Questioning Children Who May Have Been Sexually Abused

Summary

This article derives from an Open Forum on Leading Questions sponsored by the American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children. It represents the thoughts of participants in the Open Forum, and the article attempts to integrate analogue research that relates to questioning children about past events into questioning practice with children who may have been sexually abused. It proposes a continuum of questions that includes four categories: most preferred, preferred, less preferred, and least preferred.     

Attachment,Mental Health,and Verbal Aggressiveness in Personal Relationships

This study examined the association between verbal aggressiveness and individual differences in attachment orientations and mental health, defined as a state of emotional well-being. One hundred and thirty-two college-aged students completed measures assessing their attachment orientations, mental health, and verbal aggressiveness. Results indicated that security in attachment was negatively associated with verbal aggressiveness, and preoccupation with relationships was positively associated with verbal aggressiveness. In addition, mental health was negatively associated with verbal aggressiveness. Results indicated support for a statistical model in which mental health mediated the association between attachment orientations and verbal aggressiveness.     

Multiple paths to transfer and constraint relaxation in insight problem solving

In two experiments participants received various training methods designed to relax constraints present in the Four-Tree problem (deBono, 1967 deBono, E. 1967. The use of lateral thinking, London: Jonathan Cape.  [Google Scholar]), a difficult insight problem. Geometry misconceptions were corrected via direct instruction. Participants’ difficulty with developing three-dimensional representations was addressed via spontaneous analogical transfer (Experiment 1) or via cued analogical transfer (Experiment 2). We found that, while both training methods were effective, alleviating multiple constraints was more effective than the alleviation of single constraints via training programmes (c.f. Kershaw & Ohlsson, 2004 Kershaw, T. C. and Ohlsson, S. 2004. Multiple causes of difficulty in insight: The case of the nine-dot problem. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning Memory and Cognition, 30: 3–13. doi: 10.1037/0278-7393.30.1.3[Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]). Providing single difficulty hints was ineffective in promoting solution. Implications for multiple paths to transfer (Nokes, 2009 Nokes, T. J. 2009. Mechanisms of knowledge transfer. Thinking & Reasoning, 15: 1–36. doi: 10.1080/13546780802490186[Taylor & Francis Online], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]; Nokes & Ohlsson, 2005 Nokes, T. J. and Ohlsson, S. 2005. Comparing multiple paths to mastery: What is learned?. Cognitive Science, 29: 769–796. doi: 10.1207/s15516709cog0000_32[Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) and multiple constraints are discussed.     

Toward a technology of derived stimulus relations: an analysis of articles published in the journal of applied behavior analysis, 1992-2009

Every article on stimulus equivalence or derived stimulus relations published in the Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis was evaluated in terms of characteristics that are relevant to the development of applied technologies: the type of participants, settings, procedure (automated vs. tabletop), stimuli, and stimulus sensory modality; types of relations targeted and emergent skills demonstrated by participants; and presence versus absence of evaluation of generalization and maintenance. In most respects, published reports suggested the possibility of applied technologies but left the difficult work of technology development to future investigations, suggestions for which are provided.     

The relationship between phonological skills and word decoding

Word decoding ability is a critical factor in reading performance. In the present study, we examined the relationship between word decoding ability and three different phonological skills; phonemic awareness, verbal short-term memory (V-STM), and rapid automatic naming (RAN) in 1007 Scandinavian third- and fifth-graders. In the first part of the study, we sought to investigate the influence of the three phonological skills on word decoding ability. Using multiple regression analysis, our result clearly demonstrated that phonemic awareness was the most powerful phonological skill explaining variance in word decoding ability among average decoders. Among children with poor decoding skills, however, RAN was the most important factor in Grade 3, whereas V-STM was the main contributor to decoding ability among children in Grade 5. In the second part of the research, we examined the relationship between poor phonological skills and word decoding ability. Interestingly, our result revealed that approximately one half of the children with phonological difficulties, still performed within the average range with regard to word decoding ability. However, our analyses confirmed earlier research concerning the severe word decoding difficulties children with both poor phonemic awareness and restricted V-STM, experience.     

医疗机构口头告知不宜扩大

口头告知界定的不明确给医疗机构及其医务人员带来了困扰。知情同意和告知义务虽被越来越多的医疗机构和公众关注,但对于告知方式并没有过多的注意,医疗机构因为口头告知导致损害赔偿的案件也不鲜见。本文探讨了医疗告知含义、医疗告知的多种方式,通过口头告知的利与弊来提出口头告知不宜过于扩大化。     

The effects of verbal operant training and response interruption and redirection on appropriate and inappropriate vocalizations

Past research has shown that response interruption and redirection (RIRD) can effectively decrease automatically reinforced motor behavior (Hagopian & Adelinis, 2001). Ahearn, Clark, MacDonald, and Chung (2007) found that a procedural adaptation of RIRD reduced vocal stereotypy and increased appropriate vocalizations for some children, although appropriate vocalizations were not targeted directly. The purpose of the current study was to examine the effects of directly targeting appropriate language (i.e., verbal operant training) on vocal stereotypy and appropriate speech in 3 children with an autism spectrum disorder. The effects of verbal operant (i.e., tact) training were evaluated in a nonconcurrent multiple baseline design across participants. In addition, RIRD was implemented with 2 of the 3 participants to further decrease levels of vocal stereotypy. Verbal operant training alone produced slightly lower levels of stereotypy and increased appropriate vocalizations for all 3 participants; however, RIRD was required to produce acceptably low levels of stereotypy for 2 of the 3 participants.     

The Influence of Sex,Gender, Self-Discrepancies,and Self-Awareness on Anger and Verbal Aggressiveness Among U.S. College Students

Abstract

Among a sample of 445 U.S. college students, the authors examined the extent to which individual differences (e.g., sex, gender, self-discrepancies, self-awareness) explained anger tendencies and verbal aggressiveness. Regression analyses showed that (a) the tendency to repress anger (anger-in) was explained by masculinity, desire to be masculine, and public self-awareness, R ² = .19, F(11, 433) = 8.44, p < .001; (b) the tendency to express anger (anger-out) was explained by sex, masculinity, and public self-awareness, R ² = .17, F(11, 433) = 7.38, p < .001; and (c) willingness to be verbally aggressive was explained by sex, femininity, and private self-awareness, R ² = .32, F(11, 433) = 16.94, p < .001. In addition, different types of individual difference variables accounted for anger tendencies and verbal aggressiveness across sex and gender categories, suggesting that anger and verbal aggressiveness may be driven by different psychological processes across types of participants.     

心智游移的研究：理论、方法及进展

心智游移普遍存在于个体的意识体验中,主要指自发产生的、与当前外界环境无关的思维加工。目前,有关心智游移的理论在其与执行控制的关系上存在争议,主要有心智游移的执行控制理论、控制失败假说和全局可用性假说等。当前的研究主要基于口头报告,并辅以问卷和量表,一些客观指标和认知神经科学的方法也正尝试着对它进行探究。采用这些方法,心智游移的研究已取得了很大的进展。在行为水平上,相关研究探讨了它的时间属性、与元意识的关系、不同因素对它的作用以及它对认知加工的影响等;在认知神经水平上,默认网络与心智游移的关系备受关注,对心智游移时脑电成分的研究也有助于对其机制的了解。未来的研究在心智游移的产生机制、功能和研究方法上可以有进一步的发展。     

Symmetry, direct measurement, and Torgerson's conjecture

Two forms of direct measurement are considered in the article: a strong form in which ratio productions named by number words are interpreted veridically as the numerical ratios they name; and a weak form in which the ratio productions named by number words may have interpretations as ratios that are different from numerical ratios they name. Both forms assume that the responses to instructions to produce ratios are represented numerically by ratios, and thus the word “ratio”—and supposedly the participants concept associated with it—is being “directly” represented. The strong form additionally “directly represents” the number mentioned in the instruction by itself. The article provides an axiomatic theory for the numerical representations produced by both forms. This theory eliminates the need for assuming anything is being “directly represented,” allowing for a purely behavioral approach to ratio production data. It isolates two critical axioms for empirical testing. An measurement-theoretic explanation is provided for the puzzling empirical phenomenon that subjects do not distinguish between ratios and differences in a variety of direct measurement tasks.