Enhancing Cognitive‐Behavioural Therapy (CBT) Skill Acquisition Through Experiential and Reflective Learning: A Commentary on Studies Examining the Impact of Self‐Practice and Self‐Reflection in CBT

Self‐practice and self‐reflection (SP/SR) is a targeted training tool that is intended to increase CBT competency in therapists. The four articles reviewed in this commentary examine the benefits of SP/SR with various types of therapists, and survey the significant obstacles faced in implementing this tool with clinicians. Collectively, these articles conclude that SP/SR is a valuable tool in improving CBT skill acquisition and preventing burnout, particularly with difficult patients, but that most therapists elect not to use it largely because of the time involved in engaging in it. In this commentary, I suggest that empirical studies with larger samples and controlled designs are needed to build on the wealth of qualitative data collected to date in order to assess the value added by SP/SR compared with other training methods, and in order to determine its impact on a range of therapeutic outcomes. I also suggest that future studies should examine the efficacy of required SP/SR engagement, isolate its critical ingredients, and assess if there are clients and therapists for whom SP/SR is comparably more effective.     

Invited Response to Commentaries: Self‐Practice/Self‐Reflection (SP/SR): Contexts,Challenges and Ways Forward

McGinn (2015) and Fernández‐Álvarez, Castañeiras, and Wyss (2015) make valuable suggestions in their commentaries on the three self‐practice/self‐reflection (SP/SR) articles in this issue of the Australian Psychologist. In our response, we use their commentaries as a springboard to highlight contextual influences and challenges for future SP/SR research, and suggest potential ways forward.     

Foreign Language Training Transfer: Individual and Contextual Predictors of Skill Maintenance and Generalization

Foreign language proficiency is a critical skill in which many U.S. military personnel receive extensive training. However, very little research has examined the factors associated with the successful transfer of this training. This study therefore investigates the impact of individual and contextual variables on two different types of foreign language skill transfer measures in a military context. Archival data were analyzed from 133 U.S. Army Special Forces (Green Berets) teams, including 919 Soldiers who had completed job-required foreign language training. Results indicate that initial skill acquisition had a positive impact on both the maintenance and generalization of language skills. The posttraining time interval between training and transfer measurement was negatively associated with skill maintenance, suggesting significant skill decay over time. The team context also accounted for significant variability in skill transfer, and the team mean skill level moderated the relationship between individual initial skill and subsequent generalization to job performance.     

Is there an Effect of Print Exposure on the Word Frequency Effect and the Neighborhood Size Effect?

Orthographic and phonological processing skills have been shown to vary as a function of reader skill (Stanovich & West, Reading Research Quarterly, 24, 402-433, 1989; Unsworth & Pexman, Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 56A, 63-81, 2003). One variable known to contribute to differences between readers of higher and lower skill is amount of print exposure: higher skilled readers read more often than lower skilled readers, and their increased print exposure is associated with faster responding to words and nonwords in lexical decision tasks. The present experiments examined the effect of print exposure on the word frequency effect and neighborhood size effect. We conclude that the different outcomes reported in previous studies (Chateau & Jared, Memory and Cognition, 28, 143-153, 2000; Lewellen, Goldinger, Pisoni, & Greene, Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 122, 316-330, 1993) were due to the type of nonwords used in the lexical decision task (regular nonwords versus pseudohomophones). Our results are explained in terms of differences in the reliance on orthographic and phonological information between readers of higher and lower print exposure.     

反馈在自我调节学习中的作用

反馈一直是学习研究领域中非常重要的主题之一。随着学习理论的发展,人们对反馈的研究逐渐深化与综合化。一方面从自我调节学习的过程模型出发,考察了反馈的不同因素对自我调节学习过程和结果的作用;另一方面以自我调节学习的社会认知理论为框架,探讨了情绪、学业成绩等个体因素以及目标定向、任务难度等情境因素对反馈作用的交互影响。未来研究需要进一步探讨内部反馈信息以及学习者元认知监控的调节作用,结合个体和情境因素揭示反馈对自我调节学习的整体动态过程的影响,并设计出促进学习和教学实践的反馈方案。     

不同民族中学生英语阅读的元认知意识研究

采用英语阅读的元认知意识问卷对汉族、纳西族和彝族中学生进行测查。结果表明：(1)3种民族中学生英语阅读的元认知意识水平随着年级的升高呈现出提高的趋势;(2)3种民族男女生英语阅读的元认知意识水平整体上具有一致性,但在有些项目上却呈现出女生优于男生的趋势;(3)汉族与纳西族中学生英语阅读的元认知意识水平整体上具有一致性,彝族中学生英语阅读的元认知意识水平呈现出优于汉族和纳西族的趋势。     

规则适应视角下辱虐管理的成因机制

基于规则适应及资源依赖理论的解释视角,本研究考察了下属工作绩效与政治技能对上级辱虐的影响。通过对采集自两家企业的243对领导-下属的配对问卷进行分析,本研究的多项式回归与响应面分析表明,当下属的工作绩效(遵循做事显规则)与政治技能(遵循做人潜规则)在较高水平上保持一致时,其遭受的上级辱虐最少。但这种较高水平的一致只能维持在特定范围内,当两者过高时,反而易遭致上级的辱虐行为。同时,在工作绩效与政治技能存在差异的情境下,相比于"高工作绩效,低政治技能"的下属,"低工作绩效,高政治技能"的下属遭受的上级辱虐要更少。文章分析并证明了遵循不同规则的下属会导致不同程度的上级辱虐。     

Memory skills mediating superior memory in a world-class memorist

Laboratory studies have investigated how individuals with normal memory spans attained digit spans over 80 digits after hundreds of hours of practice. Experimental analyses of their memory skills suggested that their attained memory spans were constrained by the encoding time, for the time needed will increase if the length of digit sequences to be memorised becomes longer. These constraints seemed to be violated by a world-class memorist, Feng Wang (FW), who won the World Memory Championship by recalling 300 digits presented at 1 digit/s. In several studies we examined FW’s memory skills underlying his exceptional performance. First FW reproduced his superior memory span of 200 digits under laboratory condition, and we obtained his retrospective reports describing his encoding/retrieval processes (Experiment 1). Further experiments used self-paced memorisation to identify temporal characteristics of encoding of digits in 4-digit clusters (Experiment 2), and explored memory encoding at presentation speeds much faster than 1 digit/s (Experiment 3). FW’s superiority over previous digit span experts is explained by his acquisition of well-known mnemonic techniques and his training that focused on rapid memorisation. His memory performance supports the feasibility of acquiring memory skills for improved working memory based on storage in long-term memory.