Historical understanding and teaching in professional psychology.

The teaching of the history of psychology in professional psychology training programs presents to students and teachers any number of opportunities and challenges. The increasing number of professional psychologists teaching the history of psychology coupled with advances in historical scholarship point to an ongoing evolution in the teaching of the history of psychology. In this introduction to the articles that follow, issues of content and context in teaching the history of psychology in professional psychology are discussed and affirmations offered. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Theory-based research for understanding the process of dynamic psychotherapy.

Research is reviewed on 6 theoretical propositions central to psychodynamic psychotherapy: (1) The establishment of an alliance is important to successful outcome; (2) the patient displays a central relationship theme (transference); (3) transference interpretations are helpful; (4) the therapist aims at accurate interpretations of the transference; (5) the patient gains understanding of self and the relationship pattern; and (6) the patient's improvement is reflected in changes in the relationship pattern, although the pattern is still evident. We suggest concepts that are in need of research development: internalization, resistance, working through, self-understanding and insight, and the therapist's adherence to recommended techniques. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Toward understanding ethnic and cultural factors in the interviewing process.

The clinical interview is critical in the diagnostic assessment undertaking in clinical settings, and cultural/ethnic influences have been shown to influence the outcome of this process. Specifically, a number of studies have reported that proportionally far more ethnic minorities than Caucasians are likely to be misdiagnosed when assessed for psychiatric disorders. This particularly is the case when open clinical interviews are used. Semistructured interviews, on the other hand, result in an increase in diagnostic accuracy with ethnic minorities. Parameters associated with bias in the clinical interview of ethnic minorities and its impact on assessment, diagnosis, and treatment decisions are examined. Although the current discussion focuses primarily on African Americans, many examples are provided that pertain to other ethnic groups. Strategies for addressing these issues are explored and recommendations for increasing cultural competence are made. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Towards understanding the process of intestinal adaptation

When bowel is lost due to disease or surgery, the residual bowel increases its functional capacity in order to compensate for the loss of absorptive capacity. The success and extent of this adaptive process is critical to recovery. This article reviews the current understanding of the intestinal adaptation. Adaptation is a complex process which as yet is poorly understood and thus it is difficult to develop strategies to enhance the out-come of the adaptation phase. Extensive loss of bowel brings about functional as well as morphologic changes in the remaining intestine. The exact relationship between histologic changes and function is still unknown and some studies show that histologic changes may precede functional changes. Both nonnutritive and nutritive factors have been identified as major stimuli to the adaptive process. The importance of oral intake as a positive stimulus has been demonstrated and the role of diet composition rather than diet complexity being recognized. Recent studies attempt to understand the molecular basis of intestinal adaptation by seeking to characterize the nature of humoral factors involved and to establish alterations in the patterns of gene expression. These new approaches may facilitate the identification of both nutritional and pharmacological methods to manipulate the intestinal adaptation process.     

加强科学管理提高教学质量

为了加快我国教育的发展,创造有利于全面推动素质教育的环境,更好地适应21世纪我国社会主义现代化建设对人才的需要,中央作出了扩大高等学校招生规模的决策,这一决策是具有非常重大意义的.多年来,我国高等教育一直是精英型教育,教育的真正目的没有能够得到充分实现.高校的扩招,拉动了内需,促进了社会主义经济的发展,满足了广大人民群众接受教育的迫切愿望,促进了民族素质的提高,同时,也促进了高等学校的建设和发展,是一件利国、利民的大事.但高校扩招后,也面临着许多困难和问题.高校如何来克服困难,解决问题,对保证扩招后的教学质量是非常关键的.……     

Developing conceptual understanding and procedural skill in mathematics: An iterative process.

The authors propose that conceptual and procedural knowledge develop in an iterative fashion and that improved problem representation is 1 mechanism underlying the relations between them. Two experiments were conducted with 5th- and 6th-grade students learning about decimal fractions. In Experiment 1, children's initial conceptual knowledge predicted gains in procedural knowledge, and gains in procedural knowledge predicted improvements in conceptual knowledge. Correct problem representations mediated the relation between initial conceptual knowledge and improved procedural knowledge. In Experiment 2, amount of support for correct problem representation was experimentally manipulated, and the manipulations led to gains in procedural knowledge. Thus, conceptual and procedural knowledge develop iteratively, and improved problem representation is 1 mechanism in this process. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

加强教学流程管理提高课堂教学效益

教学流程管理是学校管理的一项重要工作,是反映学校管理质量的一个主要指标,也是开展教学研究和教学改革,提高教学质量,完成教学任务的重要保证.几年来,我们就如何发挥教学流程管理的职能作用,如何提高课堂教学效益作了一些探索.……     

The process of intimacy: similarity, understanding and gender

This study examined gender and three aspects of marital intimacy using a method to establish both objective and subjective indices of intimacy. Fifty couples answered the Personal Assessment of Intimate Relationships (Schaefer & Olson, 1981) twice: once as a self-report and once to respond as they predicted their spouses would answer. Couples who were less accurate in predicting each other's responses also diverged in their experience of intimacy and reported lower intimacy. Results suggest that high intimacy is based on both understanding and similarity of intimate experience. Women reported significantly higher levels of intimacy and were also better than men in predicting their partners' feelings. These findings suggest that women may be more attuned to intimacy or that definitions and assessment of intimacy are gender biased or both.     

问题情境教学法的应用及其体会

知识经济呼唤创新人才,而创新人才的培养只能靠创新教育.近年来,为适应创新教育和培养创新人才的要求,我校开设了大量公共选修课,“环境保护概论“就是其中的一门.下面结合笔者多年来对这一课程的教学实践及学生和课程的特点,谈谈问题情境教学法的应用与体会.……     

Hering and the scientific establishment.

Praises the methods and achievements of Ewald Hering concerning neurophysiology and sensory research, particularly in his color vision work, and discusses how they relate to the "scientific establishment" of his day and the present. 3 points are emphasized. (1) If his writings were assimilated, unnecessary confusion and repetition of research could be reduced. (2) Reasons why there is resistance of scientists to scientific discovery are offered. (3) The possible questions and impact that his opinion and views, which are still ahead of the time, may pose for researchers today. His approach to the problems of memory and color coding in the visual mechanism are examined in relation to those of other neurophysiologists, i.e., H. Hemboltz, T. N. Wiesel, and D. N. Hubel. (81 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Introducing the Committee on Scientific and Professional Responsibility.

A special American Psychological Association (APA) committee is frequently the way American psychologists wonder out loud about some new problem and what we can do about it. The present committee has been talking and probing around for more than two years, and we now want the larger APA audience to know what we are doing. This report discusses the establishment of the Committee on Scientific and Professional Responsibility. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A theory-based approach to teaching young children about health: A recipe for understanding.

The theory–theory account of conceptual development posits that children's concepts are integrated into theories. Concept-learning studies have documented the central role that theories play in children's learning of experimenter-defined categories but have yet to extensively examine complex, real-world concepts, such as health. The present study examined whether providing young children with coherent and causally related information in a theory-based lesson would facilitate their learning about the concept of health. This study used a pretest/lesson/posttest design, plus a 5-month follow-up. Children were randomly assigned to 1 of 3 conditions: theory (i.e., 20 children received a theory-based lesson), nontheory (i.e., 20 children received a nontheory-based lesson), and control (i.e., 20 children received no lesson). Overall, the results showed that children in the theory condition had a more accurate conception of health than children in the nontheory and control conditions, suggesting the importance of theories in children's learning of complex, real-world concepts. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Workload, grades, and students' evaluations of teaching: Clear understanding sometimes requires more patient explanations.

Offers a rebuttal to the response by R. E. Haskell (see record 1998-11971-012) on comments by H. W. Marsh and L. A. Roche (see record 1997-43129-003) on Haskell's (1997) Internet publication regarding student evaluations of teaching (SETs). It is acknowledged that the paragraph referred to by Haskell is somewhat abstruse and may understandably be misread or misinterpreted. It is argued, however, that a careful reading of the paragraph shows that Haskell's allegations are unwarranted. The authors suggest that Haskell's article relies on the dubious assumption that students in his anecdotal reports are, for whatever mysterious reason, not providing valid SETs, but are instead either exacting revenge or just plain wrong about what's good for them. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Education as an intergenerational process of human learning, teaching, and development.

In this article I argue that the future of psychological research on educational processes would benefit from an interdisciplinary approach that enables psychologists to locate their objects of study within the cultural, social, and historical contexts of their research. To make this argument, I begin by examining anthropological accounts of the characteristics of education in small, face-to-face, preindustrial societies. I then turn to a sample of contemporary psychoeducational research that seeks to implement major, qualitative changes in modern educational practices by transforming them to have the properties of education in those self-same face-to-face societies. Next I examine the challenges faced by these modern approaches and briefly describe a multi-institutional, multidisciplinary system of education that responds to these challenges while offering a model for educating psychology students in a multigenerational system of activities with potential widespread benefits. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A person–process–context–time approach to understanding intellectual development.

We argue that scientific psychology's twin foci on biology (person) and process can benefit from a broadening. Specifically, we show that including two additional foci–context and time–can add explanatory leverage to both the design and interpretation of scientific studies. We focus on research on intellectual development to illustrate our points. First, we briefly describe each of the four factors (person, process, context, and time), and we review studies that focus on each individual factor and its role in intellectual development. Next, we review studies that focus simultaneously on multiple factors. We illustrate how multifactor approaches reveal fine-grained differentiations that are not reducible to single factors. Finally, we describe a study that considers simultaneously all four factors, and we show how omitting any one of these factors from the design and analysis changes the interpretation of the data. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Categorization and metaphor understanding.

S. Glucksberg and B. Keysar (see record 1990-14310-001) have proposed a class-inclusion model of metaphor comprehension. This theory suggests that metaphors are not understood as implicit similes but are seen as class-inclusion statements in which the topic of a metaphor is assigned to a diagnostic, ad hoc category, whereas the metaphor's vehicle is a prototypical member of that category. The author claims that verbal metaphors are not simply instantiations of temporary, ad hoc categories but reflect preexisting conceptual mappings in long-term memory that are metaphorically structured. Various evidence from cognitive linguistics, philosophy, and psychology are described in support of this claim. Evidence is also presented that supports, contrary to Glucksberg and Keysar's position, the role of tacit conceptual metaphors in the comprehension of verbal metaphors in discourse. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Introducing the grandmother test into psychological science.

It is a commonly held belief among many psychological scientists that the more plausible a hypothesis, the better it is scientifically. It is also often believed that if there are two alternative theories which are equally strong in terms of explanatory power, one should choose the plausible theory over the implausible one. The goal of this article is to challenge these assumptions. Based on Popper's philosophical views, it will be argued that psychological scientists should be encouraged to formulate implausible (yet testable) hypotheses and theories. Examples from other scientific disciplines will be presented to illustrate this argument. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The functional hypothesis: A family systems contribution toward an understanding of the healing process of the common factors.

In this article, the authors link a central organizing concept and process, The Functional Hypothesis, to the literature on metatheoretical approaches to the psychotherapy process. The Functional Hypothesis is presented as a central thread that runs through all family systems models, the employment of which contributes to successful therapeutic outcomes. The Functional Hypothesis is linked to the literature on client factors in emotional healing and is posited as the creative catalyst for the dynamics of the Common Factors. A Case Example is included, exemplifying the metatheoretical Internal Family Systems Therapy model which operationalizes therapeutic work with the Functional Hypothesis. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)