A comparison of the factor structures of mental abilities in four ethnic groups.

Compared structures of mental abilities of groups of Black, Spanish, Jewish, and Caucasian-Gentile community college students. The Comparative Guidance and Placement Program results for 2,985 students were factor analyzed within ethnic groups, and the oblique pattern matrices were compared using factor comparison procedures. Intraclass and congruence coefficients were computed by setting one group's factor matrix as a target and rotating the other matrices against it. Highly similar factor solutions were obtained for each group. Differences in magnitude of loadings on factors were found, but the basic structures were almost identical. The cross-ethnic construct validity of the Comparative Guidance and Placement Program and relative invariance of mental abilities structures across groups were demonstrated. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Gaining Retention and Achievement for Students Program: A Faculty Development Program

This paper presents a unique faculty development program called Gaining Retention and Achievement for Students Program (GRASP) developed at New Mexico State University. A fundamental assumption of GRASP is faculty are crucial to student retention and achievement, hence the primary focus on faculty. GRASP focuses on incorporating faculty’s teaching behaviors which increase student retention and achievement. The program is composed of four interlaced components: assessment of student learning styles; faculty development to cultivate and implement appropriate teaching strategies; in-class observations and feedback of faculty and students’ classroom behavior; and assessment of the impact on student retention and achievement. Student enrollment data is presented to demonstrate the success of GRASP in improving student retention and achievement. Faculty surveys indicate faculty changed teaching practices and intend to use program strategies in future semesters.     

Classroom Management in Elementary Mainstreaming Classrooms.

The goals of this research were (a) to determine if teachers who were trained in the Utah State University Classroom Management Program changed their use of specific skills more than did comparable control teachers and (b) to determine if students in experimental classrooms made greater changes in ontask and deviant behavior than did comparable students in control classrooms. The study employed a control group design with pre- and postobservations of teacher and student behavior. A total of 39 elementary school teachers in mainstreaming classrooms were randomly assigned to two groups. Experimental teachers were trained in the classroom management program, whereas the control teachers were trained in a similar program of the same duration that covered different teaching skills. The student sample consisted of 322 students selected from participating classrooms and included subsamples of handicapped and minority students. Analysis of covariance of 16 teacher behaviors found that experimental teachers were superior to control teachers in nine behaviors. Experimental students obtained significantly more favorable posttreatment means than did control students for on-task, mildly deviant, and seriously deviant behavior. Most comparisons between handicapped and racial student subgroups were not significant. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Award for distinguished teaching in psychology.

The 2001 Award for Distinguished Teaching in Psychology was awarded to Frank J. Vattano. He was cited for his major contribution to the teaching of psychology nationwide. Through his teaching and mentoriing of thousands of students and through his psychology Advanced Placement Program workshops for high school psychology teachers, Vattano has touched many lives. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Schools make a difference: Evidence, criticism, and new directions.

Examines recent research on school effectiveness and emphasizes how variation in school processes affect student achievement. Although the review indicates that there is meaningful variation across schools in student achievement, it is argued that there are conceptual and methodological limitations of the research, such as its atheoretical nature and the instability of outcomes, that must be considered when findings are used for policy and program development. New directions for school research are discussed, including the need to study a wide range of student outcomes other than student performance on standardized achievement tests and the need to identify how classroom and school processes combine to create an effective learning environment. (29 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Psychotherapy research on Medicaid in Hawaii.

Describes the complex organizational and social conditions for conducting psychotherapy research in a state Medicaid program. Comparative data are offered on service delivery and utilization in Medicaid, the Civilian Health and Medical Program of the Uniformed Services, and the dominant employee health plan in Hawaii. It is suggested that the reporting of these data has led to extended coverage of psychologists under Hawaii Medicaid laws. The major overlap in types of procedures used by psychologists and psychiatrists and some indications of the impact of the extended coverage of psychologists on Medicaid health care costs are described. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Division 14's Testing Program.

This letter informs that the APA Division of Industrial Psychology (Division 14) appointed an ad hoc committee in 1962 to review the movement to establish a large-scale program for testing college students who might be seeking positions in industry. There has been an increasing interest shown in this by many organizations, and one attempt has been made to establish such a program by the National Industrial Conference Board, Inc. The Executive Committee of Division 14 has voted to accept and endorse the Statement of Principles devised by this committee. It has also voted to circulate the Statement of Principles to certain organizations who have shown interest in developing such a program, including the Psychological Corporation, the Educational Testing Service, Science Research Associates, Inc., College Placement Council, Inc., and Careers, Inc. The Statement of Principles and further considerations are outlined. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The role of autonomous problem-solving activities in learning to program.

Variation in high school students' achievement in Pascal programming courses was examined as a function of individual differences in self-reported engagement in autonomous problem-solving activities and of differences in course characteristics. Also examined were relationships between course characteristics and extent of engagement in different problem-solving activities. A total of 107 students in eight introductory courses and 79 students in seven Advanced Placement (AP) courses completed questionnaires about their problem-solving activities and about characteristics of their courses as well as a criterion test requiring the reformulation of code in an existing program. Results of regression analyses indicated that student differences in problem-solving activities account for variance in criterion performance, especially in AP courses. In addition, overall, certain course characteristics were related to differences in engagement in selected problem-solving activities. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A new frontier for clinical health psychologists: Our leadership role in the development and management of an inpatient weight management program.

The article provides an overview of the Tripler Army Medical Center Inpatient Obesity Program. Termed the LEAN Program (emphasizing healthy Lifestyles, Exercise, Emotions, Attitudes and Nutrition), it is the first inpatient hospital program completely developed, administratively owned, and directed by Department of Defense psychologists. The major components of the program are discussed, as is the conceptual framework that underlies the development. The LEAN Program model is offered as a guide for those who wish to develop other programs in inpatient health psychology. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Research-based practice: reducing restraints in an acute care setting--phase I

The purpose of this research utilization project was to select and implement a research-based Restraint Education Program for reducing the use of restraints in an acute care setting by changing the perception of the restraint coordinators about restraints in the direction of decreased importance. The Iowa Model, Research Based Practice to Promote Quality Care (Titler et al., 1994) was selected to guide the change process. A multidisciplinary team reviewed the restraint policy and procedure, new restraint products and alternative restraint methods. After a review of the literature on restraint education programs, the committee concluded that education was the key component in decreasing the use of physical restraints. The research-based Restraint Education Program developed by Drs. Strumpf and Evans was selected as the educational program. Education sessions were developed and a pilot study was conducted with the restraint coordinators. The Perceptions of Restraint Use Questionnaire (PRUQ) (Strumpf & Evans, 1988) was administered before and after the education sessions. The results of the t-test showed a decrease in the post-test mean scores on 7 of the 17 items indicating a less important perception by the staff about the use of restraints. Four items had an increase in mean scores on the post-test indicating the restraint coordinators increased their perception of the importance of physical restraints with these items. The restraint education program was presented to the nursing staff throughout the institution. Risk management and quality assurance will monitor patients restrained and evaluate the nursing staff with the PRUQ in 3 months.     

Educational practice guidelines for a surgical clerkship

Similar to the Residents Review Committee's "Essentials for a Residency Training Program," this article provides Educational Practice Guidelines for a required surgical clerkship. The Guidelines presented are ones that can be adopted by any department of surgery in the United States, but in some cases not without significant increase in resources and faculty effort. The 10 essential components provide an opportunity for intensive program evaluation of all medical student clerkship experiences.     

Teaching children to read using a computer.

Describes the computer-assisted instruction program in initial reading at Stanford University. It consists of 8 parts or strands that help the student learn the letters of the alphabet, a sight-word vocabulary of 700 words, spelling patterns within words, phonetic structures, and comprehension of semantic categories and sentences. The program has evolved through 8 yrs of student use, and the present research emphasizes development of optimal strategies for allocation of teaching time among instructional procedures and among students. The use of these allocation algorithms within the reading program is discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Ladders in nursing careers. A program to meet community healthcare needs

Minnesota Project LINC (Ladders in Nursing Careers) is designed to meet statewide and community healthcare delivery needs by assisting healthcare employees to successfully complete their nursing education. In partnership with employers, this program removes many nontraditional student employee barriers to education (e.g., loss of income, educational expenses) and provides needed individual support services. As a result, employers are positioned proactively to address their community needs. Program planning, implementation, and an evaluation of Minnesota Project LINC (MN LINC) are discussed in this article.     

Faculty consultation: A study in support of education through student interaction.

Evaluated K. Kitchener and J. Hurst's (See PA, Vol 52:Issue 4) education through student interaction discussion program from 110 students' evaluations and performance on classroom tests in an undergraduate psychology class. 10 discussion groups were formed with 5 experimental conditions: (a) student facilitator, with the education through student interaction training workshop; (b) student facilitator without the education through student interaction training workshop; (c) without the student facilitator, with the education through student interaction training workshop; (d) without the student facilitator without the education through student interaction training workshop, with the education through student interaction manual; (e) without the student facilitator, without the training workshop, and without the education through student interaction manual. Results support the use of the program with a student facilitator and/or a training workshop and indicate that having students discuss course content without structure, student facilitator, or training was inadequate. Implications for counseling psychologists in the role of consultants to faculty are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The pharmacology of adenylyl cyclase modulation by GABAB receptors in rat brain slices

GABAB receptor activation inhibits forskolin-stimulated adenylyl cyclase activity but augments noradrenaline-stimulated adenylyl cyclase activity. The present study investigated the pharmacology of these two GABAB receptor mediated responses. In a cross-chopped rat cortical slice preparation, it was confirmed that (-)baclofen inhibited forskolin-stimulated adenylyl cyclase activity and augmented noradrenaline-stimulated adenylyl cyclase activity. The potency of five further agonists was investigated (SKF97541, CGP47656, CGP44533, 3-APA and CGP44532). Of these agonists two compounds were significantly more potent as inhibitors of forskolin-stimulated adenylyl cyclase than as augmenters of noradrenaline-stimulated adenylyl cyclase activity, these were (-)baclofen (pEC50 = 6.07 +/- 0.29 and 5.04 +/- 0.17, respectively (p < 0.05)), and CGP47656 (pEC50 = 6.44 +/- 0.05 and 4.48 +/- 0.26, respectively (p < 0.05)). It is possible to explain this difference in potency by proposing that these compounds have low intrinsic efficacy, and the augmentation of noradrenaline-stimulated adenylyl cyclase has a low receptor reserve. In addition six antagonists (CGP49311A, CGP46381, CGP45024, CGP45397, CGP36742) were also tested for their ability to antagonize 10 microM (-)baclofen in these two assays. These antagonists ranged in potency as inhibitors of forskolin-stimulated adenylyl cyclase activity from CGP49311A (pEC50 = 5.45 +/- 0.30) to CGP36742 (pEC50 = 3.87 +/- 0.16). Each antagonist had similar potency in the two assays, suggesting that these two responses are mediated by pharmacologically similar receptors.     

Psychological and psychiatric peer review at CHAMPUS.

Considers professional reviews of psychological and psychiatric services, which have been conducted by 3rd-party payers for a number of years by various arrangements. It was not until 1979, however, that a major 3rd-party payer, the Civilian Health and Medical Program of the Uniformed Services (CHAMPUS), developed a comprehensive operational peer review activity. This action was stirred by the need for the program to account for quality of services provided its beneficiaries and to ensure cost-beneficial care. The development of collaboration between the program and major professional organizations (American Psychological Association and American Psychiatric Association) is traced, as are the successes and problems encountered thus far. It is concluded that peer review should be a consistent aspect of future 3rd-party determinations. (13 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Rapid down-regulation of beta-adrenergic receptors evoked by combined forced swimming test and CGP 37849--a competitive antagonist of NMDA receptors

The influence of CGP 37849, a competitive antagonist of NMDA, receptors and desipramine (DMI) on the density of beta-adrenergic receptors in rats exposed to the forced swimming test was investigated. CGP 37849 (10 mg/kg) and DMI (15 mg/kg), given twice to rats (24 h apart), or the forced swimming test alone failed to alter the density of beta-adrenergic receptors in the rat cortex, as tested using [3H]dihydroalprenolol ([3H]DHA). However, in rats injected with CGP 37849 (10 mg/kg) or DMI (15 mg/kg) and exposed to the forced swimming test, it was found that the density of beta-adrenergic receptors in the cortex was decreased. It was also observed that CGP 37849 used in a dose which decreased the density of beta-adrenergic receptors reduced the immobility time in a manner similar to DMI. It is concluded that CGP 37849 may evoke similar adaptive receptor changes as anti-depressant drugs which-in turn-suggests antidepressant-like properties of CGP 37849.     

Accredited doctoral programs in professional psychology: 2004.

Presents the official listing of accredited psychology doctoral programs, reflecting all committee decisions through July 17, 2004. The Committee on Accreditation has accredited the doctoral training programs in the traditional substantive areas of clinical, counseling, school, or combined professional–scientific psychology representing two or more of those areas. The original date of accreditation, listed for each program, is the day on which the program’s accredited status became effective. Program review is governed by the “Guidelines and Principles for Accreditation of Programs in Professional Psychology.” Also listed for each program is the date of the next regularly scheduled site visit or submission of self-study report. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)