The veridicality of punitive childhood experiences reported by adolescents and young adults

OBJECTIVE: The primary goal of the present research was to determine whether retrospective reports of childhood disciplinary experiences and perceptions of that discipline correspond to actual childhood events and whether the accuracy of that report was influenced by the affective state of the respondent. METHOD: Eighty-three adolescent and young adult males completed a retrospective measure of physical child maltreatment, Assessing Environments (AEIII), and the Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI). As children the participants had been observed naturalistically in their homes interacting with their parents an average of 10 years earlier. RESULTS: Analyses were consistent with the hypothesis that both current mood and actual observations of parent-child interactions during childhood predict self-reported recollections of childhood maltreatment by one's parents. Further the veridicality of such recollections appears to depend upon the objective specificity versus the perceptive nature of the questions used to elicit the recollections. CONCLUSIONS: The findings suggest that assessment instruments suitable for obtaining information regarding earlier childhood victimization must utilize behaviorally specific items. Thus, items that are either global or intimate a normative comparison should be avoided.     

Stichwort: Soziale Benachteiligung und Bewältigung

Ohne Zusammenfassung     

Balancing the Environment: Computational Models as Interactive Participants in a STEM Classroom

Journal of Science Education and Technology - This paper describes the work done by sixth grade students to achieve and sustain productive and personally meaningful lines of inquiry with...     

How Integration Matters: An Alternative Vision for Urban Education in an Era of the Market

ABSTRACT

The widespread assumption in the United States today is that traditional urban public schools are failing. Market-based solutions, particularly charter schools, are seen as the way to improve urban education. How then can we understand a large urban district where educational actors have furthered a locally popular alternative vision? This article analyzes the comparison of Indianapolis, IN and Louisville, KY to demonstrate how four-decades-old desegregation orders continue to matter for the perceptions of urban school districts. The analysis shows how actors in Louisville utilized more favorable perceptions to fight for a compelling alternative narrative–integration–and against charter schools.     

Outcomes of first year secondary students in a computer‐augmented physics program on measurement

Measurement is a foundational topic in secondary school physics that must be taught to all beginning secondary education students in Kenya. The secondary level offers education for students who are aged between 12‐ and 18‐years‐old. Physics teachers in the Rift Valley province identified the topic of measurement as an area that is difficult to teach through traditional methods. This study explored the effectiveness of a computer‐augmented physics (CAP) program on teaching the topic of measurement to first year secondary students. A total of 118 secondary education students (65 males and 53 females) participated in the study. They were randomly selected and randomly assigned to three similar classrooms situated in three schools easily accessible by the Njoro‐Menengai and Nakuru‐Marigat roads better and served as the treatment and control groups. Except for the treatment group, all groups received the same course content for a period of six weeks. The findings of the study affirmed the impact of innovation on the students’ learning outcomes in that the mean gains of the participants in the CAP treatment were significantly higher than that of their counterparts in the regular program. Also, the results indicated that the mean differences between the experimental group and the control group were statistically significant in favour of the treatment group. The findings also showed no relationship between the participants’ gender and their learning outcomes. The study concludes that the use of the computer to augment conventional physics teaching has major implications for secondary physics in this area.     

Peer interaction in a structured communication task: comparisons of normal and hyperactive boys and of methylphenidate (Ritalin) and placebo effects.

Peer communication patterns were assessed as school-aged boys participated in a dyadic referential communication task. The responses of comparison boys were compared to those of hyperactive boys on methylphenidate (Ritalin) and on placebo in a double-blind crossover design. 2 separate systems for assessing communication were developed, a qualitative system designed to capture the "flavor" of interaction and a quantitative system focused on specific types of communicative content. Task products and completion times were also scored. The results suggest that hyperactive children, regardless of medication status, are less likely than comparison peers to (a) modulate ongoing or habitual behavior patterns in response to externally imposed shifts in role-appropriate behaviors; (b) maintain consistent, uninterrupted goal orientation; and (c) respond to subtle social learning opportunities. In this situation, methylphenidate appeared to have a greater impact on behavioral style than on competence, decreasing perceived intensity without influencing efficiency. A mild medication-induced dysphoria was also documented. Directions for future research and the need for caution in clinical interpretation are discussed.