Students’ self-regulation and achievement in basic reading and math skills: the role of student–teacher relationships in middle childhood

In this study, we explored both direct and indirect contributions of students’ perceptions of the student–teacher relationship quality (i.e., closeness and conflict) to domains of self-regulation (i.e., task-orientation and metacognition) and basic reading and math skills (i.e., timed word reading and math performance) in middle childhood. Participants were 370 third-to-fifth graders from different regular elementary classrooms across the Netherlands. Using structural equation modelling, evidence was found for positive direct associations between student-perceived closeness and both domains of self-regulation, and a negative direct association between student-perceived conflict and task-orientation. However, indirect associations of closeness and conflict with students’ achievement in basic math and reading skills, through task-orientation and metacognition, could not be established. These results suggest that students’ perceptions of the relationship quality, and closeness in particular, may be especially important for their ability to regulate motivational and cognitive aspects of their own learning.     

团体音乐辅导提高地震灾区初中生心理弹性的研究

目的：考查团体音乐辅导对提高地震灾区初中生心理弹性的效果。方法：选取心理弹性较低的地震灾区初中生22名,随机分入干预组和控制组,对干预组进行团体音乐辅导。结果：后测结果表明,与控制组相比,干预组被试的心理弹性及其相关因素指标均有显著改善;两个月后的回访结果显示,干预组被试得分与后测无显著差异,仍显著优于前测。结论：团体音乐辅导能够有效地提高地震灾区初中生的心理弹性水平,并具有一定的长效性。     

Greed is good? Student disciplinary choice and self-reported psychopathy

The idea of the organisational psychopath has become not only popular in recent times, but increasingly relevant, thanks to the alleged role of high-profile members of the commercial sector in the global recession. To test the proposition that self-reported sub-clinical psychopathy might be disproportionately more common amongst those people electing to study commerce/business at University, 903 first-year students enrolled in a range of academic degrees completed a survey containing Levenson’s Self-Report Psychopathy Scale (Levenson, Kiehl, & Fitzpatrick, 1995) and Paulhus’ (1991) Balanced Inventory of Desirable Responding. Even after accounting for social desirability, commerce students reported higher levels of primary psychopathy than other students, regardless of sex.     

Measuring cognitive and psychological engagement: Validation of the Student Engagement Instrument

A review of relevant literatures led to the construction of a self-report instrument designed to measure two subtypes of student engagement with school: cognitive and psychological engagement. The psychometric properties of this measure, the Student Engagement Instrument (SEI), were assessed based on responses of an ethnically and economically diverse urban sample of 1931 ninth grade students. Factor structures were obtained using exploratory factor analyses (EFAs) on half of the dataset, with model fit examined using confirmatory factor analyses (CFAs) on the other half of the dataset. The model displaying the best empirical fit consisted of six factors, and these factors correlated with expected educational outcomes. Further research is suggested in the iterative process of developing the SEI, and the implications of these findings are discussed.     

Predicting the evolution of counseling psychology in the United States: results from a Delphi poll of academic training directors

What might the field of counseling psychology in the United States of America look like 10 years from now? In a Delphi Poll, an expert panel, consisting of 28 training directors from APA-accredited counseling psychology programs, made predictions regarding the future of counseling psychology 10 years from now in relation to three domains (core features, research and training, and professional training) and 32 specific areas within those domains. The strongest core feature of counseling psychology was viewed as a continuing commitment to issues of diversity (M = 4.64, SD = .63); the research and training theme predicted to attract the most attention in the next 10 years was a commitment to evidence-based practice (M = 4.71, SD = 1.20); and the professional training theme predicted to gain the greatest focus was attention to professional competence (M = 4.43, SD = .65). Results were compared with a previous Delphi Poll conducted in 2001, and recommendations are outlined for future research designed to contribute to the ongoing development of the field of counseling psychology.     

Ratings in Black and White: does racial symmetry or asymmetry influence teacher assessment of a pupil’s work habits?

Racial asymmetry, the circumstance of having a teacher’s race differ from that of his or her student’s race, is often considered important because most Black students are taught by White teachers. This paper analyzes data from a nationally representative sample of students and teachers to ascertain the extent to which Black and White teachers differ in their evaluations of the work habits of their Black pupils. Unlike most other investigations on this topic, we explored the likelihood that subject matter and school demographics influence teacher-student relationships beyond the more visible factors of racial symmetry or asymmetry. Our analyses of NELS: 88 data using this framework reveal an inconsistent racial effect on teachers’ evaluations of Black students. The ratings of African American pupils by both Black and White teachers seem to be influenced by both the academic subject they teach and the demographic characteristic of the school. We discuss these findings and suggest avenues for further study.

美、加、澳大学心理咨询中心的鉴定标准及启示

该文介绍了国际心理咨询服务协会目前在美国、加拿大和澳大利亚所推行的大学心理咨询中心鉴定标准。该鉴定标准主要涉及心理咨询中心与大学社区的关系、心理咨询的作用和功能、心理咨询中心应遵循的伦理规范、心理咨询中心服务人员的资格与职责以及其它相关的指导原则。作者据此提出了对我国高校心理咨询工作的建议。     

Vocational decision status and the effect of four types of occupational information on cognitive complexity

Because most vocational counseling interventions focus on giving occupational information, research investigating effects of information giving on cognitive processing styles has governed attention in the recent past. The present study was intended to determine some aspects of occupational information relevance while assessing differences in cognitive complexity between vocationally decided and undecided subjects. Two hundred eighty college student volunteers were assigned to eight groups based on their decision status (decided versus undecided) and random distribution of four types of occupational information packets. Cognitive complexity levels were measured, using the Cognitive Differentiation Grid, 48 hr after the packets were distributed. A 2 × 4 analysis of variance found no differences between decided and undecided subjects' cognitive complexity scores as a function of type of occupational information received. There was a significant main effect for information received. There was a significant main effect for information across decision status in the positively and negatively toned information groups: the positive information was associated with relatively greater cognitive simplicity scores and the negative information was associated with relatively greater cognitive complexity scores. Implications of results and further necessary research is specified.     

Conditions affecting retention test performance: A developmental study

Developmental studies of retention have yielded remarkably diverse results: however, it is widely assumed that retention ability increases with age. This study examined this assumption by investigating some of the conditions that might affect retention test performance in third graders and tenth graders. The most important results were the absence of age differences in proportionalized short-term retention, despite substantial differences in the number of items learned, and significant age differences in long-term retention only between groups that had received a different number of learning trials. These and other results suggest that age differences in retention test performance occur only when age is confounded with degree of learning. In short, there do not appear to be any age differences in retention per se.