Acculturation orientations of competing host communities toward valued and devalued immigrants

This study explored how members of competing host communities may endorse different acculturation orientations towards valued and devalued immigrants settled in the bilingual city of Montreal. Francophone (N=422) and Anglophone (N=401) host community students from low-, medium- and high-ethnic diversity colleges completed the host community acculturation scale (HCAS) along with a questionnaire monitoring a range of social psychological correlates of acculturation orientations. Results showed that Anglophones were more integrationist and individualist and less assimilationist than Francophones. Both Francophones and Anglophones were more integrationist and individualist and less assimilationist, segregationist and exclusionist toward valued than devalued immigrants. Attending a multiethnic college had no influence on respondents’ acculturation orientations. The more welcoming acculturation orientations of Anglophones compared to Francophones was corroborated by results obtained with immigrants attending the French and the English colleges. Social psychological profiles of the respective acculturation orientations were similar across both host communities thus supporting the construct validity of the HCAS. Attitude toward co-national outgroup was a significant determinant of each acculturation orientations, suggesting that intergroup relations between rival host communities has an impact on acculturation orientations toward immigrants.     

Accurate assessment of the brake torque on a rope-braked cycle ergometer

Sports Engineering - A Monark cycle ergometer is a device globally used in physiological studies to measure the work and energy levels of exercising humans. In this paper a rope-braked cycle...     

Investigation of Poor Academic Achievement in Children with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy

Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD) is a neurogenetic developmental disorder that presents with progressive muscular weakness. It is caused by a mutation in a gene that results in the absence of specific products that normally localize to muscle cells and the central nervous system (CNS). The majority of affected individuals have IQs within the normal range, generally with lower verbal than performance IQ scores. Prior work has demonstrated selective deficits on tests of verbal span and immediate memory. For the current study, 26 boys with DMD (and normal intellectual function) and their unaffected siblings were evaluated. Paired comparisons demonstrated that the children with DMD had significantly poorer academic achievement scores than their siblings, even though their vocabulary levels and home and educational environments were comparable. Children with DMD also had more behavioral concerns, physical disabilities, and poorer verbal memory spans. Linear regression indicated that behavioral concerns, executive function, and physical disability did not contribute substantially to academic performance, whereas performance on verbal span did. DMD presents with a selective developmental aberration in verbal span that has wide‐ranging consequences on learning skills.