International Journal of Psychology
Volume:4 Issue: 2, Summer-Fall 2010

The aim of this research was to study the relationship between parenting styles and mental disorder of teenage girls. The statistical population of this research included the whole third-grade high-school teenager girls in Tehran, with mean age of 16.4 years, and that of their mothers of 40.2 years. Using multi-phase random sampling, 132 students and their mothers were chosen from 4 schools in 4 areas in Tehran as the sample. The scales used consisted of General Health Questionnaire (GHQ) and Baumrind parenting style questionnaire which were filled out by the girls and their mothers. The correlational design was used in this research. The results showed that there are significant positive correlations (p<0.05) between authoritarian style with the mental disorder in general and its components among teenage girls (somatic symptoms, anxiety, social dysfunctions and depression). The results also showed that there are significant negative correlations (p<0.05) between authoritative style with mental disorder and its components. However, no significant correlation was found between permissive method and mental disorder. Since some parents do not realize the fact that their style of parenting might have a detrimental effect on their child’s mental disorder, opportunities must be created to raise their awareness through training programs.

In this study it was aimed to investigate the outcomes of student's reflection on their learning in the context of an out-of-class learning project via diary writing skill. To this end, 42 freshmen following a compulsory General English Language course at Imam Khomeini Maritime University of Noshahr participated in the study. As part of this project, participants were encouraged to fill in "record-of-work" forms, including a space for reflection on learning activities, to be ultimately submitted in a portfolio. They were allowed to write diaries in their own time, reviewing previous works before making new ones. Their comments on diaries were also collected. Next, they were asked to take part in a semi-structured interview. The data were then combined together. In analyzing the data, an approach was used based on "grounded theory" in which it was aimed to generate theory through the systematic review and categorization of data and then categorization and their relationships were elaborated in the process of interpretation. The results maintained that reflection activities could keep the totality of language and involve students both cognitively and emotionally. The activities introduced present Iranian EFL teachers a chance to provide learners with immediate feedback and lead them towards reflective practice and autonomous learning in educational settings.

This research is executed to find a valid instrument for diagnosis of visual perception deficiencies. Test of visual perception is composed of 7 subskills as follows: visual-motor integration, figure ground, visual discrimination, form constancy, visualization, spatial relations, and visual sequential memory. The research covered 1600 elementary school and pre school students: 800 boys: 400 preschool students and 400 first grade elementary school students. 800 girls: 400 preschool students and 400 first grade elementary school students. The selection of the sample followed a multistage sampling method. A developmental test of visual perception and the Goodenough test were administered individually. Goodenough test was used to determine the value of criterion validity. Descriptive statistics, Cronbach's alpha, Pearson correlation coefficient, and t–test were used to analyze the data. The results showed: 1-Norm Tables for the total scores were demonstrated and listed for gender and academic grade, separately. 2-The reliability coefficients of test were found to be. 74. 3-The correlation coefficient between the created test and the criterion test for the total score and all subtests were significant. 4- The difference between the developmental visual perception in boys and girls was significant. 5- The difference between developmental visual perception in preschool and first grade elementary school students was significant.

This study investigated the relationship between Emotional Intelligence (EI) and teacher burnout among Iranian high school teachers. The role of teaching experience was also taken into consideration. To this end, 125 participants were selected through convenience sampling. The participants were given a set of questionnaires including Demographics, Farsi Maslach Burnout Inventory-Educators Survey, and Farsi 41-Revised Emotional Intelligence Scale. Data were analyzed using such statistical techniques as Pearson product moment correlation coefficient, multiple regression, and MANOVA. The results of the study revealed that there was a significant relationship between EI and burnout among high school teachers. The results of the multiple regressions also indicated that EI could predict a significant amount of variability in burnout components. As far as experience is concerned, there was a significant difference between moderately and highly experienced teachers in their emotional intelligence. The pedagogical implications of the study such as the preventive role of EI, further validation of this construct, and the creation of preventive strategies as regards for burnout are also discussed.

Meta-cognition refers to the process of active control over one's own cognition and is essential to successful learning. It enables individuals to better manage their cognitive skills and to determine weaknesses that can be corrected by constructing new cognitive skills. Anyone who could perform a skill could think about how to perform that skill (meta-cognition). In this paper, we try to examine the relationship among meta-memory, meta-cognitive vocabulary and the role of theory of mind in Persian young children.The research sample consisted of 51 children (age range 4 to 6 years old). Children were tested at four sessions, separated by a testing interval of approximately half a year. At the first session of testing, children completed a set of theory of mind tasks. At each of the following sessions, measures of meta-cognitive vocabulary and general vocabulary as well as meta-memory were administered. Data were analyzed using ANOVA & regression analysis. Findings showed that theory of mind performance of the 4 to 6 years old children could predict meta-cognitive knowledge that was assessed about one and a half years later. Another finding was that there was reciprocal relationship between meta-cognitive vocabulary and meta-memory in that comprehension of meta-cognitive vocabulary predicted later meta-memory and, conversely, meta-memory significantly predicted later comprehension of meta-cognitive verbs. Meta-cognitive vocabulary of their own thinking processes is very important if learners are to be able to manage, organize and develop their abilities to think and learn.

This study focused on whether instructional interventions arouse interest and enhance the competence perception of motor performance. In addition, to see whether performance is affected by individual volitional abilities of self-regulation, self-control, volitional development, self-access and life stress. Based on the Personality Systems Interaction (PSI) theory of Julius Kuhl (2001) a quasi-experimental study was used to compare the motor performance (to built a tower of ten beverage boxes and climb it up) of students from Berlin due to volitional abilities and different interventions. Seventy-six primary school students, between 9 to 11 years old, participated in this study. Volitional Component Inventory version 3 (VCI-3; Kuhl & Fuhrmann, 2004) was used to measure volitional abilities. Two different interventions (Autonomy Support vs. External Control) were used. The results of these studies suggest that intervention conditions contribute to motor performance. The results show that Autonomy Support greatly influences the performance of students with low volitional ability. It must be pointed out that the students with different volitional competences profit from different interventions in performance.

The aim of the present study was to explore employee's job stressors and investigating the relationships of these stressors with job satisfaction and mental health in an Iranian industrial company. Participants were 300 employees of a public organization who were selected randomly and were surveyed using interview and questionnaire. Three questionnaires were used to collect data. Mental health was assessed using the Symptom Checklist (SCL-25) (Derogatis et al., 1974), job satisfaction by five-item version of Job Satisfaction Questionnaire (Brayfield and Rothe, 1951) and Job Stressors Scale developed by authors. Items about job stressors were generated using interview with 30 employees. Then these items in the form of a questionnaire were answered by 270 employees. Principal components analysis using varimax rotation and eigenvalues over 3 on 124 items about job stressors yielded a four-factor solution of improper management, unfair procedures and treatments, organizational constraints, and insufficient payments that jointly accounted for 41.8 percent of the total variance. Cronbach's alphas for total factors was 0.97 indicating good internal consistency. Pearson Correlation analyses revealed that these factors have positive correlation with employee's mental health and negative correlation with job satisfaction. Finally, results were discussed based on mental health and organizational theories.