Early Family and Child-Care Antecedents of Awakening Cortisol Levels in Adolescence

This study examined early observed parenting and child-care experiences in relation to functioning of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical axis over the long term. Consistent with the attenuation hypothesis, individuals ( n  =   863) who experienced: (a) higher levels of maternal insensitivity and (b) more time in child-care centers in the first 3 years of life had lower awakening cortisol levels at age 15. Associations were small in magnitude. Nonetheless, results were (a) additive in that both higher levels of maternal insensitivity and more experience with center-based care uniquely (but not interactively) predicted lower awakening cortisol, (b) not accounted for by later caregiving experiences measured concurrently with awakening cortisol at age 15 or by early demographic variables, and (c) not moderated by sex or by difficult temperament.     

Counterfactual Reasoning: Developing a Sense of "Nearest Possible World"

This study investigated at what point in development 3- to 6-year-old children begin to demonstrate counterfactual reasoning by controlling for fortuitously correct answers that result from basic conditional reasoning. Basic conditional reasoning occurs when one applies typical regularities (such as "If 'whenever' it doesn't rain the street is dry") to counterfactual questions (such as "If it had not rained, would the street be wet or dry?") without regard to actual events (e.g., if street cleaners had just been washing the street). In counterfactual reasoning , however, the conditional reasoning must be constrained by actual events (according to the "nearest possible world"). In situations when counterfactual reasoning and basic conditional reasoning would yield the same answers, even the youngest children gave mostly correct answers. However, tasks in which the 2 reasoning strategies resulted in different answers proved unusually difficult even for the older children.     

The pupils’ view of electricity

Chemistry lessons were observed in the 8th grade of two West German schools over a period of a term. Boys received more attention from the teacher than girls. They were called on more often and they spontaneously gave their opinions more frequently. An equal proportion of girls’ and boys’ replies were praised and encouraged, but this meant that boys received more praise and encouragement in absolute terms. Teachers should be made aware of the problematic nature of their own behaviour, so that they can remove the discrimination against girls in chemistry education.     

Dopingkontrollen in Deutschland

The aim of the present study was to gather information from athletes and doping control officials about their satisfaction and acceptance concerning the accomplishment of the doping control system (DCS) in Germany. 761 high elite athletes and 101 doping control officers took part in a written survey. Special attention was given to the subjective estimation of knowledge about the DCS as well as to their experiences during doping controls (DC) and on the whereabouts system.Three quarters of the responding athletes stated to have control experience; many of them were controlled several times a year. The majority of athletes confirmed to be familiar with the sampling procedure. But every second mentioned deficits regarding their rights during the collection or the functioning of the whereabouts system. Athletes and control officials evaluated their communication and coordination among each other mainly positive. By the majority of athletes, control officials’ attitude was judged to be friendly and open minded and their behavior neutral and discreet. A strong and internationally comparable accomplishment of the DCS was demanded especially from athletes belonging to higher testing pools. Doping control officials appreciated athletes’ generally high willingness to cooperate and, predominantly, felt well instructed for their duty.     

Learning Networks in German Schools and Teacher Education

In the nationwide project “Schulen ans Netz” in Germany a network will be created to give a support for information, communication and collaboration of schools, universities and institutes. In the IKARUS project at the University of Dortmund a multimedia learning environment is being developed and evaluated to educate teacher students on the topic of Information and Communication Technology. It integrates the information, communication and collaboration aspects of the media in a study laboratory.