WPA 2012 Convention

2011 WPA Continuing Education Credit Program

A select number of presentations at the 2011 WPA convention have been approved for CE credits. These are available only to attendees registered for the convention. The presentations are:

SYMPOSIUM: Family Dynamics and Behavioral Adjustment in Adolescence and Early Adulthood: Cultural Considerations and Implications for Intervention
Thursday 11:00-12:30, 1.5 credits
Chair: Jessica M. Dennis, California State University, Los Angeles

The goal of this symposium is to examine the relationship between family dynamics and the behavioral adjustment of youth with an emphasis on cultural issues and the application of interventions. The first paper focuses on family protective factors for marijuana use among Latino adolescents. The second paper will discuss family intergenerational conflicts and academic adjustment among Latino college students. The third paper will present findings from a family-based intervention with adolescents aimed at reducing risky sexual behavior. The symposium will conclude with a discussion of how family interventions such as the one described in the third paper could be used to reduce other problem behaviors (e.g., academic problems, drug use, etc.) in young people. Particular attention will be given to the discussion of possible modifications that might maximize the effectiveness of such interventions with Latino families and adolescents.

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SYMPOSIUM: Predictors of and Pathways to Educational Success
Thursday 1:00-2:30, 1.5 credits
Chair: Allen W. Gottfried, California State University, Fullerton

What are the ingredients that enter into high school achievement and post-secondary educational success? What variables in high school predict subsequent educational advancement in early adulthood? What characteristics predict how well students perform in high school? What developmental pathways lead to positive educational outcomes? Is success in school a function of only cognitive variables? Do non-cognitive attributes play a role in educational accomplishments, and if so, to what degree? Do personal and parental factors enter into the predictive equation, and if so, how? The participants in this symposium address these important questions pertaining to educational outcomes. The research is based on the Fullerton Longitudinal Study, a contemporary investigation spanning 28-years, from infancy (age 1-year) through early adulthood (age 29-years).

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SYMPOSIUM: Threats to Family Wellness in Immigrant Communities: Hopes and Challenges
Thursday 3:00-4:30, 1.5 credits
Chair: Marcel Soriano, California State University, Los Angeles

This symposium will address several issues impacting the wellness of families in immigrant communities, including Asians, Latinos and diverse ethnic asylum seekers. It will highlight strengths and challenges, as well as appropriate strategies for culturally sensitive work with ethnic minority communities in American Society. The presentations will include Latino families with dual immigrant status and subject to deportation, Asian families whose children join gangs, political asylum seekers and trauma and finally, the utility of wellness treatment approaches when working with immigrant communities.

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SYMPOSIUM: Exploring the Positive Psychology of Development: Flourishing across the Lifespan
Friday 8:00-9:15,  1.0 credit
Chair: Jeanne Nakamura, Claremont Graduate University

In the rapidly growing science of wellbeing, we have only recently begun to see the emergence of a positive developmental psychology. Yet some of positive psychology’s most fundamental questions require us to adopt a lifespan developmental perspective: What constitutes a life well lived? How do talents, strengths, and values develop? When do life contexts such as the family, the classroom, the workplace, and the community promote human flourishing? How is a life of engagement and meaning constructed? If the field of positive psychology has yet to draw on the insights of developmental science, it is also the case that the field of developmental psychology has focused on normative growth processes and their derailment while giving less attention to the development of human flourishing. In addition, developmental psychologists have devoted most of their attention to the study of infancy and childhood, even though development continues across the decades of adolescence, adulthood, and old age. The purpose of this symposium is to raise some of the important questions that animate the study of positive development, and explore existing and emerging theory and research at the intersection of lifespan developmental science and positive psychology.

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PRESENTATION: Methamphetamine effects on Cognitive Flexibility: Implications for Abstinence and Relapse
Friday: 9:00-10:00, 1.0 credit
Presenter: Alicia Izquierdo, California State University, Los Angeles

Methamphetamine (mAMPH) is a low cost drug with long-lasting euphoric effects and is a highly addictive psychostimulant. Acute, binge doses of this drug are neurotoxic, yet relatively little is known about the nature of the cognitive impairments beyond the realm of attention and memory following mAMPH use. At a basic level and irrespective of many other plastic responses that occur in the brain after prolonged drug use, drug seeking behavior shares many characteristics with the compulsive, disinhibited behavior produced by damage to the frontal cortex. For example, despite the awareness of negative consequences for drug use (e.g. loss of job, loss of social support, etc.) there is an inability to stop use of the drug. Thus, flexible cognition is not only important for learning and memoryper se, but also for making adaptive choices that ultimately enhance the success of the organism. How different patterns of mAMPH use impact the brain and flexible cognition will be highlighted in this talk. A special emphasis will be placed on how understanding the impact of mAMPH on flexible cognitive processes could increase our ability to identify therapeutic targets to ameliorate the poor decision making arising from mAMPH abuse and help addicts remain abstinent.

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PRESENTATION: Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Shyness But Were Too Shy to Ask: From Shy to Becoming Successfully Shy
Friday, 1:00-2:00, 1.0 credit
Presenter: Bernardo J. Carducci, Indiana University Southeast

Professor Carducci’s presentation is not about turning shy individuals into extroverts.  The objective of this presentation is to provide a pragmatic and proactive guide for shy individuals to take control of their shyness, instead of their shyness controlling them.  The presentation will address the FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions) about the myths (e.g., Shyness is caused by low self-esteem.) and misinformation (e.g., Shyness is the same as introversion) and the underlying dynamics of shyness.  Strategies to help shy individuals deal directly with their shyness and become successfully shy in their personal and professional lives will also be presented, along with a question-and-answer period.    

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PRESENTATION: Intimate Partner Violence: A Global Mental Health Priority
Saturday 9:00-10:00, 1.0 credit
Presenter: Gaithri Fernando, California State University, Los Angeles

Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) is any physical, emotional, verbal, and/or psychological abuse by a current or former intimate partner or spouse. IPV is a pervasive and chronic threat to women’s health around the world and is the chief cause of injury and death for women aged 15-44 years in the U.S.A.. Victims of IPV commonly experience symptoms of depression, anxiety, and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and exposure to IPV in childhood is related to a host of negative social and mental health outcomes for youth. IPV is often transgenerational, and cuts across cultural and socioeconomic boundaries around the world, with a majority of countries reporting lifetime prevalence rates as high as 20%. IPV should therefore be a priority in the nascent global mental health (GMH) movement. Unfortunately the current GMH movement focuses on illness-oriented intrapsychic processes such as depression and schizophrenia, while psychosocial and interpersonal problems like IPV have yet to be identified as a global mental health priority. This presentation brings together some common findings about IPV from around the world, and provides compelling evidence for placing IPV among the priority list for the GMH movement. Risk factors and paths towards becoming a perpetrator or victim of IPV are identified, including cultural beliefs and practices that might lead to IPV being tolerated within a culture, and those that might be successfully utilized to reduce the incidence of IPV. Gaps in knowledge relating to assessment and intervention are discussed, and recommendations are made for initiatives and strategies that could help to ensure that IPV is included in the GMH agenda.

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PRESENTATION: What Clever Hans Can Teach Us about Miracle Autism Cures and the Importance of the Scientific Method
Saturday 12:15-1:15, 1.0 credit
Presenter: Henry D. Schlinger, Jr., California State University, Los Angeles

A little more than 100 years ago the German psychologist Oskar Pfungst carried out a classic set of experiments to determine whether a horse, Clever Hans, was actually able to solve mathematical problems as claimed by his owner and allegedly verified by numerous professionals, including some psychologists. What followed has become, according to Rosenthal (1965), a classic “case study of scientific method” that modern psychologists would do well to revisit. Subsequently, other psychologists used the experimental arrangement devised by Pfungst to debunk a range of claims of extraordinary feats by both humans and nonhumans. But the Clever Hans saga is unique in the degree to which Pfungst carried out controlled experiments to determine the exact variables responsible for Hans’ cleverness. In my talk, I describe the Clever Hans story and discuss its implications for recent claims of extraordinary achievements, such as the technique used with some autistic individuals called facilitated communication. I remind psychologists that they should reacquaint themselves with the scientific method championed more than 100 years ago by Pfungst.

Attendees will receive one certificate for the Western Psychological Association Convention with the total number of continuing education credit hours completed. You must sign in at the beginning of each session and sign out at the end.

You must register for the WPA convention continuing education sessions. The registration fees are:

1-4 credit hours:    $50
4.5+ credit hours  $100

The CE credits are awarded by Alliant International University. Please read the following carefully to make sure that the CE credits are applicable to your professional status:

Alliant International University (AIU) is approved by the American Psychological Association to sponsor continuing education for psychologists. AIU maintains responsibility for the program and its content. AIU is approved by the California Board of Behavioral Sciences to provide continuing education for MFTs and LCSWs (provider # PCE234). AIU is approved by the California Board of Registered Nursing to provide continuing education for Nurses (provider # CEP11235). AIU is approved by the National Board for Certified Counselors (NBCC) to provide continuing education for counselors (provider #4469).

Continuing Education Credit Hours Registration Form