Dissimilarity in mother and adolescent illness representations of type 1 diabetes and negative emotional adjustment

The study explored how two measures of mother–adolescent dissimilarity in illness representations relate to negative emotional adjustment in mothers and adolescents. Eighty-four adolescents with type 1 diabetes (age 11.5–17.5) and their mothers completed the Revised Illness Perceptions Questionnaire and measures of negative emotional adjustment. Adolescents viewed diabetes as less chronic, containing fewer negative emotional representations, and that mother had less control over the illness than did mothers. Mother–adolescent mean differences in representations were not associated with negative adjustment for adolescents; mean differences in coherence were related to negative adjustment for mothers, when controlling the individual's own representations. A measure of dissimilarity based on the sum of squared differences between mother and adolescent was associated with negative adolescent adjustment when controlling adolescent's own representations, but no relations were found for mothers. Dyadic approaches to coping with chronic illness will benefit by understanding how dissimilarity in illness representations between patient and caregiver relate to adjustment.     

Characteristics of Valid Biographical Items

This study assessed the relationships between characteristics of biographical items from the Armed Services Applicant Profile and the items' validity in predicting the retention of enlisted military personnel. Item characteristics were appraised with ratings by expert judges and test takers, word and alternative counts, and response latencies. Item content was also appraised with ratings by expert judges. The more valid items involved overt behavior or experiences, dealt with discrete behavior or experiences, and had heterogeneous content. After controlling for item content, only the latter characteristic was related to validity. Item characteristics and item content interacted in several instances.     

Cognitive remediation in pediatric traumatic brain injury

Robinson's (1970) elaborative encoding technique (PQRST) was implemented as the active cognitive intervention strategy to address verbal memory deficits in 2 fourth-grade boys following mild or moderate traumatic brain injury (TBI). A metacognitive reading comprehension technique (Smith & Dauer, 1984) was also implemented for comparison purposes. Single-case methodology was employed using a counter-balanced crossover of the two intervention strategies controlling for the effects of attention. The performance of both boys was significantly better during strategy training with the PQRST technique and approached the performance level of the normal comparison subject. In contrast, the performance of both subjects with TBI remained at, or returned to, baseline levels during the metacognitive intervention. These findings suggest that Robinson's cognitive remediation intervention holds promise in addressing memory and reading comprehension deficits following pediatrie traumatic brain injury. Future research should focus on enhancing generalization and transfer of training to classroom assignments.     

Aversive Affect Versus Racism as Predictors of Racial Discrimination in Helping

We examined aversive affect and racism as predictors of differences in helping White versus Black targets. According to aversive racism theory, Whites may express egalitarian attitudes but experience discomfort in interracial interactions, producing discrimination. Participants completed racism measures and reported their likelihood of helping White or Black targets. Racism negligibly predicted discriminatory helping across studies. In Studies 2 and 3, participants experiencing aversive affect were less likely to help Black than White targets. Results demonstrate negative feelings, more so than racial biases, impacts discriminatory helping. We hope to inspire future research examining why White bystanders experience aversion in interracial helping.     

The Implications of Adolescents’ Academic Word Knowledge for Achievement and Instruction

The purpose of the current study was to determine relationships between orthographic and morphological awareness of academic words and achievement across content areas. Participants (n = 256), diverse seventh and eighth graders, took three word knowledge measures; two standardized achievement measures were used as outcomes. Orthographic awareness of academic words explained variance in achievement, beyond overall breadth of vocabulary knowledge, with significant changes in R² ranging from 0.02 to 0.08. Morphological awareness of academic words explained variance in achievement, beyond overall breadth of vocabulary knowledge, with significant changes in R² ranging from 0.06 to 0.16.     

Instantiation as Partial Identity: Replies to Critics

One of the advantages of my account in the essay “Instantiation as Partial Identity” was capturing the contingency of instantiation—something David Armstrong gave up in his experiment with a similar view. What made the contingency possible for me was my own non-standard account of identity, complete with the apparatus of counts and aspects. The need remains to lift some obscurity from the account in order to display its virtues to greater advantage. To that end, I propose to respond to those who have grappled with it in print. There are various criticisms by commentators: that it is rendered absurd by the transitivity of identity, that it makes instantiation necessary instead of contingent, that it is unclear what counts are, that aspects are simply tropes, that my view does not capture multiple location, that I make an unclear reference to a theory of composition as identity, that the account suffers from problems with polyadicity, and that it is not a realist account of universals after all. I give responses to these objections.     

Tracking job performance trajectories over time: A six-year longitudinal study

There is considerable interest in moving beyond static investigations of job performance to studying the dynamics of job performance over relatively long periods of time. In the present research, we investigated the development of job performance using a large sample of 420 employees followed over a six-year period for which yearly job performance evaluations by managers were available. Latent growth models indicated the presence of a nonlinear trajectory, with alternating phases of stability, sharp increase, and abrupt decrease. Level of education, the perception of one’s direct supervisor, and self-efficacy significantly predicted individual job performance levels observed at Wave 2. Quadratic job tenure, level of education, the perception of one’s direct supervisor, and self-efficacy were found to be significant predictors of job performance development. Findings are discussed in the light of their implications for future studies examining job performance longitudinally.