A Focus on Neglect: Comparing the Characteristics of Children and Parents in Cases of Neglect,Abuse, and Non-CAN (Child Abuse and Neglect) in Israeli Rulings on Termination of Parental Rights

This study attempts to expand the knowledge base about neglect by comparing the characteristics of children and parents involved in termination of parental rights proceedings in the Israeli legal system. Cases were classified as neglect (72.7%), abuse (19%) or non-child abuse or neglect (non-CAN; 8%) and were compared on a range of variables. The results show that neglected children have the most developmental problems, and generally come from single-parent families, compared to abused children, who suffer the most mental health problems and come from 2-parent families. Finally, neglect is associated with the mother’s history of drug abuse, and abuse is associated with the father’s drug abuse and criminal record. In non-CAN cases, the courts criticize the Child Protective Service more than in neglect and abuse cases. Implications of the findings for social work practice as well as future research directions are discussed.     

Neural implementation of probabilistic models of cognition

Bayesian models of cognition hypothesize that human brains make sense of data by representing probability distributions and applying Bayes’ rule to find the best explanation for available data. Understanding the neural mechanisms underlying probabilistic models remains important because Bayesian models provide a computational framework, rather than specifying mechanistic processes. Here, we propose a deterministic neural-network model which estimates and represents probability distributions from observable events—a phenomenon related to the concept of probability matching. Our model learns to represent probabilities without receiving any representation of them from the external world, but rather by experiencing the occurrence patterns of individual events. Our neural implementation of probability matching is paired with a neural module applying Bayes’ rule, forming a comprehensive neural scheme to simulate human Bayesian learning and inference. Our model also provides novel explanations of base-rate neglect, a notable deviation from Bayes.     

Use of mental health services among severely emotionally disturbed children and adolescents in San Francisco

This study examined the mental health services available to severely emotionally disturbed children and adolescents in San Francisco. Social, familial, developmental, and clinical data—as well as service use histories—on 192 youths were collected. Results indicated high levels of family dysfunction, physical and sexual abuse, and neglect in the total study population. The study also identified case history and demographic factors that were associated with repeated psychiatric inpatient hospitalizationand high annual rates of change in residential placement. These factors included being male, older, non-English-speaking, and having a history of physical and sexual abuse. The impact of the service system on the lives and course of illness of these youth is discussed and future directions for research are suggested.     

HOME SAFETY: DEVELOPMENT AND VALIDATION OF ONE COMPONENT OF AN ECOBEHAVIORAL TREATMENT PROGRAM FOR ABUSED AND NEGLECTED CHILDREN

Parents may be charged with child abuse or neglect or both on the basis of a variety of circumstances. Child neglect, for example, is often documented when caseworkers observe that the family's home itself is so poorly kept that it presents an environment in which young children have ready access to lethal hazards such as poisons, uncovered wall outlets, and firearms. In this study, we describe the development of a Home Accident Prevention Inventory (HAPI) which was validated and used to assess hazards in the homes of several families under state protective service for child abuse and neglect. The HAPI included five categories of hazards: fire and electrical, mechanical-suffocation, ingested object suffocation, firearms, and solid/liquid poisons. Following the collection of baseline data, parents were presented with a treatment package that included instructions and demonstrations on making hazards inaccessible to children, plus feedback regarding the number and location of hazards in the home. The multiple-baseline design across hazardous categories in each family's home showed that the package resulted in decreases in the number of these accessible hazards. These improvements were maintained over an extended period of unannounced follow-up checks. This research provides a model for the development and assessment of an area previously unexamined in the child abuse and neglect literature.     

Designs of Learning and the Formation and Transformation of Knowledge in an Era of Globalization

In this article, the formation and transformation of knowledge and the role of designs for learning will be elaborated and discussed in relation to the introduction of national curricula and school textbooks during the beginning of the industrialized era vs. the introduction of individual curricula and new digital learning resources in the post-industrialized era of globalization and multiculturalism. Quite different teaching and learning strategies have been emphasized, which I will call here “designed information and teaching” vs. “designs for learning”. It seems obvious that our current society is in a stage of change that requires a new understanding of knowledge, learning and identity formation. The new position and role of the learner underlines the productive and constructive aspect of learning. Pupils not only read texts, they also produce texts, pictures, film and music and they compile and edit virtual texts. Multimodal texts, as well as the information flow of the Internet, are the consequences of, and at the same time a vehicle for, new social patterns. “Learning Design Sequences” (LDS) is introduced as a theoretical map for the purpose of analyzing critical incidents in (a creative) learning process, using different genres, modes and media in a process of meaning-making.

文本表述和结构对小学生数学应用题表征的影响

以450名小学生为被试,探讨了文本表述和结构对小学生数学应用题表征成绩的影响。采用2(难度)×2(题材熟悉度)×5(措辞类型)×3(年级)四因素混合设计。结果表明:不同文本表述和结构对小学生解决数学应用题的影响不因年级的不同而不同;概念性措辞问题和情境性措辞问题都促进了小学生数学应用题的表征成绩;在容易问题中,额外信息对表征成绩影响较大;在较难问题中,数学运算关系难度对表征成绩影响较大;当解决文本背景较简单的标准措辞问题时,题材熟悉度对小学生的理解产生较大影响;文本长度对问题解决的影响取决于所增加的文本是否对理解问题的句法关系和语义情景有益。     

心理距离对基线比例忽略的影响

基线比例忽略是指在不确定情境中, 个体进行判断和决策时不能充分利用或者忽略基线比例的现象。本研究通过系列情境实验探索了三种不同维度的心理距离, 即时间距离、空间距离和社会距离对基线比例忽略的影响。结果发现, 三种心理距离均能够对基线比例忽略产生影响：当时间距离、空间距离和社会距离较近时, 个体更容易表现出基线比例忽略现象; 而当时间距离、空间距离和社会距离较远时, 个体的基线比例忽略倾向减弱。     

Child Maltreatment in Vietnam: Prevalence and Cross-Cultural Comparison

This Vietnam prevalence study on child maltreatment (VPM-2014) was designed to examine the prevalence of child maltreatment in Vietnam and to compare it with the child maltreatment prevalence in the Netherlands using the same measures and procedure. Questionnaires were filled out by 1,851 students aged 12 to 17 years (47.3% were boys). Results indicated that half of the students (49.9%) reported at least 1 event of child maltreatment in the past year. Emotional abuse was most frequently reported (31.8%), followed by physical abuse, neglect, and witnessing parental conflict. Sexual abuse was the least prevalent (2.6%). Compared with the Netherlands, the prevalence rates of most types of child maltreatment were higher in Vietnam: The largest difference was with emotional abuse, followed by neglect, physical abuse, and witnessing parental conflict. Only the past-year sexual abuse prevalence in Vietnam was lower. These findings highlight the alarming problem of child maltreatment in Vietnam.     

决策过程中的记忆可提取性效用

记忆的可提取性效用是人们在评估过往事件时所感受到的愉悦或满意程度, 这种评估建立在人们从记忆中提取出的信息基础上。研究发现, 人们对过往事件进行评估时会出现违反效用最大化原则的决策, 主要表现在三个实验现象上：峰终律、时长忽视和违背单调叠加性。研究者多从原型判断的角度去理解这些现象, 但可提取性效用是否还有其他内在机制仍然有待进一步研究。     

Testing the shared resource assumption in theories of text processing

Eight experiments evaluated a core assumption of several theories of text processing, the shared resource assumption, which states that component text processes share limited processing resources. Short texts each contained two critical sentences that together warranted a causal inference. The syntactic structure of the second sentence was either more or less difficult to parse. Results from a lexical decision task suggested that readers formed the causal inferences when the syntactic structure was less difficult to parse but that inferencing was constrained when syntactic structure was more difficult. Follow-up experiments suggested that this interference was not due to inferior output of the syntactic parser nor to the increased demands of difficult syntax interfering with maintenance of information needed to form the inference. The results suggest insufficient resources were available for the operation of inference processes due to the increased demands of syntactic parsing, consistent with the shared resource assumption.