Owning Your Emotions: Reactions to Expressions of Self- versus Other-Attributed Positive and Negative Emotions

This investigation tested the notion that speakers should own their emotions by using I-messages rather than You-messages when conveying their feelings. In Study 1, hypothetical self-attributed (I) emotion messages were compared to other-attributed (You) messages, with an I-You message added in Study 2. In both studies, the effect of both positive and negative emotion statements on perceived politeness, effectiveness, and emotional reactions were assessed. No differences were found in reactions to the message forms for negative emotions, but both studies provided evidence for differences in respondents' reaction to positive emotional expressions. These results suggest a self-serving bias; recipients do not distinguish between ways of phrasing negative emotions expressed to them, but apparently appreciate being given credit for speakers' positive emotions. Implications for therapists, communication consultants, and practitioners are discussed.     

An NCME Instructional Module on Multistage Testing

Multistage tests are those in which sets of items are administered adaptively and are scored as a unit. These tests have all of the advantages of adaptive testing, with more efficient and precise measurement across the proficiency scale as well as time savings, without many of the disadvantages of an item-level adaptive test. As a seemingly balanced compromise between linear paper-and-pencil and item-level adaptive tests, development and use of multistage tests is increasing. This module describes multistage tests, including two-stage and testlet-based tests, and discusses the relative advantages and disadvantages of multistage testing as well as considerations and steps in creating such tests.     

Until somebody hears me: parent voice and advocacy in special educational decision making

When a family finds out their child has a disability, they enter the world of special education which has its own terminology, rules, settings and personnel. In addition to grappling with the meaning of their child's special needs, families are also thrown into the role of principle advocate for their child. The research study reported here presents the findings from focus groups conducted in the United States of America with 27 diverse families on their efforts to obtain the best educational outcomes for their children. In this article, Robyn Hess, Amy Molina and Elizabeth Kozleski bring their collective past experiences, as a school psychologist, bilingual counsellor and special education teacher respectively, to bear on this topic and frame the issue from a systemic perspective. They argue that engaging in conversation with families around their needs, as well as assisting them in their efforts to advocate for their child, is the first step in creating more equal partnerships between parents of children with special needs and educational professionals.     

Impact of the Friendly Schools whole-school intervention on transition to secondary school and adolescent bullying behaviour

Peer bullying increases in times of school transition, influenced by changing peer and friendship groups, new schooling environments and greater stress. Covert forms of bullying, including cyberbullying, become more common in secondary school and cause considerable distress and long-term harm. The period of transition to secondary school is therefore a critical window for intervening to manage and prevent bullying. A three-year cluster randomised control trial was conducted to develop, implement and evaluate the Friendly Schools Project intervention which aimed to reduce bullying and aggression among more than 3,000 students who had recently transitioned to secondary school. Intervention schools were provided with individualised training and resources to support students’ transition and reduce bullying using a multi-level comprehensive intervention addressing classroom curriculum, school policies and procedures, the social and physical environment, pastoral care approaches and school-home-community links. Although the observed effect sizes were small, the intervention had a consistently significant positive effect across a range of outcomes, including bullying perpetration, victimisation, depression, anxiety, stress, feelings of loneliness and perceptions of school safety at the end of the students’ first year in secondary school. However, none of these differences were sustained into the students’ second year of secondary school. These findings demonstrate the immediate value of whole-school interventions to reduce bullying behaviour and associated harms among students who have recently transitioned to secondary school, as well as the need to provide strategies that continue to support students as they progress through school, to sustain these effects.     

Electrodes on a budget: Micropatterned electrode fabrication by wet chemical deposition

Precise patterning of metals is required for diverse microfluidic and microelectromechanical system (MEMS) applications ranging from the separation of proteins to the manipulation of single cells and drops of water-in-oil emulsions. Here we present a very simple, inexpensive method for fabricating micropatterned electrodes. We deposit a thin metal layer of controlled thickness using wet chemistry, thus eliminating the need for expensive equipment typically required for metal deposition. We demonstrate that the resulting deposited metal can be used to fabricate functional electrodes: The wet-deposited metal film can sustain patterning by photolithography down to micron-sized features required for MEMS and microfluidic applications, and its properties are suitable for operative electrodes used in a wide range of microfluidic applications for biological studies.     

Interrupting situated practices: critical incidents in international partnerships

This paper examines the initial steps of an internationally funded project focused on enhancing teachers’ conceptual and pedagogical knowledge of literacy development in the Western Cape of South Africa. We asked what are the tensions and breakthroughs when engaged in international teacher professional development? Four lines of inquiry support this work: internationalization and production of knowledge, professional development structures, communities of practice, and ethic of care. Resulting themes included initial barriers, localized professional development, and enhancing teacher capacity for change. To explain the themes, we identified four critical incidents. This study has potential to inform the international community of new directions for teacher learning.     

Psychosocial development through Masters sport: What can be gained from youth sport models?

Although sport participation is encouraged throughout the lifespan, little research has been conducted on the role of sport in development later in life. This qualitative study explored adults’ experiences of development within the context of Masters sport. We interviewed 14 adults (nine men and five women) aged 46–61 years involved in Masters sport. Data was interpreted drawing upon frameworks from youth sport (i.e., Personal Assets Framework for Sport; Côté, J., Bruner, M., Strachan, L., Erickson, K., & Fraser-Thomas, J. (2010). Athletes’ development and coaching. In J. Lyle & C. Cushion (Eds.), Sport coaching: Professionalism and practice (pp. 63–83). Oxford, UK: Elsevier, Côté, J., Turnnidge, J., & Evans, M. B. (2014). The dynamic process of development through sport. Kinesiologia Slovenica, 20(3), 14–26, Côté, J., Turnnidge, J., & Vieerima, M. (2016). A personal assets approach to youth sport. In K. Green & A. Smith (Eds.), Routledge handbook of youth sport (pp. 243–255). New York, NY: Routledge; 4/5Cs of positive youth development; Lerner, R. M., Fisher, C. B., & Weinberg, R. A. (2000). Toward a science for and of the people: Promoting civil society through the application of developmental science. Child Development, 71(1), 11–20. doi:10.1111/1467-8624.00113; Vierimaa, M., Erickson, K., Côté, J., & Gilbert, W. (2012). Positive youth development: A measurement framework for sport. International Journal of Sports Science & Coaching, 7(3), 601–614. doi:10.1260/1747-9541.7.3.601), combined with past research on mid-life and older athletes. Six key themes emerged as contributing to adults’ personal development through sport: competence and confidence, character, commitment, connection, cognition, and challenge. Masters sport contexts appeared to facilitate changes in assets (i.e., 6Cs) similar to those within youth sport, but assets often held different meanings within the context of later life. Applying frameworks from youth sport and developmental psychology to Masters sport contexts appears useful. The current findings support the modification of existing models and highlight their potential in identifying lifelong developmental outcomes of sport participation.