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Random forests are a nonparametric machine learning method, which is currently gaining popularity in the behavioral sciences. Despite random forests' potential advantages over more conventional statistical methods, a remaining question is how reliably informative predictor variables can be identified by means of random forests. The present study aims at giving a comprehensible introduction to the topic of variable selection with random forests and providing an overview of the currently proposed selection methods. Using simulation studies, the variable selection methods are examined regarding their statistical properties, and comparisons between their performances and the performance of a conventional linear model are drawn. Advantages and disadvantages of the examined methods are discussed, and practical recommendations for the use of random forests for variable selection are given.

Although well established in developed countries, Ethics review boards in the academia, and specifically for social and behavioral sciences (SBS) research, is a relatively new, and still a controversy inducing endeavor. This study explores the establishment and functioning of ERBs in Israeli academia, serving as a case study for the challenges and progress made in ensuring ethical research practices in non-medical related spheres. A purposeful sample of 46 participants was selected, comprising ERB current or past members and SBS researchers, who each interacted extensively with ERB's evaluation processes. The participants came from all eight research universities of Israel, as well as seven large public and private academic colleges. Open, semi structured In-depth interviews were conducted in order to facilitate a critical reflective stance among the various participants, exploring their experiences, behaviors and the meanings they assign to ERB processes. Our research revealed two major themes. The first is the developmental trajectories in the construction processes of ERBs in Israel, comprised of the following stages: Initiation, expansion, opposition, and acceptance and assimilation. The second was a typology of participation throughout the ERBs' construction process. Inspired by Merton's strain theory, this typology includes conformists, ritualists, ideologists, control-freaks, and insurgents. The findings expose a unique perspective into the initiation, establishment, and development of ERBs, which can shed light on the role of ERBs in general, as well as point out how resistance to ERBs, as well as the different reasons for championing them, affected not only ERBs form and their legitimacy, but also their interaction with researchers.

Background: Perceptual measures such as speech intelligibility are known to be biased, variant and subjective, to which an automatic approach has been seen as a more reliable alternative. On the other hand, automatic approaches tend to lack explainability, an aspect that can prevent the widespread usage of these technologies clinically. Aims: In the present work, we aim to study the relationship between four perceptual parameters and speech intelligibility by automatically modelling the behaviour of six perceptual judges, in the context of head and neck cancer. From this evaluation we want to assess the different levels of relevance of each parameter as well as the different judge profiles that arise, both perceptually and automatically. Methods and Procedures: Based on a passage reading task from the Carcinologic Speech Severity Index (C2SI) corpus, six expert listeners assessed the voice quality, resonance, prosody and phonemic distortions, as well as the speech intelligibility of patients treated for oral or oropharyngeal cancer. A statistical analysis and an ensemble of automatic systems, one per judge, were devised, where speech intelligibility is predicted as a function of the four aforementioned perceptual parameters of voice quality, resonance, prosody and phonemic distortions. Outcomes and Results: The results suggest that we can automatically predict speech intelligibility as a function of the four aforementioned perceptual parameters, achieving a high correlation of 0.775 (Spearman's [rho]). Furthermore, different judge profiles were found perceptually that were successfully modelled automatically. Conclusions and Implications: The four investigated perceptual parameters influence the global rating of speech intelligibility, showing that different judge profiles emerge. The proposed automatic approach displayed a more uniform profile across all judges, displaying a more reliable, unbiased and objective prediction. The system also adds an extra layer of interpretability, since speech intelligibility is regressed as a direct function of the individual prediction of the four perceptual parameters, an improvement over more black box approaches.

Background: There has been a rapid increase in the number of, and demand for, organisations offering behavioural science advice to government over the last ten years. Yet we know little of the state of science and the experiences of these evidence providers. Aims and objectives: To identify current practice in this emerging field and the factors that impact on the production of high-quality and policy-relevant research. Methods: A qualitative study using one-to-one interviews with representatives from a purposeful sample of 15 units in the vanguard of international behavioural science research in policy. The data were analysed thematically. Findings: Relationships with policymakers were important in the inception of units, research conduct, implementation and dissemination of findings. Knowledge exchange facilitated a shared understanding of policy issues/context, and of behavioural science. Sufficient funding was crucial to maintain critical capacity in the units' workforces, build a research portfolio beneficial to policymakers and the units, and to ensure full and transparent dissemination. Discussion and conclusion: Findings highlight the positive impact of strong evidence-provider/user relationships and the importance of governments' commitment to co-produced research programmes to address policy problems and transparency in the dissemination of methods and findings. From the findings we have created a framework, 'STEPS' (Sharing, Transparency, Engagement, Partnership, Strong relationships), of five recommendations for units working with policymakers. These findings will be of value to all researchers conducting research on behalf of government.

Communities may often lack the resources to deliver intensive programs to assist teen mothers, and many eligible adolescents may decline participation in lengthy interventions. Therefore, alternative approaches involving less resource and time may be needed. Behavioral economics (BE) can inform the development of such novel interventions. BE often feature low-intensity approaches designed to "nudge" people to help them reach their long-term goals. Nudges can include giving reminders, making the desired behavior more convenient, and optimizing the verbal presentation of recommended options. Three hundred thirty-one American adolescents (ages 14 to 19) who were 22 to 35 weeks pregnant were enrolled in the present trial. One hundred sixty-six participants were randomly assigned to the intervention condition featuring a three-month BE intervention delivered by a registered nurse and social worker. The remaining 165 youths were assigned usual care. Surveys were completed at baseline, 3 months, 12 months, and 18 months. Data collection occurred from 2017 to 2021. Qualitative feedback indicated that the BE intervention was well-received by adolescents. However, there were no significant differences between the intervention and control groups at any time point regarding repeat pregnancy, contraceptive usage, financial literacy, school completion, job attainment, HPV vaccinations, nicotine usage, perception of having a medical home, urgent care/ED usage, and nutritional intake (all p > 0.05). Our findings suggest that a BE-based intervention may not be sufficient to facilitate change for teen mothers. Future programs should consider lasting longer, featuring a higher dose, and/or incorporating systems-level changes. This trial was prospectively registered (NCT03194672 clinicaltrials.gov).

This study examined how science identity and positive educational outcomes relate to student trainees' decision to pursue a research career in health-related sciences, within the context of a two-year research training program that prepares diverse undergraduate students for a research career. In analyses using the evaluation data, science identity and one of the positive educational outcomes significantly predicted trainees' decision to pursue a research career in biomedical and behavioral sciences. In general, students with stronger science identity and interest in pursuing research in academia exhibited a firmer decision to pursue a research career in sciences. In a separate analysis that examined the associations between the trainees' decision to pursue a health-related research career and their underrepresented minority identities, gender, and disciplinary track, results revealed that: (1) the interaction between trainees' disciplinary track (i.e., biomedical vs. behavioral sciences) and their total number of underrepresented minority status was associated with their decision to pursue a research career, but (2) the gender x disciplinary track interaction was not. Emphasizing the need for supporting diverse undergraduate trainees to solidify their science identity and prepare them for a research career in academia, we discuss implications of our findings for research training programs with similar aims.

Introduction: Team-based learning and Problem-Based Learning can be integrated for in person and online psychology or behavioral health related courses in higher education. Statement of the Problem: Historically, team-based learning and problem-based learning have been considered separate (and seemingly competing) activities and not often conducted concurrently during a course. Literature Review: A review of the literature on team-based learning, however, has uncovered some cases where team-based learning and problem-based learning were integrated together in a course. Teaching Implications: The purpose of this article is to present a case example in which team-based learning and problem-based learning were integrated together in two master's level sex therapy courses: one in the U.S. and one in Austria. The article describes how this integration was achieved through outlining the activities of the class and the possible benefits seen based on self-report. Conclusion: Integrating team-based learning and problem-based learning was an effective method for teaching two master's level sex therapy courses and may have relevant application to psychology classes and/or treatment-oriented topics in behavioral health.

Women seeking higher education frequently do so during peak childbearing years and women with higher levels of education are more likely to postpone motherhood until a later age. Fertility rate, defined as the average number of children born to a woman over her lifetime, has decreased globally. The decrease in birthrate has been partially attributed to women seeking educational opportunities. Understanding the experience of students in this realm would allow higher education institutions to better support students who are (or wish to be) mothers. Unfortunately, there is a paucity of research examining graduate women and the factors involved in their consideration of having a child while in school. We seek to fill this gap by examining the impact of fertility concerns (FC) and importance of on-time degree completion (DC) on the probability of having a biological child in graduate school (PC) among 469 female graduate psychology students in the USA. We found higher FC was associated with higher PC. In contrast, higher DC was associated with lower PC. Furthermore, FC had a significant unique relation to PC after accounting for the contribution of DC. We discuss how institutions and programs may help support and empower female graduate students by implementing educational policies and procedures that are supportive of graduate student mothers. This is particularly important because a large proportion of women pursue advanced degrees, and this number is projected to increase.

We have observed that as the theoretical landscape in behavioral science continues to proliferate and diversify, it is not uncommon that distance between subspecialties emerge, artificially accentuating differences between camps. This may occur at the risk of losing sight of the common ground, and worsening communication between subspecialties. In this paper, we propose conceptual "crosswalking" as a means to preserve interdisciplinary communication within the behavioral sciences. This is illustrated using Bronfenbrenner's Person-Process-Context-Time (PPCT) Model, mapped onto therapeutic modalities with a focus on ecological systems. Recommendations for future crosswalking are made.

In the past decade, moderated mediation analysis has been extensively and increasingly employed in social and behavioral sciences. With its widespread use, it is particularly important to ensure the moderated mediation analysis will not bring spurious results. Spurious effects have been studied in both mediation and moderation analysis, but this issue remains unexplored in moderated mediation analysis. To fill this gap, we examined the conditions under which a spurious moderated mediation effect in a dual stage moderated mediation model might occur. Specifically, with a hypothetical example and three theorems, we illustrated how the index of moderated moderated mediation may conclude a moderated mediation effect which does not actually exist. As a remedy to rule out the spurious results, we proposed two methods which are simple and easy to implement. Based on the simulation results, we offer researchers some practical guidelines to apply the methods in empirical research.

This action research aims to develop the scientific explanation of grade 10 students using sociobiological case-based learning on the topic "immune system". The target group consisted of 2 1students who are studying in biology course. The research instruments were: plan of instrument using sociobiological case-based learning, scientific explanation test, student behavior observation, semi-structure interviews, and student journal writing. The data were analyzed by percentage, mean, and standard deviation. The results showed in the first cycle, 18 students received an average scientific explanation score of 9.62 out of a total 12 points, representing 80.16%, and three students did not meet the good level criterion. In the second cycle, 21 students received an average scientific explanation score of 10.90 out of a total of 12 points, representing 90.87% of those who met the good criteria.

When reasoning about science studies, people often make "causal theory errors" by inferring or accepting a causal claim based on correlational evidence. While humans naturally think in terms of causal relationships, reasoning about science findings requires understanding how evidence supports--or fails to support--a causal claim. This study investigated college students' thinking about causal claims presented in brief media reports describing behavioral science findings. How do science students reason about causal claims from correlational evidence? And can their reasoning be improved through instruction clarifying the nature of causal theory error? We examined these questions through a series of written reasoning exercises given to advanced college students over three weeks within a psychology methods course. In a pretest session, students critiqued study quality and support for a causal claim from a brief media report suggesting an association between two variables. Then, they created diagrams depicting possible alternative causal theories. At the beginning of the second session, an instructional intervention introduced students to an extended example of a causal theory error through guided questions about possible alternative causes. Then, they completed the same two tasks with new science reports immediately and again 1 week later. The results show students' reasoning included fewer causal theory errors after the intervention, and this improvement was maintained a week later. Our findings suggest that interventions aimed at addressing reasoning about causal claims in correlational studies are needed even for advanced science students, and that training on considering alternative causal theories may be successful in reducing casual theory error. [This article was published in "Cognitive Research: Principles and Implications" (EJ1322131).]

Behavior, social, psychological, and biological factors affect health and disease. It is widely recognized that behavioral and social sciences should become an integral part of medical training. Integrating behavioral and social science into the curriculum is a key issue emphasized in many research. Despite the critical role of behavior and social science in health-care performance, these have not been effectively incorporated in the medical and allied health sciences curriculum. This article emphasizes the role, purpose, and importance of social and behavioral science in the medical curriculum. It also discusses how effectively these domains can be integrated into the medical school curriculum to train future doctors in social and behavioral sciences relevant to medical practice. Such medical education and training will help future doctors to practice with a fully informed medical system.

Among the various systems taught in the preclinical phases, the nervous system is more challenging to learn than other systems. In this report, a novel teaching methodology, "real-life scenario (RLS) blended teaching," is described and its effectiveness in facilitating inquisitive learning in undergraduate medical students is evaluated. This mixed-method study was conducted among three groups ("group 1," n = 83; "group 2," n = 85; and "group 3;" n = 79) of undergraduate medical students (18--20 yr) in the neurology and behavioral sciences module. RLS was presented to students in the form of demonstrations, role-plays, videos, and group activities. "Group 1" students underwent traditional teaching-learning sessions. "Group 2" students underwent RLS blended sessions and were provided with multiple miniassignments in a vignette format. "Group 3" students received RLS blended sessions, multiple miniassignments, peer discussions, multiple formative assessments, and facilitator feedback sessions. The student performances on different exams were compared in terms of their group, and their perceptions of RLS were documented. Students exposed to RLS sessions blended with multiple assignments, peer discussions, multiple formative assignments, and facilitator feedback sessions performed well in the final summative assessments (67.87%) compared with those exposed to RLS sessions and assignments (50.21%) or exposed to traditional teaching alone (50.34%). RLS sessions increased students' curiosity and motivated them to learn the subject well. RLS sessions stimulated student interest and facilitated their learning. RLS along with effective use of multiple assignments, formative assessments, and/or feedback sessions significantly improved student learning. This demonstrates the effectiveness of this active method in teaching various subjects with appropriate modifications.

In order to design learning environments that foster students' research skills, one can draw on instructional design models for complex learning, such as the 4C/ID model (in: van Merriënboer and Kirschner, Ten steps to complex learning, Routledge, London, 2018). However, few attempts have been undertaken to foster students' "motivation" towards learning complex skills in environments based on the 4C/ID model. This study explores the effects of providing autonomy, competence and relatedness support (in Deci and Ryan, Psychol Inquiry 11(4): 227-268, https://doi.org/10.1207/S15327965PLI1104_01, 2000) in a 4C/ID based online learning environment on upper secondary school behavioral sciences students' cognitive and motivational outcomes. Students' cognitive outcomes are measured by means of a research skills test consisting of short multiple choice and short answer items (in order to assess research skills in a broad way), and a research skills task in which students are asked to integrate their skills in writing a research proposal (in order to assess research skills in an integrative manner). Students' motivational outcomes are measured by means of students' autonomous and controlled motivation, and students' amotivation. A pretest-intervention-posttest design was set up in order to compare 233 upper secondary school behavioral sciences students' outcomes among (1) a 4C/ID based online learning environment condition, and (2) an identical condition additively providing support for students' need satisfaction. Both learning environments proved equally effective in improving students' scores on the research skills test. Students in the need supportive condition scored higher on the research skills task compared to their peers in the baseline condition. Students' autonomous and controlled motivation were not affected by the intervention. Although, unexpectedly, students' amotivation increased in both conditions, students' amotivation was lower in the need supportive condition compared to students in the baseline condition. Theoretical relationships were established between students' need satisfaction, students' motivation (autonomous, controlled, and amotivation), and students' cognitive outcomes. These findings are discussed taking into account the COVID-19 affected setting in which the study took place.

Over the past years, there has been an increasing prevalence of 'nudge thinking' in the educational field. While (critical) research on the rising adoption of nudging has increasingly proliferated in the broader social sciences over the past decades, nudging in education -- what we designate here as "Edunudge" -- is, however, only starting to be given substantial academic attention and still requires more nuanced conceptual and empirical investigation. As we argue in this contribution, such investigations should not only carefully disentangle the enormous complexity of nudging in education, including the role of digital and automated technologies. Equally, they should take more systematically into account the traditional closeness of the fields of pedagogy and behavioral insights. In line with that argumentation, the goal of this article is to develop foundations of such an Edunudge research program, focusing on four different dimensions: the "technomodalities," the "political economy," the "spacetimes," and the "pedagogies" of Edunudge.

The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted the status quo across higher education, including in the domain of pedagogy. The author of this article provides a case study of the changes made to one course, "Behavioral Economics," at Swarthmore College, in response to a set of unique, pandemic-related challenges. He begins by providing details on the context and the nature of the changes made in the course before turning to reflections on what did and did not work well. Overall, the author argues that while many of the pedagogical modifications made during the pandemic need not remain in a post-pandemic world, there are many valuable lessons to be learned from the pandemic that can positively inform the evolution of economics pedagogy.

Since the advent of the twenty-first century, science has experienced a crisis pertaining to the replicability of quantitative research findings, which has become known as the 'replication crisis'. The replication crisis has particularly afflicted research in the behavioural sciences, and psychology in particular. Given the relevance of psychology to education, it is unsurprising that the replication crisis also presents an issue for quantitative educational research, thus potentially compromising its practical usefulness. This article outlines the replication crisis in psychology, and highlights its significance for quantitative educational research. Greater methodological rigour, aimed at addressing methodological deficiencies in the conduct of scientific research, has been suggested as a response to the replication crisis. Following a review of various calls for greater methodological rigour, the current article argues that, whilst methodological deficiencies may be a contributory factor, there is potentially a more fundamental reason for the replication crisis. The case is made that the non-separability of a measured attribute from the measurement instrument, and the irreducible uncertainty in unmeasured attributes, may be the principal reasons for the replication crisis in psychology and education. Implications of such an explanation for the crisis are articulated in relation to the evidence-based policy agenda in education.

The article deals with the understanding of religious talent or religious excellence in the Early Modern Period. Three subtypes are identified as follows: (1) Political Heroism and the Sacred, (2) Countercultural Moral Excellence, (3) Extraordinary Emotions. It is further argued that these subtypes are to a great extent replaced with the idea of an educated expert in the modern period. In the end, the study of emotional intelligence is mentioned as a hypothetically fruitful way to understand these phenomena in behavioral sciences.

Research regarding dysgraphia, an impairment in writing, is attaining more attention in recent times. The existing studies on dysgraphia draw insights from cognitive, behavioural, neurological, and genetic fields of knowledge. However, these multiple studies on dysgraphia fail to illustrate how these cognitive, behavioural, neurological, and genetic systems interact and intersect in dysgraphia. Therefore, the studies could not offer a comprehensive understanding of dysgraphia. In order to fill this gap, the review attempts to study dysgraphia using the notion of modularity by accommodating insights from cognitive, behavioural, neurological, and genetic aspects of dysgraphia. Such a profound understanding could facilitate an early diagnosis and holistic intervention towards dysgraphia.

Education governance is shifting towards more individually and personally tailored governance, to pre-empt futures to manage the present. Managing the present requires the fabrication of a specific type of future-oriented learning human kinds. Economically driven imperatives, strengthening transnational stakeholder networks and advances in the life and behavioural sciences are important parts of this shift while transforming the aims, content and methods of education. In terms of fabrication in the neoliberal ethos, structural problems tend to be considered to be products of innate and quantified differences in behaviour, competencies, skills and capacities. Furthermore, global, national and local changes entail even tighter economically driven governance. These changes have far-reaching implications. To date, these changes in education governance have been studied separately. By bringing together the current and emerging changes in education governance, in this paper the argument is for a new constitution: precision education governance in the fabrication of future-oriented learning human kinds.

In today's complex world, the acquisition of research skills is considered an important goal in education. Consequently, there is a growing body of literature that recognizes the value of well-designed learning environments for effectively supporting the development of this complex set of skills. However, a clear consensus on how these research skills can be facilitated is currently lacking, and the design processes underlying the learning environments aiming to foster students' research skills are not always clearly outlined. Furthermore, interventions aiming to foster these skills are often implemented in the domains of physics, biology, and chemistry, while other domains (such as behavioral and social sciences domains) remain understudied. In addition, current approaches to foster research skills often refer to only a few epistemic activities (Fischer et al., 2014) related to research skills. Inspired by a design-based research approach, this design effort case seeks to clearly explain the design considerations for, and the development of an online learning environment aiming to foster upper secondary school students' research skills in a behavioral sciences context. The online learning environment (RISSC or Research In Social SCiences) consists of a lesson series designed based on a systematic approach to four-component instructional design (van Merriënboer & Kirschner, 2018), and was piloted with two different cohorts in upper secondary education and in first year of university.

The "outside" variables such as life history, sociology, and related can become connected to the "inside" variables particularly in the voluntary and involuntary parts of the brain. This article does not try to create a biological determinism of people especially those who are female and people of color. This author wants to begin to build bridges between the "outside" and the "inside" Biological determinism used science to justify white supremacy, social class, and natural order. Rather this article is taking the path of two major areas that contribute to the social order. This started in the early 1990's. We have so far to go.

The rise of computational methods and rich textual data has spawned a series of studies that map the contours of academic knowledge produced in various fields. However, while many fields span academic cultures, studies have neglected disciplinary dynamics that may be especially useful for understanding knowledge production in fields with subject matter that is the central focus of a core discipline. We study the knowledge reflected in doctoral dissertations of multiple disciplines that constitute the broader field of linguistics from 1980 to 2010 to produce a novel intellectual topography that reveals linguistics' disciplinary core, which we analyze with respect to theory on disciplinary differences and identity. Using natural language processing, we identify and note trends of how language is used with respect to different disciplines in the field. The topography shows how linguistics' core--language that is distinctively used by the discipline of linguistics--gravitates toward theoretically abstract topics constituted largely by the language of syntax and other topics that reflect hard, pure knowledge. We find that higher-status STEM disciplines in the field are more likely to engage with the core over time than lower-status social science, behavioral science, and humanities disciplines that show no significant engagement.

Managing the future has become one of the major focuses of global governance in education. In its current mode, education seems unable to answer the needs and interests of the market and future megatrends, such as globalisation and digitalisation. Calls for precision education to introduce the usage of digital platforms, artificial intelligence in education, and knowledge from the behavioural and life sciences are getting a foothold in widening powerful networks of strengthening global governance and EdTech business. By bringing together some of the emerging changes in education governance, in this article we argue for a new constitution of governance, precision education governance. Precision education governance combines three overlapping and strengthening lines of governance: (i) global governance of education, (ii) marketisation, privatisation and digitalisation, and (iii) behavioural and life sciences as the basis for managing the future education. In the article, we highlight the importance in bringing these so far separately studied lines together to understand how they shape the aims and outcomes of education, knowledge and understanding of human subjectivity more thoroughly than before.

Insufficient sleep is common among school-attending youth and has been associated with academic, cognitive, social-emotional, and behavioral functioning. Despite these associations, it is believed that few school psychologists are prepared to identify, assess, or treat sleep problems manifested in the K-12 setting. However, no published research has explored the prevalence of behavioral sleep medicine training in the field of school psychology. The purpose of this exploratory study was to examine the current prevalence of behavioral sleep medicine training in school psychology graduate programs, including the prevalence of school psychologists who screen for sleep problems and assess or treat youth sleep disorders in the K-12 setting. Practicing school psychologists (n = 100) were recruited via state school psychology associations and school psychology graduate educators (n = 59; 29.4% response rate) were recruited via e-mail by the primary author. Those who self-selected to participate completed an online survey via Qualtrics. Findings show that 8.5% of surveyed graduate programs offer formal training in behavioral sleep medicine with 80% of surveyed school psychologists never receiving any classroom instruction in behavioral sleep medicine. Additionally, 77% of school psychologists reported never screening for sleep disorders, 79% reported not assessing for sleep disorders during special education evaluations, and 88% reported not treating sleep disorders in the school setting. The majority of school psychologists reported absent or minimal knowledge about how to assess or treat sleep disorders. Findings suggest minimal training in, and practice of, behavioral sleep medicine in the field of school psychology. Opportunities for greater integration are discussed.

Cultural competence (CC), also known as cultural intelligence (CQ), is a necessary skill for caring professions. Little is known, though, about initial levels of CQ or differences in CQ levels between students in caring and non-caring programs. A group of first-year students (n = 172) from diverse demographic backgrounds and different fields of study (social work, nursing, behavioural sciences) participated in an online survey that assessed their CQ and background attributes. Significant differences were found across fields of study so that students pursuing caring professions were more receptive than their counterparts in non-caring fields to intercultural interaction in the motivational, cognitive, and meta-cognitive CQ dimensions with no significant difference in the behavioral dimension. Mastering a non-native language was also associated with motivational and cognitive CQ. These findings suggest that greater receptiveness to intercultural interaction among students pursuing caring professions needs to be nurtured in order to generate behavioral changes.

When reasoning about science studies, people often make causal theory errors by inferring or accepting a causal claim based on correlational evidence. While humans naturally think in terms of causal relationships, reasoning about science findings requires understanding how evidence supports--or fails to support--a causal claim. This study investigated college students' thinking about causal claims presented in brief media reports describing behavioral science findings. How do science students reason about causal claims from correlational evidence? And can their reasoning be improved through instruction clarifying the nature of causal theory error? We examined these questions through a series of written reasoning exercises given to advanced college students over three weeks within a psychology methods course. In a pretest session, students critiqued study quality and support for a causal claim from a brief media report suggesting an association between two variables. Then, they created diagrams depicting possible alternative causal theories. At the beginning of the second session, an instructional intervention introduced students to an extended example of a causal theory error through guided questions about possible alternative causes. Then, they completed the same two tasks with new science reports immediately and again 1 week later. The results show students' reasoning included fewer causal theory errors after the intervention, and this improvement was maintained a week later. Our findings suggest that interventions aimed at addressing reasoning about causal claims in correlational studies are needed even for advanced science students, and that training on considering alternative causal theories may be successful in reducing casual theory error.

Allan N. Schore has served on the clinical faculty of the Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences at UCLA's David Geffen School of Medicine since 1996 and has maintained a private clinical practice for more than four decades. He has contributed significant research to the disciplines of interpersonal neurobiology, affective neuroscience, psychiatry, psychoanalysis, psychotherapy and clinical social work, and infant mental health and trauma theory. He is best known for his integration of neuroscience and attachment theory, his idea of attunement between mothers and infants, his investigation of right-brain regulation of emotion, and his applications of neuroscience in psychoanalysis and models of psychotherapy. Given the Scientific Award from the Division of Psychoanalysis of the American Psychological Association in 2008, he is a prolific writer whose works include "The Science of the Art of Psychotherapy," "Affect Regulation and the Origin of the Self," "Affect Dysregulation and Disorders of the Self," and "Affect Regulation and the Repair of the Self." In this interview, he discusses his scholarly and clinical career in neuroscience and neuropsychoanalysis and the breakthroughs in brain science that have changed our understanding of lived experience.

Research has shown that undergraduate courses in psychology often fail to make students accept the discipline as a science. It may be that explicit instruction is not sufficient to modify students' conceptualization of psychology as something other than science. The goal of this study was to examine introductory psychology students' conceptualizations of psychology and science. Five hundred and seventy participants completed a free association task for disciplines that included psychology and other sciences. They also provided ratings for these disciplines on relevant dimensions (e.g., important and scientific) and were asked "Is psychology a science?" Students tended to agree that psychology was a science but rated it to be less scientific than the natural sciences. Moreover, the free association results suggested that psychology was semantically distant from the other sciences. Thus, successful pedagogy will need to focus on conceptual change if students are to accept psychology as a science.

Across a wide range of studies, researchers often conclude that the home environment and children's outcomes are causally linked. In contrast, behavioral genetic studies show that parents influence their children by providing them with both environment and genes, meaning the environment that parents provide should not be considered in the absence of genetic influences, because that can lead to erroneous conclusions on causation. This article seeks to provide behavioral scientists with a synopsis of numerous methods to estimate the direct effect of the environment, controlling for the potential of genetic confounding. Ideally, using genetically sensitive designs can fully disentangle this genetic confound, but these require specialized samples. In the near future, researchers will likely have access to measured DNA variants (summarized in a polygenic scores), which could serve as a partial genetic control, but that is currently not an option that is ideal or widely available. We also propose a work around for when genetically sensitive data are not readily available: the Familial Control Method. In this method, one measures the same trait in the parents as the child, and the parents' trait is then used as a covariate (e.g., a genetic proxy). When these options are all not possible, we plead with our colleagues to clearly mention genetic confound as a limitation, and to be cautious with any environmental causal statements which could lead to unnecessary parent blaming.

While a wealth of research is available on the frequent multi-word units in academic genres, studies that exclusively link lexical sequences to the rhetorical moves in research articles (RAs) are fairly limited. This study involved compiling a corpus of 8,500 RA abstracts sampled from five disciplines of economics, law, political sciences, psychology, and sociology in social and behavioural sciences. Three to nine-word ngrams were generated using "AntConc 3.4.4," which is a freeware corpus analysis toolkit. All the ngrams were studied in their contexts through concordance analysis and classified based on the rhetorical moves in which they occurred using the move structure taxonomy suggested by Hatzitheodorou (2014). Eventually, ngrams were processed at multiple levels and synthesized into 84 move-marker structures. This study offers insights into the linguistic realizations of moves in RA abstracts and introduces the concept of move-marker structures. In so doing, the potentials of positionally variable move-marker structures in improving English for Academic Purposes (EAP)/English for Specific Purposes (ESP) learners' phraseological competence are suggested.

Mounting evidence supports several naturalistic developmental behavioral interventions (NDBI) for toddlers and preschoolers within inclusive childcare centers and preschools. However, these interventions pose many barriers to community implementation. As part of a larger project to create an adapted NDBI for early educators in childcare centers, we surveyed 101 early interventionists who had worked with a toddler with autism within the last 12 months. Early interventionists rated 22-of-31 NDBI strategies to be significantly more effective for All Toddlers versus Toddlers with Autism. However, when comparing the top 10 rated strategies between groups, there was a large degree of overlap. Moreover, many of these highly rated NDBI strategies are consistent with best practice accreditation and early education standards within the United States.