Motivation for physical activity in young people: entity and incremental beliefs about athletic ability

Three studies are reported of children and youth aged 11-19 years (n = 3478) examining the nature of beliefs about athletic ability. Drawing on related research in academic, moral and stereotyping domains, development of a psychometric instrument assessing athletic ability beliefs is detailed. Support was found for a multidimensional hierarchical structure that is invariant across age and gender. Confirmatory factor analysis revealed a structure comprising two higher-order factors of entity and incremental beliefs underpinned by beliefs that athletic ability is stable and a gift (entity), and is open to improvement and can be developed through learning (incremental). Incremental beliefs, indirectly through a task goal orientation, and entity beliefs directly, predicted self-reported amotivation towards physical education and sport. On the other hand, enjoyment of physical activity in youth was predicted directly by task orientation and incremental beliefs. Predictions concerning the moderating role of perceived competence were not supported. Our findings highlight the importance of ability beliefs and goals in understanding the determinants of physical activity in children and youth.     

Burnout and Counselor Practitioner Expectations of Supervision

The authors assessed counselor expectations of supervision and counselor burnout. A sample consisting of 120 members of the Oregon Personnel and Guidance Association completed the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI) and the Counselor Supervision Inventory (CSI).     

A Two-Stage Approach to Synthesizing Covariance Matrices in Meta-Analytic Structural Equation Modeling

A great obstacle for wider use of structural equation modeling (SEM) has been the difficulty in handling categorical variables. Two data sets with known structure between 2 related binary outcomes and 4 independent binary variables were generated. Four SEM strategies and resulting apparent validity were tested: robust maximum likelihood (ML), tetrachoric correlation matrix input followed by SEM ML analysis, SEM ML estimation for the sum of squares and cross-products (SSCP) matrix input obtained by the log-linear model that treated all variables as dependent, and asymptotic distribution-free (ADF) SEM estimation. SEM based on the SSCP matrix obtained by the log-linear model and SEM using robust ML estimation correctly identified the structural relation between the variables. SEM using ADF added an extra parameter. SEM based on tetrachoric correlation input did not specify the data generating process correctly. Apparent validity was similar for all models presented. Data transformation used in log-linear modeling can serve as an input for SEM.     

Emotion discourse, social cognition, and social skills in children with and without developmental delays

This study examined parent-child emotion discourse, children's independent social information processing, and social skills outcomes in 146 families of 8-year-olds with and without developmental delays. Children's emergent social-cognitive understanding (internal state understanding, perspective taking, and causal reasoning and problem solving) was coded in the context of parent-child conversations about emotion, and children were interviewed separately to assess social problem solving. Mothers, fathers, and teachers reported on children's social skills. The proposed strengths-based model partially accounted for social skills differences between typically developing children and children with delays. A multigroup analysis of the model linking emotion discourse to social skills through children's prosocial problem solving suggested that processes operated similarly for the two groups. Implications for ecologically focused prevention and intervention are discussed.     

说“兵符”

我们都熟悉信陵君“窃符救赵”的故事,其中之符,就是兵符。在我国古代社会,凡调发军队,命官遣使,颁发政令,皆授之以符或节,以为凭据。《周礼·地官·大司徒》记载：“若国有大故,则致万民于王门,令无节者不行于天下。”颜师古说：“节以毛为之,上下相重,取象竹节,因以为名,命将者,持之为信。”古代通信极不发达,封建帝王为了能直接掌控军队,便发明了兵符制度。“虎符”是最早的兵符,出现在春秋战国时期,是古代帝王授予臣僚兵权和调动军队所用的凭证。     

郭洞：钱塘上游的静谧山村

浙江,所谓东南形胜,风雅钱塘,大抵指的是下游一带,那如昆曲般的绮丽华美,直可从《武林旧事》、《陶庵梦忆》一类的笔记中慢慢找寻;而“奇山异水,天下独绝”的中游地区,则像是性灵的诗词,最宜在杂花生树的暮春三月浅斟低唱;唯有上游一带,因地处偏远,支流纵横,山川复杂,犹如众多飘逸的传奇,细说不尽。单说婺江上游,有一武阳川,夹岸多山,不高不低,众山间有一小平原,说是平原,其实也不过是稍为平整的丘陵而已,稻米、茶叶、桑蚕、金针、苎麻、灰鹅,