DEVELOPMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY (JOURNAL OF IRANIAN PSYCHOLOGISTS)
Year:2009 | Volume:5 | Issue:19|Papers Count:10

The relationship between emotional intelligence training, Alexithymia, General Health, and academic achievement in high school students was investigated in this quasi-experimental study. To evaluate the nature of change in emotional intelligence based on acquired self-knowledge and actualization of emotional intelligence potential, 40 female high shool students were divided into experimental and witness group equally, and were adminstered the Self-report Measure of Emotional Intelligence (Schutte et al., 1998), Toronto Alexithymia Scale (Taylor & Bagby, 2000). General Health Questionnaire (Coldberg,  972), and Symptoms CheckList-25-Revised (Najarian & Davoodi, 2001) tests. The experimental group participated in 10 sessions of emotional intelligence training based on theoretical pattern of Salovey and Mayer (1990), over a five week period. The previous test were administered a second time at the end of training sessions. The results of ANOVA and MANCOVA showed that emotional intelligence training only increased social skills (a subscale of emotional intelligence) and decreased difficulty in describing feelings (a subscale of alexithymia).No difference was observed among experimental and witness groups in terms of academic achievement and general health.

The present research studied the effects of collaborative learning on critical thinking. An experimental and a witness group, each composed of 30 female mathematics students, were administered Critical Thinking Test (OCR, 2000). Next, the experimental group was taught a course using the method of collaborative learning. The witness group was taught the same course using the method of lecturing. The results of MANCOVA showed that the experimental group outperformed the witness group in three subs ales of critical thinking namely, critical analysis, credibility of evidence and critical evaluation. The way collaborative learning affects critical thinking skills is discussed.

The present study evaluated the effect of verbal selfinstruction training on decreasing symptoms of impulsivity in grade school children with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). 30 male students (age 10-11), diagnosed with ADHD using the Child Symptom Inventory (Gadow & Sprafkin, 1999) and clinical interviews based on DSM-IV-TR (2000) were selected and randomly assigned to an experimental (n=15) and a witness group (n=15). The experimental group received 8 sessions of verbal self-instruction training. The witness group received none. The results of MANCOVA showed a significant difference (P<0.01) between post-test scores of experimental and witness groups. Findings suggest that verbal self-instruction program intervention reduced symptoms of impulsivity in students with ADHD.

The efficacy of neurofeedback treatment on psychopathological symptoms in addicted male patients was assessed. Participants were 20 opiate dependent patients who was seeking medication treatment. After completing the Symptom ChekcList-90-Revised (Derogatis, 1975), participants were randomly assigned to an experimental or a witness group. The experimental group received 30 sessions of neurofeedback therapy and medication. The witness group received only medication. The results of MANCOVA showed a significant reduction in the experimental group of symptoms of hypochondria, obsession, interpersonal sensitivity, aggression, and psychosis. The neurofeddback treatment with medication more effecitvely relieved psychopathological symptoms in opiate dependent patients, than medication treatment alone.

The results of predicting employee absenteeism based an Ordinary Least Square (OLS) have been criticized. The present research compared the results from predicting absenteeism based on four varibales of job involvement, absenteeism compared to others, stress from life events, and number of children with the OLS and Tobit regression models. A sample of 197 male employees of factories in Esfahan city mean age: 28, SD : 10 responded to the Life Events Stress Inventory (Thoits, 1981), The Absenteeism Compared to Others Inventory (Baba, 1990), and the Job Involvement Inventory (Lodahl & Kejner, 1965). Tobit model analysis predicted employee absenteeism more precisely and explained a furhter 13% of the variance (R2 = 42.1) than did OLS.

Research on the relationship between marital satisfaction and cognitive distortions has overlooked the role of deterministic thinking. This study aimed to predict marital satisfaction through deterministic thinking. The Deterministic Thinking Questionnaire (Younesi & Mirafzal, 2007) and the short persian version of Marital Satisfaction Inventory (Asgari & Bahmani, 2006) were administered to 300 couples in Tehran who averaged 36 years of age and had been married for 11 years. Results showed a negative correlation between deterministic thinking and marital satisfaction. The four sub-scales of Deterministic Thinking Questionnaire (interaction with others, absolute thinking, prediction of future, and negative events) predicted 14% of the variance in marital satisfaction. Implications are discussed for couple therapy and premarital counseling.

This study compared Logo therapy and Gestalt therapy in alleviating symptoms of aggression, depression and anxiety. For this purpose 90 students who referred to the student counseling center at the Islamic Azad University of Mahabad were randomly assigned to two experimental and one control group (n=30). The experimental groups received techniques of Gestalt and Logo therapies for 12 one hour sessions per week. Using the Symptoms CheckList-25-Revised (Najarian & Davoodi, 2001) test and diagnostic interview based on DSMIV-TR (2000) aggressive, depressed, and anxious students were evaluated before students received any treatment, at the end of treatment, and six month after the treatment was ended. No significant difference was found between the pre-test means of three groups. Both Gestalt and Logo therapies reduced symptoms of aggression, and anxiety. The reduction of symptoms was still observable at the follow up stage. Logo therapy and Gestalt therapy were not significantly different in treating anxiety and aggression; however Logo therapy was more effective than Gestalt therapy in treating depression.