Cognitive–motivational antecedents of career decision-making processes in Portuguese high school students: A longitudinal study

In this study we propose an integrated framework of the antecedents of identity development and well/ill-being for high school students (N = 462) in the transition to higher education/job market. One study was conducted to investigate the effects of basic psychological need-satisfaction/frustration (as proposed within self-determination theory) and career decision-making self-efficacy (posited by social cognitive career theory) on the identity dimensions and experienced well/ill-being. Three longitudinal nested models were tested: a need-satisfaction/self-efficacy main effects model, an identity main effects model and a reciprocal main-effects model. The reciprocal effects between the variables were favored by the data. Basic need-satisfaction and career decision making self-efficacy positively predicted proactive exploration and commitment-making, while basic need-frustration predicted both diminished well-being and ill-being. Reciprocally, proactive exploration investments positively predicted whereas ruminative exploration negatively predicted, need-satisfaction and career decision-making self-efficacy. Implications for the design of career interventions are discussed and suggestions for future research proposed.     

Gender and Diagnosis: Struggles and Suggestions for Counselors

Concerns have been raised related to the intersection of gender and diagnosis, particularly with respect to biases in diagnoses made according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th ed., text rev.; American Psychiatric Association, 2000). The authors review the literature on the prevalence of diagnoses by gender, sex bias in diagnosis, the problematic impact of particular diagnoses on women, and the relationship of diagnosis to socialization and social conditions. Alternative diagnoses, diagnostic procedures, and diagnostic foci that can help counselors to most effectively avoid gender bias are offered.     

Family Disruption and Social,Emotional and Behavioral Functioning in Middle Childhood

The association between family disruption and child socio-emotional and behavioral development is a relatively well-examined but as yet unresolved issue, and the conclusions of previous research have been ambiguous. Further, some studies have indicated that associations may depend on other risk factors, yet the question of heterogeneity has been relatively little discussed. The purpose of this cross-sectional study was to assess associations between family disruption on the one hand and teacher-rated and self-reported outcomes on subscales from the Behavior Assessment System for Children, 2nd edition (BASC-2) and the Behavior and Emotional Screening System (BESS) on the other, among a Danish sample of 817 normally developing schoolchildren. Specifically, we assessed (a) the extent to which background factors explained unadjusted associations and (b) whether associations were heterogeneous across the distribution of outcome measures. Results from ordinary least squares (OLS) models showed that relative to children from intact families, children from disrupted families had higher problem scores on BASC-2 subscales Externalizing Problems, Study Skills and School Problems even after controlling for a wide range of background factors. Quantile regression (QR) models showed that associations with Externalizing Problems and Study Skills were stronger among children with higher problem scores. Certain behavioral problems may therefore indicate increased vulnerability towards adverse events, such as family disruption. General screening for such problems could provide an opportunity to identify children in need of special attention and support against the potentially negative outcomes of family disruption for their school experience.     

An Integrated Model for the Study of Teacher Motivation

Des recherches récentes ont montré que les enseignants souffraient plus que d’autres groupes professionnels d’un manque de motivation au travail. Une compréhension globale de la motivation des enseignants exige un modèle adéquat. L’objectif principal de cette recherche était de proposer et de mettre à l’épreuve un modèle de la motivation des enseignants qui intégre des concepts de plusieurs théories cognitivo‐motivationelles. Le modèle intégré s’appuie sur la schéma expectation‐valence et celui de l’incapacité acquise, mais surmonte quelques‐unes de leurs imperfections. L’échantillon était composé de 272 enseignants des écoles élémentaires et secondaires du Portugal. Ils ont répondu à une série d’inventaires destinés à mesurer leurs expectations de contrôle, de succès et d’efficacité, leurs attributions, leur motivation intrinsèque, la valence de leurs buts perçus et comment tout ceci interagit pout agir sur l’engagement professionnel (la variable exogène du modèle). Les analyses des coefficients de pistes et de la variance des variables endogènes valident le modèle intégré proposé ici et suggèrent des stratégies de formation pour accroître la motivation des enseignants. Recent studies show that teachers suffer more than other professional groups from the occupational lack of motivation. A global understanding of teacher motivation requires an adequate framework for its study. The main goal of the current research was to propose and test a model of teacher motivation that integrates constructs from several cognitive‐motivational theories. This integrative model starts from the perspectives of Expectancy‐Value and Learned Helplessness but overcomes some of the limitations of each. The participants were 272 elementary and secondary teachers in Portugal. They responded to a series of inventories designed to measure their expectancies of control, success and efficacy, attributions, intrinsic motivation and perceived goal value levels, and how these interact to influence professional engagement (the model's exogenous variable). Analyses of path coefficients and the variance of endogenous variables support the proposed integrated model and suggest strategies for teacher education that may increase teacher motivation.     

Development of phonological and orthographic processing in reading aloud,in silent reading,and in spelling: a four-year longitudinal study

The development of phonological and orthographic processing was studied from the middle of Grade 1 to the end of Grade 4 (age 6; 6-10 years) using the effects of regularity and of lexicality in reading aloud and in spelling tasks, and using the effect of pseudohomophony in a silent reading task. In all the tasks, signs of reliance on phonological processing were found even when indicators of reliance on orthographic processing appeared. Multiple regression analyses were conducted to determine which early skills predict later reading achievement. Pseudoword and irregular word scores were used as measures for phonological and orthographic skills, respectively. Only middle of Grade 1 phonological reading skills accounted for independent variance in end of Grade 4 orthographic skills. Conversely, from the middle to the end of Grade 1, and from the end of Grade 1 to the end of Grade 4, both orthographic and phonological skills accounted for independent variance in later orthographic skills. In the prediction of phonological skills, only the unique contribution of earlier phonological skills was significant. Thus, phonological and orthographic processing appear to be reciprocally related, rather than independent components of written word recognition. However, very early reliance on the phonological procedure seems to be the bootstrapping mechanism for reading acquisition.     

Motivating learning, performance, and persistence: the synergistic effects of intrinsic goal contents and autonomy-supportive contexts

Three field experiments with high school and college students tested the self-determination theory hypotheses that intrinsic (vs. extrinsic) goals and autonomy-supportive (vs. controlling) learning climates would improve students' learning, performance, and persistence. The learning of text material or physical exercises was framed in terms of intrinsic (community, personal growth, health) versus extrinsic (money, image) goals, which were presented in an autonomy-supportive versus controlling manner. Analyses of variance confirmed that both experimentally manipulated variables yielded main effects on depth of processing, test performance, and persistence (all ps <.001), and an interaction resulted in synergistically high deep processing and test performance (but not persistence) when both intrinsic goals and autonomy support were present. Effects were significantly mediated by autonomous motivation.     

Mathematical Studies of the Information in the Stimulus-Response Matrix

This paper considers the information transmitted in absolute judgments as encoded in a stimulus-response matrix (e.g., see Garner and Hake, 1951). When transmitted information is plotted against the number of stimulus categories in the matrix, one obtains a curve that increases monotonically toward a plateau, which is the maximum information transmittable per stimulus for the particular range of stimuli employed. We demonstrate that although the maximum information transmitted is an attribute of the stimulus continuum itself, the shape of the curve is an empirical property of the stimulus-response matrix, which is determined, in part, by maintaining a constant stimulus category width. Therefore, in principle, each curve of information transmitted vs number of stimulus categories can be determined by a single point: the rightmost point on the graph. Copyright 2001 Academic Press.