THE CELLBLOCK TOKEN ECONOMY: TOKEN REINFORCEMENT PROCEDURES IN A MAXIMUM SECURITY CORRECTIONAL INSTITUTION FOR ADULT MALE FELONS1

Two experiments were conducted (1) to explore the application of token reinforcement procedures in a maximum security correctional institution for adult male felons and (2) to determine to what extent the reinforcement procedures disrupted the day-to-day lives of inmate participants. In Experiment 1, an expanded reversal design revealed that the combination of praise and token reinforcement was more effective than the combinations of praise and noncontingent token award or direct commands on four common institutional activities. The latter two combinations were not found to be any more effective than praise alone. Experiment 2, which also employed a reversal design, indicated that the high levels of performance observed during the token reinforcement phases of Experiment 1 could be attained without subjecting participants to undue hardship in the form of increased deprivation of either social intercourse or the opportunity to engage in recreational and entertainment activities. Client safeguards are discussed in detail.     

The trials of childhood: The development,reliability, and validity of the daily life stressors scale

The assessment of daily life stress in youngsters is receiving extensive research attention due to its pertinence to psychological and medical problems. This investigation addressed concerns from previous studies of daily life stress in children and adolescents. These included an integration with ratings of negative affectivity, exploration of developmental changes, and presentation of psychometric data. The Daily Life Stressors Scale (DLSS) is a 30-item measure designed to assess the severity of aversive feelings and everday events for youngsters. Three groups of children and adolescents were evaluated to assess the scale's test-retest reliability and construct and concurrent validity. Developmental changes in a normative group were also examined. Results indicated the DLSS to be moderately reliable and valid for children. Also, male children reported more stress than female children, whereas female adolescents reported more stress than male adolescents. Results were discussed with respect to resilience, gender role stress, therapy implications, and usefulness for determining precursors to physiological problems.     

Fifth grade school adjustment and later arrest rate: A longitudinal study of middle school antisocial boys

This study investigated the efficacy of three different regression models in predicting arrest rate over the fifth to seventh grade range for a sample of antisocial and at risk control middle school boys (N=76). These boys were selected from a larger sample of approximately 200 boys and their families for inclusion in a long term longitudinal study beginning in the fourth grade. Subjects in the present study were identified when they were in the fifth grade and school measures of adjustment were recorded annually for them on two occasions (fall, spring) through the ninth grade. Predictors were derived from the following variables: (a) teacher ratings of social skills; (b) direct observations of academic engagement in classroom settings; (c) direct observations of the playground social behavior of target subjects and peers; and (d) discipline contacts with the principal's office as extracted from archival school records. These predictor variables appeared to assess respectively teacher related and peer related forms of school adjustment. The regression models investigated yielded R-Squares of approximately 30 between arrest rate and two to three predictor variables in each analysis. However, following the deletion of two subject cases that represented extreme instances of underprediction (i.e., subjects who were arrested [i.e., seven arrests each] but whose fifth grade behavioral profiles suggested they would not be), the obtained R-Squares increased to approximately .55. Implications of the findings for the early screening and identification of at risk students are discussed.     

文章结构分析训练对阅读理解水平影响的实验研究

本研究探讨文章结构分析训练对阅读理解水平的影响,实验发现：（１）在文章结构分析中渗透精加工组织策略训练有助于提高学生阅读理解能力,差生进步更大;（２）训练总体上能提高学生对文章结构的敏感性和对文章信息的保持与回忆;（３）初一学生阅读水平的差异未反映到其对文章结构的敏感性和文章信息的回忆保持上。     

TEACHING DAILY LIVING SKILLS TO CHILDREN WITH AUTISM IN UNSUPERVISED SETTINGS THROUGH PICTORIAL SELF-MANAGEMENT

We investigated the efficacy of pictorial self-management to teach daily living skills to 3 low-functioning children with autism. Stimulus and response generalization, stimulus control of self-management materials, and maintenance of behavior change were also assessed. Results showed that children with autism could successfully use pictures to manage their behavior in the absence of a treatment provider, generalize their behavior across settings and tasks, and maintain behaviors at follow-up. In addition, when compared to baseline, all children showed a substantial decrease in stereotypic behaviors. When picture order was manipulated in stimulus control probes, the children followed the new picture sequence, suggesting that the pictures were controlling their behavior. Further, a savings effect was demonstrated, in that 2 subjects reached criterion on second and third behaviors within less than 25% of original training time.     

Short‐term psychodynamic infant–parent interventions at Child health centers: Outcomes on parental depression and infant social–emotional functioning

Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) demonstrate efficacy of parent–infant psychotherapy, but its applicability and effectiveness in public health care are less known. The method followed is Naturalistic study evaluating Short‐term Psychodynamic Infant–Parent Interventions at Child Health Centers (SPIPIC) in Stockholm, Sweden. One hundred distressed mothers with infants were recruited by supervised nurses. Six therapists provided 4.3 therapy sessions on average (SD = 3.3). Sessions typically included the mothers, often with the baby present, while fathers rarely attended sessions. The Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) and the Ages and Stages Questionnaire: Social–Emotional (ASQ: SE) were distributed at baseline and at 3 and 9 months later. Data from a nonclinical group were collected simultaneously to provide norm data. Multilevel growth models on the mothers’ questionnaire scores showed significant decreases over time on both measures. Nine months after baseline, 50% achieved a reliable change on the EPDS and 14% on the ASQ: SE. Prepost effect‐sizes (d) were 0.70 and 0.40 for EPDS and ASQ: SE, figures that are comparable to results of other controlled studies. Psychotherapists integrated with public health care seem to achieve good results when supporting distressed mothers with brief interventions in the postnatal period. SPIPIC needs to be compared with other modalities and organizational frameworks.     

Phone follow up to families of COVID-19 patients who died at the hospital: families' grief reactions and clinical psychologists' roles

A proportion of persons affected by coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19) die and do so in extraordinary circumstances. This can make grief management extremely challenging for families. The Clinical Psychology unit of an Italian hospital offered a bereavement follow-up call to such families. This study aimed to explore the families' experiences and needs collected during these calls, and the role that the psychologists played through the call. A total of 246 families were called over 3 months. Multiple qualitative methods included: (i) written reports of the calls with relatives of patients who died at the hospital for COVID-19; (ii) qualitative semi-structured interviews with psychologists involved in the calls; (iii) observation of psychologists' peer group discussions. A thematic analysis was conducted. Six themes emerged: without death rituals, solitary, unexpected, unfair, unsafe, coexisting with other stressors. Families' reactions were perceived by psychologists as close to a traumatic grief. Families' needs ranged from finding alternative rituals to giving meaning and expressing different emotions. The psychologists played both a social-institutional and a psychological-human role through the calls (e.g., they cured disrupted communication or validated feelings and choices). This study highlighted the potential of traumatic grief of families of COVID-19 victims, and provided indications for supporting them within the space of a short phone call.     

单亲家庭儿童相对剥夺感与心理适应的循环作用关系：一项追踪研究

本研究基于经典相对剥夺理论和发展情境理论, 采用纵向设计, 以湖北省某地区273名单亲家庭儿童为被试, 进行连续3次的追踪测查, 考察单亲家庭儿童相对剥夺感与心理适应的特点及其循环作用关系。结果发现: (1)单亲家庭男生的抑郁和孤独感水平比女生高; 贫困单亲家庭儿童的相对剥夺感、抑郁和孤独感水平比非贫困单亲家庭儿童高, 自尊水平比非贫困单亲家庭儿童低; (2)控制了性别、学段和家庭经济状况后, 在个体内水平上T1时的相对剥夺感显著负向预测T2时的心理适应, 进而显著负向预测T3时的相对剥夺感, 同时T2时的相对剥夺感也能显著负向预测T3时的心理适应; (3)相对剥夺感与心理适应的循环作用在不同家庭经济状况单亲儿童中存在显著差异, 贫困单亲家庭儿童的心理适应对其相对剥夺感的作用比非贫困单亲家庭儿童更大。可见, 单亲家庭儿童的相对剥夺感与心理适应存在循环作用关系, 即前测(T_n)的相对剥夺感会导致后测(T_n+1)的心理适应不良, 进而影响后测(T_n+2)的相对剥夺感, 研究结果对于单亲家庭儿童心理适应的干预具有一定启示意义。     

随机截距潜在转变分析(RI-LTA)——个案自我转变与个案间差异的分离

传统的潜在转变分析属于单水平分析, 但其同样也可以看作二水平分析。Muthén和Asparouhov就以二水平分析的视角在单水平分析框架内提出了随机截距潜在转变分析(RI-LTA), 其中跨时间点产生的自我转变可以看作在水平1进行分析, 跨时间点不变的个案间差异可以看作在水平2进行分析, 使个案的自我转变和个案间的初始差异分离, 避免了高估保留在初始类别的概率。某研究型大学2016级本科生的追踪调查数据被用于演示使用随机截距潜在转变分析的过程。该方法的最大优势是通过引入随机截距避免了高估保留在本类别的转变概率。未来研究可以运用蒙特卡洛模拟研究探究随机截距潜在转变分析模型的适用性, 也可以用多水平分析的思路为灵感, 探究多水平随机截距潜在转变分析在统计软件中的实现。