Auditory text presentation improves learning with pictures and texts. With sequential text–picture presentation, cognitive models of multimedia learning explain this modality effect in terms of greater visuo‐spatial working memory load with visual as compared to auditory texts. Visual texts are assumed to demand the same working memory subsystem as pictures, while auditory texts make use of an additional cognitive resource. We provide two alternative assumptions that relate to more basic processes: First, acoustic‐sensory information causes a retention advantage for auditory over visual texts which occurs no matter if a picture is presented or not. Second, eye movements during reading hamper visuo‐spatial rehearsal. Two experiments applying elementary procedures provide first evidence for these assumptions. Experiment 1 demonstrates that, regarding text recall, the auditory advantage is independent of visuo‐spatial working memory load. Experiment 2 reveals worse matrix recognition performance after reading text requiring eye movements than after listening or reading without eye movements. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Self-Determination Skills of Adolescents Enrolled in Special Education: An Analysis of Four Cases

This study provides information about four adolescent students participating in an occupation-based self-determination program drawn from the Model of Self-Determination and the Model of Human Occupation. Students were selected from a Career Lab based on their ability to participate. The analysis of the cases demonstrate that psycho-educational strategies incorporated into a special education curriculum can instill in the students the knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors necessary for personal goal setting and attainment.     

A Tribute to James Gordon Kelly

During the June 2001, eighth biennial meeting of the Society for Community Research and Action in Atlanta, a wide variety of community psychologists across generations attended a tribute in honor of James Gordon Kelly. What follows is an attempt to capture the spirit of the afternoon tribute as expressed through remarks made by colleagues and readings of letters sent by those unable to attend. The wide range of individuals represented here attests to the many additive ways in which Jim has cared about the field of community psychology and has contributed to its essence. Three additional invited contributions are included wherein Dick Reppucci, Rhona Weinstein, and Julian Rappaport reflect on the influence of Jim on their own career and on the development of the field.