Screening for harsh punishment in a pediatric primary care clinic

ObjectivesTo determine: (1) the prevalence of harsh punishment among parents in a pediatric clinic, and (2) the sensitivity, specificity, predictive values, and stability of a brief screening measure.MethodsA subset of families involved in a study of child maltreatment prevention were recruited for this study. Two items in a parent screening questionnaire (PSQ) were related to child punishment. Comparisons were made between parents’ responses on the PSQ and on the Parent-Child Conflict Tactic Scale (CTSPC).ResultsOn the PSQ, 7% of parents of infants and 32% of parents of toddlers/preschoolers reported that their child was difficult to take care of or needed to be hit or spanked. On the CTSPC, 14% of the infants had experienced physical assault and 21% psychological aggression. For older children, subscales were modified to exclude common discipline measures, resulting in 20% experiencing physical assault and 19% psychological aggression. Sensitivities for the PSQ were relatively poor for infants, but moderate for older children. Specificities were good. Stability was adequate.ConclusionsHarsh punishment experienced by older children was similar to that in published studies. Punishment of infants is concerning. The PSQ can be used to screen out parents who are not using harsh discipline measures.Practice implicationsThe PSQ has variable utility in determining which families are using harsh punishment. Until the measure can be further refined, universal counseling is needed.     

Motivation and self‐regulation assessments: Professional practices and needs of school psychologists

The current study examined differences between urban and suburban school psychologists in terms of their motivation and self‐regulation assessment beliefs, practices, and professional development needs. Using a sample of 96 urban and 47 suburban school psychologists sampled from 22 school districts in a Midwestern state, we found that the two groups were not differentiated across most survey items. Of primary practical importance, however, urban and suburban practitioners encountered motivation and self‐regulation referrals on a relatively frequent basis, perceived these processes to be valuable, and were strongly interested in professional development training. Interestingly, both groups of practitioners indicated that they do not routinely evaluate these processes in youth and were unfamiliar with many commercially available and research‐oriented motivation/self‐regulation self‐report scales. These results are consistent with the premise that there is a disconnect between the types of assessments that practitioners perceive to be valuable and the extent to which they actually engage in those practices. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

An investigation of blended learning to support reading instruction in elementary schools

Educational technology research and development - Research is needed to address the possible benefits of blended learning as a form of reading instruction in elementary schools. Blended learning...     

Innovation in the multinational firm with globally dispersed r&d: Technological knowledge utilization and accumulation

This paper employs evolutionary, resource-based, and knowledge-based perspectives to provide a framework for understanding technological knowledge sharing within the globally dispersed R&D function of the multinational firm. Elements from the three perspectives are inspected and drawn together. The constructs—knowledge, knowledge transaction, and performance—are articulated. Finally, two fundamental relationships are proposed: (1) kind of technological knowledge shared will impact the type of knowledge transaction undertaken and 2) type of knowledge transaction will impact R&D task performance.     

Bookstores - Los Angeles

“Larry Edmunds Cinema and Theater Bookshop”, Inc. 6658 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood, Calif. 90028: This bookstore was mentioned earlier in BBB under cinema [I:6:5 and II:4:6]

“Acres of Books”, 240 Long Beach Blvd., Long Beach, Calif. 90802: Dr. Kittross described this bookstore in an early issue of BBB [I:4:3]

“The Book Shelf”, 1217 South Hawthorne Blvd., Hawthorne, Calif. 90250.

“Gene de Chene Bookseller”, 11552 Santa Monica Blvd., Los Angeles, Calif. 90025.

“Dawson's Book Shop”: 533 North Larchmont, Los Angeles, Calif. 90004.

“Cosmopolitan Book Shop”: 7007 Melrose Ave., Los Angeles, Calif. 90038.

“West Los Angeles Bookstore”, 1670 Sawtelle Blvd., Los Angeles, Calif. 90025.

“Wilshire Books”, 3018 Wilshire Blvd., Santa Monica, Calif. 90406.     

Telecommunications History

Henry M. Field, The Story of the Atlantic Telegraph (originally published by Scribner's in 1893, 415 pp.)

John E. Kingsbury, The Telephone and Telephone Exchanges: Their Invention and Development (Longmans, Green, 1915, 558 pp.)

George B. Prescott, Bell's Electric Speaking Telephone: Its Invention, Construction, Application, Modification and History (Appleton, 1884, 526 pp.)

Robert Luther Thompson, Wiring a Continent: The History of the Telegraph Industry in the United States, 1832-66 (Princeton University Press, 1947, 544 pp.)

The Horn Speaker (P.O. Box 12, Kleberg, Texas 75145 -- $3.00 per year/10 issues)     

Competing explanations for knowledge exchange: Technology sharing within the globally dispersed R&D of the multinational enterprise

This paper explores five competing theories for technological knowledge sharing within the globally dispersed R&D function of the multidivisional, multinational firm. These five broad explanations for why a knowledge transaction occurs are: (1) economic, (2) technological, (3) organizational, (4) geographic, and (5) sociological. In addition to occurrence, likelihood of knowledge exchange success prompted by various explanations is considered. Ultimately the determination of which argument—or combination of arguments—offers the greatest explanatory power for the sharing of intermediate technological knowledge may be answered empirically.     

Facebook use in the learning environment: do students want this?

The Net Generation (those born in or after 1980) rely heavily on ICTs for social and professional interactions, and it has been suggested that they have the expectation that technology will be an integral part of their education. At the same time, it is argued that Facebook has educational potential, and that today's learners should be encouraged and supported to use Web 2.0 technologies for learning in formal education. However, there is growing evidence that the value of Facebook in the educational context does not relate to formal learning at all, but to the ‘social networking’ elements of the site. This Viewpoint article discusses the results of a study to explore students' views towards the use of Facebook in the university setting, especially with regard to learning and integration into university life. The findings suggest support for informal rather than formal learning use of Facebook within the university setting.