Research has shown that bilinguals have slower performance than monolinguals on tasks measuring word recognition, number naming, and picture naming speed (Magiste, 1979; Ransdell & Fischler, 1987). Specifically, English speaking bilinguals have been shown to be slower than native English speaking monolinguals on lexical decision tasks performed in English (Ransdell & Fischler, 1987). The present study examined whether differences in visual word processing speed between bilinguals and monolinguals could be accounted for by the presence of orthographic structure similarities across the two languages of bilinguals. This was tested by having native English speaking monolinguals and English-Spanish bilinguals name or make lexical decisions on English words that had language-specific orthographic structures or nonspecific orthographic structures. The study predicted that orthographic structure similarity would slow down the visual word processing of English-Spanish bilinguals relative to monolinguals. The findings from Experiments 1 and 2 did not provide evidence for differences between monolinguals and English-Spanish bilinguals in the time required to process English words. The results of Experiment 2 provided evidence consistent with the hypothesis that similarities in the spelling patterns of Spanish and English words affected the word naming times of English-Spanish bilinguals relative to monolinguals. The results were interpreted as consistent with models of interactive language functioning in bilinguals.

This study investigated the effects of different types of questions on discourse comprehension. In addition, it examined performance on questions and its influence on comprehension. Within a theoretical framework of discourse processing, the research focused on question type, passage structure, and individual differences in comprehension. Comprehension was measured by analyzing propositions recalled and inferred during free recall. Performance on questions was measured by analyzing answers for the presence of particular types of inferences. Third grade children read selected fictional passages, answered questions about them, and recalled them. Results revealed that the effects of questions on comprehension are complex, interacting with passage structure, reading level, and response type. Findings also indicated that questions influence the selective processing of propositional information in text. Question-answering performance was found to reflect an interaction between question type and passage structure. Furthermore, ability to generate the appropriate inferences in responding to questions facilitated text comprehension. / Cette étude porte sur les effets de différents types de question sur la compréhension du discours. Elle examine la performance par rapport aux questions et son influence sur la compréhension. Dans un cadre théorique de traitement du discours, la recherche est axée sur la type de question, la structure de texte et les différences individuelles en compréhension. La compréhension a été mesurée par l’analyse des propositions rappelées et inférées durant le rappel libre. La performance par rapport aux questions a été mesurée par l’analyse des réponses faite en fonction de la présence de types particuliers d’inférence. Des enfants de troisième année ont lu certains passages de fiction, ont répondu à des questions sur ces passages et les ont rappelés. Les résultats révèlent que les effets des questions sur la compréhension sont complexes et interagissent avec la structure du passage, le niveau de lecture et le type de réponse. Les résultats indiquent aussi que les questions influencent le traitement sélectif de l’information propositionnelle dans le texte. La performance par rapport aux questions démontre une interaction entre le type de question et la structure du passage. De plus l’habilité à faire les inférences appropriées en répondant aux questions facilite la compréhension du texte.

<p> The war on terror after the tragic events of September 11, 2001, continues to include ongoing efforts in Iraq, Afghanistan, and other countries in which the military serve and protect. Active-duty members of the Army, Marines, Navy, Air Force, and Coast Guard continue to serve in these hazardous zones to minimize war crimes where families are left behind. With the necessity of military deployments, issues of psychological, emotional, and behavioral tribulations surrounding the children of deployed active-duty members are observed. The purpose of the qualitative study was to explore schoolteacher&rsquo;s perceptions about effective actions taken to enhance the performance of children and the classroom environment, while the children were coping with their active-duty parent&rsquo;s deployment. The sample included elementary schoolteachers and administrators that taught in the Department of Defense Dependents Schools (DoDDS) in Belgium who have had parents of their students deployed to Iraq, Afghanistan, and other hazardous zone areas. The research question asked: When observed behaviors are identified in relation to parental deployment, how do effective actions taken mitigate behavioral problems and enhance the classroom learning environment? The qualitative explorative case study aided in identifying and understanding schoolteachers&rsquo; perceptions about effective actions taken to enhance the performance of children and the classroom environment while children were coping with their active-duty parent&rsquo;s deployment. This critical situation for children showed stressful and coping challenges and an imposed hardship on the children&rsquo;s customary way of living and participation in the school environment.</p>

<p> Psychotherapy interns often report feeling traumatized by the process that attempts to match them with an internship site. Once placed, feeling unsupported in one's supervisory relationship may lead to burnout, which contributes to high rates of attrition. A supportive relationship between supervisors and interns appears significant to the development of their early professional resilience. This integrative literature review asks, "How do therapists at all stages of their career achieve and maintain professional resilience?" and "What is inherent in the supervisory relationship that influences such growth and resilience in interns?"</p><p> Literature on psychotherapy supervision, professional trauma, compassion fatigue, and resilience was selected from the psychodynamic, psychoanalytic, and existential-humanistic traditions as well as from relational neuroscience. This literature was integrated in such a way as to define, compare and contrast these concepts.</p><p> Psychotherapists report a variety of historic traumas that contribute to their choice of psychotherapy as a profession. Therapists also identify as falling on a dynamic spectrum of resilience, reporting both personal and professional protective and risk factors. Psychodynamic, psychoanalytic, and existential-humanistic training and professional models continue to highlight the value of the supervisory and consultant relationship in support of recovery from professional overwhelm toward lasting personal and professional resilience. Therapists at all stages of their career report achieving and maintaining professional resilience by practicing individualized self-care, engaging in dynamic personal psychotherapy, and through supportive relationships in supervision and consultation. The primary element in the supervisory relationship that promotes growth and resilience in interns is the ability of the empathic supervisor to privilege the supervisee's experience in the supervisory relationship as well as with their mutual clients.</p><p> A supervisory model emerged that (a) elevates personal history and awareness of an intern's preexisting risk <i>and</i> protective factors, (b) promotes in-session self-awareness, and (c) draws on existential-humanistic theory, leading to the development of resilience. This model serves to support the humanity of the intern and supervisor as evolving professionals while respecting and perhaps enhancing the orientation of the training site.</p>

Sustainability is a ubiquitous topic debated across the globe. The potential of the construction industry to alleviate the effects of environmental damage whilst contributing to the social and economic dimension of sustainability are great. Despite many efforts by both Government and Higher Education Institutions, the adoption of sustainable construction practices is well below where it needs to be. Much work needs to be done in reprogramming the minds of those in an economically facing industry to ensure a sustainable future. This research looks at the efficacy of an educational intervention for such change and the use of psychological variables in assisting the process. This thesis contributes to original knowledge through the development of a validated measurement tool designed to measure attitudes towards sustainable development in a construction context. The tool was used to investigate associations between attitudes and psychological constructs. The research makes a further contribution through the development of an educational intervention which supports the use of alternative pedagogies for sustainability education. The research was conducted in four phases, with phases one and three making the contribution to knowledge. A concurrent mixed methodology approach was adopted utilising an embedded design. Quantitative data was collected in phase one with this phase running concurrently alongside the other phases throughout the project. Qualitative data was collected in phases two and four with phase three adopting a mixed model approach. The conclusions drawn from phase one were that there are associations between emotional self-efficacy and positive attitudes towards sustainability but not with optimism. Phase two highlighted that changes in attitudes towards sustainability would need to be driven through, legislation, education and leadership. This resulted in the development of an intervention with students at LJMU based on principles of student-centred learning. Analysis of the student feedback indicated that the intervention had a positive impact on students with perceptions changing as to how important sustainability is and how important the construction industry is for this to be achieved. The intervention tool developed within this research has the potential to be adapted for use with a wide variety of audiences, in particular those in positions of high level decision making. A top-down and a bottom-up approach is recommended if we are to achieve the aspiration of a sustainable future.

<p> Teaching students with Intellectual Disability (ID) is a relatively new endeavor. Beginning in 2001 with the passage of the No Child Left Behind Act, the general education curriculum integrated algebra across the K-12 curriculum (Kendall, 2011; National Governors Association Center for Best Practices &amp; Council of Chief State School Officers, 2010), and expansion of the curriculum included five intertwined skills (productive disposition, procedural fluency, strategic competence, adaptive reasoning, and conceptual understanding) (Kilpatrick, Swafford, &amp; Findell, 2001). Researchers are just beginning to explore the potential of students with ID with algebra (Browder, Spooner, Ahlgrim-Delzell, Harris &amp; Wakeman, 2008; Creech-Galloway, Collins, Knight, &amp; Bausch, 2013; Courtade, Spooner, Browder, &amp; Jimenez, 2012; G&ouml;ransson, Hellblom-Thibblin, &amp; Axdorph, 2016). Most of the research examines the development of procedural fluency (G&ouml;ransson et al., 2016) and few researchers have explored high school level skills. </p><p> Using a single-case multiple-baseline across participants design, the study proposes to teach two algebra skills to six high school students with ID, creating an equation (<i>y</i> = <i>mx</i> + <i> b</i>) from a graph of a line and creating a graph from an equation. The six high school students with ID will be recruited from a school district in central Virginia. The intervention package modeled after Jimenez, Browder, and Courtade (2008), included modeling, templates, time delay prompting, and a task analysis. Results showed that all six individuals improved performance during intervention for the target skills over baseline; results also indicated that in three out of the six cases some generalization to the inverse skill occurred without supplemental intervention. The ability of individuals with ID to generalize the learning without intervention provides some evidence that individuals with ID are developing conceptual understanding while learning procedural fluency.</p><p>

No description available.

No description available.

<p> Growing media attention and a high diagnosis rate of autism places significant demand on the service industry to provide qualified staff to work with individuals who have autism. Discrete trial instruction (DTI) is one of the most sought-after treatment approaches for those individuals. However, there is a gap in research regarding the efficacy of training methods for those who train direct staff to implement DTI. This quantitative study used an applied behavior analysis basis, deriving from foundations of behavior theory, to compare the abbreviated feedback form (AFF) to the lecture test model (LTM) to understand which will improve direct staff's ability to implement DTI more efficiently from baseline. The AFF provided for trainees a list of skills to implement tasks that have multiple steps. The LTM provided trainees a lecture of skills to understand basic applied behavior analysis, autism, and DTI. Four participating staff's baseline and training data were analyzed by comparing their scores to the set criterion from the AFF. The data were analyzed by both the program supervisor and the researcher, with inter-observer agreement reached. Using a single-subject, AB design, data demonstrated that staff who were trained using the AFF had significant improvement from baseline, compared to staff trained using the LTM. Supervisors who use the AFF to more efficiently and rapidly train staff may decrease the time gap between service recommendation and implementation, making needed treatment more readily available and efficacious to children diagnosed with autism. Improvements in staff skill set will likely have a direct correlation on the improvements and long term outcomes for those being treated.</p>

Eccles' expectancy-value model of achievement motivation suggests that beliefs about ability and expectations for success are a strong predictor of grades and differences in task value underlie differences in motivation and achievement. This model has not been previously investigated in the context of high stakes examinations in the UK and this study therefore explores the relationships between expectations, values and A-level achievement in 930 students. This is important given the significance of these qualifications for future life pathways. Furthermore, studies examining the subjective task value (STV) patterns across school subjects, rather than domain specific ones, are rare, highlighting the additional importance of this work. A mixed methods design was used. A questionnaire collected information on a student's background (SES, gender, ethnicity), the expectations and STV attached to A-levels, and their future and general life expectations and values. Some of these relationships were also explored using 20 semi-structured interviews. The qualitative data illustrated that studying A-levels confirmed aspects of students' identity but also facilitated changes to their goals and academic skills, having positive effects, contrary to the argument that high stakes assessment has a negative impact on individuals. Unsurprisingly parents and teachers were perceived to be influential. As predicted, expectations and values were related to A-level achievement. As there is a lack of research into the effects of these variables on A-level outcomes these findings are valuable. Eccles' original three factor model of STV could not, however, be supported. In this research the utility construct was removed. Further exploration of the STV construct is warranted. Socio-economic status was positively related to both achievement and expectations about achievement. Girls had lower expectations but placed higher value on their A-levels. There were, however, no gender differences in achievement. Employing the expectancy-value model in this UK context has been useful in explaining the motivational patterns underlying A-level qualifications and the findings have implications for enhancing outcomes and narrowing educational gaps in this student population.