复合命题理解能力的发展

采用命题-图形匹配实验法,探讨了儿童、少年和青年人三个阶段的5种类型复合命题理解能力的发展.结果表明:(1)随着年龄增长,复合命题理解能力迅速提高;(2)对复合命题理解的难易,决定于构建的心理模型的数目.理解能力的发展根据心理模型的类型呈现不同的步调,单模型命题的理解在小学阶段已经很好地获得发展,双模型命题则在初中阶段获得较好的发展,三模型命题发展较迟,直至成年仍需发展.     

Barriers to evidence-based treatment: developmental psychopathology and the interdisciplinary disconnect in school mental health practice

Reframing the role of school psychologists and related school professionals in a public health and primary prevention model represents a proactive antidote to their more traditional reactive stance to mental health problems. Two additional concepts, developmental psychopathology and complex comorbidity, are suggested as critical to complete this transition, and illustrations of these concepts for more effective school mental health services are provided.     

Challenges and opportunities in moving toward a public health approach in school mental health

These three outstanding papers are important for the discipline of school psychology, the field of school-based mental health, and more generally for systems of education and mental health for children and adolescents. As the authors emphasize, there is an unprecedented focus on improving programs that remove barriers to learning and enhance development, health, and mental health in youth, in the most universal natural setting—the schools. The authors also correctly highlight that school psychology is uniquely positioned to play a leading role in this reform and change effort. Two interconnected themes of the public health approach—applying the evidence base and moving toward preventive and population-focused interventions—are emphasized in these papers, and while they focus on school psychology, the issues discussed are generalizable to the many disciplines that operate within educational and mental health systems. In the following discussion, I react to the papers' two major themes, discuss realities that should be addressed for progress to be made, and comment on their implications for school psychology.     

我国研究生心理健康研究述评

研究生心理健康目前已逐渐引起人们的关注。本文以近年来我国有关研究生心理健康的研究为依据。对我国研究生心理健康的研究进行了总结与分析，提出了目前研究生心理健康研究的特点与问题，并提出未来研究发展的建议，以期加快我国研究生心理健康的研究步伐。     

Stigma and Mental Health in Japanese Unemployed Individuals

An Internet‐based survey was administered in Japan to compare mental health of and stigma toward unemployed individuals, workers with regular employment, and workers with irregular employment. Unemployed individuals showed higher scores for both anxiety/depression and disturbance of activities, as well as faced more stigma than did employed individuals. In addition, the factor structure of stigma that unemployed individuals have toward the unemployed was the same as that previously found for university students and employed individuals. Financial strain and stigma were the factors with the greatest influence on the mental health of unemployed individuals.     

EFFECTIVENESS OF FUNCTIONAL COMMUNICATION TRAINING WITH AND WITHOUT EXTINCTION AND PUNISHMENT: A SUMMARY OF 21 INPATIENT CASES

Functional communication training (FCT) is a frequently used treatment for reducing problem behavior exhibited by individuals with developmental disabilities. Once the operant function of problem behavior is identified by a functional analysis, the client is taught to emit an appropriate communicative response to obtain the reinforcer that is responsible for behavioral maintenance. Studies on FCT have typically used small numbers of participants, have reported primarily on clients for whom FCT was successful, and have varied with respect to their use of other treatment components. The main purposes of the present study were to evaluate the efficacy of FCT for treating severe problem behavior in a relatively large sample of individuals with mental retardation (N = 21) and to determine the contribution of extinction and punishment components to FCT treatment packages. FCT with extinction was effective in reducing problem behavior for the majority of clients and resulted in at least a 90% reduction in problem behavior in nearly half the applications. However, when demand or delay-to-reinforcement fading was added to FCT with extinction, treatment efficacy was reduced in about one half of the applications. FCT with punishment (both with and without fading) resulted in at least a 90% reduction in problem behavior for every case in which it was applied.     

Response allocation to concurrent fixed-ratio reinforcement schedules with work requirements by adults with mental retardation and typical preschool children.

The present experiments examined the effect of work requirements in combination with reinforcement schedule on the choice behavior of adults with mental retardation and preschool children. The work requirements of age-appropriate tasks (i.e., sorting silverware, jumping hurdles, tossing beanbags) were manipulated. Participants were presented with their choice of two response options for each trial that varied simultaneously on both work requirement and reinforcement schedule. Results showed that when responding to both choices occurred on the same reinforcement schedule, participants allocated most of their responses to the option with the easier work requirement. When the response option requiring less work was on a leaner reinforcement schedule, most participants shifted their choice to exert more work. There were individual differences across participants regarding their pattern of responding and when they switched from the lesser to the greater work requirement. Data showed that participants' responding was largely controlled by the reinforcement received for responding to each level of work. Various conceptualizations regarding the effects of work requirements on choice behavior are discussed.     

Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder: The Medicalization of Misbehavior

During the past decade, there has been an increase in the diagnosis and treatment of Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). This syndrome, typically diagnosed in childhood, is characterized by inattention, hyperactive motor behavior, and distractibility. Current prevalence rates obtained in various countries generally exceed the 3–5% reported by DSM-IV. Reasons for increased ADHD prevalence include changes in diagnostic standards, overlap between ADHD and other externalizing disorders, nonspecific behavioral criteria, and the rapid effects of stimulant medication on cognitive functioning. However, social, cultural, and economic factors may also contribute to increased diagnosis. ADHD has become a common topic in the lay media. Popular discussions of ADHD may serve as a metaphoric expression of social anxieties, particularly with respect to children. At the same time, ADHD has rapidly become incorporated into a medical model, with emphasis on pharmacological treatment. Reductions in mental health and educational services, as well as economic pressures of managed care, may also contribute to medicalization of behavioral problems. Collaboration between psychologists and primary care physicians can lead to more accurate diagnosis and appropriate treatment of ADHD and related disorders.     

On the Relation Between Job Characteristics and Depression: A Longitudinal Study

The current study assumes that workers actively influence the characteristics of their work environment. Not only will one's work environment (job characteristics) affect personal characteristics, such as feelings of depression; depression in turn is expected to affect the characteristics of one's work environment as well. Using a sample of 593 young Dutch workers, a longitudinal model relating feelings of depression and job characteristics to each other was tested using structural equation modeling. The results largely supported our expectations. Depressive workers were less likely to experience a job transition than non-depressive workers. If depressive workers did experience a job transition, work outcomes were less positive than for nondepressive workers. Thus, it appears that the relation between job characteristics and depression can be construed as a reciprocal relation. Implications and limitations of the study are discussed.     

幼儿二维心理旋转能力发展的研究

在以旋转的米老鼠图形作为测试项目,对每半岁为一个年龄段共１３３名３．５一６．５岁的幼儿进行心理旋转的实验研究中发现,幼儿在４岁时已经开始建立心理旋转能力．其发展特征呈连续性;男女幼儿间有一定的性别差异存在,但统计结果提示无显著性意义;男女幼儿在５－６岁间都发现有一个负增长阶段,其原因不明。