Investigating self-regulated study strategies among postsecondary students with and without dyslexia: a diary method study

We investigated the use of self-regulated study strategies among undergraduates with dyslexia by means of extensive web-based diary data, comparing their strategy use to that of matched students without dyslexia who completed the diary in the same period. Additionally, we examined the perceived benefits of using the recorded strategies in both groups, as well as relationships between the recorded strategies and perceived self-efficacy and academic performance. Results indicated that across lecture, individual study, and social study contexts, students with and without dyslexia recorded a comparable, broad range of strategies, yet students with dyslexia seemed to use particular visual and social strategies more consistently than did students without dyslexia. Across the three study contexts, both students with and without dyslexia also perceived the strategies they recorded in the diaries to be quite beneficial, but with particular visual and social strategies seemingly perceived as more helpful by students with dyslexia. Finally, self-regulated study strategies were positively related to perceived self-efficacy and academic performance among the students with dyslexia but not among the students without dyslexia. We discuss the possibility that the diary method used to assess strategy use among students with dyslexia in different study contexts over time was more appropriate for revealing the breadth and value of their strategy repertoire than the decontextualized, one-time questionnaire and interview approaches used in prior work.     

Event-related Potentials in Year-Old Infants: Relations with Emotionality and Cortisol

Event-related po-potentials (ERPs) were recorded from year-old infants presented with sets of familiar faces presented frequently and infrequently, and a set of novel faces presented infrequently. The normative response of infants in this sample was a late positive slow wave to the Infrequent Familiar faces, and a return to baseline to the Frequent Familiar and Infrequent Novel faces (although there was a tendency for some infants to show a positive slow wave to the latter events). A factor score based on data from frontal and central leads that reflected this normative pattern was significantly associated with infant emotional behavior and cortisol. Infants scoring higher on the normative ERP factor were more distressed during separation, were reported by their parents to smile and laugh more, and had lower cortisol concentrations during ERP testing. These data were interpreted as reflecting the coordination of adaptive responding among different physiological and behavioral systems.     

Toddlers' and Preschoolers' Experience in Family Day Care: Age Differences and Behavioral Correlates

One hundred and twelve children, 56 toddlers and 56 preschoolers, were observed in their family child care settings to determine whether toddlers cared for in settings that also included preschoolers were, relative to the preschoolers, receiving more or less high-quality care and/or whether their functioning at child care appeared to be more or less dependent on aspects of the care providers’ interactions with the children. Quality of care was analyzed along two dimensions: sensitive/supportive care and structured care. Four indices of child functioning at child care were examined: integration in social activities, attention, positive mood, and angry/aggressive behavior. Results indicate that toddlers received less sensitive, supportive care than preschoolers in these mixed-age settings and toddlers were less socially integrated and less engaged in activities in the child care setting. Preschoolers displayed increased levels of angry/aggressive behavior relative to toddlers. In addition, associations of care provider behaviors and child functioning were larger for toddlers than preschoolers, suggesting that toddlers were more dependent on caregiver support for more successful functioning in these family child care settings. For both toddlers and preschoolers, care provider behavior and child functioning was generally poorer in settings with more children.     

Experience,Intersubjectivity, and Reflection: A Human Science Perspective on Preparation of Future Professionals in Adaptive Physical Activity

ABSTRACT

The aim of this article is to show that and how philosophy and philosophical thinking can be of relevance for the preparation of future professionals in adaptive physical activity. To this end we utilize philosophical insights from the human science perspective on two central issues, namely experience and intersubjectivity, which are weaved together in an analysis of a reflective journal produced by an adaptive physical activity student. More specifically, by drawing on phenomenological and pragmatist philosophy, we show how the meaning of adaptive physical activity—as adaptive—is created through a complexity of individual and shared meaning making processes between adaptive physical activity educators, students, and the people they meet in their practicum. Through this article, we will show how the human science perspective can provide tools to understand the students, their learning, and their involvement in the educational program.     

Adrenocortical Responses to the Strange Situation in Infants with Disorganized/Disoriented Attachment Relationships

Salivary cortisol levels were assessed in 19-month-old infants following the Ainsworth Strange Situation procedure. 38 infants participating in Project Steep at the University of Minnesota served as subjects. Project Steep is a longitudinal intervention program designed to promote healthy parent-child relationships and to prevent emotional problems among children born to mothers who are at high risk for parenting problems. Following the Strange Situation, saliva samples were collected and assayed for cortisol, a steroid hormone frequently examined in studies of stress. Behavior during the Strange Situation was coded by trained coders, and attachment classifications were determined for each infant. Cortisol concentrations did not differ between the 6 Avoidant/Resistant (A/C) and 17 Securely Attached (B) toddlers. Toddlers ( n = 11) who were classified as having Disorganized/Disoriented (Type D) attachments exhibited higher cortisol concentrations than toddlers in the traditional (ABC) classifications. Results of this study were consistent with a model of stress reactivity that conceptualizes the organization of coping behaviors as a factor that mediates physiological stress responses.     

Supervisory Behaviour as Perceived by Secondary School Teachers in Nigeria

This article focuses on the concept of work‐organization in general and the adaptation of this concept to the (Swedish) school‐system in particular. One major point stressed by the authors is that the work‐organization of the school is not purely a question of technical forms of administration. When establishing work‐organization it is of crucial importance to take the functions of the school into consideration. This means that the first step is to focus the content of the organizational activities and then build up administrative forms which facilitate a goal‐oriented work.     

Biomechanical differences in soccer kicking with the preferred and the non-preferred leg

The aims of this study were to examine the release speed of the ball in maximal instep kicking with the preferred and the non-preferred leg and to relate ball speed to biomechanical differences observed during the kicking action. Seven skilled soccer players performed maximal speed place kicks with the preferred and the nonpreferred leg; their movements were filmed at 400 Hz. The inter-segmental kinematics and kinetics were derived. A coefficient of restitution between the foot and the ball was calculated and rate of force development in the hip flexors and the knee extensors was measured using a Kin-Com dynamometer. Higher ball speeds were achieved with the preferred leg as a result of the higher foot speed and coefficient of restitution at the time of impact compared with the non-preferred leg. These higher foot speeds were caused by a greater amount of work on the shank originating from the angular velocity of the thigh. No differences were found in muscle moments or rate of force development. We conclude that the difference in maximal ball speed between the preferred and the non-preferred leg is caused by a better inter-segmental motion pattern and a transfer of velocity from the foot to the ball when kicking with the preferred leg.     

‘My language tree’: young Finland‐Swedish adults tell us about their linguistic and cultural identities

The education of teachers in Swedish Finland is a stage for a powerful display of Finland‐Swedish culture. This paper discusses the voices on this cultural stage, exploring the patterns in the stories these young Finland‐Swedish adults tell about their linguistic and cultural identities.