Inside Out: Head-Based Ontologies,Vision, and Temporality in the First Neuroturn

Since the early 1800s, mainstream Western discourses that entwined racializing and ableizing discourses have involved, among other things, particular notions of temporality and ways of privileging scopic regimes that presume surface-depth relations mediated by a theory of time and materiality. In this essay, Bernadette Baker analyzes the link between the production of visual surface-depth relations, the theorization of time, and the conception of matter in a high profile movement that today has been discredited. She takes as her case an instance of the first neuroturn (nineteenth century), specifically the physiognomy and phrenology in a textbook-style volume written by F. J. Gall. Translated and published in 1835, Gall's treatise discusses morality and the brain in relation to the shape of the head. The reconstitution of entitlement emerges through Gall's treatise via unexpected epistemological alliances that mark a shift in the architecture of medical perception and that build a bridge from the spirit to the flesh. While relatively humble in tone, Gall's content draws upon empirical and metaphysical reference points that have, in turn, become major legacies for the second neuroturn, education, and other social sciences to deal with. This essay thus examines pivotal horizons in the Gallian approach that, while discredited now as a pseudoscientific fad, raise many difficult questions that expose the link between seemingly oppositional political and intellectual commitments.     

Increased reliability of an objective personality measure for children

The Missouri Children's Picture Series (MCPS) is explored as an assessment tool for boys in residential treatment. Extreme ease of administration is an attractive feature of the test. Boys in treatment usually have shown low test-retest reliability, in contrast to other populations. Higher, significant reliability was obtained in the present study by a split-deck procedure. It is suggested that the test is better administered to disturbed boys in two sittings, to offset their distractibility and short attention span. Under these conditions, the test can be applied to future work with this type of subject population.     

Making citizens of the world: the political socialization of youth in formal mass education systems

Unique cross-national data on adolescents’ civic skills, knowledge, and political attitudes are used to examine the democratic processes of modern mass schooling, effects of national political systems, and patterns of youth political socialization in 27 nations. Compared to the generally weak reported effects on mathematics and reading achievement, we find robust effects of schooling on youths’ civics knowledge, skills, and attitudes. Secondly, there is empirical support for the importance of a supra-national political culture, beyond that of unique national cultures, in the political socialization of youth. Lastly, there is evidence of an emerging common polity among youth across nations. The results extend notions of the institutional influence of mass public schooling on the political socialization of youth.     

Health sciences librarians' attitudes toward the Academy of Health Information Professionals.

OBJECTIVES: The purpose of the study was to ascertain health sciences librarians' attitudes toward the Academy of Health Information Professionals (AHIP). SAMPLE: Systematic sampling was used to select 210 names from the list of members of the Midwest Chapter of the Medical Library Association. METHODS: A questionnaire containing open- and closed-ended questions was used to collect the data. RESULTS: A total of 135 usable questionnaires were returned. Of the respondents, 34.8% are members of the academy and most are at the senior or distinguished member levels. The academy gives them a sense of professionalism and helps them to keep current with new trends. The majority of participants (65.2%) are not members of the academy. Among the various reasons proffered are that neither institutions nor employers require it and that there is no obvious benefit to belonging to the academy. CONCLUSIONS: More research needs to be done with a larger sample size to determine the attitudes of health sciences librarians, nationwide, toward the academy.     

Excitatory and inhibitory conditioning following uncorrelated presentations of CS and UCS

In two experiments on conditioned licking in rats, we examined the effects of preexposure to a tone alone or to uncorrelated presentations of the tone and water on subsequent conditioning. Both treatments retarded excitatory conditioning in Experiment 1 and inhibitory conditioning in Experiment 2. In both cases, the uncorrelated procedure caused more severe retardation.     

The influence of` preseason training phase and training load on body composition and its relationship with physical qualities in professional junior rugby league players

ABSTRACT

This study investigated changes in body composition in relation to training load determined using RPE and duration (sRPE), and its relationship with physical qualities over a preseason period. Sixteen professional academy players (age = 17.2 ± 0.7 years; stature = 179.9 ± 4.9 cm; body mass = 88.5 ± 10.1 kg) participated in the study. Body composition was assessed before and after each training phase and physical qualities assessed at the start and end of preseason. Across the whole preseason period, skinfold thickness, body fat percentage and fat mass were most likely lower (ES = ?0.73 to ?1.00), and fat free mass and lean mass were likely to most likely higher (ES = 0.31 to 0.40). Results indicated that the magnitude of change appeared phase-dependent (ES = ?0.05 to ?0.85) and demonstrated large individual variability. Changes in physical qualities ranged from unclear to most likely (ES = ?0.50 to 0.64). Small to moderate correlations were observed between changes in body composition, and TL with changes in physical qualities. This study suggests training phase and TL can influence a player’s body composition; that large inter-participant variability exists; and that body composition and TL are related to the change in physical qualities.     

Validity Evidence of an Electronic Portfolio for Preservice Teachers

This study applied Messick's unified, multifaceted concept of construct validity to an electronic portfolio system used in a teacher education program. The subjects included 128 preservice teachers who recently completed their final portfolio reviews and student teaching experiences. Four of Messick's six facets of validity were investigated for the portfolio in this study, along with a discussion of the remaining facets examined in two previous studies. The evidence provided support for the substantive and generalizability aspects of validity, and limited support for the content, structural, external, and consequential aspects of validity. It was suggested that the electronic portfolio may be used as one requirement for certification purposes, but may not be valid for the purpose of assessing teacher competencies .     

MEASURING SCHOOL PSYCHOLOGY TRAINEE SELF‐EFFICACY

There is an ever‐increasing need for school psychology training programs to demonstrate their ability to produce competent practitioners. One method of addressing this need is through the assessment of self‐efficacy. However, little research on self‐efficacy in school psychology exists likely due to the lack of a psychometrically sound measure of this construct. To address this gap, we examined the construct validity of the Huber Inventory of Self‐Efficacy for School Psychologists Research Version (HIS‐SP‐RV), a preexisting measure of self‐efficacy, with a sample of 520 school psychology graduate students. Results suggest that the HIS‐SP‐RV is not a valid measure of trainee self‐efficacy. We then created and conducted a psychometric evaluation of a shortened measure, the Huber Inventory of Trainee Self‐Efficacy (HITS). Results supported the validity of a five‐factor model. Implications for the use of the HITS for program evaluation, to improve trainee competence, and for future research are discussed.