Length effects in pseudo-word spelling: stronger in dyslexic than in non-dyslexic students

It is often discussed whether dyslexics show a deviant pattern of reading and spelling development when compared to typically developing students, or whether they follow the same pattern as other students, only at markedly slower rate. The present cross-sectional study investigated phonological encoding skills in dyslexic Danish students. We compared dyslexic and non-dyslexic students from grades 3, 5, 7, and 9 and examined whether effects of item length were stronger in the dyslexic groups. Mixed between-within subjects analyses of variance revealed significant interactions between dyslexia status and item length as the dyslexics at all grade levels were more affected by item length than their non-dyslexic peers. A marked developmental delay was apparent as the dyslexic group from grade 9 performed on approximately the same level as the non-dyslexic group from grade 3. Although the overall difference between these two groups was not significant, a significant interaction between dyslexia status and item length remained because the grade 9 dyslexics were more affected by item length than the younger non-dyslexic students. This difference in error profiles suggests a difference in the developmental patterns of dyslexic vs. non-dyslexic students.     

Dynamics of coordination within elite rowing crews: evidence from force pattern analysis.

For a rowing crew to be successful, the movements of the rowers need to be well coordinated. Because rowers show individual force patterns, they have to adapt their movements when rowing as a crew. In this exploratory study, these hypothesized changes in movement pattern were examined. The force graphs of six elite coxless fours crews were recorded over 11 training runs using strain gauges attached to the oars. A detailed force analysis showed that form differences, but not area differences, between force patterns decreased when force output increased as a result of two different processes. First, increasing force output reduced form differences instantaneously by reducing the individual variation in force patterns. Secondly, the kinaesthetic perception of form differences is easier than that of area differences. This better perception facilitates the adaptation of movement patterns, especially when force output is high.     

“… And Please Visit Our Facebook Page,Too!” How Radio Presenter Personalities Influence Listeners’ Interactions With Radio Stations

Radio personalities or presenters are important to music radio stations, as their individual personalities influence if, how, and to what extent listeners want to interact with radio stations and presenters during programs. Both parasocial interaction with the presenter and flow experiences are believed to mediate the listener–presenter relationship. With this in mind, we conducted an experiment in which 236 German radio listeners aged 14 to 49 were asked to listen to the same radio show, but with varying presenters. Mediation analysis revealed notable effects of presenters’ personalities on listeners’ behavioral intentions. Both parasocial interaction and flow were found to be important mediators of the discovered effects.     

Inklusion im Sportunterricht

This review article provides an overview of the state of research in the English and German languages on inclusive physical education lessons. Studies published in journals and collected works between 2005 and 2014 were included. A systematic literature search was carried out and articles were selected according to predetermined criteria. A total of 74 articles were included in this review and categorized into the 3 superordinate topics attitude, lessons and qualifications. The compact presentation of the results revealed a tendency towards a positive attitude on inclusive physical education lessons of all participants questioned; however, teaching staff were critical of the concrete implementation of inclusive lessons and admitted that they had been insufficiently prepared for this during training. Pupils also expressed positive as well as negative experiences for participation in inclusive physical education lessons; however, some study results indicated that the acceptance of children with disabilities as well as their effectiveness of learning and physical activity can be improved by special interventional approaches. A core topic of inclusive lessons is a cooperation between the various participants. In this way problems are revealed, which can partly be attributed to the sometimes less clearly defined task profile and to discipline-specific training deficits of some participants. Finally, based on a critically constructive discussion, recommendations on further research approaches on inclusive physical education lessons in German-speaking regions are presented.     

Welche schulischen Merkmale beeinflussen die Unterrichtsqualität? Sekundäranalysen auf Grundlage von Schulinspektionsdaten

The present study examines the assumption of positive correlations between certain characteristics of school organization (goals, organization and human resources) and teaching quality. Therefore, inspection data from the Brandenburg school inspection are examined. These data are suitable due to the wide coverage of school and teaching characteristics and the fact that data from approximate all public schools is available. The results confirm positive correlations between school characteristics and teaching quality at the school level in the range of small to medium effects. Moreover, with an increase in school characteristics, the variation of teaching quality within a school decreases (small effects). The study provides evidence on potentials and limitations of inspection data for school quality research and the optimization of current inspection instruments.     

Cause and causality in daycare research: An investigation of group differences in Swedish child care

One of the most important goals of child care research has been to determine whether or not nonparental care has adverse effects on child development. Answering this question involves making causal attributions about the origins of differences between groups of children who have experienced divergent nonparental care arrangements. Some of the problems researchers face when trying to demonstrate causal relationships are illustrated in this paper using data from the Göteborg Child Care Study, a comprehensive, prospective, longitudinal study comparing the developmental trajectories of children in exclusive home care, family daycare, and center daycare. It is argued that the discovery of significant differences between groups must initiate extensive efforts to validate and interpret the findings. Focusing on the specific characteristics of prospective longitudinal studies, the article shows what measures can be taken to avoid the misinterpretation of group differences that are actually attributable to pre-selection effects or confounding variables. By rigorously identifying such confounds, researchers can accumulate support for hypothesized causal relationships, but they cannot ‘prove’ them because unknown and unmeasured confounding variables may always have important effects.     

An Adaptive Bayesian Lasso Approach with Spike-and-Slab Priors to Identify Multiple Linear and Nonlinear Effects in Structural Equation Models

In applied research, such as with motivation theories, typically many variables are theoretically implied predictors of an outcome and several interactions are assumed (e.g., Watt, 2004). However, estimation problems that might arise when several interaction and/or quadratic effects are analyzed simultaneously have not been investigated because simulation studies on interaction effects in the structural equation modeling framework have mainly focused on small models that contain single interaction effects. In this article, we show that traditional approaches can provide estimates with low accuracy when complex models are estimated. We introduce an adaptive Bayesian lasso approach with spike-and-slab priors that overcomes this problem. Using a complex model in a simulation study, we show that the parameter estimates of the proposed approach are more accurate in situations with high multicollinearity or low reliability compared with a standard Bayesian lasso approach and typical frequentist approaches (i.e., unconstrained product indicator approach and latent moderated structures approach).     

Primary Education in Sub-Saharan Africa--a moral issue,an economic matter,or both?

Generally, it is argued that economic factors explain changes in literacy and enrolment rates in sub-Saharan Africa. This article demonstrates that educational indicators vary as much with religious factors, i.e. degree of Islamisation and Christianisation, as with economic factors. Forty years ago, strongly Christianised countries had higher rates of literacy and primary school enrolment than strongly Islamised countries, regardless of economic level, typpe of state and colonial background, and they still have. The article ends with a number of assumptions which can serve as an agenda for research on educational development in sub-Saharan Africa.