Masculinity and Self‐Esteem in Israeli Jewish Professional Women 1

The literature suggests that while women experience unique challenges with self‐esteem and self‐acceptance, Jewish professional women in Israel face additional challenges in balancing majority culture values, ethnic traditions, and the socio‐historical‐political context of the country. The present study investigated differences in masculinity, femininity, locus of control, self‐esteem, and self‐acceptance among Israeli Jewish and other professional women, including professional women scientists. Masculinity scores were significantly lower for Israeli Jewish women, and self‐acceptance scores were significantly lower for Israeli Jewish women than for the group of professional women.     

Audiographic communication for distance counselling: a feasibility study

To explore the feasibility of conducting counselling or therapy that involves image making via the Internet, and simultaneously to identify new issues to consider when implementing online counselling services, 10 people selected for their relevant expertise were invited to use an audiographic telecommunication system and to comment on it. Content analysis of focus group discussions and interviews yielded the following significant issues: (a) concerns about technical failure, (b) relevance for people with disabilities, (c) the need for clinical procedures and communication guidelines, and (d) lack of shared physical presence. The co-researchers considered this form of distance delivery to be viable, and identified parameters that would ensure safe and ethical delivery. Implications for practice and future development are discussed.     

SIMPLIFIED HABIT REVERSAL TREATMENT FOR CHRONIC HAIR PULLING IN THREE ADOLESCENTS: A CLINICAL REPLICATION WITH DIRECT OBSERVATION

Three developmentally normal adolescents with chronic hair pulling were treated with a simplified habit reversal procedure consisting of awareness training, competing response training, and social support. Treatment resulted in an immediate reduction to near-zero levels of hair pulling, with one to three booster sessions required to maintain these levels. The results were maintained from 18 to 27 weeks posttreatment, although 1 participant reported difficulty at follow-up. The effectiveness of simplified habit reversal and suggestions for future research are discussed.     

Additional techniques for producing multiple-schedule control in children,

The subjects in these experiments were 132 children, varying in age from 4 to 7 years. These experiments were designed to assess the efficacy of various multiple scheduling procedures in producing reliable stimulus control. The schedules studied were multiple fixed-ratio-extinction (mult FR EXT); multiple differential-reinforcement-of-other-behavior-fixed-ratio (mult DRO FR); multiple differential-reinforcement-for-low-rate-fixed-ratio (mult DRL FR); and multiple fixed-interval-fixed-ratio (mult FI FR). In addition other techniques were investigated, such as presenting FR's in blocks; increasing the size of the FR's; attaching a DRL to the FI members; temporarily shifting to new schedules; and adding an external clock to the FI's. These experiments yielded the following results.1.) Strong stimulus control was produced by mult FR EXT, mult DRO FR, and mult DRL FR schedules. Control for mult FR EXT was mediated principally by the individual stimuli, though on occasion it was dependent in part on the change of stimuli. The mult DRO FR was found to be highly useful for those children who had very high initial rates or who were generally uncooperative and unmanageable.2.) Contrary to a previous finding, some subjects were brought under stimulus control by means of mult FI FR schedules without the aid of additional procedures. Most, however, were not. Additional techniques found to augment the development of mult FI FR control included: (1) presenting FR's in blocks; (2) increasing the size of the FR's; (3) attaching a DRL to the FI component for a time and later removing it; and (4) shifting to a mult DRL FR, developing control, and then returning to the original mult FI FR.3.) Addition of an external clock to the FI components of the mult FI FR had several effects. Strongest control, including well-developed acceleratory patterns during the FI's, was developed in those subjects who had first been shifted from a regular mult FI FR to a mult FR EXT, brought under control, and then returned to the mult FI FR with the clock added. The added clock also produced strong control if it was present when the subject was first begun on a mult FI FR schedule. In some cases, the addition of the clock produced control in subjects who had not been controlled previously by the regular mult FI FR, but these were always subjects who had high rates. The addition of the clock first lowered the rate, then produced control.     

The suppression role of positive affect on students’ science achievement in East Asia: the example of Taipei

This study focuses on “high achievement but low motivation” phenomenon that is prevalent in East Asian countries and districts, and uses eighth graders in Taipei that participated in TIMSS 2007 as an example to examine the direct and indirect effects of academic motivation, positive affect, and instruction on science achievement. Confirmatory Factor Analysis and Structural Equation Modeling were employed to test measurement and structural models and indicated a good fit of the models to the data. The results showed that expectancy and value in science and inquiry-based instruction are three significant and positive predictors of students’ positive affect toward science. In addition, expectancy, positive affect, and three types of instruction all significantly predicted students’ science achievement after the number of books at home and mother’s education were controlled. However, inquiry-based and practice-based instructions were negative predictors whereas traditional instruction was positive. The suppression role of the positive affect was partially supported between academic motivation and science achievement.