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Missing data are ubiquitous in psychological research. They may come about as an unwanted result of coding or computer error, participants' non-response or absence, or missing values may be intentional, as in planned missing designs. We discuss the effects of missing data on χ²-based goodness-of-fit indices in Structural Equation Modeling (SEM), specifically on the Root Mean Squared Error of Approximation (RMSEA). We use simulations to show that naive implementations of the RMSEA have a downward bias in the presence of missing data and, thus, overestimate model goodness-of-fit. Unfortunately, many state-of-the-art software packages report the biased form of RMSEA. As a consequence, the scientific community may have been accepting a much larger fraction of models with non-acceptable model fit. We propose a bias-correction for the RMSEA based on information-theoretic considerations that take into account the expected misfit of a person with fully observed data. The corrected RMSEA is asymptotically independent of the proportion of missing data for misspecified models. Importantly, results of the corrected RMSEA computation are identical to naive RMSEA if there are no missing data.

As smartphones become ever more integrated in people’s lives, a burgeoning new area of research has emerged on their well-being effects. We propose that disparate strands of research and apparently contradictory findings can be integrated under three basic hypotheses, positing that smartphones influence well-being by (1) replacing other activities (displacement hypothesis), (2) interfering with concurrent activities (interference hypothesis), and (3) affording access to information and activities that would otherwise be unavailable (complementarity hypothesis). Using this framework, we highlight methodological issues and go beyond net effects to examine how and when phones boost versus hurt well-being. We examine both psychological and contextual mediators and moderators of the effects, thus outlining an agenda for future research.

In this article we describe the origins of the subtests that appear on the modern Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scales (SB5), Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence (WPPSI-IV), Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC-V), and Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS-IV). We found that the majority of these subtest formats were first created in 1908 or earlier and that only three have been created since 1980. We discuss the implications of these findings, which are that (1) many subtests have lengthy research histories that support their use in measuring intelligence; (2) many subtests have formats that predate modern theories of test creation, cognitive psychology, and intelligence; and (3) the history of many subtests is more complex than psychologists probably realize.

A wide variety of effect size indices have been proposed for quantifying the magnitude of treatment effects in single-case designs. Commonly used measures include parametric indices such as the standardized mean difference as well as nonoverlap measures such as the percentage of nonoverlapping data, improvement rate difference, and nonoverlap of all pairs. Currently, little is known about the properties of these indices when applied to behavioral data collected by systematic direct observation, even though systematic direct observation is the most common method for outcome measurement in single-case research. This study uses Monte Carlo simulation to investigate the properties of several widely used single-case effect size measures when applied to systematic direct observation data. Results indicate that the magnitude of the nonoverlap measures and of the standardized mean difference can be strongly influenced by procedural details of the study's design, which is a significant limitation to using these indices as effect sizes for meta-analysis of single-case designs. A less widely used parametric index, the log response ratio, has the advantage of being insensitive to sample size and observation session length, although its magnitude is influenced by the use of partial interval recording. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

European journal of personality 35 (2021) 5, S. 736-753, Sociometer theory proposes that a person's self-esteem is a permanent monitor of perceived social inclusion and exclusion in a given situation. Despite this within-person perspective, respective research in children's everyday lives is lacking. In three intensive longitudinal studies, we examined whether children's self-esteem was associated with social inclusion and exclusion by peers at school. Based on sociometer theory, we expected social inclusion to positively predict self-esteem and social exclusion to negatively predict self-esteem on within- and between-person levels. Children aged 9-12 years reported state self-esteem twice per day (morning and evening) and social inclusion and exclusion once per day for two (Study 1) and four weeks (Studies 2-3). Consistently across studies, we found that social inclusion positively predicted evening self-esteem on within- and between-person levels. By contrast, social exclusion was not associated with evening self-esteem on the within-person level. On the between-person level, social exclusion was negatively linked to evening self-esteem only in Study 1. Multilevel latent change score models revealed that children's self-esteem changed from mornings (before school) to evenings (after school) depending on their perceived daily social inclusion, but not exclusion. The findings are discussed in light of sociometer theory and the bad-is-stronger-than-good phenomenon. (DIPF/Orig.)

Sleep is crucial for college students’ well-being. Although recommended sleep duration is between 7-9 hours per day, many students do not sleep that much. Scholar demands are among the causes of observed sleep deprivation in youth. We explored the influence of having a school test on previous night sleep in first-year students and the association of sleep duration and test performance. We ran two surveys in freshman students of the Universidad de la República, Montevideo, Uruguay: 1) 97 students of the School of Sciences who took the test at the same time; and 2) 252 School of Psychology students who took the test in four successive shifts. More than 1/2 of the participants (survey #1) and almost 1/3 (survey #2) reported short regular sleep duration (< 7h). In both samples, the sleep duration of the night before the test was reduced with respect to regular nights (survey #1: 2.1 ± 0.2 h, p < 0.001; survey #2: between 1.7 ± 0.4 h and 3.6 ± 0.3 h, all p < 0.001), with more than 10% of the students who did not sleep at all. In survey 2, sleep duration increased in later shifts (F (3,248) = 4.6, p = 0.004). Using logarithmic regressions, we confirmed that sleep duration was positively related to test scores in both samples (survey #1: exp B = 1.05, p < 0.001; pseudo-R2 = 0.15; survey #2: exp B = 1.01, p < 0.001; pseudo-R2 = 0.05). Delaying test start time may prevent the reduction in sleep duration, which may also improve school performance. In addition, educational policies should include information for students about the impact of sleep on learning and of the consequences of reduced sleep duration.

Across three studies we applied predictions from Intergroup Contact Theory and Intergroup Threat Theory to an examination of the role of contact and threats in predicting prejudice toward three outgroups. Reactions to African Americans (n = 227), Hispanic Americans (n = 155), and gay men (n = 217), largely supported predictions. Positive contact experiences consistently related to more favorable evaluations and reduced perceptions of threats. Each study largely supported ITT’s proposition that threats indirectly influence the contact-prejudice relationship, with the most consistent findings found for negative contact. We found little support for relationships between contact, threats, and implicit preferences or for positive-negative asymmetry effects.

En el siguiente documento se expande la información sobre el virus, se profundiza al extender el marco de referencia como llevándolo a un nivel multidisciplinario, en especial para los participantes de las humanidades, se realiza una revisión de los modelos de salud explicando algunos conceptos de biología, médicos, presentando información general sobre los tratamientos, la generación de vacunas así como otras fuentes de información relevantes para las consideraciones en torno al tema, extendiendo el marco teórico el objetivo del documento es presentarse como una herramienta valiosa de aproximación a la literatura, como a las noticias y desarrollos durante la pandemia, incluye así mismo reflexiones de abordaje como explicativas desde otras áreas sociales. In the following document the information on the virus is expanded, it is deepened by extending the frame of reference as taking it to a multidisciplinary level, especially for the humanities participants, a review of health models is carried out explaining some concepts of biology , medicine, presenting general information on treatments, the generation of vaccines as well as other sources of information relevant to the considerations on the subject, extending the theoretical framework the objective of the document is to present itself as a valuable tool for approaching the literature, as the news and developments during the pandemic, also includes approach reflections as explanatory from other social areas.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic presents significant risks to the mental health and wellbeing of Australian families. Employment and economic uncertainty, chronic stress, anxiety, and social isolation are likely to have negative impacts on parent mental health, couple and family relationships, as well as child health and development. Objective: This study aims to: (1) provide timely information on the mental health impacts of the emerging COVID-19 crisis in a close to representative sample of Australian parents and children (0-18 years); (2) identify adults and families most at risk of poor mental health outcomes; and, (3) identify factors to target through clinical and public health intervention to reduce risk. Specifically, this study will investigate the extent to which the COVID-19 pandemic is associated with increased risk for parents’ mental health, lower wellbeing, loneliness, and alcohol use; parent-parent and parent-child relationships (both verbal and physical); and child and adolescent mental health problems. Methods: The study aims to recruit a close to representative sample of at least 2,000 adults aged 18 years and over living in Australia who are parents of a child 0-4 years (early childhood, N=400); 5-12 years (primary school N=800); and 13-18 years (secondary school, N=800). The design will be a longitudinal cohort study using an online recruitment methodology. Participants will be invited to complete an online baseline self-report survey (20 minutes) followed by a series of shorter online surveys (10 minutes) scheduled every two weeks for the duration of the COVID-19 pandemic (i.e., estimated to be 14 surveys over 6 months). Results: The study will employ post stratification weights to address differences between the final sample and the national population in geographic communities across Australia. Associations will be analyzed using multilevel modeling with time-variant and time-invariant predictors of change in trajectory over the testing period. Conclusions: This study will provide timely information on the mental health impacts of the COVID-19 crisis on parents and children in Australia; identify communities, parents, families, and children most at risk of poor outcomes; and, identify potential factors to address in clinical and public health interventions to reduce risk.

Cẩm nang ứng phó với stress trong học tập dành cho sinh viên là một trình bày trực quan về các nguồn gây stress, các hệ quả mà sinh viên có thể sẽ phải đối mặt đồng thời cung cấp một danh sách các cách thức ứng phó cũng như phân tích hệ quả tích hệ quả tích cực hay tiêu cực của các cách ứng phó này dựa trên một nghiên cứu được thực hiện bởi nhóm tác giả Nguyễn Ngọc Quang và Nguyễn Linh Chi dưới sự hướng dẫn của PGS. TS. Nguyễn Văn Lượt thuộc trường Đại học Khoa học Xã hội và Nhân văn, Đại học Quốc gia Hà Nội.

Dialogic reading (DR) is the shared reading of storybooks, interspersed with dialogues about story and illustrations. Previous findings have indicated that DR can be adapted for children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and can improve their engagement in shared reading activities. The present study aimed to investigate how DR with a verbal prompting hierarchy impacted the performance of children with ASD engaged in dialogue about the story. We also measured effects on verbal and non-verbal initiations and on task engagement. We used a single-subject design to test a DR adaptation involving a least-to-most prompting hierarchy with two 7-year-old children with ASD and evaluated the effects on independent verbal responses to questions about the story, verbal and non-verbal initiations, and task engagement. The participants showed an increase of independent verbal answers to WH (Who, What, Where, What) questions about the story, and to the more general “What is happening here?” (WIHH questions). One child showed an increase in verbal initiations. Both children showed high task engagement independently of condition, but with less variability when reading was dialogic. The results of this study support the use of story-based open questions and least-to-most prompting verbal hierarchies for helping children with ASD engage in conversation about the story in shared reading settings.What does this paper add? • The use of an explicit prompting hierarchy method is a step toward systematization of scaffolding strategies during shared reading.• It is possible to use verbal prompts to help children with autism spectrum disorder answer questions about the story during dialogic reading

Given significant changes to legislation, practice, research, and instrumentation, the purpose of this study was to examine the course on cognitive assessment in school psychology programs and to describe the (a) structure, (b) instructional strategies, (c) content, and (d) interpretative strategies taught to school psychology graduate students. 127 instructors were surveyed, and results suggest that over the last 20 years support for teaching cognitive assessment has decreased while the content and instructional strategies have remained largely the same. Results of this study also indicate that the interpretation strategies taught rely heavily on Cattell-Horn-Carroll theory and related interpretive frameworks (e.g., cross-battery assessment). Additionally, instructors are placing greater emphasis on and multicultural sensitivity/ culturally and linguistically diverse assessment than in previous decades. Implications for future research, training and practice are discussed.

Many prominent intelligence tests (e.g., WISC-V & RIAS-2) offer methods for computing subtest- and composite-level difference scores. This current study uses data provided in the technical manual of the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children, Fifth Edition (WISC-V) and Reynolds Intellectual Abilities Scale, Second Edition (RIAS-2) to calculate reliability coefficients for difference scores. Subtest-level difference score reliabilities range from 0.59 to 0.99 for the RIAS-2 and from 0.53 to 0.87 for the WISC-V. Composite-level difference score reliabilities generally range from 0.23 to 0.95 for the RIAS-2 and from 0.36 to 0.87 for the WISC-V. Emphasis is placed on comparisons recommended by test publishers and a discussion of minimum requirements for interpretation of differences scores is provided.

Satisfaction and frustration of the basic psychological need for relatedness have been postulated to play a vital role for affective well-being. Yet, this prediction has not been thoroughly tested in school children's everyday lives. In this work, we examined the association between relatedness satisfaction and frustration at school on daily and average positive affect (PA) and negative affect (NA) using ambulatory assessment in three intensive longitudinal studies with children aged 9-12 (total N = 317). In Study 1, fourth to sixth graders reported their PA and NA two times daily and their relatedness satisfaction and frustration once a day for two weeks. In Study 2 (Study 3), fourth graders (fifth graders) reported their PA and NA four times daily and their relatedness satisfaction and frustration once a day for four weeks. Across the three studies, relatedness satisfaction and frustration were psychometrically separable and exhibited differential effects such that relatedness satisfaction was significantly associated primarily with PA, and relatedness frustration was significantly associated only with NA at between- and within-person levels. Explaining inter-individual differences suggested that the association between daily relatedness and affective well-being was weaker for generally highly integrated children and stronger for usually rather excluded children.

The recent years have witnessed a dramatic increase in the use of reinforcement learning (RL) models in social, cognitive and affective neuroscience. This approach, in combination with neuroimaging techniques such as functional magnetic resonance imaging, enables quantitative investigations into latent mechanistic processes. However, increased use of relatively complex computational approaches has led to potential misconceptions and imprecise interpretations. Here, we present a comprehensive framework for the examination of (social) decision-making with the simple Rescorla–Wagner RL model. We discuss common pitfalls in its application and provide practical suggestions. First, with simulation, we unpack the functional role of the learning rate and pinpoint what could easily go wrong when interpreting differences in the learning rate. Then, we discuss the inevitable collinearity between outcome and prediction error in RL models and provide suggestions of how to justify whether the observed neural activation is related to the prediction error rather than outcome valence. Finally, we suggest posterior predictive check is a crucial step after model comparison, and we articulate employing hierarchical modeling for parameter estimation. We aim to provide simple and scalable explanations and practical guidelines for employing RL models to assist both beginners and advanced users in better implementing and interpreting their model-based analyses.

In the present research, we investigated the relation between changes in students’ state self-control capacity and their motivational test-taking effort over the course of an achievement test. Thereby, we considered trait self-control as a major predictor of achievement-related behavior as a covariate. N = 1,840 apprentices repeatedly rated their state self-control capacity and the test-taking effort they invested while working on a 140-minute achievement test in mathematics and science. Using growth curve analyses, our results revealed correlated decreases in state self-control capacity and the test-taking effort invested over the course of the test. Furthermore, we found that trait self-control helped to keep state self-control capacity and test-taking effort at a higher level over the course of the test. Our results support the assumption of the process model of self-control that waning self-control capacity is reflected in reduced motivational effort. Furthermore, our findings provide evidence that self-control might play a crucial role in students’ test-taking behavior in large-scale assessment studies. By modeling changes in state self-control capacity and effort investment while considering trait self-control, we provide an alternative approach for investigating self-control-dependent processes and the underlying mechanisms of self-control in achievement situations.

Positive youth development (PYD) models propose that character is an important antecedent to civic action, yet few longitudinal studies have examined links between character strengths and civic behavior. Using a daily diary design, this study test longitudinal associations between character and civic behavior during the 2018 US midterm elections. Participants (N=235, Mage=19.43) completed seven daily assessments of three character strengths (purpose, future-mindedness, gratitude) and four civic behaviors (community service, environmentalism, standard political behavior, social movement behavior). There were between-person weekly effects and within-person daily effects for most character strengths, community service, and environmentalism. Higher daily purpose was associated with greater daily standard political and social movement involvement. Greater social movement involvement predicted higher next-day purpose and future-mindedness. Greater community service involvement predicted higher next-day future mindedness. Higher purpose predicted greater next-day standard political and social movement involvement. Findings support PYD models by documenting nuanced associations between character and civic action.

Research suggests that training relational operant patterns of behavior can lead to increases in general cognitive ability and educational outcomes. Most studies to date have been under-powered and included proxy measures of educational attainment. We attempted to extend previous findings with increased experimental control in younger children (aged 6.9-10.1 yrs.). Participants (N = 49) were assigned to either a relational training or chess control group. Over five months, teachers assigned class-time to complete either relational training or play chess. Those who were assigned relational training gained 8.9 Non-Verbal IQ (NVIQ) points, while those in the control condition recorded no gains. Regression analyses revealed that post-training NVIQ predicted reading ability scores over and above baseline NVIQ, indicating transfer of traning effects to educational outcomes.

Stereotypes associating math more with men and boys than women and girls have been identified as a contributing factor to women’s underrepresentation in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math fields. Unfortunately, these stereotypes emerge as early as elementary school and begin to shape young girls’ math achievement and interest. This chapter documents the sources both in and outside of the school environment that contribute to the development of these stereotypes and reviews evidence of the relationship between children’s stereotypes and their math achievement. Furthermore, this chapter discusses recent research on interventions to increase young girls’ engagement in math-related fields. Strategies are provided for caregivers and educators to help change stereotypes about math and gender and disrupt the impact of these stereotypes on girls’ behavior.

Research points to the positive impact that gender-segregated schooling and classroom initiatives exert on academic attainment. An evaluation of these studies which reveal positive effects highlights, however, that students are typically selectively assigned to single- or mixed-gender instructional settings, presenting a methodological confound. The current study controls for students’ prior attainment to appraise the efficacy of a single-gender classroom initiative implemented in a co-educational high school in the United Kingdom. Secondary data analysis (using archived data) was performed on 266 middle-ability, 11–12 year-old students’ standardized test scores in Languages (English, foreign language), STEM-related (Mathematics, Science, Information and Communication Technology), and Non-STEM subjects (art, music, drama). Ninety-eight students (54, 55% female) were taught in single-gender and 168 (69, 41% female) in mixed-gender classrooms. Students undertook identical tests irrespective of classroom type, which were graded in accordance with U.K national curriculum guidelines. Controlling for students’ prior attainment, findings indicate that students do not appear to benefit from being taught in single-gender relative to mixed-gender classrooms in Language and STEM-related subjects. Young women benefitted from being taught in mixed-gender relative to single-gender classes for Non-STEM subjects. However, when prior ability is not controlled for, the intervention appears to be effective for all school subjects, highlighting the confounding influence of selective admissions. These findings suggest that gender-segregated classroom initiatives may not bolster students’ grades. It is argued that studies that do not control for selection effects may tell us little about the effectiveness of such interventions on scholastic achievement. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s11199-017-0799-y) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Partner choice captures the idea that individuals exist in a biological market of potential partners, and we can therefore choose or reject our social partners. While prior work has principally explored the functional basis of partner choice, here we focus on its mechanistic basis, motivated by a surge of recent work exploring the psychology underlying partner choice decisions. This work demonstrates that partner choice is predictably sensitive to a number of factors, including 1) a potential partner’s generosity and fairness, 2) cooperative disposition, 3) moral decision-making, and 4) intentions. We then broaden our scope, first reviewing work suggesting that, in some cases, the psychology underlying partner choice may be distinct from other responses to a partner’s behavior. We then discuss work demonstrating the sensitivity of partner choice decisions to market characteristics as well as work that illuminates the neural, ontogenetic and phylogenetic basis of partner choice. We conclude by highlighting outstanding questions and suggest directions for future research.

The prevalence of bullying is relatively high and negatively affects not only the school climate in the class but also all persons who are participants in bullying. Bullying is a multifactorial phenomenon and it seems that one of the important variables that could influence it is the parenting style. In the current study, the effect of the fathers and mothers parenting style on bullying was examiner in 155 (78 boys and 77 girls) school-aged (13-15 years) children. It was found that fathers parenting (effect size: r = 0.43-0.57) generally showed a stronger effect on bullying than mothers parenting (effect size: r = 0.33-0.44). Positive parenting (both fathers and mothers) was significantly higher among the defenders, whereas the highest difference was found in fathers positive parenting between defenders and victims. Directive parenting was higher in aggressors, especially, the directive parenting of fathers. Similarly, higher fathers hostile parenting was found in aggressors. Autonomous parenting was lower in the victims, and the differences were again more pronounced for fathers parenting. Desultory parenting was significantly higher in the aggressors, being evident especially in fathers parenting.

This chapter reviews the status of mindfulness-based interventions (MBI) in schools by raising and answering a handful of key questions relevant to both researchers and practitioners: (1) What are mindfulness and MBI? (2) How are MBI structured and used in schools? (3) How effective are MBI with students and teachers? (4) What is still unknown about MBI in schools? (5) How can MBI be applied within a multitiered system of supports in schools? The chapter concludes by suggesting that enthusiasm for MBI in schools must be checked-and-balanced by a realistic appraisal of the available empirical evidence to promote the best outcomes for students and teachers.

The claim that common sense regards free will and moral responsibility as compatible with determinism has played a central role in both analytic and experimental philosophy. In this paper, we show that evidence in favor of this “natural compatibilism” is undermined by the role that indeterministic metaphysical views play in how people construe deterministic scenarios. To demonstrate this, we re-examine two classic studies that have been used to support natural compatibilism. We find that although people give apparently compatibilist responses, this is largely explained by the fact that people import an indeterministic metaphysics into deterministic scenarios when making judgments about freedom and responsibility. We conclude that judgments based on these scenarios are not reliable evidence for natural compatibilism.

When making a moral judgment, people largely care about two factors: Who did it (causal responsibility), and did they intend to (intention)? Since Piaget’s seminal studies we have known that as children mature they gradually place greater emphasis on intention, and less on mere bad outcomes, when making moral judgments. Today we know that this developmental shift has several signature properties. Recently, it has been shown that when adults make moral judgments under cognitive load they exhibit a pattern similar to young children; that is, their judgments become notably more outcome-based. Here, we show that all of the same signature properties that accompany the outcome-to-intent shift in childhood characterize the “intent-to-outcome” shift obtained under cognitive load in adults. These findings hold important implications for current theories of moral judgment.

Many children around the world grow up bilingual, learning and using two or more languages in everyday life. Currently, however, children’s language backgrounds are not always reported in developmental studies. There is mounting evidence that bilingualism interacts with a wide array of processes including language, cognitive, perceptual, brain, and social development, as well as educational outcomes. As such, bilingualism may be a hidden moderator that obscures developmental patterns, and limits the replicability of developmental research and the efficacy of psychological and educational interventions. Here, we argue that bilingualism and language experience in general should be routinely documented in all studies of infant and child development regardless of the research questions pursued, and provide suggestions for measuring and reporting children’s language exposure, proficiency, and use.

This study examined associations among adolescent risk preference and political engagement using nationally representative Monitoring the Future data from high school seniors (N=109,574; modal age=18 years) spanning 1976-2014. Greater risk preference was associated with greater past voting, donating to a campaign, writing government officials, boycotting, and protesting. Greater risk preference was associated with higher future intentions to boycott and protest, but lower intentions to donate to or volunteer for a campaign. In general, associations between risk preference and political engagement became stronger with higher levels of political interest. Results highlight the importance of considering the adaptive role of adolescent risk preference and suggest that political engagement may be a constructive outlet for youth who pursue or are comfortable taking risks.

Research in educational psychology consistently finds a relationship between intelligence and academic performance. However, in recent decades, educational fields, including gifted education, have resisted intelligence research, and there are some experts who argue that intelligence tests should not be used in identifying giftedness. Hoping to better understand this resistance to intelligence research, we created a survey of beliefs about intelligence and administered it online to a sample of the general public and a sample of teachers. We found that there are conflicts between currently accepted intelligence theory and beliefs from the American public and teachers, which has important consequences on gifted education, educational policy and the effectiveness of interventions. A preprint of this article is available at https://psyarxiv.com/uctxp.

Letter to the editor. Cite as: Ellis, D. A., Davidson, B. I., and Kaye., L.K. (2019). Should smartphones be banned for children or does cyberpsychology have a bigger problem? Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking. 22(7). DOI: 10.1089/cyber.2019.29152.lte

Social stories are a commonly used intervention practice in early childhood special education. Recent systematic reviews have documented the evidence-base for social stories, but findings are mixed. We examined the efficacy of social stories for young children (i.e., 3-5 years) with challenging behavior across 12 single-case studies, that included 30 participants. The What Works Clearinghouse standards for single case research design were used to evaluate the rigor of studies that included social stories as a primary intervention. For studies meeting standards, we synthesized findings on the efficacy of social stories using meta-analysis techniques and a recently developed parametric effect size measure, the log response ratio. Trends in participants’ response to treatment also were explored. Results indicate variability in rigor and efficacy for the use of social stories as an isolated intervention and in combination with other intervention approaches. Additional studies that investigate the efficacy of social stories as a primary intervention are warranted.

This research introduces a method to compare the responses to rating scales with different rating labels by examining the effects of the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake on trust in public institutions. Although both the World Values Survey and the Asian Barometer Survey, conducted before and after the earthquake, include questions about trust in the Self-Defense Force, police, courts, media, political parties, and parliament, their rating labels were different for each survey. Therefore, this research used Bayesian statistical modeling to remove the influence of the label differences and examined the changes in trust before and after the earthquake. The results demonstrate that while trust in the Self-Defense Force increased, trust in the courts, media, political parties, and parliament decreased. The correction of social survey data using statistical modeling, as demonstrated in this research, is effective in examining the influence of earthquake disasters and for verifying the short-term or long-term social changes.

Schools are promising sites for the delivery of prevention and early intervention programs to reduce child and adolescent anxiety. It is unclear whether universal or targeted approaches are most effective. This review and meta-analysis examines the effectiveness of school-based indicated interventions and was registered with PROSPERO [CRD42018087628].MEDLINE, EMBASE, PsycINFO and the Cochrane Library were searched for randomised controlled trials comparing indicated school programs for child and adolescent anxiety to active or inactive control groups. Twenty original studies, with 2076 participants, met the inclusion criteria and 18 were suitable for meta-analysis. Sub-group and sensitivity analyses explored intervention intensity, delivery agent and control type. A small beneficial effect was found for indicated programs compared to controls on self-reported anxiety symptoms at post-test (g = -0.28, CI = -0.50, -0.05, k= 18). The small effect was maintained at 6 (g = -0.35, CI= -0.58, -0.13, k = 9) and 12 months (g = -0.24, CI = -0.48, 0.00, k = 4). Based on two studies, >12 month effects were very small (g = -0.01, CI= -0.38, 0.36). No differences were found based on intervention intensity, delivery agent and control type. There was evidence of publication bias and a relatively high risk of contamination in studies. Findings support the value of school based indicated programs for child and adolescent anxiety. Effects at 12 months outperform many universal programs. High quality, randomised controlled and pragmatic trials are needed, with attention control groups and beyond 12 month diagnostic assessments are needed.

Background:Interacting with the published literature (“knowledge consumption”) and publishing new scientific findings (“knowledge production”) are two key moments in the scientist’s search for truth, and bias in either of these can distort what is known about an area of research. This dissertation details three studies conducted on researchers in psychology that together provide evidence of scientists’ behaviors influencing these key moments of knowledge production and knowledge consumption. Methods:Psychologists were recruited to participate in each study (N = 215 and N = 587). Studies used custom web tools and social network methods to collect unique datasets on psychologists’ social networks and how they approach the scientific literature. The analytic approach differed based on each study. For studies on knowledge consumption, Gini coefficients and measures of unpredictability were calculated to better understand the dynamics of the published literature. For studies on knowledge production, the generalized network scale up method was used to estimate the size of the population of current users of questionable research practices, and regression was used to better understand the relationship between attitudes and stigma against certain psychologists.Results:The presence of download counts (an operationalization of influential metadata) with scientific literature resulted in larger inequality of downloads, meaning potential readers were more likely to download articles that had been previously downloaded by others. Download count presence also resulted in a higher unpredictability of success. The proportion of psychologists who currently use questionable research practices was estimated as 18.18% by direct estimate and 24.4% by the social network scale up estimate. Finally, these researchers were found to be a stigmatized sub-population of psychologists, which could either help or hinder efforts to reduce this population size.Conclusions:There is evidence that psychologists may inadvertently bias the knowledge they generate and consume in several different ways. While this dissertation focused specifically on psychologists, there is potential for this work to be applied in other areas of scientific inquiry. These findings highlight the importance of understanding the scientist as a means of better understanding the science.

Teaching and learning biodiversity and classification is highly dependent upon visual information and Graphical Representations (GRs) are an essential component of the study materials discussing these topics. However, GRs are double-edged swords; if used appropriately it reduces the mental effort experienced while learning (cognitive load). Meanwhile, the illustrations loosely connected with the text or complex in its visual properties can hinder the learning significantly. The present study compared the usage of GRs in the lesson on biodiversity and classification given in the IXth standard biology textbooks followed by five different states in India namely Chhattisgarh, Karnataka, Mizoram, Rajasthan, and Telangana and its contribution to the cognitive load. Our result revealed that though these textbooks followed similar contents the properties of the GRs used were noticeably dissimilar. Divergence was also noticed in the way in which the GRs were integrated with the textual information (conceptual integration) and the degree of interaction between such conceptually integrated groups. Influence of such dissimilarity in frequency, form, function, and physical and conceptual integration of GRs on various dimensions of the mental effort required for the comprehension of these vital concepts in environmental science is discussed under the light of the cognitive load theory.

Language style matching (LSM) is a technique in behavioural analytics which assess the stylistic similarities in language use across groups and individuals. The procedure targets the similarity of functions words, analysing the way people use language rather than the content. Function words consist of pronouns, articles, conjunctions, prepositions, auxiliary verbs e.t.c. which have a syntactical role in language. To assess the similarity of language use between interlocutors, the percentage of function words used can be compared within and across conversations using a metric designed to calculate the matching of specific word categories and overall LSM (Ireland et al., 2011) . It is also possible to assess language style matching to a group’s aggregate style. High language style matching is an indicator of interpersonal and group mimicry and has been shown to influence psychological factors and behavioural outcomes. These are listed in this preprint and categorised by topic. The list aims to be a complete summary of the existing literature to date exploring LSM. Therefore, please email the author if there are any projects and tools not listed below.

Background. Continued use of practices not supported by empirical evidence is an ongoing challenge in the field of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Knowledge and individual attitudes to evidence-based practice, as well as accuracy of categorization of practices on their evidence base, have been linked to practice selection in allied health professionals. This study aimed to extend this research to early intervention staff, and investigated perceived evidence base of practices, and links to intended future use, along with individual attitudes and sources of information accessed.Method. Participants included 86 early intervention staff who completed an online survey. They rated the evidence base of six ASD intervention practices (three unsupported by research, three empirically supported), along with current and intended future use of these, as well as attitudes to research and to evidence-based practice. Results. At a group level, participants reported using, and intending to use in future, the empirically supported practices more than unsupported practices, and generally accurately reported a higher evidence base for the empirically supported practices. However, a number of individual participants showed inaccuracy in ratings varying by practice. Perceived evidence was linked to greater intention to use practices in the future, while few links to individual attitudes were found. Conclusions. Our findings point to the influence of perceived evidence on intended use of practices. Perceived evidence may be impacted by lack of awareness and/or misinformation regarding the evidence base of practices. The need for accurate information about both empirically supported and unsupported practices, as well as strategies to seek and evaluate information are highlighted. Limitations of the self-report methodology, and future research directions including broader clinical decision-making processes are overviewed.

This brief report presents a secondary analysis of responses to the Student Subjective Wellbeing Questionnaire (SSWQ) with a sample of urban middle-schoolers. Relative classification validity evidence was evaluated for two screening models derived from responses to the SSWQ: one based on the Overall Wellbeing Scale (OWS) and the other based solely on the Academic Efficacy Subscale (AES). Results from Bayesian t-tests, using several school-reported outcomes as dependent variables, indicated evidence in favor of classification validity for both the OWS and AES screening models. Yet findings also show that the evidence for the AES model was stronger than that for the OWS model. Implications for future research and practice are discussed.

This brief report presents an analog test of the relative classification validity of three cutoff values (CVs; 16, 18, and 20) derived from responses to the self-report version of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire: Total Difficulties Scale. Results from Bayesian t-tests, using several school-specific subjective well-being indicators as dependent variables, yielded evidence suggesting all CV models effectively differentiated between students with lower and higher levels of risk. Evidence also indicated that the lowest CV (16) was more effective than the higher CVs (18, 20) at identifying students with greater levels of risk, and that the higher CVs functioned comparably well. Implications for future research and practice are noted.

Beliefs shape how people interpret information and may impair how people engage in logical reasoning. In 3 studies, we show how ideological beliefs impair people's ability to: (1) recognize logical validity in arguments that oppose their political beliefs, and, (2) recognize the lack of logical validity in arguments that support their political beliefs. We observed belief bias effects among liberals and conservatives who evaluated the logical soundness of classically structured logical syllogisms supporting liberal or conservative beliefs. Both liberals and conservatives frequently evaluated the logical structure of entire arguments based on the believability of arguments’ conclusions, leading to predictable patterns of logical errors. As a result, liberals were better at identifying flawed arguments supporting conservative beliefs and conservatives were better at identifying flawed arguments supporting liberal beliefs. These findings illuminate one key mechanism for how political beliefs distort people’s abilities to reason about political topics soundly.

College counseling centers nationwide are having difficulty meeting the increasing demand for services they are seeing. We present an undergraduate positive psychology course taught as outreach and prevention by counseling center therapists as a way to potentially address this demand. During the two primary semesters of the 2012-2013 and 2013-2014 academic years, 133 students enrolled in the course and completed pre and post measures. Students evidenced significantly decreased psychological distress, increased psychological well-being, and increased subjective happiness. We discuss the format of this course and its elements as both outreach/prevention and therapeutic interventions to meet the increased demand for services.

Jaswal & Akhtar's outstanding target article identifies the necessary social nature of the human mind, even in autism. We agree with the authors and present significant contributory origins of this autistic isolation in disruption of purposeful movement made social from infancy. Timing differences in expression can be misunderstood in embodied engagement, and social intention misread. Sensitive relations can repair this.

Peer assessment has been the subject of considerable research interest over the last three decades, with numerous educational researchers advocating for the integration of peer assessment into schools and instructional practice. Research synthesis in this area has, however, largely relied on narrative reviews to evaluate the efficacy of peer assessment. Here we present a meta-analysis (54 studies, k = 141) of experimental and quasi-experimental studies that evaluated the effect of peer assessment on academic performance in primary, secondary, or tertiary students across subjects and domains. An overall small to medium effect of peer assessment on academic performance was found (g = 0.31, p < .001). The results suggest that peer assessment improves academic performance compared with no assessment (g = 0.31, p < .001) and teacher assessment (g = 0.28, p = .007), but was not significantly different in its effect from self-assessment (g = 0.23, p = .209). Additionally, meta-regressions examined the moderating effects of several feedback and educational characteristics (e.g. online vs offline, frequency, education level etc.). Results suggested that the effectiveness of peer assessment was remarkably robust across a wide range of contexts. These findings provide support for peer assessment as a formative practice and suggest several implications for the implementation of peer assessment into the classroom.

Psychological research in tertiary education typically follows the achievement as an outcome approach in which the focus is placed on inter-individual differences in the achievement level of students (e.g., semester GPA, cumulative GPA). In this article, the achievement as a process approach is proposed to reconceptualise academic achievement as a developmental story with far reaching consequences. Three principles are articulated to posit that the trajectory of academic achievement differ across students (principle #1) and that such inter-individual differences are consequential (principle #2) and far reaching (principle #3) predictors of long-term success of students (e.g., retention, timely graduation). An empirical illustration is presented and results of growth curve analyses indicate that (a) an achievement shock during the first year, (b) a bounce back effect during the second year, and (c) continuous improvement during the junior and senior years improves our capacity to predict long-term success of university students and outperforms the typical predictors used by universities. This new approach has far reaching consequences for the management, services, policies, and research agenda of people working to promote the success of students. Six broad implications are delineated to steer research and practices in novel, needed, and promising directions across tertiary education and beyond.

Teachers report high levels of occupational stress, which is associated with teacher turnover and potential negative consequences for students. Mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) may improve the protective factors that buffer educators against occupational stress. Although previous meta-analytic reviews synthesized the effects of MBIs for healthy and clinical samples of adults, this study was the first to synthesize the effects of MBIs for teachers (grades pre-K through 12). A total of 347 effect sizes from 29 studies (N = 1,493) were synthesized using meta-regression with robust variance estimation. Overall, MBIs had a medium treatment effect on teacher outcomes (g = .601, SE = .089). Visual and statistical evidence of publication bias suggested this estimate may be positively biased. Three potential study-level moderators for overall effects were also examined, but none were statistically significant. MBIs were associated with small-to-medium positive effects on therapeutic processes and therapeutic outcomes. MBIs had the smallest effects on measures of classroom climate and instructional practices. Overall, findings were similar to other meta-analytic reviews of MBIs for non-clinical adult populations and working professionals. The literature on MBIs for teachers appears to have similar gaps as research on MBIs for adults (e.g., Davison & Kaszniak, 2015), including the primary use of self-report measures, the lack of active treatment comparisons, and rare reporting of treatment fidelity data. Directions for future research and implications are discussed. [*Note: Supplemental online materials cited in the paper are included in the preprint document following the main paper.]

Few studies investigate temperament interactions and its association with education in young adolescents. Here we examine a sample of 1540 adolescents (9–14 years of age, 733 females) from a community-based study in Brazil. Temperament was derived from adolescents' reports to the Early Adolescence Temperament Questionnaire. Educational outcomes were measured by counting suspension, repetition and dropout events, parent reports on overall academic performance and by reading and writing standardized tests. We used mixed effects models to test associations of temperament dimensions with educational outcomes and tested interactions among effortful control and affective temperament dimensions. Models including temperament were adjusted for age, sex, socioeconomic status, intelligence and psychopathology. We found that high effortful control and fear were independently associated with better educational measurements, whereas high levels of frustration and surgency were independently associated with worse educational measurements. When all temperament dimensions were included at the same time, effortful control was the only significant predictor for educational outcomes. After multiple comparisons adjustment, effortful control and frustration interacts, such that low frustration and low effortful control were a detrimental combination for poor reading ability.

Cognitive-behavioral group counseling was studied with students that exhibited externalizing behavior. A total of 24 male students (12 control and 12 experimental) who exhibited externalizing behavior participated in this study. The intervention resulted in clear and salutary changes in the behavioral adjustment of students. The intervention demonstrates that school counselors can play a substantial role in remediating and preventing disruptive behavior in schools.

Children from disadvantaged backgrounds often experience high levels of traumatic stress from multiple sources, however, little is known about their experiences and the responses of their teachers following disasters. The aim of this study was to examine, from the perspective of teachers, the impact of a critical community-wide traumatic event on student and staff wellbeing, student learning and teaching practices at a specialist school for disadvantaged and displaced youth in Australia. Eight school staff were interviewed, including administrative, teaching and support personnel, with their responses interpreted using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis. Results focused largely on the impact of the event and the resultant relocation of the school, on staff and student health, reduced opportunities for learning, changes to teaching and student engagement, and the strengths and limitations of the trauma-informed approach of the school. Implications for teacher education and school trauma-informed models are discussed.

Résumé : Bien que lesprit critique soit un prérequis à bon nombre de disciplines enseignées à l’université, il est généralement difficile dintéresser les étudiants aux enseignements de méthodologie scientifique. Nous présentons deux méthodes complémentaires pour éviter cet écueil. La première consiste à présenter un faux concept scientifique, le syndrome de Bill Shankly. Les étudiants prennent généralement en note sans questionner, d’autant plus facilement que l’enseignant s’est présenté comme spécialiste mondial et a fait preuve d’autorité. La seconde méthode, utilisée en petits groupes, vise à entraîner les étudiants à vérifier les preuves et les sources. Cette approche qui allie les théories et pratiques de la psychologie sociale, cognitive, de l’apprentissage et des sciences de l’éducation, peut s’utiliser pour d’autres enseignements et disciplines.

Playing computer and video games is a popular pastime activity for many adolescents worldwide. However, the increasing amount of time spent on these games each day raised fears that this comes at the expense of school and, over the long run, impairs academic achievement. Extending prior research, the present study on a sample of N = 3,554 German adolescents (56% girls) adopted a prospective design and examined the effects of the time playing computer games each day on grades and domain-specific competences in mathematics and reading over time. Robust polynomial regressions combined with specification curve analyses showed that longer gaming times predicted worse grades two years later. These results could be replicated after controlling for initial grades and reasoning abilities. In contrast, mathematical and reading competences were not affected by gaming times. Thus, playing computer and video games can result in a noticeably, albeit small, loss of educational returns, but it does not affect basic competences.

The global Higher Education sector (HE) is undergoing a metamorphosis. No longer is HE the sole preserve of the privileged few but rather it is now accessible for the masses. The result of such an expansionist philosophy is here and today’s undergraduate students can expect to study at a university that is unrecognisable to higher education establishments of a few decades ago. This is not a one-sided affair and academic staff i.e., the professoriate who encounter the results of such expansionism on a daily basis are also faced with a vastly complex working environment (see e.g., Knight & Senior, 2017). Phrases such as internationalisation, employability, work-based learning as well as the almost ephemeral notion of student satisfaction, among many other things, regular assail the collective consciousness of academic staff around the world. Yet despite such complexity a new model is emerging and this is one firmly embedded within consumer psychology and it firmly places the student as a customer. Here we highlight some negative issues that may arise when HE embraces consumerism. We also discuss a potential solution that may not only ameliorate these issues but actually facilitate excellence in the student learning journeys. Higher education can meet this vast array of modern day concepts face-to-face and still ensure that it serves its core mission and that is to provide students with a higher understanding of various conceptual issues.