Socialization to interdisciplinarity: faculty and student perspectives

Socialization has become a common framework through which to understand the doctoral student experience; however, the framework has predominately been used as a lens through which to understand traditional, single-discipline doctoral student experiences. Interdisciplinary doctoral programs are becoming increasingly common in both the United States and elsewhere but relatively little empirical research exists about this distinct experience. Through multiple interviews with 18 doctoral students and their 35 faculty members, we discuss differences in the socialization process for these students in regard to knowledge acquisition, investment, and involvement. Implications for practice and future research are included.     

Agenda Setting and Priming Effects Based on Information Presentation: Revisiting Accessibility as a Mechanism Explaining Agenda Setting and Priming

In three experiments, this investigation evaluated the sufficiency of construct accessibility in explaining individual-level agenda setting and priming outcomes. Participants were exposed to an issue presented within a story from a respected news source (e.g., New York Times), a story from an unknown individual's blog, a story from a respected non-news organization (e.g., National Geographic), a crossword puzzle from a respected news source, or a crossword puzzle from an online game website. Story and crossword content was constant across the different sources. Participants responded either to a measure of implicit priming or to the traditional agenda setting question asking what the most important issue in the nation is. Priming effects were robust across presentation context, indicating a successful increase in temporary accessibility. Agenda setting effects were strongest when information came from news than from non-news sources, regardless of whether the issue was presented within a story or crossword. Findings suggest that issue salience in agenda setting is more appropriately conceptualized as perceived importance rather than top-of-mind awareness. News sources uniquely cue this salience beyond the abilities of other respected organizations.     

Performance factors in associative learning: Assessment of the sometimes competing retrieval model

Previous simulations revealed that the sometimes competing retrieval model (SOCR; Stout & Miller, Psychological Review, 114, 759-783, 2007), which assumes local error reduction, can explain many cue interaction phenomena that elude traditional associative theories based on total error reduction. Here, we applied SOCR to a new set of Pavlovian phenomena. Simulations used a single set of fixed parameters to simulate each basic effect (e.g., blocking) and, for specific experiments using different procedures, used fitted parameters discovered through hill climbing. In simulation 1, SOCR was successfully applied to basic acquisition, including the overtraining effect, which is context dependent. In simulation 2, we applied SOCR to basic extinction and renewal. SOCR anticipated these effects with both fixed parameters and best-fitting parameters, although the renewal effects were weaker than those observed in some experiments. In simulation 3a, feature-negative training was simulated, including the often observed transition from second-order conditioning to conditioned inhibition. In simulation 3b, SOCR predicted the observation that conditioned inhibition after feature-negative and differential conditioning depends on intertrial interval. In simulation 3c, SOCR successfully predicted failure of conditioned inhibition to extinguish with presentations of the inhibitor alone under most circumstances. In simulation 4, cue competition, including blocking (4a), recovery from relative validity (4b), and unblocking (4c), was simulated. In simulation 5, SOCR correctly predicted that inhibitors gain more behavioral control than do excitors when they are trained in compound. Simulation 6 demonstrated that SOCR explains the slower acquisition observed following CS-weak shock pairings.     

School psychologists and autism identification: Present challenges and potential solutions

Although federal law has provided guidelines for autism eligibility for special education, school-based autism assessment and eligibility vary widely across states and identification continues to lag behind national prevalence data. The main role of the school psychologist continues to be conducting evaluations for special education eligibility, and given current barriers, some school psychologists do not feel equipped to make a recommendation for autism eligibility. This article summarizes the barriers school psychologists face when conducting autism assessments in the schools, including systemic barriers, lack of training or professional development, resulting lack of confidence, among others. We conclude by highlighting recommendations for multipronged systemic changes that will improve the capacity of special education teams and specifically support the pivotal role of the school psychologist in conducting autism eligibility evaluations in the schools.