The relationship of individual and communal state-trait coping and interpersonal resources as trust,empathy and responsibility

Prior research and theoretical considerations revealed important information about the role of individual state-trait coping and personal resources for coping with an examination. However, the relationship between communal coping strategies and interpersonal resources has yet to be investigated. In order to understand the relationship between state-trait coping and interpersonal resources, several statistical analyses were used. The German Strategic Approach to Coping Scale (GSACS, GSACS-Exam), the Interpersonal Trust Scale (ITS), and exam-specific Empathy and Responsibility Scales (RESP-Exam, EMP-Exam) were combined for collecting data from a sample of 122 examiner-examinee-dyads. Data on empathy and responsibility of examiners were gathered as well as dispositional coping styles and trust of examinees eight weeks prior to an oral examination. Dispositional coping predicted comparable situational coping, reported immediately after the examination at a low-moderate level. Communal coping strategies tended to vary more than individual ones. Interpersonal resources were found to predict specific communal coping responses and a path model revealed the mediating effect of interpersonal trust. The results are discussed in the light of communal coping theory and educational significance.     

An Evaluation of Pharmacological Treatment Combined with Stress Inoculation Training in the Management of oral Lichen Planus

The aim of this pilot study was to examine the effects of the inclusion of a cognitive-behavioral intervention to the pharmacological treatment of oral lichen planus (OLP). Using a randomized controlled clinical trial, 16 patients affected by OLP were treated either with a potent corticosteroid in addition with stress inoculation training or with the drug alone. There were significant differences between the groups regarding the severity of the pathology both at the end of the treatment as well as at one-month follow-up. It is concluded that a cognitive-behavioral intervention might be usefully combined with pharmacological treatment for OLP.     

汉语儿童英语口语发展及口语任务的影响作用

本研究选取小学二、四、六年级共96名学生,通过自我介绍、被试主动发问、看图说话和角色扮演四种任务对其英语口语产出的流利性、精确性和复杂性进行了测查,研究结果发现:(1)流利性在自我介绍、主动发问和看图说话任务上,年级发展趋势不显著,但是在角色扮演任务上,随着年级的增长,流利性随之增加;精确性的年级发展趋势不显著;复杂性随着年级的升高而升高;(2)小学儿童的口语流利性在四个任务上从高到低为角色扮演、主动发问、自我介绍和看图说话;在对话任务上的精确性显著高于独白任务的精确性,并且看图说话任务的精确性最低;英语口语的复杂性在自我介绍任务上最高,其次是主动发问,角色扮演与看图说话任务的口语复杂性最低。     

An Experimental Analysis of the Effects of Reading Interventions in a Small Group Reading Instruction Context

The current study examined the effects of several combinations of instructional and motivational interventions on oral reading fluency in the context of small group reading instruction. A treatment package consisting of acquisition, fluency, and motivational components was examined and then dismantled. Results were evaluated individually for each participant using a multiple-probe design in order to identify the most effective, yet efficient reading intervention package for each member of the group. The results indicated that, although all potential combinations of the package were effective, the experimental analysis was able to identify an effective yet more efficient package that produced substantial increases in performance across all students. Results are discussed in terms of effective instructional components in small group instruction and how to adapt methods for the experimental analysis of behavior to make decisions about the effectiveness of small group instruction in reading.This study is based on a dissertation submitted by the first author in partial fulfillment of requirements for the doctoral degree.     

Influence of oral language and phonological awareness on children's bilingual reading

The purpose of this study was to assess the roles of oral language and phonological awareness on reading performance in grade 3 bilingual students. Several hierarchical models assessed the best predictors of third grade English and Spanish word attack, word identification and reading comprehension. Predictor variables were measures of phonological awareness, expressive vocabulary, receptive vocabulary, and syntax in both English and Spanish. The results showed that within language contributions of expressive vocabulary and syntax best predicted literacy when compared to phonological awareness measures.     

Promoting Generalization of Reading: A Comparison of Two Fluency-Based Interventions for Improving General Education Student’s Oral Reading Rate

The generalization effects of empirically-supported fluency-based reading interventions have been largely ignored. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of two fluency-based reading interventions, Repeated Readings and Multiple Exemplars, on elementary-aged children’s immediate and generalized oral reading fluency rate. Using a within-subjects group design, a total of 42 second (n = 25) and fourth (n = 17) grade general education students were administered both interventions and their generalized responding to passages containing high word and medium word overlap was assessed. Results indicated that children’s oral fluency on intervention passages was significantly greater during the Repeated Readings intervention. However, children’s oral reading fluency on generalization passages containing medium word overlap was significantly greater following the Multiple Exemplars intervention. This difference was however possibly due to the Multiple Exemplar medium word overlap passage being easier for students to read. No significant differences between the two interventions were observed in children’s oral reading fluency on generalization passages containing high word overlap. Implications and limitations of the study are discussed in relation to improving students’ reading fluency on generalization passages.     

Examining the core: Relations among reading curricula, poverty, and first through third grade reading achievement

Policy changes at the federal and state level are endeavoring to improve student achievement at schools serving children from lower-SES homes. One important strategy is the focus on using evidence-based core reading curricula to provide a consistent framework for instruction across schools. However, rarely have these curricula undergone rigorous comparative testing. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to compare the effects of six core reading curricula on oral reading fluency growth, while appraising whether these effects differ by grade level and for children living in lower socioeconomic (SES) households. Over 30,000 students in first through third grade Florida Reading First classrooms comprise this academically and economically diverse cross-sectional. Hierarchical Linear Modeling was used to model latent growth curves for students' reading fluency scores over the school year. Growth curves revealed differences across curricula as well as between students of lower and higher SES, suggesting that reading fluency growth trajectories for curricula varied depending on student SES and grade level. Findings indicate that while there are similarities among curricula, they sometimes differ in their ability to promote reading skill growth. Differences by grade level and SES were also detected. However, many of these differences were small. Implications for the use of curriculum as a conduit for improving reading instruction are discussed.     

The Oral History and Education Project of the International Society for Quality of Life Studies and the Gallup Institute for Global Well-Being: A Way to Honor Distinguished Researchers and to Preserve their Legacies—The Alex Michalos Interviews

The Oral History and Education Project of the International Society for Quality of Life Studies and the Gallup Institute for Global Well-Being is described along with specific, step-by-step procedures and guidelines for planning, conducting, and disseminating oral history and educational interviews with pre-eminent research scientists and exemplars of service to others. An illustrative “case” of interviews with the pre-eminent scholar, Alex Michalos, winner of Canada’s Gold Medal Award and president of Academy II of the Royal Society of Canada is presented. The Project’s goal is to produce oral histories and educational interviews with the top researchers in the fields of quality of life, well-being, social indicators, positive psychology and other sciences, in order to preserve their academic legacies, share their findings worldwide, and encourage a new generation of researchers, scientists, and oral historians. Those conducting these interviews may claim their interviews as publications in the fields of the history and teaching of psychology and sociology and oral history as long as these interviews remain available through a university, academic society, college textbook company, or university archivist. It is hoped that this article will inspire and guide others who may wish to emulate this work.     

Sucking patterns are not predictive of further feeding development in healthy preterm infants

Preterm infants are at risk of experiencing difficulties in their feeding development. For a possible early identification of these, we examined the association between sucking patterns, assisted spoon feeding, and chewing skills in 40 healthy preterm infants, and the role of experience in the acquisition of these skills in a prospective longitudinal study. Sucking patterns were evaluated at 34, 37, and 44 weeks postmenstrual age (PMA), assisted spoon feeding was evaluated at 6, 9, and 12 months PMA, and chewing was evaluated at 9, 12, and 24 months PMA. Sucking patterns were rated using the Neonatal Oral Motor Assessment Scale, assisted spoon feeding was rated using the Observation List Spoon Feeding, and chewing was evaluated using the Mastication Observation and Evaluation Instrument.All infants showed progression in their oral motor skills during the study period, but not all demonstrated a stable progression of skills. Quality of sucking patterns was not associated with skill level achievement of assisted spoon feeding or with chewing. Length of experience in sucking was significantly associated with duration of supplemental tube feeding but not with the quality of the sucking pattern. Length of chewing experience was significantly associated with chewing abilities at 9 and 12 months PMA. No clinical characteristics were sufficiently predictive of oral motor skill development. Results show that sucking patterns are not predictive of subsequent feeding development in healthy preterm infants. The food consistency offered and the length of feeding experience influenced the acquisition and quality of oral motor skills differently.     

Temporal dynamics of the eye–voice span and eye movement control during oral reading

The distance between eye movements and articulation during oral reading, commonly referred to as the eye–voice span, has been a classic issue of experimental reading research since Buswell (1921). To examine the influence of the span on eye movement control, synchronised recordings of eye position and speech production were obtained during fluent oral reading. The viewing of a word almost always preceded its articulation, and the interval between the onset of a word's fixation and the onset of its articulation was approximately 500 ms. The identification and articulation of a word were closely coupled, and the fixation–speech interval was regulated through immediate adjustments of word viewing duration, unless the interval was relatively long. In this case, the lag between identification and articulation was often reduced through a regression that moved the eyes back in the text. These results indicate that models of eye movement control during oral reading need to include a mechanism that maintains a close linkage between the identification and articulation of words through continuous oculomotor adjustments.