Modifying the distribution of attention in infants

In three experiments, the distribution and malleability of infant visual attention were studied in 5-month-olds (N = 72) while they inspected large geometric designs. In Experiment 1, we established that infants maintained their distribution of attention from a pretest to a familiarization phase. We also replicated and extended our previous findings that infants who examined targets with briefer, more numerous looks and shifts-short lookers-had novelty scores above chance, whereas long lookers demonstrated chance responding. In Experiment 2, different portions of the display were successively illuminated with red light. This manipulation induced long lookers to scan like short lookers during familiarization; they then showed novelty scores well above chance. A third experiment ruled out the simple presence of a red light as the source of this effect. In sum, then, these results suggest that the distribution of attention is malleable, and that a broader distribution of attention, as reflected in briefer and more numerous looks and shifts, can improve processing.     

必须重视对婴幼儿与青少年的性教育

在人的成长过程中进行性教育是一个不容忽视的问题。而性教育的关键期是婴幼儿期和青少年期,抓住这两个人身心发展的重要阶段进行性教育,对促进青少年的健康成长具有十分重要的作用。     

Stimulus spacing, attention, and dimensional contrast

We examine some implications of an attentional model designed to explain dimensional contrast. Pigeons were trained to discriminate rectangular forms under conditions that produced positive dimensional contrast. In two experiments, the spacing of training stimuli was manipulated in ways that should have changed the allocation of attention. Experiment 1 compared the effect of an increased spacing between negative and positive stimuli with the effect of a decreased overall range of positive stimuli. Both manipulations increased the quality of discrimination performance. Experiment 2 demonstrated that dimensional contrast continued to occur under conditions that minimized the difficulty of the task. Results from these experiments were consistent with quantitative predictions of the attentional model concerning the interaction of discriminability factors and factors related to the allocation of attentional resources.     

Temporal processing,attention, and learning disorders

In a large sample (N = 439) of literacy impaired and unimpaired elementary school children the predictions of the temporal processing theory of dyslexia were tested while controlling for (sub)clininal attentional deficits. Visual and Auditory Temporal Order Judgement were administered as well as three subtests of a standardized attention test. The correlation between visual and auditory TOJ was only moderate, challenging the assumption of a general, cross-modal temporal processing deficit. Regression analyses revealed attention as a significant predictor of children's TOJ performance. Once attentional differences were accounted for, temporal processing made a significant but small contribution (3% of variance explained) to reading (but not spelling), but also to arithmetic achievement, indicating that the prediction is not specific to literacy skills. Phonology and Rapid Automatized Naming explained considerable variance even when introduced after TOJ, contradicting the assumption that the verbal deficits in dyslexia result from temporal processing problems. Multiple case studies of 40 children with serious deficits in temporal processing revealed no consistent group pattern. Problems in temporal processing do not necessarily lead to literacy impairment but might be a marker of minor deviances in brain development.     

Theory of mind,attention, and executive function in kindergarten boys

The present study explored the relationship between theory of mind (ToM), attention, and executive function in 66 kindergarten boys drawn from four rural school districts. Three stories designed to test understanding of first and second order mental states were administered. Executive function and attention were assessed, respectively, by scores on the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function (BRIEF) and the Behavior Assessment Scales for Children, Second Edition (BASC‐2). Analyses indicated that children identified by teachers as evidencing attention difficulties scored lower on false belief measures and were more likely to be identified as exhibiting behavioral difficulties associated with executive dysfunction than children identified as evidencing fewer attention difficulties. Attention and executive function were predictive of total ToM scores.     

工作记忆、注意与一般液态智力

许多研究表明工作记忆与智力,注意与智力,工作记忆与注意之间都存在着密切的联系。然而,不同的研究得出不同的结论：工作记忆与选择注意之间具有显著相关,而与维持注意相关不显著：一般液态智力与维持注意相关显著,而与选择注意相关不显著。本研究对这方面的实证研究进行总结分析,得出工作记忆、注意与一般液态智力之间的关系与其所选用的测试材料及其所应用的注意评定测验有关。     

Higher Education in Ethiopia: Expansion,Quality Assurance and Institutional Autonomy

This article chronicles the key challenges facing Ethiopia as it embarks on an ambitious, ideologically‐driven and aggressive expansion of its higher education system in an effort to address its national goals of economic growth and poverty reduction. It is argued that the urge for higher education expansion has placed undue pressures particularly on the state of quality enhancement and autonomy of universities. As government pressures for more expansion mounted, universities struggled with dwindling per student budgetary allocations, shortage of qualified staff, inadequate supply of much needed inputs and the erosion of their autonomy. It is suggested that while higher education expansion remains an important goal for Ethiopia for many years to come, a reasonable balance should be struck between the ideological aspects of expansion and the practical realities of limited resources, heightened concerns about the quality of student learning and the autonomy of universities.     

Early risk, attention, and brain activation in adolescents born preterm

The relations among early cumulative medical risk, cumulative environmental risk, attentional control, and brain activation were assessed in 15-16-year-old adolescents who were born preterm. Functional magnetic resonance imaging found frontal, temporal, and parietal cortex activation during an attention task with greater activation of the left superior-temporal and left supramarginal gyri associated with better performance. Individual differences in early cumulative risk are related to patterns of brain activation such that medical risk is related to left parietal cortex activation and environmental risk is related to temporal lobe activation. The findings suggest that early risk is related to less mature patterns of brain activation, including reduced efficiency of processing and responding to stimuli.     

Infant joint attention, temperament, and social competence in preschool children

Infant joint attention has been observed to be related to social-emotional outcomes in at-risk children. To address whether this relation is also evident in typically developing children, 52 children were tested at 12, 15, 24, and 30 months to examine associations between infant joint attention and social outcomes. Twelve-month initiating and responding to joint attention were related to 30-month social competence and externalizing behavior, even when accounting for 15-month temperament ratings, 24-month cognition and language, and demographic variables. These results suggest that, in addition to associations with language and cognition, infant joint attention reflects robust aspects of development that are related to individual differences in the emergence of social and behavioral competence in childhood.     

A comparison of the menstruation and education experiences of girls in Tanzania,Ghana, Cambodia and Ethiopia

The barriers to menstrual hygiene management faced by adolescent schoolgirls in low-income countries are gaining interest at practice and policy levels. The challenges include inadequate water, sanitation and disposal facilities for the management of menses with privacy and dignity, and insufficient guidance to help girls feel confident in attending school during menses. The studies described here aimed to examine how menarche impacts the lives of schoolgirls in three low-income countries (Ghana, Cambodia and Ethiopia). The focus included girls’ school participation; their relationship with parents, teachers and peers; their evolving sanitation and hygiene needs; their understanding of cultural issues and taboos around menses; and what education, if any, they received prior to and during puberty. This comparative analysis was aimed at identifying similarities between the three countries that would enable the adaptation to each context of a training book on menstruation issues for girls, which was developed from a previous study conducted in Tanzania. In all three countries, participatory activities were utilised with girls and results were analysed using grounded theory. Findings included: similarities regarding the importance of culture in perpetuating negative attitudes towards menstruation, limited provision of health information and insufficient facilities within schools. Differences were revealed regarding menstrual myths, parent–child dynamics, sources of guidance and student–teacher relations. There is a critical knowledge gap around menstruation and girls’ education in these contexts that must be addressed to ensure that girls experience a positive menarche and can manage menstrual hygiene.     

Visual attention to size and number of pattern details by term and preterm infants during the first six months.

2 dimensions inversely varied in previous complexity studies using checker-boards were varied independently. Patterns with more elements, angles, and information as well as patterns with larger elements received longer fixation at all ages, but initially prepotent size preferences decreased with age while number preferences became stronger. Further analysis showed the inadequency of contour length as the stimulus determinant for, or of increasing "optimal complexity" with age as the interpretation of, these previous findings. Term-preterm comparisons at 5-week intervals proved changes were a function of prenatal plus postnatal development rather than age from birth alone.     

血红蛋白在甲基纤维素凝胶中的电化学研究

用甲基纤维素（MC）水凝胶将血红蛋白（Hb）固定在热裂解石墨电极表面,制成了稳定的Hb-MC膜修饰电极.包埋在甲基纤维素膜中的血红蛋白可以与电极直接传递电子.在pH7.0的磷酸盐缓冲溶液中可得到一对可逆的血红蛋白辅基血红素Fe（III）/Fe（II）电对氧化还原峰,式电势为-0.312V（vs SCE）.其式电势随溶液的pH值增加而负移且成线性关系,直线斜率为-41.0mV/pH,说明电子传递过程伴随有质子的转移.     

Sustained attention,intelligence, and the crucial role of perceptual processes

The contribution of perceptual processes to the correlation between measures of sustained attention and intelligence was investigated in considering computerized and paper–pencil tests of sustained attention. Perceptual processes were represented by tasks demanding signal detection and stimulus discrimination. A total of 117 participants completed two attention tests, as well as two tests that required signal detection and stimulus discrimination. Intelligence was measured by means of Advanced Progressive Matrices (APM) and Berliner Intelligenzstruktur-Test (BIS). Structural equation modeling showed that intelligence was best predicted by one independent latent variable, which included loadings of sustained attention, speed of signal detection, and of stimulus discrimination. The investigation of the structure of prediction revealed speed of stimulus discrimination and genuine sustained attention as major predictors of intelligence.     

埃塞俄比亚博士生教育：发展历程、问题及中国经验借鉴

埃塞俄比亚博士生教育于1987年由亚的斯亚贝巴大学起步后缓慢发展,2010年开始迅速扩张。期间,该国博士生教育在培养单位数量和招生人数上有了较大的进步,但也存在着教育项目发展失衡、培养单位间差距大、教育质量保障问题突出、教育经费短缺等问题。在中国与埃塞俄比亚教育交往背景下,埃塞俄比亚可借鉴中国博士生教育在多样化培养模式、多维质量保障制度和多元资助体系等三方面的发展经验,积极从调整博士生培养模式、完善质量保障制度和构建资助体系等方面改进博士生教育。     

Serial habituation in two-, three-, and four-month-old infants.

Serial habituation of visual fixations in 2-, 3-, and 4-month-old infants was investigated through a design permitting cross-sectional, within-subject longitudinal, cohort longitudinal, and time-lag analyses. The components of the standard stimulus were displayed individually before and after successive exposures of the standard for familiarization. Relative saliencies of the components for each child were indexed by magnitude of responding to these parts in the initial presentation. Comparisons of the pre- and postexposure fixation times suggest that for all ages habituation was under way to the parts of the stimulus in orders of the relative saliencies. The nature of the data in general did not appear to be influenced significantly by any 1 methodology.     

Early Education in Ethiopia: Progress and Prospects

Explored herein are historical roots of preschool through elementary grade education in the East Africa nation of Ethiopia. Also included are current difficult challenges to educational improvement as well as promising developments such as greater involvement of private institutions, organizations, and individuals in supporting Ministry of Education reform initiatives.