Teachers’ use of fear appeals in the Mathematics classroom: Worrying or motivating students?

Aim. This study examined whether teachers’ use of fear appeals in the classroom, attempts to motivate students to perform well in high‐stakes examinations by highlighting the educational, and/or occupational consequences of failure did indeed motivate students or whether it contributed to an increase in worry, anxiety, and fear of failure. Sample. A total of 132 secondary school students. Method. Self‐report data were collected for teachers’ use of fear appeals, test anxiety, and achievement goals in the context of Mathematics at the end of Years 10 and 11, the final 2 years of compulsory schooling. Results. The frequency with which teachers were reported to make fear appeals was unrelated to future test anxiety and achievement goals. When fear appeals were perceived to be threatening, however, they were related to an increase in the worry and tension components of test anxiety and increases in performance‐avoidance and mastery‐approach goals. Conclusion. Fear appeals appear to have competing positive and negative outcomes, resulting in both anxiety and a fear of failure, and a mastery‐approach goal.     

The role of organizational insiders' developmental feedback and proactive personality on newcomers' performance: an interactionist perspective

Drawing from an interactionist approach and feedback research, we examine the role of developmental feedback and proactive personality on newcomer task performance and helping behavior. Data were collected from 2 high-tech joint-ventures within the information technology and manufacturing industries located in Shanghai, China. Results based on 151 newcomer-manager dyads showed that supervisor developmental feedback (SDF) positively related to newcomer helping behavior and that SDF and coworker developmental feedback interactively predicted newcomer task performance. We also found differential moderating effects of proactive personality: SDF more strongly related to helping behavior when proactive personality was lower; conversely, coworker developmental feedback more strongly related to helping behavior when proactive personality was higher.     

Effects of motivating operations on problem and academic behavior in classrooms

The current study examined the effects of motivating operations on problem behavior and academic engagement for 2 students with autism. Classroom sessions were preceded by periods in which the participants had access or no access to the items functionally related to their problem behavior. Results suggested that presession access may result in lower levels of problem behavior and higher levels of academic engagement during classroom instruction.     

A new measure for dispositional optimism and pessimism in young children

We describe here a new test for dispositional optimism and pessimism in young children, the Parent‐rated Life Orientation Test of children (the PLOT) and assess its psychometric properties. Two hundred and twenty one mother–father pairs rated their children's (mean age = 8.1, SD = 0.3 years) dispositional optimism and pessimism using a new scale, the PLOT, including four optimism and four pessimism items. We associated the PLOT with parent‐rated self‐esteem (Behavioral Rating Scale of Presented Self‐Esteem in Young Children), social competence (Social Competence and Behaviour Evaluation Scale, the SCBE‐30), psychiatric symptoms (Child Behaviour Checklist, the CBCL) and temperament (Children's Behaviour Questionnaire, the CBQ) of the child. A confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) of the mother‐ and father‐rated PLOT revealed a significantly better fit for a two‐ over a one‐factor solution (p < 0.001). The optimism and pessimism subscales displayed good reliabilities, inter‐parental agreement and modest to moderate associations, in the expected direction, with the measures of self‐esteem, social competence, temperament and behaviour problems. To conclude, the PLOT shows good construct and convergent validity and reliability. The findings encourage its use to assess early emerging generalized expectancies of positive and negative outcomes in young children. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Investigating the relationship between meaningful time use and health in 18‐ to 25‐year‐old unemployed people in New South Wales,Australia

A vast body of literature has reported on the association between unemployment and poor psychological health. Nonetheless, there remains limited understanding of the influence of meaningfulness of time use, suggested by some to be the key mediator between time use and health. This project set out to explore the association between meaningful time use and health in 18‐ to 25‐year‐old unemployed people. In April 2007, 150 unemployed 18‐ to 25‐year‐old Australians (56% female) completed an online survey package exploring meaningfulness of time use and health. Hierarchical stepwise regression equations were developed to analyse the relationship between psychological health and measures of meaningful time use. Results provided partial support for the hypothesis that measures of meaningful time use would contribute to the prediction of psychological health. The addition of the person measure for the combined construct of ‘meaningful time use’ failed to make a significant contribution towards the prediction of psychological health. However, ‘reason for doing the activity’ emerged as a significant predictor. Findings provide preliminary evidence for the establishment of activity‐based programs to support young unemployed people. Further research is required to evaluate the outcomes of such programs and to replicate this study with other groups of unemployed individuals. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Franklin,Holmes, and the Epistemology of Computer Simulation

Allan Franklin has identified a number of strategies that scientists use to build confidence in experimental results. This paper shows that Franklin’s strategies have direct analogues in the context of computer simulation and then suggests that one of his strategies—the so‐called ‘Sherlock Holmes’ strategy—deserves a privileged place within the epistemologies of experiment and simulation. In particular, it is argued that while the successful application of even several of Franklin’s other strategies (or their analogues in simulation) may not be sufficient for justified belief in results, the successful application of a slightly elaborated version of the Sherlock Holmes strategy is sufficient.     

From Theory to Intervention: Mapping Theoretically Derived Behavioural Determinants to Behaviour Change Techniques

Theory provides a helpful basis for designing interventions to change behaviour but offers little guidance on how to do this. This paper aims to illustrate methods for developing an extensive list of behaviour change techniques (with definitions) and for linking techniques to theoretical constructs. A list of techniques and definitions was generated from techniques published in two systematic reviews, supplemented by "brainstorming" and a systematic search of nine textbooks used in training applied psychologists. Inter-rater reliability of extracting the techniques and definitions from the textbooks was assessed. Four experts judged which techniques would be effective in changing 11 theoretical constructs associated with behaviour change. Thirty-five techniques identified in the reviews were extended to 53 by brainstorming and to 137 by consulting textbooks. Agreement for the 53 definitions was 74.7 per cent (15.4% cells completed and 59.3% cells empty for both raters). Agreement about the link between the 35 techniques and theoretical constructs was 71.7 per cent of 385 judgments (12.2% agreement that effective and 59.5% agreement that not effective). This preliminary work demonstrates the possibility of developing a comprehensive, reliable taxonomy of techniques linked to theory. Further refinement is needed to eliminate redundancies, resolve uncertainties, and complete technique definitions.