This commentary explores how teachers can create a culture of tolerance by promoting reflectivity and reflexivity, and considers classroom processes and activities for doing so. "Reflectivity" is considered to be the use of personal values, experiences, and habits to make meaning and is a central tenet of inquiry approaches: to build…

Whereas non-suicidal self injury (NSSI) is reported in 13-23% of adolescents and is an increasingly studied topic, there has been little investigation into the pathophysiology behind self-injury. This commentary examines recent research into pain and emotional distress to discuss implications for the manner we should understand, research, and…

Stimulant drugs (methylphenidate and amphetamine) have been used successfully for decades to improve the behavioral impairments of hyperactivity, impulsivity, and inattention in children diagnosed with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). A voluminous literature supports the benefits of stimulants for improving classroom manageability…

Adolescent risk-taking can be illuminated through an understanding of the development of the brain, of dual-processing theories, and of social norms and meanings. When adolescents take unjustified risks, it is often because of the weakness of their analytic systems, which provide an inadequate check on impulsive or ill-considered decisions. Social…

Purpose: The purpose of the paper is to reflect on and respond to the papers contained in this Special Issue of "Journal of Educational Administration." Design/methodology/approach: A commentary is provided for each of the nine articles in the Special Issue. Findings: The papers in the Special Issue constitute a substantial and important…

Previous research by J. M. Hinson, T. L. Jameson, and P. Whitney (2003) demonstrated that a secondary task in a delayed discounting paradigm increased subjects' preference for the immediate reward. J. M. Hinson et al. interpreted their findings as evidence that working memory load results in greater impulsivity. The present authors conducted a…

A model of John Dewey's theory of reflective thought, as revised in 1933, is reviewed and its implications for the creative process explored. Reflective thought differs from random thought in its "chaining" feature, which entails a consecutive ordering so that each idea determines its successor while referring to its predecessor. (VW)

Sixty-one articles submitted to the "Journal of Creative Behavior" are analyzed in regard to a framework of three possible cosmologies: (1) the deterministic view, (2) the stochastic view, and (3) the creative view. The deterministic world view is found to predominate. More flexibility regarding time factors is suggested to foster the…

This article describes how providing effective and timely feedback gives new life to student assessment. Such feedback enables students to become better problem solvers and assessors of their own work. Providing effective and informative feedback is a large part of the assessment process: a means not an end that exists to improve learning and…

Reassesses the current trend toward health decision-making skills for youth and introduces a new field of research for health behavior called conceptual tempo. Suggestions are made on how best to utilize the conceptual tempo literature to enhance health decision-making program objectives in school health education. (Author/NB)

Focuses on the semantic-conceptual structure that contains the ideas and information a speaker wishes to convey to a listener. Reviews the status of temporal cycles using appropriate design and statistical procedures. Explores the correlates and dynamics of temporal cycles in spontaneous spoken discourse. (Author/VWL)

Reply by Jerome Kagan to a recent article by Block, Gjerde, and Block (1986) which questions the validity of the construct of reflection-impulsivity. Kagan alleges flaws in the logic of the authors' (Block, Gjerde, Block) position and in the inferences drawn from their data. (Author/RWB)

Responds to the arguments and evidence adduced by Kagan (1987) in his reply to the Block, Gjerde, and Block (1986) study questioning the validity of the Matching Familiar Figures Test (MFFT) as a measure of "reflection-impulsivity." (Author)

Addresses a particular paradox isolated by Cathy N. Davidson, that our gift to the world can be a curse to ourselves. Names this "gift" as a critical, intense, trained, sometimes skeptical but always skilled habit of attentive reading. Suggests administrators and professors respond to the "text" of the English profession as a creative work. (SG)

Examines discourse, not strictly mathematical, that teachers might adopt in a mathematics class and presents three major functions of such discourse: communication; structuring and labeling; and reflection. Develops lines for further inquiry, notably on the third function, the most likely focus for specific preparation by the teacher. (13…