Group Therapy for Emotional Dysregulation: Treatment for Adolescents and Their Parents

A dialectical behaviour therapy (DBT) group has been conducted for a number of years at a public outpatient clinic for adolescents suffering with emotional regulation difficulties and their families. A detailed account of the rationale, design, and content of both the adolescent and parent groups are provided. Data from these groups adds to the limited evidence regarding the efficacy of such groups. A retrospective analysis of changes in the adolescent participants’ emotional dysregulation, depression, anxiety and stress, following their participation in the group (N?=?12) was conducted. Several substantial improvements were noted across the measures of psychopathology, following the completion of the group. These findings support the teaching of DBT skills to adolescents and their families, with some modifications being appropriate for their application to this population. Future avenues for research stemming from the group program are also discussed.     

Problematising Australia's Nanny Pilot Program as evidence‐based policy: A reconstruction of the problem of childcare

In a notable departure from long‐standing childcare policy in Australia, in January 2016 fee relief was extended to nannies providing in‐home care in a 2‐year pilot program. This policy is significant as fee relief is not tied to the meeting of regulatory requirements designed to ensure quality early learning and care for young children. Drawing on Carol Bacchi's approach to policy analysis, this paper extends previous problematising of evidence‐based policy by highlighting the value of first considering how a policy ‘problem’ has been constructed. We propose that the nanny pilot is an ideologically driven policy that has emanated from a construction of childcare that is adult (parent)‐centred and marginalises the needs and interests of young children. Accordingly, certain evidence is privileged while other evidence is ignored, with the ensuing policy focused on economic imperatives rather than quality early learning and care experiences for young children. We draw on an analysis of parent, peak body and researcher submissions to the Productivity Commission's 2013–2014 childcare inquiry, nanny‐focused research, and data from three national surveys to explore the limitations of such a policy approach. The utility of problem reconstruction as a means of disrupting policy‐informed evidence and the legitimisation of purported evidence‐based policy is considered.     

认知负荷理论在英语教学中的应用

本文基于J·Sweller90年代以来的认知负荷理论 ,简述了Yeung ,Jin和Sweller(1 997)的认知负荷与学习者的技能所做的 5项实验。本文通过对中国内蒙古地区大学英语教学中存在的问题 ,特别是英语阅读中存在的问题 ,进一步分析证明了分散效应和冗余效应在阅读理解中给学习者带来的认知负荷。并设想在今后的英语教材编写与课堂教学活动按排等环节 ,应考虑学习者的年龄及已有的Schema等因素 ,将认知负荷理论贯穿始终 ,排除分散效应和冗余效应 ,提高英语教学水平和效率     

Not All Gestures are Created Equal: The Effects of Typical and Atypical Iconic Gestures on Narrative Comprehension

Observing hand gestures during learning consistently benefits learners across a variety of tasks. How observation of gestures benefits learning, however, is yet unanswered, and cannot be answered without further understanding which types of gestures aid learning. Specifically, the effects of observing varying types of iconic gestures are yet to be established. Across two studies we examined the role that observing different types of iconic hand gestures has in assisting adult narrative comprehension. Some iconic hand gestures (typical gestures) were produced more frequently than others (atypical gestures). Crucially, observing these different types of gestures during a narrative comprehension task did not provide equal benefit for comprehension. Rather, observing typical gestures significantly enhanced narrative comprehension beyond observing atypical gestures or no gestures. We argue that iconic gestures may be split into separate categories of typical and atypical gestures, which in turn have differential effects on narrative comprehension.