Therapeutic Assessment with couples

Therapeutic Assessment can be helpful to many types of couples, including (1) those who are considering marriage and wish to know each other more deeply, (2) long-term couples who are in distress and considering separating, and (3) couples who have decided to separate but wish to better understand why they were unable to stay together. This article comprises the first complete case study of Therapeutic Assessment (TA) with couples. I describe how those steps common to all forms of TA (initial sessions, extended inquiries, assessment intervention sessions, and summary/discussion sessions) differ when applied to couples. I also discuss the use of the Consensus Rorschach as an assessment intervention with long-term distressed couples engaged in problematic projective identification. The case example involves a young heterosexual couple married for 12 years who were at an impasse in couples therapy. The assessment helped the partners explore mutual conflicts around the expression of anger and dependency needs, and to resolve a power imbalance within the couple. Long-term follow-up showed that the Therapeutic Assessment helped the couple have more compassion for each other and move beyond the destructive role-lock they had fallen into. Also, the referring therapist reported that the TA helped resolve the impasse in the couples’ therapy.     

Does calling it “Morgan's way” reduce student learning? Evaluating the effect of person-presentation during comparison and discussion of worked examples in mathematics classrooms

Mathematics textbooks sometimes present worked examples as being generated by particular fictitious students (i.e., person-presentation). However, there are indicators that person-presentation of worked examples may harm generalization of the presented strategies to new problems. In the context of comparing and discussing worked examples during extended classroom instruction, the current study compared the impact of person-presentation to strategy labels on students' posttest accuracy and ratings of strategy generalizability. Five algebra teachers and their 168 students used worked examples either presented using fictitious students or with a strategy label during a multiweek unit on equation solving, with teachers randomly assigned to condition. All students compared and discussed the worked examples. In this context, we found no effect of condition on student accuracy at posttest, nor on their ratings of the generalizability of the presented strategies. We discuss why previously found negative effects of person-presentation may not have extended to this context.     

Reading First kindergarten classroom instruction and students' growth in phonological awareness and letter naming–decoding fluency

This study investigated the role of the amount, content, and implementation of reading instruction provided by 17 kindergarten teachers in eight Reading First elementary schools as it related to students' progress (n = 286 students) on early reading assessments of phonological awareness and letter naming–decoding fluency. Children's phonological awareness and letter naming–decoding fluency grew significantly from fall to spring. On average, across the three 60 min observations, teachers provided over 30 min a day of phonological awareness and phonics instruction and 15 min a day of vocabulary and comprehension instruction. Global ratings of instructional quality revealed two implementation factors: explicit and individualized implementation and meaningful interactions around text. Hierarchical linear modeling revealed that the amounts of specific instructional content, as well as how this instruction was implemented, was related to students' letter knowledge and phonological awareness skill growth.     

认知策略选择的元认知因素

元认知指个体对自我认知过程的认知。元认知与策略选择的研究自上世纪80年代兴起, 并在随后的30年里取得了丰硕成果, 近年来, 涌现出了不少新的相关研究。基于近10年的国内外研究, 从学习与记忆、问题解决、策略干预三个方面就当今元认知与策略选择的研究新进展进行了分析。基于梳理, 认为元认知在高水平调节、基本记忆策略与策略干预、深层次运作机制及创新研究技术手段方面尚需突破。     

情感教学心理学研究

为纪念中国心理学会诞辰90周年,应中国心理学会教育心理学分会邀请,特撰文反映卢家楣及其团队在情感教学心理学方面的研究概况。内容分以情感教学应用为导向的基础性研究和以情感教学理念为导向的应用性研究两部分。前者包括教学中的情感现象、教学中的情感作用、教学中的情绪调控、教学中的学习苦乐属性、教学中的情知基本矛盾等方面的相应研究;后者包括情感教学理念、情感教学现状、情感教学原则、情感教学策略、情感教学模式、情感教学目标和评价以及为基础教育服务等方面的相应研究。