All comps combined(?)

A criticisms of psychology and more specifically mental illness is that we have pathologized the prototypical human condition—sadness, anxiety, difficulties learning skills (including academic) have now become depression, anxiety disorders, learning disabilities, etc. How might you respond to such a criticism? 

Distinction between prototypical human conditions and pathology are assessed through duration, frequency, intensity, and level of impairment (does it impact ability to do daily tasks/jobs, risk of harm of self or others). Persistent, disruptive impairment vs situational, transient  

For example, it is prototypical to feel sad after loss, however profound sadness that lasts for months that is interfering with an individual’s ability to do work, socialize, life responsibilities, sleeping too much or too little, are indicators of more significant impairment, and evaluating for depression would be appropriate  

For learning abilities, it is prototypical for individuals to have difficulties in certain academic areas, however consistent difficulty despite additional supports may indicate evaluation for a learning disability. As such, comprehensive assessments across cognitive and academic areas will indicate whether a student has significant impairment in specific learning areas  

• Strengths and weaknesses in different areas – SC schools use MTSS to assess students relative S/Ws compared to peers – students are then flagged across different levels – no response to intervention after level 2, level 3 is referral for specific services – team agreement for individualized supports for specific learning disability for one area (i.e. reading) but could still have strengths in other areas  

• Level 3 supports is not least restrictive anymore – services need IEP from evaluation and diagnosis  

• MAP testing – tier 1 (all students have strengths/weaknesses --> flagged for tier 2)  

• intervention – tier 2 – progress monitoring --> might indicate tier 3 support needs --> evaluation 

If you were to be charged with evaluating a child for major depressive disorder, a diagnostic decision that might result in a physician prescribing medication, a change in educational placement, or even hospitalization—how would you distinguish between “the blues” and major depressive disorder? Similarly, you might think of examples of other disorders (e.g. ADHD). 

When evaluating a child for a disability within a clinic setting, i would make sure to conduct a comprehensive evaluation to assess the root of the child’s challenges. For example: 

• Reference DSM-5 criteria  

• Clinical interview with child (eg. Duration and intensity of emotions), assess social and emotion support in school and home contexts, how these feelings impact daily life  

• Clinical interview with caregivers (same stuff) 

• Broad and narrow band measures (narrow band depending on what is flagged) 

• Key differentiator between typical fluctuation in mood and clinical disorder: impact on activities of daily living  

Provide an example of a developmental sequence or milestone that would inform your approach to assessment, or, more importantly, intervention. How might your approach to intervention with disruptive behavior change from early childhood to later adolescence? 
How did Bandura adjust prior conceptions of radical behaviorism with observations from social psychology? 

Social cognitive theory - Bobo doll experiment: illustrated that children imitated aggressive behaviors they saw in adult models, even without direct rewards or punishments. 

• Skinner’s operant conditioning, which posited that behavior is shaped mainly through direct consequences. 

• Bandura bridged the gap between behaviorism and cognitive psychology by emphasizing the importance of social influences, internal cognition, and reciprocal interactions. His work shifted psychology away from a strict stimulus-response framework toward a more nuanced understanding of how people learn and behave within social contexts. His ideas laid the groundwork for modern cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) and are foundational in contemporary psychology  

What does social psychology tell us about group behavior, and how might that influence our biases? How can we monitor and adjust such biases? 

Group behavior is a powerful force that can develop biases, conformity, perpetuate stereotypes.  

Normative social influence: We conform to group norms to gain approval or avoid rejection. 

Informational social influence: We assume the group is correct and align our beliefs with the majority 

Group polarization: When discussing issues with like-minded individuals, our attitudes become more extreme. 

• Social media – algorithms display more content that aligns with our interests and beliefs – perceives as confirmation of our own beliefs  

Stereotyping, implicit biases  

By being aware of these influences, engaging with diverse perspectives, and slowing down our decision-making, we can monitor and adjust our biases to make more fair and rational judgments. 

What is cognitive dissonance, and what role does it play in therapeutic change? 

• psychological discomfort we experience when we hold two contradictory beliefs or when our actions contradict our beliefs. This discomfort motivates us to reduce inconsistency by changing our attitudes, beliefs, or behaviors. 

• catalyst for personal growth and behavior modification. It helps clients recognize contradictions between their current behaviors and their desired self-concept, creating motivation for change. 

Therapeutic examples:  

• MI – call out contradictions in thought/actions with desired goals of indivdual  

• CBT – identity and restructure maladaptive thought/feeling/behavior processes  

• Exposure – confront fear/uncomfortability to reduce avoidance  

Know about positive reinforcement, negative reinforcement, negative punishment, positive punishment, setting events, motivating operations (including establishing operations and abolishing operations). Use examples (multiple) that don’t involve food or appetite satiety. 
Be able to identify a biological basis of behavior and explain its relevance to therapy, trauma, behavior management, etc. Take a look at Siegel’s hand model. 

Positive reinforcement – add to increase behavior (dessert when finish vegetables) 

Negative reinforcement – remove to increase behavior (remove phone during homework time to increase behavior of attending to homework) 

Establishing operations – increases effectiveness of reinforcer / increases behavior  

• Attention deprivation → increases the value of social interaction. A child who hasn’t received attention in a while is more likely to engage in behaviors that gain attention (e.g., asking questions, acting out). 

Abolishing operations – decreases effectiveness of reinforcer, decreases likelihood of behavior  

• Satiation decreases food reinforcer  

Understand how systemic racism influences the socialization, learning, and mental health of young people. Be able to provide examples. 

By embedding racial disparities within institutional structures and cultural narratives.  

Socialization - marginalized youth navigate both the internalization of racial identity and external perceptions shaped by stereotype threat, can lead to performance anxiety and diminished self-efficacy.  

Educational contexts: systemic inequities through funding disparities, biased disciplinary practices, and curricular omissions that marginalize non-dominant perspectives, reinforcing cycles of academic disengagement and opportunity gaps. 

• The school-to-prison pipeline - racially minoritized students face disproportionate punitive measures, fostering alienation and increased risk for long-term socioeconomic disadvantage.  

Systemic racism contributes to racial trauma - adversely impacts psychological well-being, leading to heightened risks of anxiety, depression, and PTSD symptoms.  

Structural barriers—including stigma, lack of culturally competent care, and socioeconomic constraints—often preclude access to appropriate therapeutic interventions.  

Addressing the psychological consequences of systemic racism necessitates a multi-level approach, integrating policy reform, culturally responsive education, and accessible mental health services to mitigate racial disparities and promote resilience among affected youth.

Describe examples of how psychology has been wildly off-the-mark in the past, and how science, advocacy or social justice efforts have corrected course. (this flashcard has been censored for Knowt guidelines)

• Early intelligence testing was heavily influenced by e*genic ideologies, with researchers misusing psychometric data to justify racial hierarchies and discriminatory policies such as forced steril*zation and segregation. This approach not only undermined the scientific validity of intelligence as a construct but also perpetuated systemic racism.  

• Classification of homos*xuality as a mental disorder in diagnostic manuals like the DSM exemplified how prevailing moral and cultural prejudices could pathologize natural variations in human s*xuality, leading to significant stigma and harm. Advocacy by LGBTQ+ communities and progressive scholars, alongside emerging empirical evidence, eventually prompted the removal of homos*xuality from these manuals, marking a pivotal shift toward more inclusive and scientifically robust frameworks.  

• Early psychoanalytic theories often embedded gender biases, portraying women as inherently irrational or hysterical—a narrative that was later deconstructed through feminist critique and culturally sensitive research methodologies.  

• These corrections, driven by a confluence of rigorous scientific inquiry, social justice efforts, and advocacy for marginalized communities, underscore the dynamic nature of psychology as a discipline that must continually reexamine its assumptions and methodologies considering ethical imperatives and evolving empirical evidence. 

Understand the replication crisis, and what it means for the trustworthiness of psychological science as it currently stands, and how we, as a field, might make progress. 

• Replication bias  

• Publication bias in research refers to the systemic tendency for journals to favor studies reporting statistically significant or positive results over those with null or negative outcomes. This skew in the published literature not only distorts the empirical record by overemphasizing certain findings but also inflates effect sizes in meta-analyses, thereby misguiding subsequent research and clinical practices. For instance, in clinical psychology, studies demonstrating significant improvements from specific therapeutic interventions are disproportionately represented compared to those yielding non-significant results, which can lead to an overestimation of treatment efficacy. Such bias undermines the cumulative nature of scientific inquiry by concealing the full spectrum of evidence necessary for accurate theory development and evidence-based practice. In response, the scientific community has increasingly embraced strategies to counteract publication bias, including mandatory pre-registration of research protocols, the adoption of registered reports that commit journals to publishing studies based on methodological rigor rather than outcome, and the establishment of open-access repositories that facilitate the dissemination of all research findings regardless of significance. These reforms are essential for enhancing transparency, reproducibility, and the overall integrity of scientific research. 

Be able to describe how racism has impacted access to psychological services, and have specific examples of systems that perpetuate inequalities in health and education. 

• by perpetuating structural barriers and inequities across health and education systems. Historically, discriminatory practices such as residential s*gregation and underinvestment in predominantly minority neighborhoods have resulted in fewer mental health resources and culturally competent providers in these communities. 

• compounded by a lack of culturally sensitive/competent practitioners. This disparity is further exacerbated by systemic issues within the healthcare insurance system, where racial minorities are disproportionately uninsured or underinsured due to economic inequities and employment disparities, thus limiting their access to psychological care. 

• Urban school districts, which predominantly serve students of color, frequently receive less funding than suburban districts, resulting in fewer on-site mental health professionals and counselors. These schools are also more likely to employ punitive disciplinary measures—a component of the school-to-prison pipeline—that can contribute to chronic stress, anxiety, and other mental health challenges among students. Such educational inequities not only diminish access to preventive psychological support but also perpetuate cycles of disadvantage that extend into adulthood. 

Neuro and Biological Bases  

Biological basis - thoughts, emotions, and behaviors are deeply rooted in the structure and function of the nervous system, as well as in genetic and biochemical processes; biological substrates contribute to cognition and behavior but also reinforces the necessity of a biopsychosocial model, which acknowledges that while biological factors are foundational, interact with psychosocial processes 

Siegel’s Hand Model of the Brain

APA Ethical Principles

Beneficence and Nonmaleficence- strive to benefit those you work with; do no harm 

-        Respect for peoples’ rights and dignity 

-        Integrity- honesty, truthfulness 

-        Fidelity and Responsibility; Standards of conduct, responsibility, manage conflict 

-        Justice- fairness and justice 

What are ethics issues for school psychs not included in the APA ethics code?

The existing APA Ethics Code did not address issues that were critical to professional school psychologists. These issues included balancing the interests of children with the rights of parents, including students in educational and mental health decision-making processes, defining boundaries of confidentiality within a school setting, and ensuring fair and valid assessments of students from diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds.  

what is an ethical dilemma?

An ethical dilemma is when two ethical principles or responsibilities conflict with each other  

• E.g., a student you are working with may have a disability (i.e., test scores reflect impairment), but the tests used to evaluate this student were not normed based on this student’s native language background  '

• Your responsibility to legally protect the student by granting him/her eligibility conflicts with your responsibility to not illegally give diagnoses  

• E.g., you may not feel confident in providing a service but you may be the only person who can help a child  

• You must seek peer consultation & get informed consent with parent 

What is an ethical problem?

• An ethical problem is a complete breach of an ethical principle – you just don’t do it! 

• E.g., sleeping with a student  

LIMITS OF CONFIDENTIALITY 

• If you’re harming yourself or harming others 

• If you’re being harmed by others (e.g., domestic violence, abuse, neglect)  

• If clinician is subpoenaed (i.e., court mandated reporting) 

ELEMENTS OF INFORMED CONSENT FOR RESEARCH STUDY 

• Purpose of the Research Project 

• Expected Duration & Procedures 

• Right to Decline to Participate/Withdraw 

• Risks & Benefits 

• Limits of Confidentiality  

• Incentives  

• Contact Information  

What is a p-value?

The probability of obtaining the observed results, assuming that the null hypothesis is true 

• The lower the p-value, the greater the statistical significance of the observed differences  

What a p-value IS… 

• Assumption of a probability that our null hypothesis is true 

• Probability of finding these results if a null hypothesis is true in a repeated sample  

• Probability that we are going to observe these results as or more extreme (e.g., mean difference of 0) if our null hypothesis is false  

What is a p-value NOT

• Size of an effect 

• Could look at the effect size, confidence interval, group size, magnitude of the group differences, or the spread of data instead… 

What implications do these assumptions about a p-value have for most of the applied psychological research (research methods)  

• most research is looking for a low p value in order to make suggestions about significant effects and findings, but significant p values don’t necessarily mean a causal relationship.  

• There are many research findings that are not published because of non significant p values but that does not mean that there are not implications for findings. Some p values can show the influence of interventions trending in the direction we would like to see 

Validity: am I measuring what I want to measure?  Questions

• Construct: does it measure the construct we are interested in (language) 

• Content: does it represent all aspects of the construct? (expressive and receptive) 

• Face: does it represent what it appears to measure? (does it look like a lang as?)

• Criterion: how to do results compare to a similar measure? (compare 2 lang) 

• Convergent: are two constructs that are supposed to be related, related? 

• Divergent: do constructs that should have no relationship, actually have none? 

• Internal: is it measuring what its supposed to with no confounding var? 

• External: can results be generalized? 

Reliability: can the results be reproduced under the same conditions 

Internal consistency: are items correlated? Measure same thing? 

Test re-test: are results consistent when you repeat? 

• ADOS outcome consistency 

• For progress monitoring – we want low test-retest because we want to be sensitive to change 

Interrater: different people agree with each other? 

• Reliability process in labs! 

Normal distribution: probability distribution under a bell curve 

• Majority of the data lies around the average (middle of the bell curve) and there are outliers that are in the tails 

• Can reveal differences that may be due to more than chance 

• Atypical vs. Typical 

TYPES OF ERRORS in research

Type I Error: Concluding the results are statistically significant when in face they are due to chance 

• False Positive 

Type II Error: Concluding are not statistically significant when in fact they actually are  

• False Negative 

Normal Distribution

A continuous probability distribution that follows a bell curve 

• Most of the observations cluster around the central peak 

• Observations further from the mean taper off equally in each direction 

We follow a normal distribution for IQ tests 

• Mean of 100 & SD of 15 

• 68% of children are between 85 & 115 

STANDARD DEVIATION  

Measures the amount of variability from the individual data values to the mean  

• For sample! 

• Statistic 

STANDARD ERROR 

• Measures how far the sample mean of the data is likely to be from the true population mean 

• For population! 

• Parameter 

CONFIDENCE INTERVAL 

A range of values that’s likely to include a population value with a certain degree of confidence expressed as % whereby a population mean lies between an upper & lower interval 

• Gives you the range that a value would be in 

• Used to justify a score for assessment purposes…gives us how true a score would actually be   

DEGREES OF FREEDOM 

• The number of scores in a frequency distribution that are free to vary  

• Typically, N-1 

POWER 

• Power is the probability that a test of significance will pick up on an effect that is present  

• Sample Size! 

• You can do a power analysis ahead of time…will tell you how many participants you need 

• If you know you will have few participants, will need to think of other ways to reduce error  

RESEARCH DESIGNS

Cross-Sectional: conducted at one time point with participants 

• Pros: inexpensive & quicker 

• Cons: cannot make causal inferences 

Longitudinal: follows the same participants over time 

• Pros: establishes temporal relationships 

• Cons: expensive, lengthy, more difficult, attrition 

Randomized Controlled Trial: an intervention & a control group 

• Pros: establishes causal inferences 

• Cons: ethical issues (e.g., withholding treatment) 

WITHIN VS BETWEEN SUBJECTS

Within Subjects: comparing subjects with themselves, following subjects across time 

• Pros: need fewer subjects, greater comparison across conditions, decreases error because subject is own comparison point, greater power 

• Cons: limits internal validity because of carry-over effects (e.g., are results happening b/c of time/maturation?) 

Between Subjects: comparing different groups of individuals with each other (e.g., men vs women)  

• Pros: independence, able to randomly assign participants 

• Cons: reduced power due to random variability in the error term leading to greater error variances 

TYPES OF VARIABLES 

• Independent Variable: variable that you manipulate or variable that you predict with   

• Dependent Variable: variable that you are measuring/wanting to change/ monitoring 

• Control Variable: variable that is important and may affect the DV so you statistically control for it.  

REPLICATION CRISIS 

The replication crisis is a current crisis in psychology that the results of research studies can’t be replicated 

• May occur because most of our research focuses on Western, Educated, Industrial, Rich, and Democratic (WEIRD) populations; therefore, results don’t hold in a diverse population  

To be more credible, we need to check publication bias… 

Replication is important because there are numerous extraneous variables that can result in bias; replication helps verify the presences of a behavior at one point in time is not due to chance or sampling bias  

Typically only significant studies are published but non significant findings are just as important

GIVEN A RESEARCH QUESTION ABOUT COMPARING THE EFFECTIVENESS OF AN INTERVENTION IN TWO DIFFERENT POPULATIONS, DESIGN A RESEARCH STUDY. HOW WOULD YOU ASSESS SIGNIFICANCE? 

You would run a pre-post hoc analysis & evaluate if there is an interaction between treatment group & population type… 

SPECIFICITY & SENSITIVITY 

• Specificity: Can the test accurately tell us if a person does not have COVID? How good is it at not having false positives? (True Negative) 

• Sensitivity: Can the test accurately tell us if a person does have COVID? (True Positive)  

• The ability of a test to correctly identify patients with a disease 

What is consultation?

Consultation is an indirect service…helping others help people  

Consultation is defined by three specific domains of influence… 

• Interpersonal Competencies (“soft skills”) 

• Technical Expertise/Conceptual Mastery 

• Process & Procedures (know the three types of this)

3 types of Consultation Process & Procedures

Conjoint Consultation 

• Consultation between two partners who share equal footing in the care of a third party  

• Client-Focused  

• E.g., parent & teacher in the care of a child  

Check-Up Style 

• A consultant consults with an individual person who is responsible for the care of many people  

• Consultee-Focused  

Organizational Consultation  

• A consultant consults with organizations 

• Organization-Focused 

• Largely guided by research in empowerment evaluation… 

COMPETENCY 

Competence refers to an individual’s capability & demonstrated ability to understand & do certain tasks in an appropriate & effective manner consistent with the expectations for a person qualified by education or training in a particular profession or specialty 

CAPABILITY: a demonstration of understanding  

• E.g., orals, thesis defense, comprehensive exams 

DEMONSTRATED ABILTY: independent & observed performance of some task  

• E.g., practicum, internship, etc.  

• Heuristic for Understanding Competency… Knowledge, Skills, Attitudes & Values

HEALTH SERVICE PSYCHOLOGY 

Health service psychology is the integration of psychological science & practice in order to facilitate human development & functioning  

• It reflects a transition from psychology’s focus on mental health to a more general health profession in which mental health is an important subset 

• It adopts a biopsychosocial focus by focusing on biological, psychological, social, & cultural aspects of behavior  

Health service psychology activities include assessment, intervention, & liaison  

Psychologists who provide health care services engage in evidence-based practice that is patient-centered, culturally competent, effective, and informed by population-based data  

COMPETENCIES in Health Service Psychology Consultation  

• Science 

• Professionalism  

• Relational  

• Psychological Applications 

• Educating 

• Supervision  

• Systems 

CONJOINT BEHAVIORAL CONSULTATION 

Is problem-focused & strengths-based 

• Emphasizes mutual & coordinated responsibility  

• Communication is frequent, positive, & bi-directional 

• Plans are co-constructed   

The primary purposes of CBC are to… 

• Improve students’ positive adaptive behavior & social skills  

• Improve teacher-parent relationships & collaboration 

• Key mediator!  

Structure of CBC:

• Problem Identification

• Problem Analysis (What causes the problem)

• Plan Implementation

• Plan Evaluation

PROMOTING ENVIRONMENTS VS. INHIBIITNG ENVIRONMENTS  

Promoting environments result from compatibility between the values, goals, and expectations of the consultants & those of the consultees 

Inhibiting environments result from incongruence between institutional ideologies & cultural or familial values… 

HOWEVER, if consultants support both the consultee & client outcomes, and if strategies are co-constructed to achieve a mutual understanding & common ground, inhibiting environments can be turned into promoting environments… 

Problem Identification - CBC

• Define the needs & problems that need to be addressed at home & in the school  

• Determine the discrepancy between the current situation & the desired outcome by specifying expectations & evaluating current performance  

Plan Implementation - CBC

Several factors influence the effectiveness of implementation, including… 

• Recipient Readiness 

• Program Quality  

• Buy In  

• Priority of Implementer  

• Ownership of Implementer 

• Training/Technical Assistance  

• Program Monitoring

Plan evaluation - CBC

Reflect on how the plan went & adjust the plan appropriately 

WHY IS MOTIVATIONAL INTERVIEWING IMPORTANT FOR CONSULTANTS?  

• Helping people change is difficult! 

• When we see problems, we have a reflexive tendency to provide solutions… The “RIGHTING REFLEX”  

• Motivational interviewing is a collaborative conversation style for strengthening a person’s own motivation & commitment to change 

What is the righting reflex?

Attempting to “correct” a problem for someone  

• The common denominator of the righting reflex is that the motivation is yours, not the client’s  

The unhelpful helpers toolkit… 

• Advice Giving 

• Warnings 

• Expert Opinion  

• War Stories 

• Persuasion 

What’s the problem with righting when things are wrong?  

• People will be resistant to change… 

• The greater ambivalence, the more likely people are to cling to reasons against change when helpers use the righting reflex 

What are types of righting reflexes?

• Ordering, Directing, or Commanding  

• Warning, Cautioning, or Threatening  

• Making Suggestions or Providing Solutions 

• Persuading with Logic, Arguing, or Lecturing  

• Moralizing or “Shouldering”  

• Shaming, Vicarious Ridiculing, or Labeling 

• Distracting, Humoring, or Changing the Subject 

How is motivational interviewing a collaborative conversation for strengthening a person’s motivation and commitment to change?

• Clients are often ambivalent to change…they are resistant! 

• MI draws out a client’s own reasons for change…which helps reduce ambivalence  

• IS NOT a way of tricking people to change!  

what are two components of MI?

RELATIONAL COMPONENT  

• Sets the stage for conversations about ambivalence… 

• Utilizes empathy, acceptance, compassion, & curiosity 

• When you engage relationally, people will use more change talk & less sustain talk… 

• Change Talk: statements favoring change 

• Sustain Talk: statements favoring no change 

• Use OARS! - open-ended questions, affirmations, reflective listening, summarizing  

TECHNICAL COMPONENT 

• Utilizes differential reinforcement & evocation of change talk  

 

PROCESS OF MOTIVATIONAL INTERVIEWING 

Engaging, Focusing, Evoking, Planning

Engaging - MI

• Creating a connection

• OARS (open-ended questions, affirmations, reflections, summarize)

open-ended questions - OARS - MI

Gateway for Self-Reflection 

• Open-ended questions help others consider their values, goals, aspirations, & needs 

• Close-ended questions often feel like traps, part of an interrogation, or being sold a bill of goods 

• Close-ended questions imply superiority & disinterest

affirmations - OARS - MI

Communicating Respect & Worth  

• Used to accentuate the positive & to support, encourage, & recognize inherent worth  

• Simple compliments 

• Statements of appreciation & understanding  

• Builds rapport & reinforces open explanation 

• BUILDS SELF-EFFICACY 

reflections - OARS - MI

Show You Know, Don’t Tell 

• Reflections are a verbal behavior that shows understanding  

• Making a guess at what a person means  

• In MI, typically have 2-3 reflections for every question… 

• Too much questioning resembles interviewing   

summarize - OARS - MI

Collecting Summary  

• Recalls a series of interrelated items as they accumulate 

• Useful to end with a “what else?” question  

Linking Summary 

• Tying information said to past information 

• Consistencies… 

Transitional Summary 

• Used to wrap-up topic & move to the next phase  

• Useful to end with, “did I miss anything?” 

Focusing - MI

Developing a specific path  

Understanding agendas 

• An agenda is more than just a list of change goals  

• A consultee’s agenda may include hopes, fears, expectations, & fears 

Without focus, even long discussions of change can be unproductive…  

Evoking - MI

eliciting change talk

Getting the client to vocalize their own reasons for changing & how they would do it

Encouraging change talk - Common dimensions of change talk (DARN)

Pick up on CATS with DARNS! 

DARNS - Evoking - MI

Desire (want, prefer, wish) 

Ability (able, can, could, possible) 

• Self-efficacy!  

• Their ability to independently do the things that you’re trying to motivate them to do is the most important thing… 

Reasons (specific arguments for change – why do it?) 

Need (important, have to, need to, matter, got to) 

CAT - Evoking - MI

• Commitment-Focused Speech: “I promise I’ll…” 

• Actuation:  “I will try this next week…” 

• Taking Steps: “This week, I…”  

Planning - MI

developing & working on a plan  

The consultee has identified a need for change, why change is pertinent to them , a goal to work towards, & now they can work on a plan to get there! 

We need to think about self-efficacy/confidence!  

• Have you ever seen anyone use differential reinforcement before? 

• Have you ever tried this in this way?  

• What have people told you about your ability to do this?  

• How do you feel while doing this?

Self-Efficacy:

• A person’s belief in their ability to succeed in specific situations  

• A personal measure of one’s own ability to complete & reach goals  

SOURCES OF SELF-EFFICACY:  

• mastery experience

• vicarious experience

• verbal persuasion

• affective state

mastery experience - self-efficacy in consultation

Primary Goal! 

The most influential source… 

• If an individual is successfully able to use a skill, they reach mastery in the skill & are confident using the skill in the future 

• E.g., client feels competent using coping skills during panic attacks because they have successfully calmed themselves down once before in a session  

Strong mastery experience is built by overcoming obstacles through perseverant effort  

• Difficulties & setbacks are beneficial teaching experiences that promote the exercise of better control over the environment  

• Helps an individual practice adaptations! 

• Easy success undermines mastery experience!  

• May set people up to expect quick results & become easily discouraged by failure  

• Must appraise the sweet spot between “too easy” and “too hard”…

vicarious experience - self-efficacy in consultation

People appraise their capabilities in relation to the attainments of others 

• Modeled Attainment  

• Your appraisal as to how you’re doing relative to others  

• Social Learning  

Most effective if the client identifies with the person who is modeling attainment, & if the person modeling attainment demonstrates perseverance through obstacles 

• Observing attainment by someone who is similar to oneself increases efficacy beliefs 

• Normalizes challenges  

E.g., By watching another therapist implement exposure therapy, I am confident that I can do it myself!  

verbal persuasion - self-efficacy in consultation

Includes verbal statements or communications that insist that a person can adapt & persist to reach a goal…positive appraisal of a person’s ability & effort! 

• MI is a form of verbal persuasion 

• Self-efficacy beliefs can be sustained, despite obstacles & setbacks, by verbal persuasion  

Evaluative feedback can be given in a way that boosts, or undermines, self-efficacy

The weakest influence… 

• So, a small but still an important role!  

• Verbal persuasion may be the deciding factor for one to try a mastery experience or not  

How can evaluative feedback be given in a way that boosts, self-efficacy?

Positive & contingent appraisals of ability, and of effort, are used to increase efficacy  

• Does a person have the skills needed to accomplish a task?  

How can evaluative feedback be given in a way that undermines self-efficacy?

there are two pitfalls in performance feedback… 

Exclusive Attribution to Effort 

• Are my talents limited? Is the only way that I’m going to succeed if I put in excruciating amounts of effort?   

Disingenuous Ability Evaluations  

• If we make ability appraisals that are bogus, the client may not believe you… 

• Carol Dweck’s work on ability appraisals… 

• Children who are told they are smart rely more on intelligence & discount the importance of effort 

• When we view ability as something that can be developed through overcoming obstacles, “failure” is appraised differently 

WHAT IS  THE HISTORY OF SPECIAL EDUCATION & HOW DID MAJOR SPECIAL EDUCATION LAWS COME ABOUT?  

• Closely tied to the civil rights movement  

• Previously, there was a lack of access to education with students who had disabilities…it was common for a school to tell a student’s parents that they couldn’t meet the student’s needs  

• Prior to 1970, laws in many states permitted public schools to deny enrollment to children with disabilities… 

• U.S. schools educated only one out of 5 children with disabilities  

• In came the Education for All Handicapped Children Act (Public Law 94-142) in 1975 

Changed to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) in 1990

Education for All Handicapped Children Act (Public Law 94-142) in 1975 

• The EHA guaranteed a free, appropriate public education to each child with a disability  

• Provided protections for students with disabilities  

• Leveled the playing field  

The 1986 reauthorization of 94-142

The 1986 reauthorization addressed early intervention and mandated that individual states provide services to families of children born with disabilities from the time they are born.

Previously, these services were not available until a child reached the age of three.

the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) in 1990

The 1990 reauthorization changed the law’s name from EHA to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, or IDEA.  

• It also added traumatic brain injury and autism as new disability categories.  

• Additionally, Congress mandated that as a part of a student’s individualized education program (IEP), an individual transition plan (ITP) must be developed to help the student transition to post-secondary life. 

1997 reauthorization of IDEA

The 1997 reauthorization emphasized access to the general curriculum.

States were given the authority to expand the “developmental delay” definition to also include students up to age nine.

The law also required parents be provided an opportunity to attempt to resolve disputes with schools and local educational agencies (LEAs) through mediation and provided a process for doing so.

6 pillars/principles of IDEA

• zero reject

• non-discriminatory evaluation

• free & appropriate public education (FAPE)

• least restrictive environment (LRE)

• procedural due process

• parental & student participation

zero reject - IDEA

No matter the severity of the disability, it is illegal to exclude a student with a disability from receiving a free & appropriate education…schools must educate ALL students! 

• Equal Treatment  

• No Cessation (Cannot Expel a Student for 10+ Days) 

• Manifestation Determination Meetings 

• Weapons, drugs, & injuries are situations that do not require a manifestation determination meeting  

non-discriminatory evaluation - IDEA

To determine whether they have a disability, students are to be evaluated fairly using multi-factored methods of evaluation 

• Cannot discriminate on the basis of race, SES, culture, etc.  

free & appropriate public education

The school is required to provide specialized & tailored education to students with disabilities through services & supplementary aids 

• An IEP is developed and implemented based on unique educational needs, current performance, measurable annual goals, and services provided to attain the goals 

least restrictive environment - IDEA

To the maximum extent possible, students must be educated in their natural environment (i.e., general education classroom is the gold standard)  

• LRE is determined by DATA!!! 

• A switch of a child’s LRE can only be determined through evidence of inadequate progress in a classroom, given the use of all appropriate supports & services  

procedural due process - IDEA

Each party has the rights to an educational due process – when stakeholders disagree with the results of the evaluation, they can obtain an independent evaluation at public expense 

• Order of Evaluations… 

• Face-to-Face Resolution Session 

• Mediation (Non-Judicial) 

• Right to Due Process Hearing (Judicial; Attorneys Involved) 

parental & student participation - IDEA

Schools must collaborate with parents & students in  planning & implementing special education & related services 

• They must give consent to begin the evaluation, be included in decision-making around student’s goals, and have the right to educational records  

Access to records, consent, included in decision making

504 Plan

Provides for accommodations (e.g., child is in the general education classroom & participates in the same lessons, but they may have preferential seating-0A 504 plan improves access to the general education environment 

• E.g., extended time, talk to text, sitting near the front of the classroom, etc. 

Falls under the ADA 

• Broader than the 13 categories of the IDEA 

• Almost any disability could fall under a 504 plan! 

Needs impairment in 1+ major life activities, such as education 

IEP

Provides for modifications (e.g., specialized instruction) 

Falls under IDEA 

• Documented disability in 1 of the 13 categories 

Requires related services to level the playing field academically in addition to accommodations 

• Functional academic impairment is necessary 

Includes individualized goals, methods, & evaluations 

Note. If you deny a child an IEP, you can’t necessarily default them to a 504 plan  

13 Disability Categories under IDEA

• Autism Spectrum Disorder 

• Deaf/Hard of Hearing 

• Deaf-Blindness 

• Developmental Delay 

• Intellectual Disability 

• Emotional Disability 

• Other Health Impairment 

• Orthopedic Impairment 

• Specific Learning Disability 

• Speech Language Impairment 

• Traumatic Brain Injury 

• Visual Impairment 

• Multiple Disabilities 

 

IMPORTANCE OF MULTIDISCIPLINARY TEAM AS IT RELATES TO THE IEP & FAPE 

By using an analogy of a vehicle and a destination, a FAPE is the destination and an IEP is the vehicle used to arrive at that destination. Accordingly, the multidisciplinary team are the people who drive the vehicle; they collaborate and develop students’ individualized education plans.  

• A multidisciplinary team is a legal entitlement as a part of IDEIA  

• Each member brings expertise not held by other members of the team  

KEY STAKEHOLDERS IN MULTIDISCIPLINARY TEAMS 

Parents 

• May have varying perspectives  

• Somewhat of a wild card… 

• Some may see their child as a unique individual with strengths & not deficits 

• May have the “ADHD Advantage” (Dale Archer) 

• Do disabilities exist? Or are they only differences?  

Special Educator 

Regular Educator  

Representative of the School System 

• Advocates on behalf of all students 

Interpreter of Evaluation Results (most often, a school psychologist) 

Other Individuals Who Have Knowledge About Student 

• Applied Behavior Analyst  

• Behavioral approach!  

• Occupational Therapist  

• Speech/Language Therapist  

Maybe the Student! 

POSITIVE BEHAVIOR INTERVENTIONS & SUPPORTS (PBIS) 

An evidence-based, three tier framework for improving & integrating all of the data systems & practices affecting student outcomes everyday  

HOW DO SCHOOLS & HEALTH SYSTEMS PERPETUTATE RACISM?  

• Legislation…Zero Tolerance 

• Minority students, particularly Black & Latinx boys, are much more likely to be disciplined for minor behavioral infractions, often resulting in suspension or expulsion from school.  

• Schools are much more likely to escalate disciplinary issues to the juvenile justice system for these students, as well…putting them in contact with the criminal justice system at an early age 

• Black students are suspected 3x more than White students  

• When students are suspended or expelled, they are not in the classroom learning. Thus, these students are at a higher risk for doing poorly in school, contributing to a higher dropout rates…subsequently impacting job prospects during adulthood  

• The scientific evidence is mostly normed on white populations, so it affects the impact of the help we are providing to minoritized groups… 

• Even if a sample is nationally representative, the underrepresented groups, the average effect size will not tell you how it’s benefitted 

• For whom is the evidence based on??? 

• We have no clue if an intervention is helpful or harmful for other populations… 

• Evidence-based interventions may be seen as a “claim of superiority” 

• Devalues indigenous helping community practices… 

• The field is still trying to diversify and as a result likely underserves minority populations as well as a lack of representation of diverse therapists,  perpetuated by things like higher ed being a white institution 

Describe examples of how psychology has been wildly off-the-mark in the past, and how science, advocacy or social justice efforts have corrected course.

Core parts: homosexuality classified as a mental disorder in the DSM-5, Eugenics Movement, Institutionalizing inhumane conditions. There are flash cards fleshing out each of these.

How has psychology been wildly off-the mark in the past when it comes to homosexuality? how has science, advocacy, or social justice efforts corrected course?

Homosexuality classified as a mental disorder in DSM-5

American legal system criminalized homosexual behavior; federal and state governments had not yet codified protections for queer and trans people seeking employment and housing; and an insistence on heteronormative gender roles stigmatized anyone who deviated from their role as a “woman” or a “man.”

Corrected by

Research showing that homosexuality is a normal human variation

LBGTQ+ advocates for change

Mental health professionals challenged the classification

Removed from DSM in 1973

How has psychology been wildly off-the mark in the past when it comes to eugenics? how has science, advocacy, or social justice efforts corrected course?

Lewis Terman and Henry Goddard used IQ tests to claim that people of color, immigrants, the poor, and people with disabilities were intellectually inferior

Efforts were used to force sterilization of minoritized groups

Corrected by

Cultural and linguistic biases exposed in IQ tests

Social justice advocates for racist assumptions

Laws banning forced sterilization and discriminatory practices followed

How has psychology been wildly off-the mark in the past when it comes to Institutionalizing inhumane conditions? how has science, advocacy, or social justice efforts corrected course?

Often people with mental illness or developmental disabilities with no treatment

Corrected by

Institutions exposed for abuse

deinstitutionalization movement in the 1960s–80s, supported by both science and civil rights activism, promoted community-based mental health care

Laws passed to protect patients' rights

504

Provides accommodations for students in the general education setting

Example: extended time, seating arrangements, talk to text

Falls under ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act)

Broader than 13 IDEA categories

Needs impairment in +1 major life activities

IEP

Provides modifications for learning

Individuals' education plan determined by 1 of the 13 disability categories under IDEA

Functional academic impairment is necessary to qualify

Includes individual goals, methods, evaluations

If you deny a child an IEP, you can’t necessarily default them to a 504 plan

Instructional Hierarchy

Acquisition, Fluency, Generalization, and Adaptation

Instructional Hierarchy: Acquisition

basic accuracy, can the student produce the behavior given the stimulus we provide

Student has begun to learn the target skill, but is not yet accurate or fluent in a skill

Goal is exclusively focused on accuracy before transition to the fluency

Instructional Hierarchy: fluency

completes target skill accurately but works slowly = not fluent

Goal of to increase students’ speed of responding = fluency

Can identify with a rate

Instructional Hierarchy: Generalization

student can accurately and fluently use the target skill but does use it is different situation or setting

OR student may confuse target skills with a ‘similar’ skill

Goal of this phase is to get the student to the skill in the widest possible range of settings and situations, or to accurately discriminate between the target skill and ‘similar’ skill

Ex: counting with different objects

Same skill, different settings

Instructional Hierarchy: Adaptation

student is accurate, fluent, and generalized with a target skill but cannot yet modify or adapt the skill to fit new tasks or situations

Able to deconstruct the skill and use elements of the skill for new situations

Goal to identify elements of previously learned skills to adapt to new demands

Be able to explain what LD is and how RTI/MTSS interventions work in schools

• RTI: evaluation of the impact of the environment students’ prior learning disability an how the environment might be manipulated to address the individua needs of the students 

  • Trying to control the environment to improve performance instead of waiting for students performance to change  

  • RTI is not a cure all for every student with learning disabilities, but is a better than IQ discrepancy

  • Decisions around what assessments, what interventions, and data interpretation

    • Can produce concerns with knowledge and fidelity 

• Three components:  

  • Universal screening - early identification  

  • Tiered Instructions – increasing intervention intensity (smaller groups, instructional time, opportunities to respond) 

    • Tier 1: all students monitored via universal screening to monitor the quality of normal instruction for all students  

      • Can't qualify student based on poor instruction 

      • Valuable data for evaluating RTI/MTSS 

    • Tier 2: small/large group supplemental instruction 

      • When Tier 1 is not working  

      • Goal: increase intensity of intervention, assist the child in adapting to the general education classroom 

    • Tier 3: intense individual intervention  

      • Comparing individual students to growth of his/her class/grade/district/norms 

      • Students identified for disabilities typically  

  • Progress monitoring – different levels of frequency and intensity can be observed and used to make decisions about these frequencies and intensities  

    • Decision based on behavior, and not a construct