Measures of Effortful Regulation for Young Children

Emotion-related regulation is a topic of increasing interest among researchers, yet there is little agreement on ways to measure emotion regulation in young children. In this paper, we first consider important conceptual distinctions in regard to the different types of emotion-related regulation and control. Next, we describe a number of ways researchers have assessed children's regulation. We also present data from the Toddler Emotional Development project, in which laboratory-based measures of effortful regulation were used. In this section, we highlight the measures that show promise (and those that did not work well). Future directions for research on the measurement of effortful regulation are presented.     

Conceptual combination during sentence comprehension: evidence for compositional processes

This experiment examined the time course of integration of modifier-noun (conceptual) combinations during auditory sentence comprehension using cross-modal lexical priming. The study revealed that during ongoing comprehension, there is initial activation of features of the noun prior to activation of (emergent) features of the entire conceptual combination. These results support compositionality in conceptual combination; that is, they indicate that features of the individual words constituting a conceptual combination are activated prior to combination of the words into a new concept.     

Computerized behavioral-data collection and analysis for improved clinical outcomes in rehabilitation

Medical rehabilitation seeks change in patient behavior. Because of the variability in behavior across individuals and the uncertainty of clinical outcomes, an appropriate model for clinical intervention across the rehabilitation disciplines is single-case design. Therefore, the rehabilitation process can be facilitated by data collection and analysis tools similar to those used in the experimental analysis of behavior. We describe a system of computerized tools for the measurement and control of parts of this clinical process.     

An organizing framework for collective identity: articulation and significance of multidimensionality

The authors offer a framework for conceptualizing collective identity that aims to clarify and make distinctions among dimensions of identification that have not always been clearly articulated. Elements of collective identification included in this framework are self-categorization, evaluation, importance, attachment and sense of interdependence, social embeddedness, behavioral involvement, and content and meaning. For each element, the authors take note of different labels that have been used to identify what appear to be conceptually equivalent constructs, provide examples of studies that illustrate the concept, and suggest measurement approaches. Further, they discuss the potential links between elements and outcomes and how context moderates these relationships. The authors illustrate the utility of the multidimensional organizing framework by analyzing the different configuration of elements in 4 major theories of identification.     

Assessing the validity of implicit egotism: a reply to Gallucci (2003)

B. W. Pelham, M. C. Mirenberg, and J. T. Jones (2002) argued that most people prefer stimuli that are associated with the self, a preference they called implicit egotism. In support of implicit egotism, Pelham et al presented evidence from 10 archival studies showing that people gravitate toward careers and places of residence that resemble their names or birthday numbers. M. Gallucci (2003) argued that alternate analyses of the same data provide strong evidence against implicit egotism. Whereas Gallucci was correct that Pelham et al's original analyses were flawed, their results remain significant even when more conservative tests are used. The authors also present new data in support of implicit egotism, including exhaustive studies of (a) common surnames and US city names and (b) common surnames and street names. The new studies also revealed that as sample sizes grow larger, studies are more likely to produce evidence of implicit egotism.     

Wais-III matrix reasoning: instruction effects on task perception and performance

Instructions for the Matrix Reasoning subtest of the WAIS-III do not communicate to examinees that the subtest is untimed. The present study examined what percentage of participants (34 women, 26 men, M age = 20.1; 55 Caucasian, 3 African American, 2 Hispanic) made the assumption that Matrix Reasoning was timed, and its effect on examinees' scores. 55% of participants receiving standard instructions retrospectively reported assuming the subtest was timed, and those who did not assume Matrix Reasoning was timed scored significantly higher than participants who did. Participants receiving additional instructions that clarified the untimed nature of Matrix Reasoning scored significantly higher than those receiving standard instructions who believed the subtest was timed.     

Testing therapies less effective than the best current standard: ethical beliefs in an international sample of researchers

To test the range of beliefs regarding the ethics of testing, in resource poor settings, new therapies that are less efficacious but more affordable and feasible than the best current therapeutic standard.     

Interdisciplinary Treatment of Maladaptive Behaviors Associated with Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome (POTS): A Case Report

The prevalence of postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS) in adolescents and young adults has been increasing during the past decade. Despite this increase, documentation regarding treatment of these patients is just beginning to emerge. In addition, despite a call for a multidisciplinary or interdisciplinary approach, no studies have examined the efficacy of such an approach to treatment. This paper describes a case study of a 19-year-old male with debilitating POTS seen at a tertiary clinic for evaluation and subsequent intensive interdisciplinary treatment. The treatment approach is described and outcomes are presented.     

Motivation in a MOOC: a probabilistic analysis of online learners’ basic psychological needs

Self-determination theory (SDT) is one of the most well-known approaches to achievement motivation. However, the three basic psychological needs of SDT have not received equivalent attention in the literature: priority has been given to autonomy, followed by the need for competence, with research into relatedness lacking (Bachman and Stewart in Teach Psychol 38: 180–187, 2011. doi: 10.1177/0098628311411798). One new educational setting where relatedness may be particularly important is massive open online courses (MOOCs), which provide unprecedented opportunities for either relatedness or isolation. The purpose of the research was to use Bayesian networks (BN) to establish probabilistic relationships between learners’ basic psychological needs in the context of one MOOC. The majority (59 %) of participants (N = 1037; 50 % female and 50 % male) were under 45 (age range was 18–74 years). This sample represented approximately 88 regions and countries. Participants completed a revised Basic Student Needs Scale (Betoret and Artiga in Electron J Res Educ Psychol 9(2): 463–496, 2011). In order to reveal the best structural understanding of SDT within a MOOC learning environment, analysis of the data involved the development of a BN probabilistic model. The best fitting BN model included autonomy, competence, and relatedness—resulting in a probabilistic accuracy of 77.41 %. Analyses revealed participants with high autonomy had an 80.01 % probability of having a moderate level of competence. Relatedness was distinct from the autonomy and competence relationship. The strong inter-connections between autonomy and competence support existing research. The notion that relatedness may be a distinct need, at least in this context, was supported and warrants future research.     

Reactivity and regulation in children prenatally exposed to cocaine

Children prenatally exposed to cocaine may be at elevated risk for adjustment problems in early development because of greater reactivity and reduced regulation during challenging tasks. Few studies have examined whether cocaine-exposed children show such difficulties during the preschool years, a period marked by increased social and cognitive demands and by rapid changes in reactivity and regulation. The authors addressed this question by examining frustration reactivity and regulation of behavior during a problem-solving task in cocaine-exposed and -unexposed preschoolers. Participants were 174 4.5-year-olds (M age = 4.55 years, SD = 0.09). Frustration reactivity was measured as latency to show frustration and number of disruptive behaviors, whereas regulation was measured as latency to approach and attempt the problem-solving task and number of problem-solving behaviors. Results indicated that cocaine-exposed children took longer to attempt the problem-solving task but that cocaine-exposed boys showed the most difficulties: They were quicker to express frustration and were more disruptive. Effect sizes were relatively small, suggesting both resilience and vulnerabilities.