THE REDUCTION OF STEALING IN SECOND GRADERS USING A GROUP CONTINGENCY1

Three classes of second graders served as subjects in this study of the effects of two types of intervention programs upon stealing: (1) an antistealing lecture with no specific contingency implied, and (2) a direct group contingency applied, whereby children were rewarded with (a) extra free time for no thefts, (b) allowed normal free time if stolen items were returned, and (c) punished with loss of free time if stolen items were not returned. A multiple-baseline design across the three classes showed the group contingency to be effective in reducing stealing behavior; the anti-stealing lecture was ineffective.     

EFFECTS OF DIRECT,INTERMITTENT, AND VICARIOUS REINFORCEMENT PROCEDURES ON THE DEVELOPMENT AND MAINTENANCE OF INSTRUCTION-FOLLOWING BEHAVIORS IN A GROUP OF YOUNG CHILDREN1

A group of young children (mean age: 2.5 yr) were instructed to follow different requests by a teacher in a day-care setting. Experiment I verified that mean group instruction following was low (10%) despite the opportunity for “observational learning”, i.e., the group of 12 children could watch a nonreinforced adult comply with the teacher's request. In Experiment II, when positive consequences were provided contingent on the adult model's behavior, mean group instruction following was relatively unaffected (14%). When direct reinforcement was given to four peer models, each for several sessions, the individual performances of three of the four peer models was elevated (from 50% to 80%); however, the mean performance of the remaining nonreinforced children (N = 7) was only moderately affected (21%). When reinforcement contingencies were again changed, so that each group member was provided direct, but intermittent reinforcement, mean group performance increased substantially to levels of over 70%. Once instruction following was high, presentation of reinforcement only to one peer model sufficed to maintain performance whereas earlier, this same vicarious reinforcement procedure had failed to establish group compliance. The maintenance of instruction-following behavior when reinforcement was applied solely to one child was interpreted mainly in terms of a high resistance to extinction following a history of intermittent reinforcement rather than a “vicarious”- or “self”-reinforcement mechanism. Finally, removal and re-introduction of group intermittent reinforcement, respectively, lowered performance (to levels of 40%) and elevated (to levels of 65%) the group's performance.     

Group problem-solving among teachers: A case study of how to improve a colleague’s teaching

A case study of six teachers cooperating to improve a teacher’s teaching showed the dynamics of the group problem-solving process. An analysis of their verbal interactions showed the importance of shared understanding to successful group problem solving. The cooperative group structure helped members resolve cognitive conflicts and build group understanding. During this process, the members’ past teaching experiences and knowledge contributed to their conceptualization of the teacher’s teaching problems and their proposed solutions to improve the teacher’s teaching. Tsz Cheung Lam graduated from the Department of Educational Psychology at the Chinese University of Hong Kong in 2004 and obtained his Master of Education degree. His research interests lie primarily on cooperative learning and problem solving. As a primary school teacher in practice, he is now studying part-time for another master degree in data science at the Department of Statistics of the Chinese University of Hong Kong.     

Preserving integrity against colonization

Genuine reconciliation between first- and third-person methodologies and knowledge requires respect for both phenomenological and scientific epistemologies. Recent pragmatic, theoretical, and verbal attempts at reconciliation by cognitive scientists compromise phenomenological method and knowledge. The basic question is thus: how do we begin reconciling first- and third-person epistemologies? Because life is the unifying concept across phenomenological and cognitive disciplines, a concept consistently if differentially exemplified in and by the phenomenon of movement, conceptual complementarities anchored in the animate properly provide the foundation for reconciliation. Research by people in neuroscience and in dynamic systems theory substantiate this thesis, providing fundamental examples of conceptual complementarity between phenomenology and science.     

A Peaceful Clash: The U.S. And China: Which Model Holds Out Promise For The Future?

This article analyzes some prospects for the economic and political development of the United States and China. The first part of the article is devoted to the consideration of strengths and weaknesses of the U.S. model and of the Chinese one. The second part of the article considers the most probable scenarios of the future struggle for world leadership. The first scenario suggests that China will continue developing at a faster rate in the several coming decades and will be gradually catching up with the United States in terms of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) production. However, after several crises in 2008–2020 the United States will likely regain a number of advantages over China as a result of assimilation of the newest technologies. The second scenario suggests that the United States will come across a whole range of internal social and political problems related to internal political splits. In this case, the United States will have to share its global leadership with China. The article attempts to answer the following questions: What scenario is more probable? Will the old world order change? What are the main conclusions for the European Union and for Russia?     

Deformation twinning and plastic recovery in Cu/Ag nanolayers under uniaxial tensile straining

Molecular dynamics simulations of nanoscale multilayered Cu/Ag metals have been conducted under uniaxial tensile straining to elucidate the out-of-plane deformation behaviour relevant to tensile spallation experiments. In nanolayers with pristine architectures, plastic dissipation prior to crack nucleation is suppressed owing to the high hydrostatic tensile stress state. The presence of sources for micro-twinning partials, such as micro-cracks or columnar grain boundaries, result in abundant deformation twin lamellae across multiple Cu/Ag interlayers. Plastic recovery is observed during unloading of the nanolayers.     

Consider the Children

Summary

In this article, we consider interventions for children exposed to family violence in light of the research on children's problems associated with witnessing family violence. Next, we review risk and protective factors related to these children's adjustment with the view that all children are not similarly affected by exposure to family violence. Against this background, we then move to consider directions for interventions from a systemic perspective. We take into account not only the exposure to interactions between their mother and father, but also children's relationships with their mother, father, and siblings, as well as within broader systems such as the peer group, the school, and the community. We consider the critical challenges within each of these important systems for children exposed to family violence, and we propose some potential interventions to address the problems. Finally, we summarize an evaluation of an intervention that incorporates some of the elements identified by a systemic perspective. The evaluation revealed a significant improvement in children's self-reports of depression and anxiety over the course of the program. Mothers rated their children as significantly improved in emotional and hyperactive behaviour problems. There was no relation between mothers' involvement in counselling and children's improvement. Overall, the results suggest that the Peer Group Counselling Program effectively provided support to children exposed to family violence. Finally, we discuss the steps necessary to support children and families in moving toward violence-free lives.     

The Collective Preference for Shared Information

Decision-making groups prefer to discuss shared information that all members know instead of unshared information that a single member knows. This bias toward discussing shared information can lead groups to make suboptimal decisions when unshared information is critical for good decision making. This preference for discussing shared information may stem from group members' positive evaluations of each other's task capabilities when shared information is communicated. Members who already are perceived as capable (i.e., those high in status, experts, and leaders) need not bolster their image by communicating shared information. Instead, they discuss unshared information more than members perceived as less capable. As members low in status gain respect by communicating shared information, they may risk mentioning unshared information later during discussion. Assigning group leaders, informing members of their expert roles, and allowing ample time for discussion may increase groups' discussion of unshared information.     

From I: A/M to “Who am I?”—Aggregation/Massification and Trauma-Based Affects and Object Relations in Groups: A Response to Earl Hopper

Hopper's portrayal of the fourth basic assumption of Incohesion: Aggregation/Massification has two components: (1) a revision of Turquet's theory of BA Oneness to incorporate the polarity of aggregation and massification stemming from annihilation anxiety; and (2) a conception of the difficult patient as having an encapsulated psychosis. Hopper's theory of the encapsulated psychosis offers an important but incomplete perspective in explaining borderline and narcissistic pathology, as well as psychological trauma. In this response to Hopper, I suggest that the fourth assumption is in fact a still more primitive state of boundary opening and closing. I also see a need to differentiate trauma as such from borderline pathology, and further hold that the relationship between Hopper's British Independent theory and trauma theories based on dissociation needs to be clarified.     

Forum: Crafting the Introductory Course in Religious Studies

This series of short essays considers the complex choices and decision‐making processes of instructors preparing to teach, and continuing to teach, introductory courses in religious studies. In a paper originally presented in the University of Chicago's “The Craft of Teaching in the Academic Study of Religion” series, Russell McCutcheon explores a “baker's dozen” of such choices and the larger pedagogical problems with which they are entwined, ranging from classic questions of skill development and content coverage to philosophical concerns around students' identification with their topics of study and institutional concerns around governance and assessment. Aaron Hollander provides a brief introduction and four doctoral students at the University of Chicago Divinity School respond to McCutcheon's essay, widening its scope, testing its applicability, and interrogating its undergirding suppositions from the perspective of early‐career educators in the field.