Predicting abuse-prone parental attitudes and discipline practices in a nationally representative sample

OBJECTIVE: According to sociological and ecological models of abuse, typically nonabusive parents could behave abusively towards their children under certain circumstances. The purpose of this study was to examine factors that place parents at risk of abusing their children by predicting parents' use of discipline practices and attitudes that may bias parents towards abusive behaviors, which we refer to as abuse-proneness. METHOD: A telephone interview was administered by the Gallup Organization to a nationally representative sample of 1,000 parents. Using a set of theoretically relevant risk factors, multiple regression was used to predict variations in parental attitudes (i.e., attitudes towards physical discipline and attitudes that devalue children) and parental discipline practices (i.e., physical discipline, nonphysical discipline, and verbal abuse). RESULTS: The findings confirmed the importance of examining elements of parental attitudes, history, personality characteristics, as well as religion and ideology in predicting abuse proneness. Child age also was an important predictor in all analyses except predicting parental attitudes that devalue children. The findings suggest also, however, that it may be unduly simplified to regard parents as somewhere on a continuum of nonpunitive to punitive disciplinarians. Social isolation was not a significant predictor in any of the analyses. CONCLUSIONS: Although many important theoretical predictors of abuse proneness were confirmed, many questions arise regarding the diversity of discipline practices that parents use, and the relevance of child's age and social isolation in predicting abuse proneness. Implications for practitioners and future research are discussed.     

The prediction of academic achievement by a British study habits inventory

The purpose of this study is to determine if the prediction of college success can be improved with the Student Attitude Inventory (SAI). This inventory was developed in Britain and contains 47 items which attempt to identify students in higher education on the basis of: (1) motivation, (2) study methods, (3) examination technique, and (4) lack of distractions toward academic work. Students in six Kentucky community colleges were asked to express their attitudes toward study habits on the Student Attitude Inventory. There were 996 students in the sample population (413 males and 583 females). A measure of ability (composite American College Test score) and academic performance (cumula grade-point average) were obtained for each student sampled. The Student Attitude Inventory did contribute a statistically significant amount of variance beyond an ability measure for males and females.     

Cognitive ability and personality variables as predictors of school grades and test scores in adolescents

The predictive power of cognitive ability and self-control strength for self-reported grades and an achievement test were studied. It was expected that the variables use of time structure, academic procrastination, and motivational interference during learning further aid in predicting students’ achievement because they are operative in situations of school-leisure conflict. A sample of 697 eighth-graders was tested twice within the interval of a single school year (about eight months). Cognitive ability and self-control explained substantial variance of grade changes. Procrastination displayed a further portion of the variance. Personality variables were better predictors of grades, while cognitive ability showed higher variance with the achievement test. Variables tapping aspects of self-control strength have been interpreted as key determinants of learning outcomes. The findings suggest that it might be useful to identify students who are at risk, allowing these students to train their ability to shield studying from leisure distractions.     

The DEVELOPMENT OF HUMAN CAPACITY IN MALAWI: THE ROLE OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

Faced with accelerating poverty, the Malawi government has re-awakened its commitment to the development of human capacity and the role of development in this context. This paper explores the relationship between development and science and technology. It goes on to review the country’s science and technology needs and how these justify taking developmental action. It concludes that strategies designed to increase access to education should not be limited to the primary sector, but should also include secondary curricula and university science and technology programmes. Drawing on the arguments in the article and personal experience, the authors suggest promoting the development of human capacity in Malawi by creating special “science schools” in the secondary sector and increasing the number of scholarships for university science students.     

The role of vocabulary components in second language learners' early reading comprehension

Background

In countries with German as an official language, children with German as a second language perform overall worse in school than their German native speaking peers. This particularly affects written language skills, which require advanced language knowledge. The reasons are manifold, but one is prominent, namely poor vocabulary knowledge. Vocabulary, however, consists not only of the number of known words but also of a complex and hitherto under-researched lexico-semantic framework, which is referred to as vocabulary depth.

Method

In the present study, a sample of 373 children (322 German native speakers and 51 with German as a second language) was examined longitudinally in Grade 2 and 3 for their reading comprehension and vocabulary breadth and depth. Vocabulary depth was defined as relational and semantic word knowledge. Latent change score models on vocabulary breadth and depth development including reading precursor skills, non-verbal intelligence and SES were conducted.

Results

The children with German as a second language scored lower than the native German speakers in reading and vocabulary tests, with the difference in vocabulary depth being more pronounced than in vocabulary breadth. Importantly, the differences did not tend to diminish over time, which could have been expected. The differences in reading comprehension can be accounted for mainly by the variations in vocabulary, especially in vocabulary depth.

Conclusions

These findings emphasise the importance of including not only vocabulary breadth but also vocabulary depth in the context of reading research on children who do not speak the majority language.