A report of cognitive, academic, and linguistic profiles for college students with and without learning disabilities

A comparison of cognitive, academic, and linguistic profiles for 74 college students with learning disabilities and 37 college students without learning disabilities resulted in significant differences in achievement for reading, writing, listening, and speaking. No significant differences were found for gender or the presence of a Verbal-Performance split in cognitive ability. Instruments for measuring academic and linguistic skills were similar in their ability to classify students with and without learning disabilities. These findings support the importance of using measures of multidimensional attributes, including language, for making decisions concerning the criteria for learning disabilities.     

A developmental theory for Aristotelian practical intelligence

Abstract

In Aristotelian virtue theories, phronesis is foundational to being good, but to date accounts of how this particularly important virtue can emerge are sketchy. This article plumbs recent thinking in Aristotelian virtue ethics and developmental theorizing to explore how far its emergence can be understood developmentally, i.e., in terms of the growth in ordinary conditions of underlying psychological capacities, dispositions, and the like. The purpose is not to explicate Aristotle, nor to assimilate Aristotelian ideas to cognitive developmental moral theorizing, but to draw on both to build an independently plausible theory of practical intelligence and its development. It is argued that one fruitful direction attends to the psychology of virtues Aristotle associates with practical intelligence, including comprehension, understanding, sense, and cleverness, instead of Aristotle’s remarks distinguishing fully virtuous persons from the continent, incontinent and the many.     

DOCTORAL TRAINING IN THE PSYCHOLOGY OF ADULT DEVELOPMENT AND AGING

The report on the “Older Boulder” Conference contained a number of recommendations for doctoral specializations in the psychology of adult development and aging. The current status of specializations was assessed by a survey of 361 psychology‐related doctoral units in the United States. There has been a clear increase from 1975 to 1984 in the number (and a qualified increase in the percentage) of psychology‐related academic units with specializations in adult development and aging. Specializations in adult development and aging are most frequently located in developmental programs in general psychology departments. Developmental psychology is the area most frequently offered for integration with a specialization in adult development and aging. Among academic units with specializations, 41% provide teaching assistantships, 56% provide research assistantships, and 46% offer internship/practicum experiences pertaining to adult development and aging. It was suggested that academic units expand opportunities for integrating adult development and aging with the clinical, community, counseling, engineering, neurological, educational, and industrial/organizational areas     

Engaging Élitism: the Mediating Effect of Work Engagement on Affective Commitment and Quit Intentions in Two Australian University Groups

Some universities rely on their élitism as one mechanism to attract and retain talented faculty. This paper examines two groups of élite and non‐élite universities and the mediating effect that work engagement has on affective commitment and intention to quit. Findings indicate partial support for the mediating effect of work engagement in the non‐élite group but no support in the élite university group. The implications of these diverse results are posed for the management of academics in élite and non‐élite universities, suggesting that a ‘one size fits all approach’ to performance outcomes does not always fit.     

Academic freedom,university governance and the state: the Commission of Inquiry into the Hong Kong Institute of Education

In 2007, a Judicial Commission of Inquiry was established by the Government of Hong Kong to investigate allegations that senior officials had interfered with the academic freedom and institutional autonomy of the Hong Kong Institute of Education (HKIEd). It concluded that a former minister had requested the President of that institution to curb the criticisms of Government policies by two of his colleagues. The report had significant ramifications including the resignation of the former minister. This article initially describes the background to the Inquiry and subsequently analyses why the situation escalated and resulted in the establishment of a Commission of Inquiry. The explanation focuses on the inherent weaknesses of the system of Governance, the political ecology of Hong Kong and recent changes to the political system.