The “Real Thing”

This article examined the value of using nonfiction graphic novels as historical narratives in the social studies curriculum. Preservice teachers evaluated several graphic novels and identified attributes of graphic novels that could contribute to students’ development of historical thinking and understanding of multiple perspectives. Despite the preservice teachers’ value for graphic novels as resources and their desire to use them in their future classrooms, all of the preservice teachers identified reasons why they would not be able to use graphic novels in their future school context. The findings suggested that the preservice teachers’ desire to be accepted by their school community took precedence over their intention to use resources that they deemed engaging and beneficial for student learning.     

Making sense of social pretense: The effect of the dyad,sex, and language ability in a large observational study of children’s behaviors in a social pretend play context

Pretend play with peers is purportedly an important driver of social development in the preschool period; however, fundamental questions regarding the features of children's pretend play with a peer, and the effect of the dyad for pretend play, have been overlooked. The current study undertook detailed behavioral coding of social pretend play in 134 pairs of 5‐year‐old children (54% boys) in order to address three main aims: (a) describe the duration and proportion of children engaging in key social pretend play behaviors, namely calls for attention, negotiation (comprising role assignment and joint proposals) and enactment of pretend play, (b) examine the effect of the dyad in influencing the occurrence of different social pretend play behaviors, and (c) assess the independent and combined effect of individual child characteristics (i.e., language ability and sex) that may influence social pretend play behaviors beyond the influence of the dyad. Results demonstrated the overwhelming effect of the dyad in shaping children's social pretend play behaviors, with language ability and sex explaining relatively little of the total variability in play behaviors. Results are discussed considering the contribution that this type of study can make to theories of associations between children's social development and social pretend play.     

Performing blackness,forming whiteness: Linguistic minstrelsy in Hollywood film1

The ideological and indexical aspects of linguistic representation have been extensively examined in contemporary sociolinguistics both through investigations of language crossing in everyday interaction and through analyses of mediatized linguistic performances. Less well understood are the indexical meanings achieved when language crossing itself becomes the focus of linguistic representation. One prominent instance of this phenomenon is the use of African American English by European American actors in Hollywood films as part of what is argued to be a complex language‐based form of blackface minstrelsy. As mock language, linguistic minstrelsy in such films involves sociolinguistic processes of deauthentication, maximizing of intertextual gaps, and indexical regimentation of the performed language, but unlike earlier forms of minstrelsy these performances are typically problematized within the films as transgressions of the ideology of racial essentialism. In the two films analyzed in detail in the article, linguistic minstrelsy is shown both to reproduce and to undermine the symbolic dominance of hegemonic white masculinity.     

Spatial Quantification of the Population Exposed to Cryptococcus neoformans and Cryptococcus gattii Species Complexes in Europe: Estimating the Immunocompetent and HIV/AIDS Patients Under Risk

Cryptococcus is an important fungal pathogen worldwide, causing serious clinical manifestations that can affect immunocompetent patients and can be particularly severe for immunocompromised patients. The Cryptococcus gattii s.s. (AFLP4/VGI), Cryptococcus tetragattii (AFLP/VGIV), Cryptococcus neoformans, and Cryptococcus deneoformans have been isolated from both clinical and environmental sources in Europe. We aim to quantify the people in Europe and the entire Mediterranean area who are under risk associated with each of the three fungal pathogens in a spatially explicit way, generating a series of maps and population statistics per country. Niche modeling was applied to estimate the potential distribution of each fungal pathogen, then these models were overlapped with a map of population density to estimate risk levels. The potential number of people per risk level and per country was quantified using a map of population count per pixel. Prevalence of HIV per country was also included in the analysis to quantify the HIV-infected population under potential risk. People under risk associated with exposure to C. gattii species (C. gattii s.s. and C. tetragattii) reached 137.65 million, whereas those exposed to C. neoformans and C. deneoformans were 268.58 and 360.78 million people, respectively. More than a half million HIV-infected patients are exposed to each of the two species of the C. neoformans species complex, and more than 200,000 to the C. gattii species complex. The present results can be useful for public health planning by European governments, focusing on the provision of inputs for a “screen-and-treat” approach, availability of medical resources, and continuous monitoring programs in risk zones.     

An AHP-based evaluation procedure for Innovative Educational Projects: A face-to-face vs. computer-mediated case study

In this paper a procedure to evaluate proposals for Educational Innovation Projects is proposed. This methodology should help the Institute of Educational Sciences of the Politechnical University of Valencia to choose the best Educational Project, the final aim being to provide the Administration with a stringent evaluation methodology, since the current evaluation methodology was found to be neither sufficiently objective nor systematic.     

A Dyadic Approach to Understanding the Link Between Sexual Functioning and Sexual Satisfaction in Heterosexual Couples

Researchers have demonstrated that several dimensions of sexual functioning (e.g., sexual desire, arousal, orgasm) are associated with the sexual satisfaction of individuals in a committed mixed-sex (male–female) relationship. We extended this research by comparing a dyadic model that included both own (i.e., actor effect) and partner (i.e., partner effect) domains of sexual functioning to an individual model that included only actor effects. Participants were 124 mixed-sex couples who completed online measures of sexual functioning and sexual satisfaction. Data analysis using the actor–partner interdependence model (APIM) and structural equation modeling (SEM) indicated that the dyadic model had a better fit than the individual model. Women’s sexual desire and orgasm and men’s erectile functioning were significant positive predictors of both own and partner’s sexual satisfaction. These results are discussed in terms of the importance of taking a dyadic approach to research and clinical work related to sexual satisfaction.     

Whole Family Theraplay: Integrating Family Systems Theory and Theraplay to Treat Adoptive Families

This article regarding the effectiveness of Theraplay for the clinical treatment of adoptive families both outlines a model for integrating family systems theory with Theraplay to create a new approach entitled Whole Family Theraplay (WFT), as well as provides a preliminary report of a pilot study demonstrating the efficacy of that model. WFT integrates Theraplay with family systems approaches (Structural and Experiential Family Therapies) to treat parents and all the siblings within adoptive families. The findings indicate that WFT treatment may lead to statistically significant benefits in regard to family communication, adults’ interpersonal relationships, and children's overall behavioral functioning.     

When Knowledge Is Not Enough: Elements to Strengthen Intercultural Sensitivity Among Professionals of Social Services in Andalusia (Spain)

ABSTRACT.

This study examines social services delivery in Andalusia, Spain, to determine the degree of cultural adaptation of its workers, given the important migratory flows taking place in the region during recent years. This study investigates the main characteristics of those workers with a high level of intercultural sensitivity (IS) and their cultural competences. The survey included 298 professionals with a validated IS scale along with questions related to the degree of intercultural contact and competence. A series of scales for the IS levels was created, and correlation analyses were carried out depending on the variables used. Results revealed high levels of self-attributed cultural competence and training as well as low levels of awareness and motivation for intercultural encounters. Theoretical knowledge appeared to be the only aspect in correlation with all dimensions of IS. Important deficits have been also observed when examining the type and intensity of contact among professionals and people of foreign origin. This highlights the need to transform knowledge in culturally adapted responses. Future research is necessary to deepen knowledge on how these aspects affect professional interventions.     

Paralinguistic Features Communicated through Voice can Affect Appraisals of Confidence and Evaluative Judgments

Journal of Nonverbal Behavior - This article unpacks the basic mechanisms by which paralinguistic features communicated through the voice can affect evaluative judgments and persuasion. Special...     

Family and child characteristics linking neighborhood context and child externalizing behavior

Neighborhood conditions are related to children's externalizing behavior, although few processes that help explain this association have been identified. With data from 189 primarily low‐income Anglo and Mexican American families, we tested a stress process model that included 3 potential mediators of this relationship. The results showed that child stressful life events, association with deviant peers, and parent‐child conflict mediated the relationship between neighborhood context and child externalizing behavior when household income and maternal depression were controlled. The model explained more than 25% of the variance in externalizing behavior. Furthermore, differences in results for families with a U.S.‐born versus Mexico‐born mother showed that neighborhood influences on families and children may be quite complex.