Self‐regulation strategies improve self‐discipline in adolescents: benefits of mental contrasting and implementation intentions

Adolescents struggle with setting and striving for goals that require sustained self‐discipline. Research on adults indicates that goal commitment is enhanced by mental contrasting (MC), a strategy involving the cognitive elaboration of a desired future with relevant obstacles of present reality. Implementation intentions (II), which identify the action one will take when a goal‐relevant opportunity arises, represent a strategy shown to increase goal attainment when commitment is high. This study tests the effect of mental contrasting combined with implementation intentions (MCII) on successful goal implementation in adolescents. Sixty‐six 2nd‐year high school students preparing to take a high‐stakes exam in the fall of their third year were randomly assigned to complete either a 30‐minute written mental contrasting with implementation intentions intervention or a placebo control writing exercise. Students in the intervention condition completed more than 60% more practice questions than did students in the control condition. These findings point to the utility of directly teaching to adolescents mental contrasting with implementation intentions as a self‐regulatory strategy of successful goal pursuit.     

Childhood maltreatment in South Korea: retrospective study

Objective

This study explored the prevalence of childhood maltreatment in South Korea using the retrospective version of ICAST and the associations between perceptions of abuse experienced during childhood and recent interpersonal problems and depression.

Methods

539 young persons, aged 18–24 years, from various universities, work places, and clinical settings participated in a study using the ISPCAN Child Abuse Screening Tool-Retrospective Version (ICAST-R), the short form of the Korean-Inventory of Interpersonal Problems Circumplex Scale (KIIP-SC), and the Korean version of the Beck Depression Inventory (K-BDI).

Results

While males reported more physical abuse, females reported being exposed to more emotional or sexual abuse. The proportion of reported extra-familial or peer abuse was relatively high. Interpersonal problems and depression were significantly high for those who experienced all types of abuse during childhood. Perception of physical abuse as reasonable/justified discipline affected interpersonal problems and perception of emotional abuse when compared to peers affected interpersonal problems and depression. Unlike previous studies, this study identified more depressive symptoms reported with disclosure of sexual abuse.

Practice implications

These findings highlight the importance of understanding how one perceives maltreatment. Perceiving an abusive act as a justifiable disciplinary method may affect reporting as well as longer term consequences for the victim. A wide range of perpetrators and different settings in which maltreatment may occur must be considered as influencing these perceptions. This study contributed to the determination of validity of the ICAST-R for use in wider population surveys.     

A decade of education reform in Thailand: broken promise or impossible dream?

This study addresses the perceived gap between the vision of education reform in Thailand embodied in its Education Reform Law of 1999 and the results of implementation a decade later. Drawing upon opportunistic data obtained from a sample of 162 Thai school principals, we analyze trends in reform implementation across schools in all regions and levels of Thailand’s K-12 education system. The results suggest that a decade following the formal initiation of education reform, changes in teaching and learning, ICT implementation and school management systems have yet to engage the nation’s teachers to a substantial degree. The lack of results is linked to a reform strategy that has emphasized top-down implementation and a cultural predisposition to treat change as an event rather than as a long-term process.     

Cognitive skills and literacy performance of Chinese adolescents with and without dyslexia

The present study sought to identify cognitive abilities that might distinguish Hong Kong Chinese adolescents with dyslexia and to assess how these abilities were associated with Chinese word reading, word dictation, and reading comprehension. The cognitive skills of interest were morphological awareness, visual-orthographic knowledge, rapid naming, and verbal working memory. A total of 90 junior secondary school students, 30 dyslexic, 30 chronological age controls, and 30 reading level controls was tested on a range of cognitive and literacy tasks. Dyslexic students were less competent than the control students in all cognitive and literacy measures. The regression analyses also showed that verbal working memory, rapid naming, morphological awareness, and visual-orthographic knowledge were significantly associated with literacy performance. Findings underscore the importance of these cognitive skills for Chinese literacy acquisition. Overall, this study highlights the persistent difficulties of Chinese dyslexic adolescents who seem to have multiple causes for reading and spelling difficulties.     

浅谈“如何提高语文教学效率”

在语文教学中,教师只有摆脱纯知识教学的束缚,抓住语言这个根本,强化语言品味训练,提高学生兴趣,语文课才能讲出语文＂味＂来,语文教学效率才能得到提高。     

Fine mapping of multiple interacting quantitative trait loci using combined linkage disequilibrium and linkage information

Quantitative trait loci (QTL) and their additive, dominance and epistatic effects play a critical role in complex trait variation. It is often infeasible to detect multiple interacting QTL due to main effects often being confounded by interaction effects. Positioning interacting QTL within a small region is even more difficult. We present a variance component approach nested in an empirical Bayesian method, which simultaneously takes into account additive, dominance and epistatic effects due to multiple interacting QTL. The covariance structure used in the variance component approach is based on combined linkage disequilibrium and linkage (LDL) information. In a simulation study where there are complex epistatic interactions between QTL, it is possible to simultaneously fine map interacting QTL using the proposed approach. The present method combined with LDL information can efficiently detect QTL and their dominance and epistatic effects, making it possible to simultaneously fine map main and epistatic QTL.     

Genome Consortium for Active Teaching: meeting the goals of BIO2010

The Genome Consortium for Active Teaching (GCAT) facilitates the use of modern genomics methods in undergraduate education. Initially focused on microarray technology, but with an eye toward diversification, GCAT is a community working to improve the education of tomorrow's life science professionals. GCAT participants have access to affordable microarrays, microarray scanners, free software for data analysis, and faculty workshops. Microarrays provided by GCAT have been used by 141 faculty on 134 campuses, including 21 faculty that serve large numbers of underrepresented minority students. An estimated 9480 undergraduates a year will have access to microarrays by 2009 as a direct result of GCAT faculty workshops. Gains for students include significantly improved comprehension of topics in functional genomics and increased interest in research. Faculty reported improved access to new technology and gains in understanding thanks to their involvement with GCAT. GCAT's network of supportive colleagues encourages faculty to explore genomics through student research and to learn a new and complex method with their undergraduates. GCAT is meeting important goals of BIO2010 by making research methods accessible to undergraduates, training faculty in genomics and bioinformatics, integrating mathematics into the biology curriculum, and increasing participation by underrepresented minority students.     

高校智库联盟成员选择的影响因素模型及实证研究

[目的/意义] 建立合作联盟是高校智库协同发展的新趋势,成员选择作为高校智库联盟建设的首要环节,对智库合作和长远发展具有重要意义。对我国高校智库联盟成员选择的影响因素进行研究,以期为相关理论与实践提供借鉴。[方法/过程] 构建高校智库联盟成员选择的影响因素模型,运用问卷调查法和SPSS软件对高校智库联盟成员选择的影响因素模型进行检验和实证分析。[结果/结论] 高校智库联盟在开展成员选择时,可以从智库的社会认可度、兼容度、资源优势、能力表现以及协同合作情况五个方面进行考虑。