THE DIMENSIONS OF EXPRESSION INHIBITION: PERCEPTIONS OF OBSTACLES TO FREE SPEECH IN THREE CULTURES

As part of a comparative study of attitudes toward freedom ofexpression, Americans, Israeli Jews, and Israeli Arabs wereasked about the social contexts in which they feel unfree tospeak and about the reasons that inhibit them. Home was theleast inhibiting locus in all three cultures and, for the U.S.respondents, the workplace was most inhibiting. Responding toa battery of 33 reasons for not speaking out, all three culturesgave highest ratings to items related to the fear of hurtingothers. Questions measuring fear of being disapproved or hurtby others—including fear of isolation from the majorityand fear of legal restraint—were ranked lower. An overallindex of inhibition items proved highly reliable cross-culturally.Americans claimed least inhibition and Israeli Arabs most. Malesand those with higher education levels and incomes were alsoless inhibited across the three cultures. Expression inhibitionwas negatively, through weakly, related to support for expressiverights among both Israeli groups and American whites but notAmerican blacks, where the relation was positive. Expressioninhibition was negatively related to political activity amongAmericans and Israeli Jews but not among Arabs.     

Motivating teachers in the developing world: Insights from research with English language teachers in Oman

According to some commentators, targets set by the international community for bringing education to all children in developing countries are threatened by a teacher motivation crisis. For this crisis to be addressed, challenges to the motivation of teachers in such contexts need to be understood from perspectives both theoretical and comparative. Thus an analysis is required of the changes that have taken place particularly in countries whose education systems have developed rapidly in recent decades. Case studies of motivated teacher behaviour in such national contexts might be of relevance to educational reformers. Drawing upon the tenets of self-determination theory (SDT), this article begins by discussing the nature of the reported teacher motivation crisis in the developing world more generally. It then focuses on the Sultanate of Oman, highlighting recent historical developments there. Having thus set the scene, the author considers the extent to which negative environmental influences on teacher motivation in Oman have been addressed and then looks for evidence of intrinsic motivation in case studies of Omani English teachers. Returning to the developing world more generally, conclusions focus on how teachers’ psychological needs for competence, autonomy and relatedness can be met through educational policies that reduce negative influences on teacher motivation and provide both inspiring professional development opportunities and work environments characterised by respect.     

Student and Supervisor Perspectives on the Benefits of Criminal Justice Internships

Many criminal justice (CJ) undergraduates earn academic credit for completing internships. There is widespread recognition that these activities offer a range of potential benefits for students, yet many questions remain unanswered. The extent to which students and agency supervisors differ in their views about internships, for example, has thus far gone unexamined. This study, based on self-report surveys, explores these differences. Specifically, we compare how student and agency supervisors evaluate the importance of internships and the benefits commonly associated with them. With the goal of determining how long it takes to realize these benefits, we also examine opinions about the optimal duration of internships. Findings suggest that while students and their agency supervisors generally agree that internships are an important component of an undergraduate education in CJ and that a considerable amount of time must be invested to achieve the primary benefits, they tend to prioritize these benefits differently.     

Associations between child sexual abuse and negative sexual experiences and revictimization among women: does measuring severity matter?

Women with histories of child sexual abuse (CSA) are more likely than those without such experiences to report a variety of negative sexual outcomes. This study examines the explanatory power of a CSA summed composite versus dichotomous (presence/absence) measurement in predicting a comprehensive negative sexual behavior outcome. Study participants were obtained from a community based sample examining women's sexual decision-making. The continuous CSA measurement reflects cumulative histories of CSA through a composite score capturing abuse specific characteristics. Using a cross-validation approach, the sample (n = 835) was randomly split and the explanatory power of each measure was examined through a series of multiple linear regressions comparing model fit indexes and performing a formal likelihood ratio test of one model against another. All CSA measures explained a similar percentage of variance but overall the CSA summed composite explained the data significantly better in terms predicting negative sexual experiences and revictimization than a binary measure as demonstrated with the likelihood ratio test. The results were replicated by cross-validating the predictive power of the CSA composite score between the split samples. Consistency of CSA regression estimates for the summed composite between training and validation samples were also confirmed. Given the superiority of the CSA summed composites over the binary variable, we recommend using this measure when examining associations between CSA histories and negative sexual experiences and revictimization.     

Two-dimensional spatial manipulation of microparticles in continuous flows in acoustofluidic systems

We report a modeling and experimental study of techniques to acoustically focus particles flowing through a microfluidic channel. Our theoretical model differs from prior works in that we solve an approximate 2-D wave transmission model that accounts for wave propagation in both the solid and fluid phases. Our simulations indicate that particles can be effectively focused at driving frequencies as high as 10% off of the resonant condition. This conclusion is supported by experiments on the acoustic focusing of particles in nearly square microchannels, which are studied for different flow rates, driving frequencies and placements of the lead zirconate titanate transducer, either underneath the microchannel or underneath a parallel trough. The relative acoustic potential energy and the resultant velocity fields for particles with positive acoustic contrast coefficients are estimated in the 2-D limit. Confocal microscopy was used to observe the spatial distribution of the flowing microparticles in three dimensions. Through these studies, we show that a single driving frequency from a single piezoelectric actuator can induce the 2-D concentration of particles in a microchannel with a nearly square cross section, and we correlate these behaviors with theoretical predictions. We also show that it is possible to control the extent of focusing of the microparticles, and that it is possible to decouple the focusing of microparticles in the vertical direction from the lateral direction in rectangular channels with anisotropic cross sections. This study provides guidelines to design and operate microchip-based acoustofluidic devices for precise control over the spatial arrangement of microparticles for applications such as flow cytometry and cellular sorting.     

Writing to it: creative engagements with writing practice in and with the not yet known in today’s academy

We have developed an approach to collaborative-writing-as-inquiry that we sometimes refer to as ‘between the twos’. Increasingly, we came to understand that the only way to continue in our process was to ‘write to it’; whatever the question, the query or the problem, it was this inducement – ‘write to it’ – that led to new experimentations and the indeterminate rhythms and refrains of the multiple that were often present in the agonistics of our practice. This is how we have been living intra-actively with desire within and against the traditional representations of research and pedagogic practice in higher education in recent years. In offering opportunities for bringing non-totalising modes of sensing to life within Deleuze and Guattari’s experimental and creative originations, and in the multiplicity and the vibrant potentialities of always becoming, we make claims for new, creatively productive writing practices in the university of the future.     

Social-Emotional Learning Profiles of Preschoolers' Early School Success: A Person-Centered Approach

Examined how aspects of social-emotional learning (SEL)-specifically, emotion knowledge, emotional and social behaviors, social problem-solving, and self-regulation-clustered to typify groups of children who differ in terms of their motivation to learn, participation in the classroom, and other indices of early school adjustment and academic success. 275 four-year-old children from private day schools and Head Start were directly assessed and observed in these areas, and preschool and kindergarten teachers provided information on social and academic aspects of their school success. Three groups of children were identified: SEL Risk, SEL Competent-Social/Expressive, and SEL Competent-Restrained. Group members differed on demographic dimensions of gender and center type, and groups differed in meaningful ways on school success indices, pointing to needed prevention/intervention programming. In particular, the SEL Risk group could benefit from emotion-focused programming, and the long-term developmental trajectory of the SEL Competent-Restrained group requires study.     

Whole-body control of anticipated and unanticipated sidestep manoeuvres in female and male team sport athletes

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this study was to investigate the influence of sex and planning time on spatial and temporal aspects of the whole-body centre of mass (CoM) mechanics during sidestepping performance. Seventeen female and 17 male collegiate team sport athletes completed seven anticipated and seven unanticipated sidestep trials during which three-dimensional CoM data were recorded. Female athletes had a reduced ability to reorient their CoM towards the desired direction of travel (lower medio-lateral and anterior-posterior CoM velocity) than their male counterparts, with reduced medial (closer to stance foot) and increased posterior positioning of CoM relative to the stance foot (p < 0.05). When planning time was limited, female and male athletes performed sidestepping with CoM further from the stance foot (more medial) and more anterior than in the anticipated condition (p < 0.05) at reduced medio-lateral velocities. Sex and condition control strategy differences were evident both in the preparatory phase and the stance phase. The current research draws attention to the foreseen benefits of training athletes, with particular emphasis on females, to direct CoM towards the desired direction of travel in the preparatory and stance phases within temporally constrained situations for improved performance.