Underachievement and Attributions Among Students Attending Schools Stratified by Student Ability

Underachievement among students tends to be a social product. In this case, schools stratified to admit students of lower academic ability might be more likely to produce underachievers. A reason for this is the encouragement of external attribution and the discouragement of internal attribution among students in these schools. These hypotheses get support from a study of 2720 junior high school students in Hong Kong. This study shows that the hypothesized relationships generally held for six alternative methods of identifying underachievers.     

Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Symptom Clusters and Acquired Capability for Suicide: A Reexamination Using DSM-5 Criteria

This study used the interpersonal–psychological theory of suicide to explore the relationships among DSM-5 posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptom clusters derived from the six-factor anhedonia model and facets of acquired capability for suicide (ACS). In a sample of 373 trauma-exposed undergraduates, most PTSD symptom clusters were negatively associated with facets of ACS in bivariate correlations, but the anhedonia cluster was positively associated with ACS in regression models. Structure coefficients and commonality analysis indicated that anhedonia served as a suppressor variable for the other symptom clusters. Our findings further elucidate the complex relationship between specific PTSD symptom clusters and ACS.     

The Advanced Programmer's Reliance on Program Semantics: Evidence from some Cognitive Tasks

This study examined the effects of programming expertise on the semantic processing of computer programs. Experiment 1 showed that sensitivity to semantic changes (i.e. changes of actual program functions) in a BASIC program recognition task increased with programming experience. No such pattern was observed for surface changes (i.e. changes of program syntax without functional alterations). The magnitude of semantic priming for BASIC keywords in a lexical decision task also increased with expertise, but the pattern was not found with normal English priming. In Experiment 2, novice BASIC programmers detected more semantic changes than the controls (non-programmers) in BASIC programs; the reverse was found for surface changes. Both the controls and the novices detected more semantic than surface changes in English passages. The BASIC priming effect was found only with the novices whereas English priming was demonstrated with both the control and the novice participants. The present findings support the view that the programming expert relies particularly on semantic processing and such reliance is specific to programming activities. Practical implications of the present results are discussed.     

Narcissistic Measures of Lutheran Clergy Who Self-Reported Committing Sexual Misconduct

This study sought to determine if narcissism was a factor in Lutheran clergy who self-reported committing sexual misconduct. Sexual misconduct was defined as any activity in which a clergyperson, single or married, engaged in sexual behavior (sexual intercourse, kissing, touching or hugging with sexual intent, use of sexually explicit language) with a parishioner, client, or employee of the church (Francis & Turner, 1995). The results indicated that clergy who self-reported having committed sexual misconduct and had high levels of narcissism were not significantly different from those clergy who self-reported not having committed sexual misconduct. Demographic and related findings are also discussed. Former Lutheran minister and is currently an Assistant Professor of education atAssociate Professor of professional counseling in the Division of Professional Psychology at the     

Validation of a Chinese Version of the Psychological Sense of School Membership (C-PSSM): Tests of Measurement Invariance and Latent Mean Differences

This study examined the factorial structure of the Chinese version psychological sense of school membership scale (C-PSSM) (Cheung and Hui Asia Pacific Education Review, 4(1), 67–74, 2003). Five hundred and thirty-four university students from Hong Kong completed an 18-item C-PSSM and data were analyzed using exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis. In addition, tests of measurement invariance and latent mean differences were performed. From the results of the CFA, two items were deleted and a 3-factor, 16-item C-PSSM model was found to have an acceptable fit, with acceptable level of internal consistency for each factor and the overall scale. Measurement invariance (configural, metric, and partial scalar) of the 16-item C-PSSM was supported and the tests of latent mean differences revealed no statistical significance in factor score differences between male and female participants in this study. Overall, this study contributed to the literature by generating new insights on to the psychological sense of school membership through validating the C-PSSM on a sample from a culture and age group different from those reported in the current literature.     

A Guide to Conducting a Meta-Analysis

Meta-analysis is widely accepted as the preferred method to synthesize research findings in various disciplines. This paper provides an introduction to when and how to conduct a meta-analysis. Several practical questions, such as advantages of meta-analysis over conventional narrative review and the number of studies required for a meta-analysis, are addressed. Common meta-analytic models are then introduced. An artificial dataset is used to illustrate how a meta-analysis is conducted in several software packages. The paper concludes with some common pitfalls of meta-analysis and their solutions. The primary goal of this paper is to provide a summary background to readers who would like to conduct their first meta-analytic study.     

Made in America: Perspectives on Friendship in West African Immigrant Families

This qualitative study compared West African immigrant parents’ and adolescents’ perspectives on parental monitoring of adolescents’ peer groups. Parents (n = 31) and adolescent children (n = 25) were interviewed using focus groups and individual interviews, and data were analyzed using a grounded theory approach. Parents expressed a general concern about external influences on their children, particularly their mistrust of their children’s friends. Adolescents reported that they were aware of their parents’ fears and described their attempts to manage their parents’ concerns while simultaneously maintaining friendships with same-ethnic and other-ethnic peers. This study offers both parent and adolescent perspectives in an effort to better understand adolescents’ peer socialization and parental monitoring among West African immigrant families, one of the fastest growing demographic groups in the United States. Recommendations for mental health professions are discussed.