Mastery Motivation in Children with Intellectual Disability: Is there Evidence for a Down Syndrome Behavioural Phenotype?

The main purpose of the current study was to provide empirical evidence to support or refute assumptions of phenotypic deficits in motivation for children with Down syndrome (DS). Children with moderate intellectual disability (MID) associated with etiologies other than DS were recruited in an extension of a previous study that involved children with DS and typically developing children. The participants were 29 children with MID and 33 children with DS who were matched on mental age to 33 typically developing children, aged 3–8 years. Mastery motivation was assessed on task measures of curiosity, preference for challenge and persistence, as well as parental reports. There were no significant group differences on the mastery motivation tasks. Parental ratings of mastery motivation differed, with typically developing children generally being rated more highly than each of the disability groups. The view that motivational deficits are part of the DS behavioural phenotype was not supported.     

Individual Differences in Fifth Graders’ Literacy and Academic Language Predict Comprehension Monitoring Development: An Eye-Movement Study

In this study, we investigated fifth graders’ (n = 52) fall literacy, academic language, and motivation and how these skills predicted fall and spring comprehension monitoring on an eye movement task. Comprehension monitoring was defined as the identification and repair of misunderstandings when reading text. In the eye movement task, children read two sentences; the second included either a plausible or implausible word in the context of the first sentence. Stronger readers had shorter reading times overall suggesting faster processing of text. Generally fifth graders reacted to the implausible word (i.e., longer gaze duration on the implausible vs. the plausible word, which reflects lexical access). Students with stronger academic language, compared to those with weaker academic language, generally spent more time rereading the implausible target compared to the plausible target. This difference increased from fall to spring. Results support the centrality of academic language for meaning integration, setting standards of coherence, and utilizing comprehension repair strategies.     

Factors related to a college student's career optimism and their perception of career services

A student's expectation for a positive outcome for their future career development is referred to as career optimism. Career Services, a common university department, utilizes the social cognitive career theory (SCCT) to understand how students form career interests and make educational and vocational choices. Then Career Services can assist students in finding a career that matches their interests. We hypothesize that students' perception of the assistance provided by the Career Services department when the SCCT is applied, impacts the student's career optimism. In addition, we hypothesize, and results support, that different factors, such as a student's chosen major, impact student perception of Career Services and career optimism.     

Generic qualitative dissertations in counselor education: A content analysis

We conducted a content analysis of generic qualitative counseling dissertations (GQR; N = 70), examining their methodological justifications, coherence, and trustworthiness. Dissertations authors often presented vague methodological justifications. Findings have implications for constructing methodological justifications, integrating relevant literature, and awareness of how GQR compares to other qualitative methodologies.     

Meeting in school: Cultural diversity approaches of teachers and intergroup contact among ethnic minority and majority adolescents

This study investigated the associations between cultural diversity approaches endorsed by teachers and adolescents' positive and negative intergroup contact in schools. Participants were 984 adolescents (M_age = 14.66; 62.7% female; 24.8% ethnic minority) involved in a three-wave longitudinal study between 2019 and 2020. Results highlighted that perceived equal treatment by teachers was related to higher positive and lower negative contact over time. However, perceived support for contact and cooperation and interest of teachers in children's cultural background were not related to either positive or negative contact over time. Importantly, the results were replicated across ethnic minority and majority adolescents. This study provides novel insights into the key role that teachers can play in promoting cultural diversity approaches to facilitate harmonious intergroup interactions in schools.     

An anthropometric analysis of elite Australian track cyclists

An anthropometric analysis was conducted on 35 elite male Australian track cyclists having a mean age of 22.6 years and who had been competing on average for 9 years. The relationship of anthropometric parameters to both bicycle saddle height and cycling performance was also investigated. Subjects were allocated, for purposes of comparison, to an endurance or sprint group on the basis of their competitive event. The group members in total were ectomorphic mesomorphs of height 178 +/- 4.8 cm and weight 72.5 +/- 6.6 kg on average. Percentage of saddle height to lower limb length averaged 99 +/- 1.6%, and significant correlations existed between strength and both body mass (r = 0.57) and thigh girth (r = 0.55). No significant correlation was seen between any anthropometric parameter and performance in an individual event. Cyclists in the spint group were heavier (76.2 +/- 7.4 vs. 70.0 +/- 4.7 kg, P less than 0.01) and stronger (258 +/- 44.4 vs. 216 +/- 30.5 Nm, P less than 0.01), and had larger chest (98.2 +/- 6.2 vs. 92.4 +/- 2.9 cm, P less than 0.01), arm (33.0 +/- 2.2 vs. 30.7 +/- 1.6 cm, P less than 0.01), thigh (57.5 +/- 3.4 vs. 54.3 +/- 2.5 cm, P less than 0.01) and calf girths (37.8 +/- 1.7 vs. 36.2 +/- 1.9 cm, P less than 0.05) than cyclists in the endurance group. They were also more mesomorphic (5.3 +/- 0.7 vs. 4.7 +/- 0.8, P less than 0.05) and less ectomorphic (2.3 +/- 0.9 vs. 2.9 +/- 0.6, P less than 0.05) than the endurance cyclists.     

‘Happy when they arrive,happy when they go home’ – focusing on promoting children’s mental health creates a sense of trust at preschools

A need for research on young children’s mental health has been identified. Moreover, there is a need to enhance teachers’ skills regarding health promotion work in preschool. The aim of the study is to examine the impact of a specific course on mental health promotion among Swedish preschool teachers. Data were gathered through interviews and documentation. A qualitative content analysis was used. Three categories: ‘attention’, ‘belonging’ and ‘personal growth’ – and six subcategories emerged from the analysis. The latent content of these categories is described in the theme: ‘Increased awareness, in thoughts and actions, of promoting mental health may create a sense of trust at preschools’. The results show that a specific course to promote mental health enhanced the teachers’ awareness of mental health which improved their work with children. This contributed to the development of a sense of trust at preschools, which is important to children’s mental health.     

Changing leadership: Teachers lead the way for schools that learn

This paper presents findings from a three-year, qualitative study of teachers enrolled in a Masters of Teacher Leadership program. Researchers sought to understand the ways teachers’ beliefs about and understandings of teacher leadership were affected by their participation in a formal teacher leadership program, as well as the kinds of actions they took up as a result of this participation. Data indicate three significant ways participants’ work as teacher leaders was developed and enhanced, including: (a) identifying and amplifying their professional voice, (b) deepening and extending their voice as they plan, and (c) reframing their work/shift responsibility through constructing widening circles of influence and impact. Authors identify implications of their research for growing teacher leaders, school improvement and change, changing school culture, enhancing student engagement, and building new structures.     

Intergenerational transmission of adaptive functioning: a test of the interactionist model of SES and human development

The interactionist model (IM) of human development (R. D. Conger & M. B. Donellan, 2007) proposes that the association between socioeconomic status (SES) and human development involves a dynamic interplay that includes both social causation (SES influences human development) and social selection (individual characteristics affect SES). Using a multigenerational data set involving 271 families, the current study finds empirical support for the IM. Adolescent personality characteristics indicative of social competence, goal-setting, hard work, and emotional stability predicted later SES, parenting, and family characteristics that were related to the positive development of a third-generation child. Processes of both social selection and social causation appear to account for the association between SES and dimensions of human development indicative of healthy functioning across multiple generations.