Reasons of students and apprentices to choose a training company in the dual system

This article sheds light on an understudied aspect of the transition from school to work: the choice of a training company. It presents findings from qualitative interviews with 69 secondary school students and apprentices from the German states of Berlin and Brandenburg, focusing on their reasons to choose a training company in the dual system. What reasons lead students and apprentices to choose a training company? The most common reason is personal impressions, which future apprentices obtain in their initial, personal encounters with a company and its staff. Students and apprentices often consider location, working atmosphere and soundness. Due to this study’s regional scope, its findings may not be fully generalisable on a national or international level. However, its findings may instigate further research in countries where people pursuing certain types of apprenticeship training have to apply to companies (e.g. Great Britain, Switzerland and Australia).     

Storybook models and achievement behavior of preschool children

The effects of orally presented storybook models on children's cognitive achievement behavior were assessed in two experiments. Experiment I involved 100 preschool-age children who were given one exposure to either a story depicting achievement behaviors by a male/female model, or a control story describing no achievement behavior. Subjects then were asked to perform a related achievement task. No significant modeling effects were found, but a significant relationship existed between the children's recall of the story content and their performance on the subsequent task. Experiment 11 employed 60 preschool-age children who were given repeated exposures (3 to 4) to, and group discussion of, the same achievement stories or non-achievement control story. A significant relationship was observed between type of story and type of solutions to the subsequent achievement task. These findings are discussed in the context of modeling theory, with practical implications.     

A short German Physical-Self-Concept Questionnaire for elementary school children (PSCQ-C): Factorial validity and measurement invariance across gender

Research on children’s physical self-concept (PSC) is increasingly recognised as an important field of psychology. However, there is a lack of instruments suitable for younger children at elementary school age. In the present study, a short German 21-item Physical Self-Concept-Questionnaire for children (PSCQ-C) was tested measuring seven specific facets of elementary school children’s PSC (strength, endurance, speed, flexibility, coordination, physical appearance, global sport competence). A number of 770 elementary school children aged 8–12 years completed the PSCQ-C. Results showed good psychometric properties and high reliabilities of the seven scales. Confirmatory factor analysis revealed that the presumed 7-factor model fitted the data best compared to a global 1- and 2-factor model. Also, full measurement invariance was strongly established. Correlations among the seven scales were mainly moderate. Gender differences were suggestive of developmental trends that are consistent with prior studies. These results provide support that the PSCQ-C is a confidential instrument with sound psychometric properties measuring seven specific facets of elementary school children’s PSC.     

The effects of mental fatigue on cricket-relevant performance among elite players

This study investigated the effects of a mentally fatiguing test on physical tasks among elite cricketers. In a cross-over design, 10 elite male cricket players from a professional club performed a cricket run-two test, a Batak Lite reaction time test and a Yo-Yo-Intermittent Recovery Level 1 (Yo-Yo-IR1) test, providing a rating of perceived exertion (RPE) after completing a 30-min Stroop test (mental fatigue condition) or 30-min control condition. Perceived fatigue was assessed before and after the two conditions and motivation was measured before testing. There were post-treatment differences in the perception of mental fatigue (P < 0.001; d = ?7.82, 95% CIs = ?9.05–6.66; most likely). Cricket run-two (P = 0.002; d = ?0.51, 95% CIs = ?0.72–0.30; very likely), Yo-Yo-IR1 distance (P = 0.023; d = 0.39, 95% CIs = 0.14–0.64; likely) and RPE (P = 0.001; d = ?1.82, 95% CIs = ?2.49–1.14; most likely) were negatively affected by mental fatigue. The Batak Lite test was not affected (P = 0.137), yet a moderate (d = 0.41, 95% CIs = ?0.05–0.87) change was likely. Mental fatigue, induced by an app-based Stroop test, negatively affected cricket-relevant performance.     

The Subsidized Muse: Government and the Arts in Western Europe and the United States

Using the neo-classical justifications for government support of the arts that Dick Netzer discussed in The Subsidized Muse as a starting point, the article contends that market failure is not an useful concept to understand and explain cultural policies and the degree of government involvement, particularly when viewed from a comparative perspective. The basic fault is that historical- institutional arrangements and the role of non-state actors in the formation of cultural policies are not taken into account. Discussing some aspects of the institutional framework in the development of French, Swedish and U.S. cultural policies, the article concludes with a call for the use of neo-institutionalist perspectives in analyzing government intervention in the arts field.     

Youth culture of hostility: Discourses of money,respect, and difference

This paper describes the youth culture of hostility produced by low-income and working-class African-American and White students in two urban public high schools. High school seniors were observed during the school day and participated in interviews where they described criminal activities, racism, sexual harassment, and other student hostilities taking place in corridors and classrooms. Poststructural data analysis revealed that what appeared to be senseless acts of violence were shifting adaptations rooted in prevailing discourses of money, respect, and difference. Hostilities were among the many discourse-driven adaptive strategies constructed by urban youths in school sites situated in hostile socioeconomic conditions.