The purpose of this study was to determine how a family communication partner (usually the mother IS primarily responsible for communication with a youth with a communication disability) could be trained to use an iPad and communication software for increasing appropriate communication and decreasing inappropriate behavior of youth with…

Background: The promotion of physical activity and health has become a universal challenge. The Sotkamo Physical Activity as Civil Skill Program was implemented to increase students' physical activity by promoting supportive psychological and physical school environment. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of the…

The present trial examined the effectiveness of brief interventions for smokers who joined the Hong Kong Quit to Win Contest to quit smoking. A block randomized controlled trial allocated 1003 adult daily smokers to three groups: (i) The TEL group (n = 338) received a 5-min nurse-led telephone counselling; (ii) The SMS group (n = 335) received…

The two most frequently used methods for assessing performance on chained tasks are single opportunity probes (SOPs) and multiple opportunity probes (MOPs). Of the two, SOPs may be easier and less time-consuming but can suppress actual performance. In comparison, MOPs can provide more information but present the risk of participants acquiring…

Koretz, in his article published in this issue, provides compelling arguments that the high stakes currently associated with accountability testing lead to behavioral changes in students, teachers, and other stakeholders that often have negative consequences, such as inflated scores. Koretz goes on to argue that these negative consequences require…

The incidence of melanoma is rising among Hispanic populations in the United States. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the impact of a pilot sun safety educational intervention conducted from 2006 to 2012 on Hispanic early adolescents in a high ultraviolet environment. Nineteen schools with high Hispanic enrollment were recruited from urban…

One of the main approaches used in communicating environmental issues to citizens is conveying "factual" information about a particular environment. However, despite previous research and recommendations made by critical environmental educators, there still seems to be a belief that the more "factual" information one can…

In light of the drawbacks of academic procrastination, it is surprising that not all students want to decrease academic procrastination. To find out why students are motivated (or not) to change academic procrastination, we investigated the characteristics of 377 German students with different motivations to change based on the Transtheoretical…

We identified, summarized, and appraised the certainty of evidence for 12 studies investigating the use of music therapy for individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The studies were summarized in terms of (a) participant characteristics, (b) dependent variables, (c) procedures, (d) results, and (e) certainty of evidence. A total of 147…

Obesity is a national health concern and the focus of many health promotion programs. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the behavioral impact of a 12-week obesity prevention program on a university campus. Participants were provided questionnaires with weights, heights, and body mass indices (BMIs) determined at the pre-phase weigh-in and…

Fair Battles is a 12-week Swiss education for social justice program with the goal of sensitizing high school students about the impact of their consumer habits on society. The pedagogical concept of Fair Battles is to employ the tool of serious play to enhance students' social empathy, which then leads to service learning projects. This…

Inclusive education has brought new challenges for teachers, including the search for a suitable place in the classroom for children with externalizing problems. In the current study, we examined whether a careful rearrangement of the classroom seats could promote social acceptance and more prosocial behaviors for children with externalizing…

Previously, a total of 121 children with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) performed an adaptive working memory (WM)-training, an adaptive flexibility-training, or a non-adaptive control (mock)-training. Despite overall improvement, there were minor differences between the adaptive and mock-training conditions. Moreover, dropout was relatively…

In school-based settings, coaching is described as a professional development practice in which a person with specialized knowledge works with a teacher to change current practices to better student outcomes. Coaching has emerged as a strategy to support the successful deployment of evidence-based interventions. Still, little is known about the…

This article presents a simile for understanding the power of paradigms, mental models, and mind-sets as religion-like phenomena. The author clarifies the meaning of the three phenomena to help readers to see how the phenomena become significant sources of resistance to change. He concludes by outlining a paradigm-shifting process to assist…