Deaf college students' mathematical skills relative to morphological knowledge, reading level, and language proficiency

This study of deaf college students examined specific relationships between their mathematics performance and their assessed skills in reading, language, and English morphology. Simple regression analyses showed that deaf college students' language proficiency scores, reading grade level, and morphological knowledge regarding word segmentation and meaning were all significantly correlated with both the ACT Mathematics Subtest and National Technical Institute for the Deaf (NTID) Mathematics Placement Test scores. Multiple regression analyses identified the best combination from among these potential independent predictors of students' performance on both the ACT and NTID mathematics tests. Additionally, the participating deaf students' grades in their college mathematics courses were significantly and positively associated with their reading grade level and their knowledge of morphological components of words.     

Patents, venture capital, and software start-ups

This paper analyzes the relation between the patenting behavior of startup firms and the progress of those firms through the venture capital cycle. Linking data relating to venture capital financing of software startup firms with data concerning the patents obtained by those firms, we find significant and robust positive correlations between patenting and several variables measuring the firm's performance (including number of rounds, total investment, exit status, receipt of late stage financing, and longevity). The data also show that (1) only about one in four venture-backed software firms acquired even one patent during the period of the study; (2) patenting practices very considerably among the sub-sectors of the software industry; and (3) the relationship between patent metrics and firm performance depends less on the size of the patent portfolio than on the firm's receipt of at least one patent.     

Intergenerational transmission of sexual victimization vulnerability as mediated via parenting

Objectives

Previous research suggests that women's early sexual victimization experiences may influence their parenting behaviors and increase the vulnerability of their children to being sexually victimized. The current study considered whether mother's sexual victimization experiences, in childhood and after age 14, were associated with the sexual victimization experiences reported by their adolescent daughters, and if so, whether these effects were mediated via parenting behaviors.

Methods

The proposed model was examined using a community sample of 913 mothers and their college-bound daughters, recruited by telephone at the time of the daughter's high school graduation. Daughters reported on their experiences of adolescent sexual victimization and perceptions of mothers’ parenting in four domains: connectedness, communication effectiveness, monitoring, and approval of sex. Mothers provided self-reports of their lifetime experiences of sexual victimization.

Results

Consistent with hypotheses, mothers’ victimization was positively associated with their daughters’ victimization. The effect of mothers’ childhood sexual abuse was direct, whereas the effect of mothers’ victimization after age 14 was mediated via daughters’ perceptions of mothers’ monitoring and greater approval of adolescent sexual activity. Comparison of the prevalence of specific victimization experiences indicated that mothers were more likely to report forcible rape over their lifetimes; however, daughters were more likely to report unwanted contact and incapacitated rape.

Conclusions

Findings suggest that even in a highly functional community sample, mothers’ sexual victimization experiences are significantly associated with aspects of their parenting behavior and with their daughters’ own experiences of adolescent sexual victimization.     

Students’ attributions for their best and worst marks: Do they relate to achievement?

Research has found a relation between motivation and attributions for success and failure. However, few studies have clarified the relationship of attributions to school achievement and possible cultural differences in this relationship. To investigate this issue, 5333 secondary students (European, Asian, Maori, Pacific) rated four common attributions - ability, effort, task difficulty, and luck - and three social influences (teachers, peers, and family) for their best and worst marks. Motivation orientations were also measured. Several measures were significantly related to students’ GPA scores, most notably the motivation orientations Doing My Best and Doing Just Enough, but also attributions to effort, teacher, and peer influences. There were substantial differences for ethnicity, particularly between European students and Maori and Pacific students. The results support theories claiming that effort attributions motivate achievement but also support the benefits of a self-serving bias.     

Observed Emotional and Behavioral Indicators of Motivation Predict School Readiness in Head Start Graduates

Emotions and behaviors observed during challenging tasks are hypothesized to be valuable indicators of young children's motivation, the assessment of which may be particularly important for children at risk for school failure. The current study demonstrated reliability and concurrent validity of a new observational assessment of motivation in young children. Head Start graduates completed challenging puzzle and trivia tasks during their kindergarten year. Children's emotion expression and task engagement were assessed based on their observed facial and verbal expressions and behavioral cues. Hierarchical regression analyses revealed that observed persistence and shame predicted teacher ratings of children's academic achievement, whereas interest, anxiety, pride, shame, and persistence predicted children's social skills and learning-related behaviors. Children's emotional and behavioral responses to challenge thus appeared to be important indicators of school success. Observation of such responses may be a useful and valid alternative to self-report measures of motivation at this age.     

Development and Validation of the Healthy Aging Incentives Scale

The purpose of this study is to develop and validate a new instrument to measure the multidimensional nature of motivations to engage in healthy behavior practices among older adults. The Healthy Aging Incentives Scale (HAIS) was developed empirically from data collected from 158 older adults participating in a health and wellness clinic located within a multipurpose senior center in the United States. A factor analysis of the HAIS revealed five themes prompting older adults to participate in health aging practices: health and fitness, psychological well-being, locus of control, social functions, and socialization attributes. Additional data are provided that support reliability and validity of the HAIS including convergent validity of the 20-item scale by its correlation with healthy behavior habits. Conclusions are drawn showing literature support for the multidimensional scale and the important determinants for promoting healthy outcomes for this population.     

Improvements in fundamental movement skill competency mediate the effect of the SCORES intervention on physical activity and cardiorespiratory fitness in children

Numerous studies have identified a positive association between fundamental movement skill (FMS) competency and physical activity in children; however, the causal pathways have not been established. The aim of this study is to determine if changes in FMS competency mediated the effect of the Supporting Children’s Outcomes using Rewards, Exercise and Skills (SCORES) intervention on physical activity and cardiorespiratory fitness in children. Eight primary schools (25 classes) and 460 children (aged 8.5 ± 0.6, 54% girls) were randomised to the SCORES intervention or control group for the 12-month study. The outcomes were accelerometer-determined moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) and cardiorespiratory fitness. The hypothesised mediators were actual FMS competency and perceived sport competence. Mediation analyses were conducted using multilevel linear analysis in MPlus. From the original sample, 138 (30.0%) and 370 (80.4%) children provided useable physical activity and cardiorespiratory fitness data at post-test assessments. There were significant treatment effects for locomotor skills and overall FMSs. Changes in MVPA were associated with changes in object-control skills, overall FMSs and perceived competence. The overall FMSs had a significant mediating effect on MVPA (AB = 2.09, CI = 0.01–4.55). Overall FMSs (AB = 1.19, CI = 0.002–2.79) and locomotor skills (AB = 0.74, CI = 0.01–1.69) had a significant mediating effect on cardiorespiratory fitness. The results of this study conclude that actual but not perceived movement skill competency mediated the effect of the SCORES intervention on physical activity and cardiorespiratory fitness.     

Relationships between the personal and academic attributes of and affective differences between current and past teacher candidates

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine if relationships exist between selected personal and academic attributes of and differences between affective characteristics of a 1980s sample and a 1990s sample of teacher candidates. MANOVA and follow‐up univariate ANOVA procedures identified statistically significant differences between current and past candidates' concerns about the task of teaching, anxieties about teaching, and confidence about becoming teachers. Relationships were found between the affective characteristics and the gender, planned level of teaching, father's educational level, locus of control orientation, prior teaching‐like experiences, scholastic aptitude, and personality types of the candidates.     

Telecommunications Technology

Ithiel de Sola Pool, The Social Impact of the Telephone (Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press, 1977—$15.95)

Gerald F.J. Tyne Saga of the Vacuum Tube (Indianapolis: Howard W. Sams, 1977—$9.95, paper with a hardback available as well)

Ronald W. Clark Edison: The Man Who Made the Future (New York: Putnam, 1977— $12.95)