A Strengths-Based Longitudinal Career Intervention for Junior Secondary School Students with Special Educational Needs: a Mixed-method Evaluation

The mixed-method study reported here was designed to evaluate a strengths-based career intervention program for secondary school students with mild special educational needs (SEN). A sample of 32 SEN students (19 boys: 13 girls) from 5 inclusive schools in Hong Kong were recruited to a treatment group. An additional 32 SEN students (19 boys: 13 girls) were selected to form the control group matched for age, gender and parents’ education level. The special needs exhibited by both groups were in areas of literacy and numeracy, attention deficits, and social-emotional problems, but did not include severe or complex disabilities. Participants in both groups responded to pre- and post-intervention questionnaires covering career development self-efficacy, personal and social development self-efficacy, and meaning in life. As a follow-up, two teachers and three social workers providing support to SEN students, and the 32 participants were interviewed several months after the intervention. Interviews also took place with teachers, social workers and students to evaluate the perceived effects of the intervention. Findings indicated significant interactions between Time 1 and Time 2, and between groups (control vs. treatment) in personal goal-setting, career goal-setting, and the presence of meaning in life. Additionally, several themes were identified from the interviews suggesting that the intervention did have positive effects on SEN students’ career, personal and social development self-efficacy, and acquisition of meaning in life.

     

Development of a puff- and suction-type pressure stimulator for human tactile studies

In this study, we developed a tactile stimulator capable of administering either puff- or suction-type stimuli. The system is composed of three parts: a control unit, an air-handling unit, and a stimulation unit. The control unit controls the type, intensity, and time of stimulation. The air-handling unit delivers the stimulation power quantitatively to the stimulation unit, as commanded by the control unit. The stimulation unit stably administers either type of pressure to the skin, without any change of the tactor. Although the design of the stimulator is simple, it allows for five levels of control of the stimulation intensity (2–6 psi) and 0.1-s steps of control of the stimulation time, as we confirmed by tests. Preliminary electroencephalographic and event-related potential (ERP) studies of our system in humans confirmed the presence of N100 and P300 waves at standard electrode position C3, which are related to perception and cognition, respectively, in the somatosensory area of the brain. In addition, different stimulation types (puff and suction) and intensities (2 and 6 psi) were reflected in different peak-to-peak amplitudes and slopes of the mean ERP signal. The system developed in this study is expected to contribute to human tactile studies by providing the ability to administer puff- or suction-type stimuli interchangeably.     

Experimental manipulations of perspective taking and perspective switching in expressive writing

Previous studies suggest that those who naturally vary their pronoun use over the course of expressive writing subsequently report the greatest improvements in physical and mental health. To explore possible perspective taking or perspective switching effects, two studies manipulated writing perspectives about emotional events from either a first-person, second-person, or third-person perspective. In Study 1, 55 students were randomly assigned to one of the three writing perspectives and were asked to write from the same perspective for three 5-minute writing sessions. In Study 2, 129 students wrote for three 5-minute sessions, one from each perspective in a counterbalanced order. The results showed that writing from a first-person perspective conferred more perceived benefits and was associated with using more cognitive mechanism words, whether engaged in perspective taking or perspective switching.     

Copying skills in relation to word reading and writing in Chinese children with and without dyslexia

Because Chinese character learning typically relies heavily on rote character copying, we tested independent copying skill in third- and fourth-grade Chinese children with and without dyslexia. In total, 21 Chinese third and fourth graders with dyslexia and 33 without dyslexia (matched on age, nonverbal IQ, and mother’s education level) were given tasks of copying unfamiliar print in Vietnamese, Korean, and Hebrew as well as tests of word reading and writing, morphological awareness, rapid automatized naming (RAN), and orthographic processing. All three copying tasks distinguished dyslexic children from nondyslexic children with moderate effect sizes (.67-.80). Zero-order correlations of the three copying tasks with dictation and reading ranged from .37 to .58. With age, Raven’s, group status, RAN, morphological awareness, and orthographic measures statistically controlled, the copying tasks uniquely explained 6% and 3% variance in word reading and dictation, respectively. Results suggest that copying skill itself may be useful in understanding the development and impairment of literacy skills in Chinese.     

A simple 5-DoF MR-compatible motion signal measurement system

The purpose of this study was to develop a simple motion measurement system with magnetic resonance (MR) compatibility and safety. The motion measurement system proposed here can measure 5-DoF motion signals without deteriorating the MR images, and it has no effect on the intense and homogeneous main magnetic field, the temporal-gradient magnetic field (which varies rapidly with time), the transceiver radio frequency (RF) coil, and the RF pulse during MR data acquisition. A three-axis accelerometer and a two-axis gyroscope were used to measure 5-DoF motion signals, and Velcro was used to attach a sensor module to a finger or wrist. To minimize the interference between the MR imaging system and the motion measurement system, nonmagnetic materials were used for all electric circuit components in an MR shield room. To remove the effect of RF pulse, an amplifier, modulation circuit, and power supply were located in a shielded case, which was made of copper and aluminum. The motion signal was modulated to an optic signal using pulse width modulation, and the modulated optic signal was transmitted outside the MR shield room using a high-intensity light-emitting diode and an optic cable. The motion signal was recorded on a PC by demodulating the transmitted optic signal into an electric signal. Various kinematic variables, such as angle, acceleration, velocity, and jerk, can be measured or calculated by using the motion measurement system developed here. This system also enables motion tracking by extracting the position information from the motion signals. It was verified that MR images and motion signals could reliably be measured simultaneously.     

An Apology for a Religion of the Melancholic

This article is a study of depression and melancholia from the psychoanalytic perspective. Starting with the issue of levels and categories involving the phenomena of depression and melancholia, it elucidates the particular nature of the melancholic loss; the fact that the melancholic’s problem has to do with language; the view of the melancholic subject as a default subject; and the question of desire in melancholia and its trajectory toward recovery, eventually leading to a hopeful imagination concerning the innermost human desire. Three Lacanian psychoanalytic theories (Darian Leader (2009); Colette Soler (2006); Slavoj Zizek (2006)) are used to support my arguments; Suah Bae (2003, 2004) provides fascinating fictional truths that witness to the melancholic’s inner world; and Donald Capps (2000) renders a decisive help in my pastoral psychological reading of all of these writers.     

Multiple Roles of Married Korean Women: Effect on Depression

This study was designed to examine relationships between roles of employed married women in Seoul, South Korea, perceptions of their work role, coping patterns, and levels of depression. The convenience sample contained 382 women, aged 25–55 years, who were living with their husbands and working at least 20 hr weekly. Participants completed five questionnaires: demographic, Center for Epidemiological Studies—Depression Scale, Index of Sex-Role Orientation, Role Sharing, and Coping Strategies. Multiple regression analysis revealed several statistically significant relationships. Higher levels of depression were found in women who perceived motherhood and career roles as incompatible, those who coped by working harder, and those who spent less time helping children with homework. Women who owned their houses had lower levels of depression.