Conceptual Mediation Program in Practice: Educational Outcomes from Two Sites

We report on two studies in which high school students who had been exposed to a cognitive training procedure known as the Conceptual Mediation Program (CMP) were compared to students who had not participated within the program. In the first study, based on data from two sites, it was found that 70 CMP students exhibited higher levels of school affect and strategy awareness than 103 comparable students not in the program. In the second study, based on retrospective data from one site, 53 students who had participated within CMP classes were found to exhibit higher levels of attainment on Year 12 South Australian public examination results (effect size of 1.04 on the aggregate). On the Year 12 examination results, the CMP students outperformed both the school and state norms.     

Applied positive psychology: Improving everyday life,health, schools,work, and society

Multiple disciplines guide our practice, but none is more relevant than the wholesome approach of positive psychology. In Applied Positive Psychology: Improving Everyday Life, Health, Schools, Work, and Society (2011), the editors address four core areas: society, human development, institutional organizations, and future directions. The strength of this book lies in its comprehensive compilation of research‐based, applied, and integrated practices for improving the living, working, and social conditions of those we strive to help every day. Applied Positive Psychology: Improving Everyday Life, Health, Schools, Work, and Society (ISBN: 978‐0‐415‐87781‐7) is published by Routledge.     

怎样设计学习型组织？

学习型组织，根据六条相互补充的行为准则来设计：创造不断学习的机会。促进探讨和对话。鼓励共同学习和团队学习。建立学习及学习共享系统。促使成员迈向共同愿景。使组织和环境结合起来。     

What makes a landmark effective? Sex differences in a navigation task

In Experiment 1, two groups of female rats were trained in a triangular pool to find a hidden platform whose location was defined in terms of a single a landmark, a cylinder outside the pool. For one group, the landmark had only a single pattern (i.e., it looked the same when approached from any direction), while for the other, the landmark contained four different patterns (i.e., it looked different when approached from different directions). The first group learned to swim to the platform more rapidly than the second. Experiment 2 confirmed this difference when female rats were trained in a circular pool but found that male rats learned equally rapidly (and as rapidly as females trained with the single-pattern landmark) with both landmarks. This second finding was confirmed in Experiment 3. Finally, in Experiment 4a and 4b, male and female rats were trained either with the same, single-pattern landmark on all trials or with a different landmark each day. Males learned equally rapidly (and as rapidly as females trained with the unchanged landmark) whether the landmark changed or not. We conclude that male and female rats learn rather different things about the landmark that signals the location of the platform.     

Scientific schools in bibliographical science: The ideas of the professional community

This paper presents the results from a survey of the leading bibliographical scientists of the country on the problems of the formation and development of scientific schools in bibliographical science, the functions performed by them, and signs that are immanent to them.     

The role of relevant active questions in learning based upon successive presentations

Both active questions i.e. questions asked by subjects, and provided (or passive) questions i.e. offered to subjects as problems for solution, had been found to facilitate learning and retention of prose material when subjects were faced with a task of sufficient difficulty to challenge their competence. With difficult prose, boys and low ability subjects had gained most from active questions. These effects were more pronounced in the long term. In this study, the effects of relevant active questions i.e. questions which subjects can put alongside answers, are investigated and compared with those of active and provided questions, over a series of six presentations for both the short and the long term (i.e. after ten months). In the short term, although active questions give greater help than provided questions on the first presentation, and relevant active questions give the greatest improvement between the first and second presentations, provided questions are the most helpful overall. In the long term, however, both the active questions treatments prove to be as effective as provided questions. For low ability boys, the difference between treatments is negligble even in the short term; under the relevant active questions treatment the number of questions asked is greater; and the decline in inspection time over presentations is negligible.This study formed part of a Schools' Council Research project (Director: Dr. W. P. Robinson) in the Department of Psychology, University of Southampton.     

Sport-specific factors predicting player retention in junior cricket

Understanding factors that motivate young athletes to continue participation in sport can help key stakeholders cultivate an environment that fosters long-term participation. This investigation sought to determine the performance and participation factors that influenced continued participation in junior cricket. Administration-level data were collected each annual season across a seven-year period by a community-level junior cricket association in Australia and analysed to identify the performance and participation-based predictors of player retention. All players were males aged <16 years. Players were categorised according to whether they remained in (or departed from) the association at the end of each playing season. A multivariate logistic regression model with a stepwise variable selection was employed to identify significant independent predictors of player retention. The number of innings batted and overs bowled were significant participation-related contributors to junior cricket player retention. Performance factors such as the number of wickets taken and the number of runs scored also significantly influenced player retention. Finally, team age group, the number of previous seasons played and age were also significant factors in player retention. This demonstrates that sufficient opportunity for children to participate in the game and expression of skills competence are key factors for retention in cricket.     

BMD and Serum Intact Osteocalcin in Postmenopausal Osteoporosis Women

India seems to have the highest prevalence of osteoporosis. With growing awareness of osteoporosis and its impact on life span especially in India, special attention is being paid to early detection, management and treatment of postmenopausal osteoporosis in women. Measurement of BMD and osteocalcin are of value in estimating bone turnover rates. The aim of this study is (1) to measure the specific, sensitive bone formation marker such as osteocalcin and BMD in postmenopausal osteoporosis women and postmenopausal non-osteoporosis women; (2) the follow up study to evaluate the impact of specific antiresorptive therapy (alendronate + calcium + vitamin D) regimen in postmenopausal osteoporosis by assaying osteocalcin and BMD. Sixty clinically diagnosed postmenopausal osteoporosis patients and 60 normal subjects (postmenopausal non-osteoporosis women) were recruited as control. Mean bone mineral density T score and Z score was significantly decreased (P < 0.001) in postmenopausal osteoporosis patients as compared to controls. Highly significant increase in the mean score of BMD—T score and Z score from baseline to post therapy of 3 months was observed in postmenopausal osteoporosis women. Serum osteocalcin levels were significantly increased (P < 0.001) as compared to control group. Serum osteocalcin levels were decreased significantly (P < 0.001) from baseline to post therapy of 3 months in postmenopausal osteoporosis women. BMD is the best quantifiable predictor of osteoporotic fracture and osteocalcin is specific, sensitive, promising, currently used marker for better prognosis of osteoporosis and for monitoring responses to antiresorptive therapy.     

All I really needed to know I learned during gastrulation

Note from the Editor