Ritual action, aimed at transforming social and material reality, is found in all cultures (Bell, 1997). Ritual is used to create marriages or systems of authority in the social domain and to eradicate illness or ensure good crops in the material domains. Two theoretical strands explain the universal structure of ritual: That it is marked by a unique universal grammar with intuitive, internal logic (Rappaport, 1999) and that it rests on intuitive inferences about causal power (Boyer, 2001; Lawson & McCauley, 2002). Ritual grammar serves to instantiate social realities. Ritual causality follows the logic of agents, actions, and patients that are marked for special powers. This study with children (5- to 6-years and 8- to 9-years) experimentally examined how participants of different ages understand ritual for transforming social and material reality. Interviews with children were comprised of three tasks to examine childrens recognition, their causal understanding of ritual grammar, and what connections they made to their prior experience. Childrens explanations were examined. A parent rating of childrens prior experience was also included. An adult sample provided a comparison. In general, ritual grammar understanding emerged in the age period studied and was unrelated to parent rating of childrens prior experience. Some ritual grammar elements were understood earlier than others. There were few differences between the social and material conditions; children (and adults) seemed to have a general understanding of ritual grammar regardless of domain. Children (and adults) showed little evidence of connections to their prior experience, suggesting a weak explicit framework for ritual grammar. Results are discussed in terms of the possible cognitive underpinnings of ritual grammar understanding. Childrens understanding of ritual is grounded in socio-cultural, cognitive, and developmental theory and considered to be an important part of childrens developing participation in cultural construction.

The relationship between specific aspects of cognition and adherence is examined in a group of individuals participating in the Dr. Dean Ornish Program for Reversing Heart Disease, an intensive lifestyle modification program. This research was guided by a hypothesis of supply and demand the information-processing skills in highest demand for adherence may be in short supply due to how the cardiovascular disease process impacts the brain. This hypothesis was evaluated by using results of neuropsychological testing administered to participants before they began the Ornish program to predict specific learning and adherence outcomes. Hierarchical regression was used to evaluate the contribution made by neuropsychological and non-neuropsychological variables (disease, demography, amount of Ornish lifestyle knowledge at the time of program entry and self-reported emotional status, psychosocial adjustment, and quality of life) to the prediction of adherence and program-specific learning. Nine outcomes were examined including behavioral adherence (diet, exercise, group support, and stress management), in-program learning (knowledge acquisition and procedural learning), staff perceptions of participant learning, and the level of program intensity required at the end of twelve weeks (Phase II Stratification). Neuropsychological variables made the most significant and unique contributions to the majority of predictive models. Measures of working memory and executive control were strongly represented in the adherence models. Explicit verbal memory and working memory were, respectively, significant facilitators of in-program knowledge acquisition and improvements in the accuracy of food diaries. Also, working memory was an important predictor of the level of program intensity participants needed at the end of twelve weeks. In summary, most aspects of the neuropsychological supply information-processing demand (NIP) model were supported. By carefully selecting neuropsychological measures that capture vulnerable areas of cognitive processing in individuals with cardiovascular disease, the importance of cognitive information-processing capacity to adherence and adherence-based learning is demonstrated. Moreover, the research validates previous studies showing that critical cognitive moderators of adherence and learning cannot be discerned by health care professionals delivering clinical care, even when this contact involves intensive educational interventions. Only through the administration of a broad-based neuropsychological assessment battery are these essential cognitive facilitators of learning and adherence identified.

The purpose of this study was to investigate high school student achievement in child development concepts that are reflected in the Pennsylvania Family and Consumer Sciences Child Development Standards. A secondary goal of this research was to compare student achievement in child development concepts in child development courses that include a laboratory as an integral part of the course with achievement in child development courses that do not include a laboratory component. The design was a pretest-posttest experiment using an instrument which was developed for this study. The treatment was exposure to a high school semester-long family and consumer sciences course in child development. The subjects were 431 students from nine high schools in Pennsylvania. The experimental group consisted of two subgroups; one of the subgroups consisted of high school students enrolled in a semester-long child development course that was didactic in nature, without a child development laboratory experience. The second subgroup consisted of high school students enrolled in a semester-long child development course that was a combination of didactic instruction and experience in a child development laboratory. Students who were never enrolled in a child development course participated in the control group. The findings from this study offer evidence that participation in a high school semester-long child development course has a positive effect on students knowledge of child development concepts. After the experimental group participated in a child development course, they differed significantly in their knowledge compared to the comparison group who did not participate in a child development course. A high school child development semester course, as evaluated in this study, does appear to have a significant impact on students knowledge of child development concepts. Students who took a child development course showed significant improvement on posttests compared to pretest scores. Child development students who participated in a laboratory experience showed a significantly greater improvement on tests scores over child development students who took a didactic-style child development course with no laboratory experience.

Boys are being out-performed academically by girls in school. One possible explanation is that boys higher activity levels may cause them to spend the early grades learning how to control their behavior rather than focusing on academics. It is possible that teachers may be more punitive toward active boys in particular, and if boys are disciplined more, perhaps they are more likely to see school as a punitive place. This may make it more difficult for boys to develop competence in school. This short-term, longitudinal study examined gender differences in activity level and teacher-reported relationship quality with more active kindergarten students. In addition, data were gathered on the amount of correction received by all students, but particularly by boys who exhibited higher activity levels. Ethnicity of teachers and students was also examined, and qualitative case studies of the most active children were developed. Participants were 29 kindergarteners in four classrooms in an urban, low-income, ethnically diverse elementary school near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Data were collected via classroom observations, teacher report measures, grades and discipline records, and through open-ended interviews with teachers and consultants. Study results indicate that, on average, boys were significantly more active than girls in this sample. Boys received more correction from teachers than did girls. No difference was uncovered in teacher affect expressed toward boys as compared to girls, and teacher affect did not appear to differ between African American and Caucasian children. Highly active children were disciplined more harshly than less active children. Case studies indicated that protective factors may operate for some active children, preventing high-conflict teacher-child relationships. Implications for further research and for teacher training are discussed.

The purpose of this study was to analyze the medical records of 167 children who attended an urban early intervention/partial hospitalization program in order to accomplish the following objectives: describe risk factor pervasiveness in the backgrounds of children attending the program; describe the prevalence and severity of externalizing behavior problems (non-compliance, aggression, tantrums) among the children; identify salient relationships between background risk factors and externalizing behavior problems; and test the cumulative risk premise which suggests that a significant, positive relationship exists between the number of risk factors a child is exposed to and the severity of his/her symptoms. Data was gathered from two items in the childrens medical charts: 1) initial psychiatric evaluations, within which the presence or absence of the background risk factors of interest in this study are noted; and 2) monthly treatment plan progress notes, in which progress regarding presenting symptoms are noted. An analysis of medical record data painted a compelling picture regarding the pervasiveness of risk factors in the childrens backgrounds, as nearly 80% of the children within the study were found to be exposed to three or more risk factors (not including poverty). An analysis of the data revealed a significantly high prevalence of children being referred for treatment due to clinically significant behavior problems, as approximately 80% of the children presented with clinically significant levels of non-compliance and/or aggression. Although clinically significant aggression and non-compliance frequently co-occurred with several background risk factors, no significant, positive correlations were discovered between background risk factors and externalizing behavior problems (when the entire sample was included within the analysis). In addition, a correlational analysis revealed no significant, positive correlations between the number of background risk factors and the severity of certain externalizing behavior problems. The absence of significant, positive correlations may reflect the need for researchers to attend to contextual details (i.e., severity of exposure, timing of exposure, individual traits) when investigating the effects of exposure to risk factors on childrens development. In addition, it is likely that the correlations were partially weakened by the fact that the participants within this study represented a restricted sample (poor, clinically referred preschool-age children).

A selection procedure consisting of both multiple-choice (MC) paper-and pencil and hands on performance assessment (PA) elements was developed for a large consumer products manufacturing company in the southeastern United States for the purpose of ensuring that workers possessed the necessary knowledge, skills, and abilities required for work at a new facility. Two 125-item alternate tests using an MC format and 7 PA exercises were initially developed for the job referred to in the present study as L2/L3 Production Technician. The purpose of this study was to examine the validity evidence for the two alternate multiple-choice (MC) job knowledge tests and seven performance assessment (PA) exercises that were developed for employment selection purposes. The study sample included 432 Form A and 324 Form B examinees who took both the MC test and the PA exercises. Factor analysis results revealed that the same construct, labeled as applied mechanical knowledge, was measured by both the MC tests and the PA exercises. Item and test analysis results supported the use of Form A and Form B as alternate test forms. The decision consistency between the MC tests and the PA exercises did not appear to be sufficient to recommend that either form of the MC test alone could be used to select qualified L2/L3 Production Technicians. The correlations between MC score and PA total score were .627 for Form A and .612 for Form B. As part of a content analysis, subject-matter experts rated a large number of MC items as either having no relationship or small relationship to the PA exercises. However, subject-matter experts did rate the PA exercises as having a great importance to the job of L2/L3 Production Technician.

This study examined the relation of psychological mindedness (PM) to treatment outcome and explored whether PM might be enhanced by participation in cognitive-behavioral therapy, an approach that teaches skills reflective of those involved in PM. Psychological mindedness is assumed to be an attribute that contributes to a patients ability to engage in and benefit from insight oriented psychotherapy; there has been limited attention in regard to its potential impact on other therapeutic approaches. This study evaluated PM within the context of a clinical trial of three different psychotherapeutic interventions for adolescent depression including cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), systemic-behavior family therapy (SBFT), and non-directive supportive therapy (NST). A total of 101 adolescents completed a modified version of the Psychological Mindedness Scale at pre-and post- treatment. It was predicted that higher PM baseline scores would result in improved outcome as assessed by the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) and the Childrens Global Assessment Scale (CGAS). Higher PM scores were not predictive of improvement of depression or psychosocial functioning across the whole sample. However, there was an interaction within the high verses low PM group such that the manner in which depression responded differed across treatment groups over time. CBT had more rapid improvement compared to SBFT, but not NST resulting in a lower BDI at the end of treatment. A secondary analysis, predicting that CBT would show a greater increase in PM over SBFT and NST was not confirmed. Patients in CBT did not show a greater increase in PM over SBFT and NST. However, there was a significant increase in patients PM across all three treatments. The relation between baseline demographic and clinical measures and PM were also investigated. Higher PM was associated with increased age and older age of onset of depression. Clinical variables such as increased hopelessness and increased depression were associated with a lower PM score. Clinical implications of these findings were discussed, current limitations to the study of PM were reviewed, and suggestions for future research presented.

A CONTENT ANALYSIS OF THE TREATMENT NARRATIVES OF PATIENTS WITH COMPLICATED GRIEF Stephanie A. Wilsey, Ph.D. University of Pittsburgh, 2006 This dissertation explores the verbal content of revisiting exercises told by patients diagnosed with Complicated Grief during a therapy session. A revisiting exercise is a complete narrative account of a primary loss, from the time that the patient discovered or heard of the loss until the funeral and aftermath. Twenty-two patients receiving treatment for Complicated Grief each provided his or her last revisiting exercise from treatment. Narratives were analyzed via qualitative content analysis. Pearson Product Moment Correlations and Spearmans Correlation Coefficient for Ranked Data were also used to examine the relationship between narrative content and patients grief, depression, and trauma symptoms. Results revealed four major thematic categories within the narratives: Emotions, Cognitions, Social Support, and Focus on Death. Overall emotional content tended to be negative, with an emphasis on angry and sad feelings. While patients spoke longer about unsupportive social networks, most patients reported a mix of supportive and unsupportive friends and family. Important cognitive categories included self-evaluations, blame, and asking why the loss occurred. Finally, for most patients, the appearance of the corpse became fixated in their minds and they had trouble getting past their dual aversion and fascination with this image. Correlations between themes and symptoms scores did not occur in the expected direction and were not consistently significant. Correlations were useful, however, in generating hypotheses for further qualitative analyses. For example, the present study indicated that the integration of narrative themes should be explored in future research. The study indicated that patients wove positive and negative themes together but primarily focused on themes that troubled them, such as unsupportive family and the corpses appearance. Although patients were told to tell the story of the death, for most, additional themes such as the support or lack of support from others were integral to the stories. Exploring a subsample of patients revealed how and where in the narratives patients described particular themes. In addition, the subsample exploration revealed that anger was the unifying theme in the narratives, particularly in narratives from early treatment sessions. Implications for Complicated Grief research and treatment are presented, as well as implications for grief narrative research.

One aspect of evaluating model-data fit in the context of Item Response Theory involves assessing item fit using chi-square goodness-of-fit tests. In the current study, a goodness-of-fit statistic appropriate for assessing item fit on performance-based assessments was investigated. The statistic utilized a pseudo-observed score distribution, that used examinees entire posterior distributions of ability to form item fit tables. Due to dependencies in the pseudo-observed score distribution, or pseudocounts, the statistic could not be tested for significance using a theoretical chi-square distribution. However, past research suggested that the Pearson and likelihood ratio forms of the pseudocounts-based statistic (c2* and G2*) may follow scaled chi-square distributions. The purpose of this study was to determine whether item and sample characteristics could be used to predict the scaling corrections needed to rescale c2* and G2* statistics, so that significance tests against theoretical chi-square distributions were possible. Test length (12, 24, and 36 items) and number of item score category levels (2 to 5-category items) were manipulated. Sampling distributions of c2* and G2* statistics were generated, and scaling corrections obtained using the method of moments were applied to the simulated distributions. Two multilevel equations for predicting the scaling corrections (a scaling factor and degrees of freedom value for each item) were then estimated from the simulated data. Overall, when scaling corrections were obtained with the method of moments, sampling distributions of rescaled c2* and G2* statistics closely approximated theoretical chi-square distributions across test configurations. Scaling corrections obtained using multilevel prediction equations did not adequately rescale simulated c2* distributions for 2- to 5-category tests, or simulated G2* distributions for 2- and 3- category tests. Applications to real items showed that the prediction equations were inadequate across score category levels when c2* was used, and for 2- and 3-category items when G2* was used. However, for 4- and 5-category tests, the predicted scaling corrections did adequately rescale empirical sampling distributions of G2* statistics. In addition, applications to real items indicated that use of the multilevel prediction equations with G2* would result in correct identification of item misfit for 5-category, and potentially 4-category items.

Although there are many statistics on low-income students, most focus on deficits. This study is designed to concentrate on strengths, by exploring the role of self-compassion in the academic achievement of low-income community college students. This research, based broadly on resiliency theory, specifically encompasses the Buddhist psychology perspective on the meaning of suffering and self-reflection, in explaining how self-compassion may develop over a period of difficulty, and contributes positively to academic success. Further, this framework is placed within the context of Bronfenbrenner's ecological theory, to differentiate the influence of internal versus external resources, as well as to highlight the role of the chronosystem and its relevance to persistent poverty. Participants were 410 low-income community college students in southwestern Pennsylvania who responded to multiple objective measures to gain insight into academic success despite adversity. An exploratory factor analysis on the Self-Compassion Scale (SCS) was completed with regard to the use of this measure with a low-income population, as well as correlational studies, and a series of multiple regression analyses, to predict academic achievement in low-income community college students. Findings indicate that older students, African American students, students who are parents, and students who have fewer social supports reported more self-compassion. Further, self-compassion acted as a moderating mediator between income and academic success in students who report a pattern of persistent poverty. This subset of students reported more self-compassion and greater academic success in college.