Parent training research: An analysis of the empirical literature 1975–1985

This project was designed to provide a retrospective analysis of the parent training literature during the last decade. Eighteen journals with behavioral psychology, clinical/counseling psychology, school psychology, and special education emphases were selected for review. Data related to the number of articles published in each journal, year of article publication, referral problem, and contributing institution were collected. Results indicate that behavioral journals published the most empirically based parent training articles (66%), followed by clinical/counseling psychology (26%), special education (6%), and school psychology (3%) journals. Parents with noncompliant, handicapped, or abused/neglected children comprised the majority (58%) of research participants. Suggestions for involving school psychologists in parent training research and broadening the focus of parent training to include preventive, as well as remedial, efforts are presented.     

‘Tracksuit Traitors’: Eastern German Top Athletes on the Run

In the time between its founding and the fall of the wall in November 1989, more than three million people left the German Democratic Republic, many of them illegally and under dangerous circumstances. The party leadership perceived this mass exodus of its citizens as one of the major threats for the real socialist regime.1^?1. Bispinck Bispinck, Henrick. “Republikflucht. Flucht und Ausreise als Problem der DDR-Führung.” Vor dem Mauerbau. Politik und Gesellschaft der DDR in den Fünfziger Jahren, edited by MichaelSchwartz and Hermann Wentker, 285–309. München: Oldenbourg Wissenschaftsverlag, 2003. [Google Scholar], “Republikflucht.”‘Republikflucht’, as this move from East to West was called by the party leadership, was the reason for the two most important hiatuses in Eastern German history: the first result was that the SED leadership built the wall in August 1961. Many years later, in the fall of 1989, the situation culminated, when a flood of desperate refugees tried to escape to the Federal Republic of Germany via Hungary, Poland and Czechoslovakia, thus effectively hurrying along the regime's demise. The world of sports, too, was considerably affected by this phenomenon. The following essay shall offer a short historical summary of the different reasons and routes Eastern German top athletes chose for their escape. Examples from various decades show that in spite of individual circumstances certain similarities in pattern can be made out, especially in respect to the way the government dealt with these cases of ‘treason’.     

College choice in the church-affiliated sector of higher education: The influence of congregational cultural orientation

The relationship between a Midwest church-affiliated institution and its supporting congregations provides an opportunity to investigate part of the sociological environment within which a college-choice decision is made for students of a strong denominational orientation. Applying the local-cosmopolitan dichotomy used by previous researchers, this study hypothesized that the cultural orientation of local congregational leaders reflects norms that are aligned to congregational enrollment support or nonsupport for the denominational university. The findings demonstrate that the concepts of cultural, social, and ecclesiological localism-cosmopolitanism are helpful in explaining an individual's support for the denominational university. Also, differing cultural orientations among congregational leaders are related to the degree to which the congregation supports the university with the enrollment of youth.     

WISC-R factor scores and student self-ratings of behavior as predictors of academic achievement

The capability of WISC-R Verbal Comprehension (VC), Perceptual Organization (PO), and Freedom from Distractibility (FD) factor scores and student self-ratings of behavior from the Behavior Rating Profile Student Rating Scales (BRP-SRS) to predict academic achievement was investigated. Previous research found that intellectual ability accounted for about 50% of the variance in achievement. Other noncognitive variables are expected to account for a portion of the remaining variance and add significantly to the prediction of achievement. Subjects were public school students referred for psychological evaluations due to learning and behavior problems in the classroom. The results of a multivariate multiple regression analysis indicated that VC and FD factors significantly predicted Woodcock-Johnson Reading, Mathematics, and Written Language cluster scores. The VC and FD factors accounted for a major portion of the variance in achievement. Behavioral self-ratings did not contribute significantly to the prediction of achievement scores.     

New perspectives for the evaluation of training sessions in self-regulated learning: Time-series analyses of diary data

The present study combines a standardized diary approach with time-series analysis methods to investigate the process of self-regulated learning. Based on a process-focused adaptation of Zimmerman’s (2000) learning model, an intervention (consisting of four weekly training sessions) to increase self-regulated learning was developed. The diaries were applied to evaluate this intervention. A sample of 40 civil engineering students participated and 21 of them answered questions in standardized diaries over a five-week period. The effectiveness of the intervention was demonstrated using trend analyses that evinced significant improvements in self-regulatory behavior. In addition, interrupted time-series analyses and control group comparisons confirmed essential treatment effects. The results demonstrate the advantages of using standardized diaries to obtain ecologically valid data on daily learning.     

Aiding culturally responsive assessment in schools in a globalising world

Educational Assessment, Evaluation and Accountability - Across the world, teachers’ classroom assessment tasks and responsibilities are becoming more diverse due to increased migration. In...     

Emerging Technologies: E-Textbooks,One Piece of the Puzzle

The Internet has not only brought about a new technological era, but also seen the introduction of a number of emerging technologies such as e-textbooks. However, the slow acceptance of e-textbooks is an issue of concern. The objective of this study is to investigate students’ perceptions and use of e-textbooks. Data was collected by using a self-completion questionnaire and a focus group discussion. The results showed that the two major obstacles identified in literature in adopting e-textbooks, access to electronic devices and the lack of computer skills, were not an issue of concern in this study. Unfortunately, the results of this study show that although students are positive about e-textbooks, this positive attitude does not necessarily result in high usage. This has real implications for academics, as the challenge will be to encourage students to try out e-textbooks by incorporating this as part of a pedagogical model, whilst providing safeguards against academic risks.     

Responses of sexually experienced and naive male rats to cues from receptive vs. nonreceptive females

In order to learn more about their reaction to the female sex attractant, 61 male Norway rats were given two-choice preference tests in which they reacted to cues from receptive vs. non-receptive females. In the first experiment, 16 heterosexually experienced males showed a reliable preference (p < .01) for receptive over nonreceptive anesthetized females, as did 15 naive males (p < .02) which later proved to be copulators. Ten naive males which later proved to be noncopulators showed no reliable preference for either type of female. In the second experiment, 15 naive males which later proved to be copulators showed no reliable preference for the odors from receptive vs. nonreceptive females. From these experiments, we conclude that naive males which later prove to be sexually vigorous are attracted to the composite bodily cues from receptive females, and that this attraction is not mediated by olfactory cues alone.     

Developing an Eating Disorder Peer Advocate Program on Campus: A Report on the Eating Disorder Awareness and Advocacy Program (EDAAP)

ABSTRACT

This article describes the development and implementation of a peer advocate program for eating disorders and body image outreach on a college campus. Empirical and conceptual literature on the use of peer educators and peer advocates in college student mental health is reviewed. Peer advocate program mission, history, implementation, and training components are described. Learning outcome assessment findings of peer advocate learning are discussed. A counseling center perspective on benefits, challenges, and limitations of facilitating this peer advocate program is shared.     

A critical review of parent training research

This project was designed to review and evaluate parent training research conducted between 1975 and 1990 and, based on the results, suggest some directions for future research. One hundred forty-eight published studies were analyzed regarding the effectiveness of parent training as an intervention. Eighteen journals with behavioral psychology, clinical/counseling psychology, school psychology, and special education emphases were represented in the review. The reviewed studies were classified as group or case studies and were categorized in terms of theoretical orientation adopted and methodology employed. Case studies exhibited several methodological shortcomings, including limited social validation and treatment integrity data and an over-reliance on single, rather than multiple, outcome measures. Group studies also did not routinely collect treatment integrity information, and 50% of group parent training research did not employ control groups. Recommendations for future directions in parent training research are provided.