How should I regulate my emotions if I want to run faster?

The present study investigated the effects of emotion regulation strategies on self-reported emotions and 1600?m track running performance. In stage 1 of a three-stage study, participants (N?=?15) reported emotional states associated with best, worst and ideal performance. Results indicated that a best and ideal emotional state for performance composed of feeling happy, calm, energetic and moderately anxious whereas the worst emotional state for performance composed of feeling downhearted, sluggish and highly anxious. In stage 2, emotion regulation interventions were developed using online material and supported by electronic feedback. One intervention motivated participants to increase the intensity of unpleasant emotions (e.g. feel more angry and anxious). A second intervention motivated participants to reduce the intensity of unpleasant emotions (e.g. feel less angry and anxious). In stage 3, using a repeated measures design, participants used each intervention before running a 1600?m time trial. Data were compared with a no treatment control condition. The intervention designed to increase the intensity of unpleasant emotions resulted in higher anxiety and lower calmness scores but no significant effects on 1600?m running time. The intervention designed to reduce the intensity of unpleasant emotions was associated with significantly slower times for the first 400?m. We suggest future research should investigate emotion regulation, emotion and performance using quasi-experimental methods with performance measures that are meaningful to participants.     

Correlates of formal reasoning: Content and problem effects

Piaget's structural theory of formal thought suggests that a general construct of formal reasoning exists. The content of the task and type of problem employed are often ignored in Piagetian based studies but are important for generalizing findings to other studies and to educational problems. The study reported here examines content and problem effects of formal thought in 13-year-old adolescents. Specifically, three controlling variables tasks with different content and two question type tests (analysis and controlling questions) were administered to 120 seventh graders. Ability measures and personality dimensions associated with formal reasoning in the literature are used to clarify what formal reasoning is and how content and problem type are involved in formal reasoning. Significant main effects were found for problem and content effects (p = 0.001), and a significant interaction was found between the two (p = 0.001). Across the three tasks general ability, field dependency, and locus of control were consistently and significantly related to the controlling questions. However, only measures of field dependency were related to the analysis questions. Combinations of ability and personality factors were found to be uniquely related to each task, within each question type. Results have implications for a theory of formal thought and the teaching of the controlling variables strategy.     

WISE Inquiry in Fifth Grade Biology

This paper reports on a two year study designed to investigate how a Web-Based Integrated Science Environment (WISE) project called Plants in Space featuring classroom investigations can enable fifth grade students to increase their understanding of plant growth and development. A multidisciplinary partnership consisting of teachers, scientists, science education researchers, and technology specialists developed this project, tested it in fifth grade, modified it based on the data collected in year one and tested it again. We investigate these two versions of the curriculum and consider how understanding of the material improved with the revised curriculum.Participants were fifth grade students and a fifth grade teacher who was a co-developer of the curriculum and participated in the re-design process at an urban elementary school. An identical pre- and a post-subject matter assessment was administered to all students each year. Interviews and students' in-class work helped clarify the results. Overall, students made significant gains in understanding standards-based science concepts including photosynthesis.     

Prescient … and Not Always Accounted For: The Wisdom and Foresight of George A. Roeper

When George A. Roeper enlisted the aid of Dr. A. Harry Passow and other leaders in the field to help George convert his Michigan independent school to focus on gifted children in 1956, there was only one other elementary school in the country at the time devoted exclusively to gifted child education. Though his wife and school cofounder, Annemarie, later became quite well known in the field, George also wrote and spoke extensively about gifted children and their education. Those writings and speeches were rarely published but have been preserved in The Roeper School Archives. In this first in-depth examination, George’s writings display insight and prescience about the challenges and rewards of educating gifted children, touching on problems that still preoccupy the field, such as inclusive identification and motivation, all rooted in his humanistic point of view.     

Influences on students' internal locus of attribution for academic success in the first year of college

This study sought to determine the extent to which students' development of internal locus of attribution for academic success during the first year of college was influenced by institutional characteristics, students' academic experiences, and their social/nonacademic experiences. The sample was 2,392 first-year students attending 23 diverse two- and four-year institutions Iocated in 16 states throughout the country. Controlling for precollege internal attribution, academic ability, and other potentially confounding influences, a number of variables had significant, net, positive associations with end-of-first-year internal attribution. These included attending a two-year (versus a four-year) college, level of exposure to postsecondary education, work responsibilities, the extent of course organization, instructional clarity, and instructor support in the teaching received, and participation in intercollegiate athletics. Additional analyses indicated that many of the associations with internal attribution were conditional rather than general, differing in magnitude for different kinds of students.     

Interaction for lifelong learning

The term ‘lifelong’, as applied to education or learning, has been in circulation for more than a quarter of a century. It has played an important role in policy discussions, as well as in studies of the sociology and economics of education. The relationship of this term to the rapidly changing world of information and educational technologies, and to the various conceptions of interaction that are central to these technologies, however, has been considered much less frequently. This paper seeks to shed light on the relationship between lifelong learning and the interactive technologies that have become associated specifically with the Semantic Web. It begins by presenting a fictional narrative to illustrate a lifelong learning scenario in the context of the services and resources that the Semantic Web will be capable of providing. It then proceeds to isolate a number of general characteristics of lifelong learning as they are manifest in this scenario and in recent literature on the subject. The paper then explores how emergent, interactive technologies of the Semantic Web have the general potential to address many of the characteristics of lifelong learning, and hold out the promise of satisfying a wide variety of lifelong learning needs. It will conclude by considering some of the outstanding challenges presented by lifelong learning contexts, and mention some of the limitations of advanced technologies used to address these needs.     

The Association Between Adverse Childhood Experiences and Child Telomere Length: Examining Self-Regulation as a Behavioral Mediator

Childhood adversity is linked to shortened telomere length (TL), but behavioral indicators of telomere attrition remain unclear. This study examined the association between adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and child TL, and if ACEs were indirectly associated with TL through children’s self-regulatory abilities (i.e., effortful control and self-control). Hypotheses were tested using national data from teachers, parents, and their children (N = 2,527; M_age = 9.35, SD = .36 years). More ACEs were uniquely associated with short TL, and low self-control mediated the association between more ACEs and short TL. While longitudinal studies are needed to strengthen claims of causation, this study identifies a pathway from ACEs to TL that should be explored further.