Statistical relationships between corresponding authorship,international co-authorship and citation impact of national research systems

This paper presents a statistical analysis of the relationship between three science indicators applied in earlier bibliometric studies, namely research leadership based on corresponding authorship, international collaboration using international co-authorship data, and field-normalized citation impact. Indicators at the level of countries are extracted from the SIR database created by SCImago Research Group from publication records indexed for Elsevier’s Scopus. The relationship between authorship and citation-based indicators is found to be complex, as it reflects a country’s phase of scientific development and the coverage policy of the database. Moreover, one should distinguish a genuine leadership effect from a purely statistical effect due to fractional counting. Further analyses at the level of institutions and qualitative validation studies are recommended.     

Effect of defence response time during lunge in foil fencing

The aim of this study was to analyse the effect of stimulus change timing on reaction response time parameters, horizontal velocity of the centre of mass (CM) and precision during offensive actions in fencing. Twelve fencers from the Spanish National Foil Team were included in the study. Two 500 Hz force plates were used to register the horizontal component of the reaction force while a 3D video camera set at 250 Hz recorded the spatial position of 11 body markers and a projector connected to a programmed stopwatch projected a moving target (stimulus) on a screen. When the circle (target) appeared in the centre of the plastron, fencers had to execute a step-forward-lunge as fast as possible, trying to touch the circle with the tip of the foil. During the lunge, the position of the target could randomly shift or not to three different positions. The stimulus change was performed randomly at four different times with a progressive delay. The results show that target changes did not have any effect when they occurred at the beginning of the movement sequence. However, when the target change was delayed, reaction and movement times increased and the technical execution of the lunge changed, leading to more errors.     

Where Do You Draw the Line? How Our Actions Make a Difference

Carmen M. McCallum shares her story of how deeply an arbitrary boundary line affected her life in order to challenge us to recognize, change, and cross the lines that disrupt our students’ success.     

Re‐asserting the place of context in explaining student (under‐)achievement

One popular view of student achievement is that the quality of teaching students receive plays an important part in whether or not they do well at school. In this article we draw attention to ‘context’ as a complementary explanation, particularly regarding achievement differences between students from different socio‐economic backgrounds. In making these observations, we utilise data from one Australian secondary school located in an economically depressed rural community. Drawing on the insights of Bourdieu, our focus is on the broader social and economic influences that can adversely position students and schools, as well as work to inform the institutional stance that schools take in relation to their students.     

Motivational variables involved in commitment of female soccer players at different competitive levels

Today more and more women are playing sport and choosing activities previously considered the exclusive domain of men, such as soccer. The main purpose of this study was to analyse the role of motivational variables (individual and team) regarding the commitment to and future expectations of playing higher levels of competition in a sample of female association soccer players (N = 117) at different levels of competition (local, regional and national leagues). Results confirm that the highest league shows high values in perception of success (ego orientation and task orientation), transactional psychological contract and future expectations. On the other hand, the local league produces high values in relational contracts. A path analysis tests a theoretical model with all the motivational variables as predictors of sporting commitment and future expectations. It shows the power of individual and team motivational variables in terms of predicting the involvement of women in soccer.     

Effect of dual-attention task on attack and defensive actions in fencing

The objectives of this study were to investigate the effect that the presence of two stimuli that require two different responses (dual-attention) has both, on offensive reaction-response time to a light stimulus, and on defensive response time when the stimulus is a real fencing attack. Twenty-five elite fencers and a fencing master were included in the study. The equipment included four force plates adapted to a scaffold that served as a fencing piste. Two force plates were placed, at the start position, under the fencer’s feet and another two plates were placed under the master’s feet. The results demonstrate that choice reaction time to visual stimuli increases in dual-task conditions with respect to simple reaction time, whereas the mean horizontal force tends to decrease in dual-task. However, when the stimulus was an opponent’s movement, dual-task conditions did not have any effect on the time required to initiate a defensive action. The changes in reaction time when real movements were used as stimuli challenge the validity of the reaction time to visual stimuli paradigm as a predictor of performance in fencing. Also, the results obtained demonstrate that perceptual and attentional processes play a major role in fencer performance in real competition.     

Attitude and commitment to school of successful secondary school students / Actitud y compromiso hacia la escuela en estudiantes de secundaria considerados de éxito escolar

In this article, we analyse the attitude toward school that successful students of post-compulsory education possess. We understand school success as a concept that takes into account academic results, but also includes the desire to continue studying, while often overcoming difficulties at school. The data were taken from a sample of 26 students (12 girls and 14 boys) enrolled in Baccalaureate studies and vocational training. It was collected from detailed interviews, context questionnaires and the photolanguage technique. The results show that students are clearly committed to education, which takes the form of positive attitudes toward schoolwork and tasks (perseverance, effort, respect for the rules) and to the development of a defined life project and a high-level of satisfaction with their education. Baccalaureate students, particularly girls, more clearly express these traits.