Symbols Scales for Use in Beginning Reading

Bayley Mental scores were significantly related to several concurrent ratings of infant and maternal testroom behavior when firstborn black male infants were 14 months (N = 49), 18 months (N = 34), and 22 months of age (N = 32). With increasing age, social responsiveness played a relatively less important role in successful performance, while object responsiveness became increasingly important. Bayley Motor scores were related to many fewer ratings than the Mental scores. Gross Muscle Coordination was related to performance at all three ages, and Energy ratings at two of the three ages. For both the Mental and Motor scores, fewer relationships were observed at the 18-month testings as compared to the 14- and 22-month testings. By 22 months, infants scoring higher on the Bayley Mental scale had mothers who were more highly involved with their child's achievement as judged by testroom behaviors.     

分化与整合——家长式领导研究的走向

作为本土领导研究的典范,郑伯埙团队研究的家长式领导理论对本土的理论构建与主位研究方法做出了重大贡献。然而,由于威权维度与德行和仁慈维度负相关、家长式领导这一构念与其三个维度之间的关系不明晰等问题的存在,该理论在发展中遇到了问题。目前,围绕家长式领导,出现了单维与多维并存、本土理论与外域理论竞争的多重格局。本文在对家长式领导的构念进行剖析后,总结了目前相关的实证研究,重点评析了该理论遇到的问题,并在此基础上从解决构念的内在矛盾、扩大研究层次及中西对比三个方面对未来的发展方向提出了建议。     

驾驶中移动电话的使用：基于自我调整行为的研究视角

因使用移动电话而导致的“驾驶分心”已成为一种严重的道路安全隐患。驾驶者总体上能意识到其危害, 但在驾驶中使用移动电话的现象很普遍。以往研究不能全面地对这一矛盾予以解释, 长期以来更是忽略了对“驾驶分心中自我调整行为”进行研究, 而这一问题能够直接解释驾驶中的移动电话使用行为。从以下三个方面可以对与驾驶分心中自我调整行为有关的研究进行分析和综述：(1)驾驶中移动电话使用行为的一般规律(类型、频率和危险感知等), 驾驶者对移动电话使用行为的理解是诱发自我调整行为的基础; (2)驾驶情境下移动电话使用中可能触发的自我调整行为, 该部分将主要分析自我调整行为的类型及相关属性; (3)如何对移动电话使用行为和自我调整行为进行预测。总体上, 基于对补偿式安全信念进行理解和度量、并以此为切入点对驾驶中移动电话使用及与其有关的自我调整行为展开研究, 这将有助于更好地理解驾驶分心行为。     

Encountering the ‘unexpected’ in phenomenological research. Faith and belief as expressions of spirituality in a qualitative study

A study of 12 secondary schools students in Victoria, Australia explored the spirituality of young people in the context of their everyday lives through a hermeneutic phenomenological investigation. In developing an understanding of what spirituality meant to the participants in this study, it was apparent that spirituality was deeply abiding and embedded within the participants’ religious traditions. This was influenced by the exposure participants had to religious and spiritual teachings. Despite the fact that the participants expressed a range of religious beliefs about God, the afterlife and transcendence towards others as significant ways in which they understood spirituality, the findings were not generalisable across the Australian population. These themes will be explored throughout the paper proving implications for educators working with specific groups of students from faith backgrounds and the possibility of investigating what young people from non-religious backgrounds believe.     

Perceptions of mental healthcare consumers regarding their conditions

Distress is experienced, understood and communicated differently across various cultures. The aim of the study was to investigate the role of culture, religion and spirituality in patients’ understanding of and coping with mental problems. A quantitative survey was done at a psychiatric institution. A questionnaire was designed to explore patients’ cultural and religious beliefs about mental illness, and how these beliefs and perceptions influenced their actions in search for recovery. Questionnaires were completed by 94 patients. The majority of participants were Christian (79.8%), followed by African traditionalists (17.0%). Seventy-two per cent believed that faith in God, and 34.4% that help from religious leaders, could contribute to mental wellness. Approximately a third (29.0%) believed that by keeping their ancestors happy, they would be protected from sickness and bad luck. Mental healthcare providers’ sensitivity to cultural and religious beliefs will translate into a more comprehensive management plan, ensuring a satisfying therapeutic relationship.     

Exploring the personal and social context of female youth sex offenders

This study explored the personal and social context of young female sex offenders, probing their risk profiles for prospective treatment interventions. A convenience sample of eight young South African female sexual offenders participated in the study (black = 88%, Indian = 12%, age range = 14–20 years). They completed semi-structured interviews on their perceptions of the influences to commit a sexual offence. The data were thematically analysed. Emergent themes on factors associated with sexual offending included: peer influence, poor child monitoring, parental neglect, unproductive sexual health education, as well as insight into the participants’ maladaptive beliefs and distorted thinking.     

The factor structure of the Social Axioms Survey II (SASII) in the South African context

The objective of this study was to validate the new Social Axioms Survey II (SASII). The study sample comprised university students (n = 793) as well as their family members and friends (n = 645). Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) following an initial exploratory factor analysis yielded a five-factor model: social cynicism, social complexity, reward for application, religiosity, and fate control. The findings of this study support the use of the new SASII in South Africa for research purposes.     

The influence of visual mental imagery size on metamemory accuracy in judgment of learning

Many studies have found the font size of to-be-remembered words has a significant influence on judgments of learning (JOLs). However, few studies have investigated whether JOLs are affected by the mental imagery size of to-be-remembered words, even when the font sizes themselves are kept identical in study materials. This study investigated whether the visual mental imagery size influences the participants’ JOLs and what the underlying mechanisms are. In Experiments 1 and 2, participants learned words with identical font sizes, mentally generated large or small imageries and then made JOLs. We found that JOLs under the large imagery condition were significantly higher than those under the small imagery condition, but actual recall performance exhibited no significant difference. In Experiment 3, participants pressed a button immediately after mental imagery generation and showed that it took significantly longer to generate large imageries than to generate small imageries, and the difference in JOLs between two conditions was no longer significant. In Experiment 4, we used a questionnaire to investigate the contribution of beliefs and found that participants believed large imageries were easier to remember. These findings indicate that imagery size has a significant impact on JOLs, in which beliefs may play a leading role.     

Latent variables underlying the memory beliefs of Chartered Clinical Psychologists,Hypnotherapists and undergraduate students

In courts in the United Kingdom, understanding of memory phenomena is often assumed to be a matter of common sense. To test this assumption 337 UK respondents, consisting of 125 Chartered Clinical Psychologists, 88 individuals who advertised their services as Hypnotherapists (HTs) in a classified directory, the Yellow Pages^TM, and 124 first year undergraduate psychology students, completed a questionnaire that assessed their knowledge of 10 memory phenomena about which there is a broad scientific consensus. HTs’ responses were the most inconsistent with the scientific consensus, scoring lowest on six of these ten items. Principal Components Analysis indicated two latent variables – reflecting beliefs about memory quality and malleability – underlying respondents’ responses. In addition, respondents were asked to rate their own knowledge of the academic memory literature in general. There was no significant relationship between participants’ self reported knowledge and their actual knowledge (as measured by their responses to the 10-item questionnaire). There was evidence of beliefs among the HTs that could give rise to some concern (e.g., that early memories from the first year of life are accurately stored and are retrievable).