Development of a cultural self-efficacy scale for adolescents (CSES-A)

We developed a cultural self-efficacy scale for adolescents (CSES-A) and tested its psychometric properties using both exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses. Cultural self-efficacy (CSE) was defined as person's perception of his/her own capability to function effectively in situations characterized by cultural diversity. On the basis of Bandura's guideline for the development of a domain-specific self-efficacy measure, we tailored 50 items after reviewing literature about cultural competence, adolescents’ school-problems and social self-efficacy scales developed in previous studies in intercultural contexts. After pre-testing and analyzing psychometric properties of the scale, we selected 33 items. Eight hundred sixty-eight adolescents with five different cultural origins completed a set of questionnaires, including the CSES-A, internal control expectancies, general self-efficacy, academic expectancies, number of people from diverse cultures they keep in touch with, acculturation attitudes, perceived enrichment of other cultures, acculturation stress and demographic data. An EFA with MPLUS 2.14 highlighted a five-factor solution with 25 items that was supported by a subsequent CFA. The five factors were: self-efficacy in mixing satisfactorily with other cultures, in understanding different ways of life, in processing information from other cultures, in coping with loneliness and in learning and understanding other languages. The pattern of correlation with internal control expectancies, general self-efficacy and cultural variables supported the validity of the scale. CSES-A may be useful for future research on multicultural contexts, in which self-efficacy in cultural adaptation could be a fundamental variable.     

Is sports science answering the call for interdisciplinary research? A systematic review

Sports science research is traditionally monodisciplinary despite calls for an interdisciplinary focus. The primary purpose of this systematic review was to identify studies on talent identification, talent selection and competition performance to determine whether interdisciplinary research is being conducted. Thirty-six studies met the selection criteria. These studies were critiqued relative to sport, skill level, sport science sub-disciplines included, and whether the research was multidisciplinary or interdisciplinary. The secondary purpose of the review was to critique the level of analysis and level of representative task design in performance tests used in the studies. Twenty-five studies were categorised as interdisciplinary, with 11 categorised as multidisciplinary. Thirteen sports were represented with soccer the most frequent followed by field hockey, Australian Rules football, handball and rugby league. Thirty-two studies completed their analysis at a group level and four at an individual level. A total of 337 performance tests were rated for representative task design with 64 categorised as low, 123 as medium and 150 as high. The results pertaining to interdisciplinary studies and individual analyses are discussed in relation to constraints theory, which predicts that interacting variables can explain sport performance. Sports science research is beginning to fulfil the call for interdisciplinary research. Future research, however, needs to consider individual analyses and representative task design of tests to progress sports science knowledge.     

Components of attack response inhibition in fencing: Components of attack response inhibition in fencing

Applying the Go/No-Go paradigm to fencing, we investigated the relationship between the moment at which the No-Go signal appeared after a movement had been initiated and the time required by fencers to suppress the motor execution of a step-lunge. Secondarily, we determined a time threshold from which movement inhibition results in an error. The No-Go stimulus was represented by a real attack movement. 18 elite fencers and a fencing master were included in the study. Four force plates measured the horizontal components of the fencer's and master's reaction forces, which were used to calculate the time components of the attack and the response inhibition process. Also, the velocity and displacement of the master's and fencer's respective centres of mass were estimated using inverse dynamics. In all cases, cognitive inhibition processes were completed after the onset of movement. Movement time was calculated using four time components (muscle activation, muscle deactivation, transition and braking time). The results obtained revealed that cognitive processes were not significantly affected by the timing of the appearance of the No-Go signal. In contrast, movement time and its time components tended to decrease when the time delay between the No-Go stimulus and the onset of the fencer's movement increased. In conclusion, any attempt to withhold an attack movement when it has already started leads to an error that increases the risk of being hit by the opponent, especially when attack is inhibited within 150?ms after the movement has started.     

西班牙教育制度简介

西班牙的学校可以是公立的,也可以是私立的。学校的经费来源于政府或者私人。西班牙的学制分为幼儿园、小学、中学教育和高中、大学、职业、成人、特殊教育。职业学校毕业的学生可以直接升大学,高中毕业的学生要参加高考。     

The influence of body discourses on adolescents’ (non)participation in physical activity

Drawing on semi-structured interviews with older adolescents, this article examines how healthism, ideal body discourses and performative body discourses influence their (non)participation in physical activity (PA) and their identity construction concerning exercise, sport and physical education. We illustrate that body transformation through PA, and related slim body desire and the fear of masculinised female bodies, affect adolescents’ decisions to engage in or drop out of sport. Also, a non-hegemonic body shape combined with a display of low physical competence triggers classmate and teachers’ rejection and marginalisation, affecting adolescents’ construction of embodied identities and preventing them from being active. Finally, adolescents who are competent in sport are less influenced by ideal body discourses than by performative body discourses. We highlight the health promotion effects of these hegemonic discourses and suggest strategies to challenge them.     

Ancient covering plaster mortars from several convents and Islamic and Gothic palaces in Palma de Mallorca (Spain). Analytical characterisation

Analysis of historic mortars including Islamic, Gothic and later ones taken from palaces, convents and mansions in Palma de Mallorca has been carried out. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) coupled to energy dispersive X-ray spectrometer (EDX), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and X-ray diffraction (XRD) techniques were used to characterise the morphology and analytical composition of the samples analysed. Generally, covering plaster mortars presented a low percentage of small size aggregate. The reported results show that mixed and lime mortars have been used, thus, the establishment of a relationship between the type of mortar employed and its age is not feasible. In the painted mortars, polychromy has also been studied. The most common pigments to be found are natural earths.     

Derived relations and generalized alteration of preferences

The present study examined the role of derived relations in the generalizability of the evaluative conditioning effect. Healthy university students participated. Four geometrical shapes were first established as discriminative stimuli for the contingent presentation of pictograms (B1, B2, C1, and C2, respectively). We then assessed the reinforcing properties of B1 versus B2, and C1 versus C2 by using simultaneous discrimination tasks: at baseline (baseline assessment), after pairing B1 with aversive slides plus noise and B2 with pleasant slides (test I), and after employing equivalence training and testing to establish B1 as equivalent to C1 and B2 as equivalent to C2 (test II). Most participants (82 %) in the experimental condition, as compared with the control conditions (17 % and 10 %), selected the discriminative shapes for B2 (test I) and C2 (test II) on most trials, replicating and extending previous findings. Subsequently, the geometrical shapes were established as equivalent to the letters X, Y, W, and Z, respectively, which then served as antecedent stimuli in simultaneous discrimination tasks as before (test III). As was expected, only participants in the experimental condition showed preference for the novel letters that were established as equivalent to B2-producing and C2-producing shapes. These findings suggest that the evaluative conditioning effect may extend far beyond the stimulus being de/valuated and narrow the behavioral repertoire.     

Responding to external accountability in high-performing,high-capacity public secondary schools in Chile

The qualitative study on which this article reports explored how senior leaders, mathematics and Spanish language teachers (N = 72) in four high-performing, high-poverty, public secondary schools in Chile enact performance-based accountability policies related to standardised assessments. These four public schools were selected because prior to when the study was conducted all were part of the Bicentennial Schools Programme led by the Ministry of Education from 2010 to 2014. The aim of the programme was to develop effective secondary schools to serve low-income students. A thematic analysis of data produced through individual and group interviews and observations of departmental meetings shows that the enactment of performance-based accountability involved two dimensions of learning-centred leadership, distributed among senior leaders and department heads. An aim shared by parents, students, teachers and senior leaders was to ensure students' access to, and completion of, studies in higher education. Attaining good scores in national standardised SIMCE tests was key to meeting the vision. Collective trust among all actors and macro level trust in standardised testing served as a resource for strong collaboration to improve instruction and learning as well as teachers' collective efficacy. The discussion focuses on school-level practices and policy-level decisions that create conditions for the effective use of information produced from standardised assessments. A key point supported by our findings is that successful performance in external assessments is resourced by, and fosters, trust formation in schools.