Self-Determination Skills of Adolescents Enrolled in Special Education: An Analysis of Four Cases

This study provides information about four adolescent students participating in an occupation-based self-determination program drawn from the Model of Self-Determination and the Model of Human Occupation. Students were selected from a Career Lab based on their ability to participate. The analysis of the cases demonstrate that psycho-educational strategies incorporated into a special education curriculum can instill in the students the knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors necessary for personal goal setting and attainment.     

Teachers’ professional development as a pathway for educational reform in Egypt

This study explores teachers’ reflections on the professional development (PD) provided by the Egyptian Ministry of Education as part of a national reform plan implemented right before the political changes in Egypt. The study took place in three national language schools and focused on English as Foreign Language teachers’ perspectives on the PD and the successes and challenges they faced implementing it. Results highlight teachers’ critical reflections on the quality and duration of the PD. Despite the effort, they expressed dissatisfaction with the lack of support and follow up from the administration, in addition to the lack of practical examples that characterized the PD.     

预设路径模型及其在认知心理学研究中的应用

预设路径模型(Fixed-links modeling)是在结构方程模型框架下发展出的用于分析心理学实验数据的统计模型。该类模型的主要特征是根据前期理论基础和实验设计,通过预先设定模型中显变量与潜变量之间的因素载荷矩阵实现对显变量方差的拆分。因素载荷矩阵的设定主要基于实验水平与所表征的心理过程之间的关系,选取相应函数来表征不同实验水平之间的变化趋势。该模型在表征工作记忆、注意和学习的内部加工过程及揭示不同认知过程的具体联系中发挥了重要作用。     

A Cross-Sectional Examination of International Competency Standards

The evaluation of competency in the field of psychology has gained international attention in recent years. Focusing on international competencies can promote high standards of care and identify common values of the profession. However, there is little research regarding international perceptions of competency. Examining ethics codes from different countries can highlight international standards of competent practice, as ethics codes outline professional expectations of the field. The current study compared the ethics standards found in 47 codes of ethics representing 51 countries. Seventeen competency standards emerged after ethics codes were analyzed. Implications for the international practice of psychology are discussed.     

自上而下的注意控制定势在注意捕获中的作用

采用经典前线索范式的变式, 通过100%有效的提示考察了自上而下的注意控制定势在注意捕获中的作用。实验1要求被试在整个实验中只搜索一个固定颜色的目标, 但是通过在每个试次前对目标进行提示加强注意控制定势的强度。实验2通过在每个试次中变化要搜索的目标颜色使被试必须建立两个更强的注意控制定势。实验结果一致表明和目标颜色相匹配的线索捕获了注意, 而和目标颜色无关的线索被抑制; 实验2的捕获效应和抑制效应都显著大于实验1; 对无关冲突线索和无关中性线索的注意抑制效应没有差异, 抑制效应显著小于捕获效应。研究表明自上而下的注意控制定势通过把注意从和目标不匹配的特征位置转移发挥作用, 支持注意转移假说; 对匹配线索的捕获和对无关线索的抑制运用了同一加工系统, 抑制作为捕获的附加产品出现, 两者都可以作为注意捕获的指标。     

Eyes on the prize: The longitudinal benefits of goal focus on progress toward a weight loss goal

Past research suggests that focusing on what has not yet been accomplished (goal focus) signals a lack of progress towards one's high commitment goals and inspires greater motivation than does focusing on what has already been accomplished (accomplishment focus). The present investigation extends this research to a longitudinal, important domain by exploring the consequences of focusing on one's goals versus accomplishments when pursuing a weight loss goal. Participants were tracked over the course of a 12-week weight loss program that utilized weekly group discussions and a companion website to direct participants' focus toward their end weight loss goal or toward what they had already achieved. Goal-focused participants reported higher levels of commitment to their goal and, ultimately, lost more weight than did accomplishment-focused and no focus control participants. Accomplishment-focused participants did not differ from controls on any measure.     

Creative Self‐Efficacy and Innovative Behavior in a Service Setting: Optimism as a Moderator

Creativity research on the personality approach has focused on the relationship between individual attributes and innovative behavior. However, few studies have empirically examined the effects of positive psychological traits on innovative behavior in an organizational setting. This study examines the relationships among creative self‐efficacy, optimism, and innovative behavior as well as the moderating effect of optimism. Longitudinal data across two periods were collected from 120 spa employees of a diet and beauty salon company in Taiwan. After controlling for the effects of job tenure and the Big Five personality traits, this study found that employees with a high level of creative self‐efficacy demonstrate a high level of innovative behavior at work, and optimism does not have a direct effect on employees' innovative behavior, but it does play a moderating role. When employees' creative self‐efficacy is high, those with greater optimism exhibit greater innovative behavior at work. Toward the end, this paper offers suggestions for future research and discusses the practical implications of this study.     

Painful engagement in deliberate self-harm: The role of conditional goal setting

Conditional goal setting is the tendency for people to see attainment of their future personal goals as necessary for their well-being. It has been argued that this represents an unhealthy way of relating to one’s goals, as well as being particularly problematic when goals are perceived as unlikely. High conditional goal setting has been found to be related to depression and to hopelessness. The present study examined conditional goal setting in deliberate self-harm, where problematic thinking about the future is very prominent. A group of individuals attending hospital for a recent episode of deliberate self-harm (N = 25) were compared with controls attending hospital for minor injuries (N = 25) as well as a psychologically disordered but non-suicidal control group (N = 25). Participants generated goals and rated goal likelihood, the extent to which those goals were seen as necessary for their future well-being (conditional goal setting), and also the extent to which the goals were seen as sufficient for their future well-being (goal sufficiency). Deliberate self-harm patients showed a higher degree of both conditional goal setting and goal sufficiency than did both of the other groups, further confirming the idea of painful engagement with personal goals, rather than disengagement, as characterising deliberate self-harm.