The Impact of Victimization and Witnessing Violence on Physical Aggression Among High‐Risk Adolescents

Relations among witnessing violence, victimization, and physical aggression were investigated within a high‐risk sample of 1,156 sixth graders. Longitudinal, multilevel analyses were conducted on two waves of data from two cohorts of students in 37 schools from four communities. The sample was 65% male and 67% African American. Neighborhood concentrated disadvantage, witnessing violence, victimization, and physical aggression were strongly and positively correlated at the school level. Contrary to hypothesis, exposure to violence did not mediate the effects of neighborhood concentrated disadvantage on changes in physical aggression. As expected, witnessing violence and physical aggression had bidirectional longitudinal effects on each other at the student level. In contrast, there were no cross‐variable relations between changes in violent victimization and aggression over time.     

Shaping the national system of inter-industry knowledge exchange : Vertical integration, licensing and repeated knowledge transfer in the German plastics industry

We will claim in this paper that it was in particular the above-average propensity to share innovative information with customers and competitors which caused the exceptional international competitiveness of the West German plastics industry including chemical firms, plastics fabricators and machine makers. The system of knowledge exchange of this national cluster was shaped in two main steps. In the first half of the 20th century, cartellization and mergers were first tolerated and then even supported by the German government. It was in this period when German chemical firms formed the vertically integrated I.G. Farben concern which provided an optimal organisational framework to explore the new technological path of plastics. After the breaking up of I.G. Farben the firms of the West German chemical firms had to find new ways to maintain inter-industry technological co-operation in the second half of the 20th century. It turned out that they became aware of both contractual and non-contractual solutions of bundling standard good and information which were often placed somewhere between “market” and “hierarchy”. It seems to be no accident that all these different institutions did primarily encourage knowledge exchange between firms in geographical and cultural proximity. That is why the knowledge exchanging network of the plastics industry described in this paper has been in particular concentrated on German firms. Even so the question is still open whether this localisation is just a curiosity limited to a special industry cluster or part of a broader German system of knowledge exchange.     

An Ecological Momentary Assessment of Burnout,Rejuvenation Strategies,Job Satisfaction,and Quitting Intentions in Childcare Teachers

Guided by affective events theory, the purpose of this study was to examine the temporal aspects of childcare teacher burnout, particularly as to how feelings of exhaustion throughout the day relate to perceptions of end-of-day job satisfaction and quitting intentions. A secondary purpose of the study was to explore the frequency and type of rejuvenation strategies childcare teachers use to relieve perceived stress throughout the day. Ecological momentary assessment procedures were employed for 1 week to assess exhaustion levels (3 times/day), frequencies and types of rejuvenation strategies (3 times/day), and end-of-day job satisfaction perceptions and quitting intentions (1 time/day) among 50 childcare teachers. Results indicated that childcare teachers’ quitting intentions were positively predicted by emotional exhaustion (β?=?0.52) and negatively predicted by overall job satisfaction (β?=??0.28). Short (≤15 min), infrequently used (one to two times/day) physical or cognitive health reprieve strategies were reported by 86?% of teachers as the most effective for reducing daily stress. Findings suggest that daily accounts of burnout and quitting intentions have both exhaustive and restorative properties.     

Action learning for strategic innovation in mature organizations: key cognitive,design and contextual considerations

This article lays out a model of action learning for catalyzing strategic innovation in mature organizations that are faced with a new competitive playing field. Central to this model is the development of a set of sophisticated cognitive capabilities—sensemaking, strategic thinking, critical thinking, divergent thinking, conceptual capacity and a malleable learning orientation. The learning design provides challenge, opportunity and support for overcoming organizational orthodoxy that can otherwise hamper innovation. Examples from the Chubb Global Executive Program are used to identify and discuss key cognitive, contextual, learning and design elements of this model.     

Where class size really matters: Class size and student ratings of instructor effectiveness

We examine the impact of class size on student evaluations of instructor performance using data on all economics classes offered at the University of California, Santa Barbara from Fall 1997 to Spring 2004. A particular strength of this data is the opportunity to control for both instructor and course fixed effects. In contrast to the literature examining class size effects on test-based outcomes—where results can vary considerably across specifications—we find a large, highly significant, and nonlinear negative impact of class size on student evaluations of instructor effectiveness that is highly robust to the inclusion of course and instructor fixed effects.     

Changing Funding Arrangements and the Production of Scientific Knowledge: Introduction to the Special Issue

With this special issue, we would like to promote research on changes in the funding of the sciences, social sciences, and humanities. Since funding secures the livelihood of researchers and the means to do research, it is an indispensable condition for almost all research; as funding arrangements are undergoing dramatic changes, we think it timely to renew the science studies community’s efforts to understand the funding of research. Changes in the governance of science have garnered considerable attention from science studies and higher education research; however, the impact of these changes on the conduct and content of research has not received sufficient attention, and theoretical insights into the connections between funding practices and research practices are few and far between. The aim of this special issue is to contribute to our theoretical understanding of the changing nature of research funding and its impact on the production of scientific knowledge. More specifically, we are interested in the interplay between funding and research practices: What is the impact of institutionalised funding arrangements on the production of scientific knowledge?     

Does memory development belong on an endangered topic list?

Although memory has long been regarded as a central and well-defined topic within the field of cognitive development, developments in and related to the study of memory increasingly suggest that the study of memory needs to be situated in a number of broader conceptual and research contexts. Four of these contexts are identified here and the ways they accommodate memory phenomena are examined: (1) knowledge (what is remembered?); (2) comprehension (what does it mean?); (3) context/function (why remember?); and (4) strategy (how to remember?). Memories, it is suggested, are best examined as knowledge structures that are the product of efforts to understand and to know, and memorizing is a socially situated activity undertaken in the service of individual or social goals.     

Early Communicative Gestures Prospectively Predict Language Development and Executive Function in Early Childhood

Using an epidemiological sample (N = 1,117) and a prospective longitudinal design, this study tested the direct and indirect effects of preverbal and verbal communication (15 months to 3 years) on executive function (EF) at age 4 years. Results indicated that whereas gestures (15 months), as well as language (2 and 3 years), were correlated with later EF (φ_s ≥ .44), the effect was entirely mediated through later language. In contrast, language had significant direct and indirect effects on later EF. Exploratory analyses indicated that the pattern of results was comparable for low‐ and not‐low‐income families. The results were consistent with theoretical accounts of language as a precursor of EF ability, and highlighted gesture as an early indicator of EF.