Jeremy R. Sullivan

A Closer Look at College Students: Self-Efficacy and Goal Orientation

Given that student retention is now one of the leading challenges faced by colleges and universities, research seeking to understand students’ reasons for attrition is of critical importance. Two factors influence students’ underachievement and subsequent dropping-out of college: self-efficacy and goal orientation. Self-efficacy refers to peoples’ judgments about their abilities to complete a task. Goal orientations refer to the motives that students have for completing tasks, which may include developing and improving ability (mastery goals), demonstrating ability (performance-approach goals), and hiding lack of ability (performance-avoidance goals). This study examined differences among goal orientations and self-efficacy using two distinct student groups: college students in good academic standing (GPA of 2.0 or higher) and college students on academic probation (GPA of less than 2.0). Results indicated that self-efficacy and mastery goals were positively related to academic standing whereas performance-avoidance goals were negatively related to academic standing. Students in good academic standing reported having higher self-efficacy and adopted significantly more mastery goals toward learning than students on academic probation. Among students who reported having high self-efficacy, those on academic probation reported adopting significantly more performance-avoidance goals than those in good academic standing. These findings suggest that teachers should identify those students with not only low self-efficacy, but those also adopting performance-avoidance goals. Teachers and administrators may be able to provide guidance to students who have beliefs and goals that contain maladaptive patterns of learning that sabotage their ability to succeed in school.

Concurrent Validity of the Tower Tasks as Measures of Executive Function in Adults: A Meta-Analysis

Executive function refers to a variety of behaviors and abilities related to planning and strategy use, as well as to the maintenance of attention and behavior in the pursuit of some goal. Many instruments have been designed for the purpose of assessing executive function, and the tower tasks represent a specific group of measures commonly used in the assessment of this construct. This review and meta-analysis examines the theoretical and psychometric basis for the use of the various tower tasks in neuropsychological assessment of adults. Neuroimaging and electrophysiological evidence are consistent with theoretical hypotheses of frontal involvement (e.g., planning and strategy use) in tower task performance. Further, adults with various disorders of presumed neurological basis demonstrate impaired performance on tower tasks. Implications for the use of tower tasks in practice and research are discussed.

Undergraduate Engineering Students' Beliefs, Coping Strategies, and Academic Performance: An Evaluation of Theoretical Models.

Research has identified factors associated with academic success by evaluating relations among psychological and academic variables, although few studies have examined theoretical models to understand the complex links. This study used structural equation modeling to investigate whether the relation between test anxiety and final course grades was mediated by personal control, self-efficacy, goal orientation, coping strategies, and self-regulation. Participants were 297 undergraduate students taking an algebra course designed for engineering students. Results indicated that the proposed theoretical model was supported by the data, although a modified model produced a better fit. Other competing models were also tested. Collectively, analyses revealed that the psychological variables played important roles in predicting students’ grades, as all the structural coefficients and R 2 statistics were statistically and practically significant. Findings suggest value in the development and testing of additional models that contribute to the expansion of intervention programs to enhance academic outcomes among students.

Language Functioning and Deficits Following Pediatric Traumatic Brain Injury

The purpose of this article is to provide a current review of language functioning and deficits following traumatic brain injury (TBI), specifically among the pediatric population. This paper will: (a) outline the manner in which these deficits may impede functioning across environments; (b) review methods of assessing language functioning within this population; and (c) discuss empirically supported interventions to address noted language deficits as they present in pediatric TBI.

Factors contributing to breaking confidentiality with adolescent clients: A survey of pediatric psychologists

A common ethical dilemma experienced by professional psychologists involves deciding whether to break confidentiality with risk-taking adolescent clients. However, our understanding of the factors that contribute to this decision-making process is limited. The present study surveyed 200 pediatric psychologists (resulting in 74 usable surveys) and identified several items that are perceived to be important to clinicians when they consider the decision to break confidentiality in order to report potentially dangerous behaviors to the parents of adolescent clients. The present study also used exploratory factor analysis to identify 2 underlying factors—Negative Nature of the Behavior and Maintaining the Therapeutic Process—as crucial to the decision-making process. How do psychologists decide whether to break confidentiality in order to inform the parents of risk-taking adolescent clients about the potential harm that may result from the adolescent’s behavior? In order to encourage open communication and trust during treatment, psychologists often assure adolescent clients that confidentiality will be maintained, although there is no legal basis for doing so (Rae, 2001). Parents have the legal privilege to all information about their adolescent, yet in practice this privilege is usually voluntarily waived in order to facilitate the therapy process. Rather than being based on law, this decision is based on the psychologist’s desire to build and maintain an honest therapeutic relationship with the adolescent, in which the client feels safe in revealing sensitive information (Gustafson & McNamara, 1987). However, it is clear that psychologists have an ethical and legal responsibility to break confidentiality when a client’s behavior is deemed dan

Breaking Confidentiality to Report Adolescent Risk-Taking Behavior by School Psychologists

School psychologists often break confidentiality if confronted with risky adolescent behavior. Members of the National Association of School Psychologists (N = 78) responded to a survey containing a vignette describing an adolescent engaging in risky behaviors and rated the degree to which it is ethical to break confidentiality for behaviors of varying frequency, intensity, and duration. Respondents generally found it ethical to break confidentiality when risky adolescent behaviors became more dangerous or potentially harmful, although there was considerable variability between respondents. Significant gender effects were found between male and female respondents for alcohol use, and a significant Form Type (i.e., male or female vignette) × Frequency/Duration interaction was observed for antisocial behaviors. School psychologists could benefit from further training in ethical decision making because these ethical dilemmas are not always clear-cut.

Preliminary Psychometric Data for the Academic Coping Strategies Scale

The purpose of this article is to describe the psychometric characteristics of the Academic Coping Strategies Scale (ACSS), which was designed to assess college students’ coping strategies within the context of a specific academic stressor. This article will present results of analyses of factor structure, internal consistency, test-retest stability, and validity evidence based on relationships with other variables. Results suggest that items can be grouped into three easily interpretable factors (i.e., Approach, Avoidance, and Social Support) and that preliminary psychometric data are mostly favorable. The article will also describe limitations of the study, directions for future research, and potential applications of the ACSS. An important next step in the development of the ACSS will be to modify the scale for use with middle and high school students so that professionals working in the schools will have a method of assessing academic coping strategies among youth.

Special Education Policy, Response to Intervention, and the Socialization of Youth

This article discusses special education policy with a specific focus on response to intervention (RTI), as proponents suggest that this approach meets the goals of both the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act and No Child Left Behind. Although there are legitimate concerns about the validity and reliability of the measures and interventions used in RTI frameworks (in addition to other challenges), limited research suggests positive outcomes associated with RTI, and the benefits of the conceptual pillars of this framework, namely high-quality instruction, research-based interventions, and systematic screening and progress monitoring, are unequivocal. In addition to reviewing the core features of RTI, this article discusses implications of special education eligibility processes for the socialization of youth. The population targeted by this article includes students in K–12 settings who are at risk for special education placement due to learning disabilities and/or behavioral difficulties.

Getting Everybody Involved: A Collaborative Training Approach for Counselors and Educators.

Abstract This paper describes a creative approach for training counselor and counselor educators that provides collaborative interactions among students and faculty in several university training programs. Structured around a problem-solving activity and self-reflection questionnaires, undergraduate teachers-in-training were given an opportunity to receive one-to-one consultative counseling from the masters level counselors-in-training, who in turn received structured problem-solving supervision from the doctoral level students. Finally, the doctoral level students received faculty support to facilitate the development of their supervisory skills. The goal of this training approach is to provide students at all three levels with experiences similar to those they will encounter as professionals following graduation from the university, but within the context of scaffolding from faculty and more advanced students.

Assessing Growth in Young Children: A Comparison of Raw, Age-Equivalent, and Standard Scores Using the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test.

Many tests provide users with several different types of scores to facilitate interpretation and description of students’ performance. Common examples include raw scores, age- and grade-equivalent scores, and standard scores. However, when used within the context of assessing growth among young children, these scores should not be interchangeable because they provide different information. To examine how raw, age-equivalent, and standard scores function when assessing growth among young children, this article uses scores on the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test–Third Edition to compare the use of these scores for the purpose of measuring growth in receptive vocabulary skills among a sample of 259 low-income, predominantly Hispanic preschoolers age 3 to 5 years. Results suggest a notable floor effect in the distribution of age-equivalent scores that was not observed in the raw score or standard score distributions. This floor effect may significantly affect the results of correlational data analyses conducted with these scores. In light of these findings and combined with a trend in the literature in which researchers often do not provide a clear rationale for choosing which test scores to use in statistical analyses, the authors offer suggestions for researchers when using test scores as dependent variables.