Infants’ and Young Children's Imitation of Linguistic In‐Group and Out‐Group Informants

Although children can use social categories to intelligently select informants, children's preference for in‐group informants has not been consistently demonstrated across age and context. This research clarifies the extent to which children use social categories to guide learning by presenting participants with a live or video‐recorded action demonstration by a linguistic in‐group and/or out‐group model. Participants’ (N = 104) propensity to imitate these actions was assessed. Nineteen‐month‐olds did not selectively imitate the actions of the in‐group model in live contexts, though in‐group preferences were found after watching the demonstration on video. Three‐year‐olds selectively imitated the actions demonstrated by the in‐group member regardless of context. These results indicate that in‐group preferences have a more nuanced effect on social learning than previous research has indicated.     

Glazer,Francine S ed (2012) Blended learning Stylus (Sterling VA, & Eurospan,London) isbn 978‐1‐57922‐324‐3 138 pp £20.50http://stylus.styluspub.com/Books/BookDetail.aspx?productID=187883

This book aims at teachers who are interested in learning how to implement blended learning in their classes and therefore gain insights into the variables involved and the benefits it may bring to learning. It briefly introduces the topic and then describes practical experiences whose findings may be useful for addressing the challenges of blended learning. If the content of this book is likely to be relevant to you, I advise that you will probably find only parts of interest or use. Cristina Oddone     

Inequalities in school leavers’ labour market outcomes: do school subject choices matter?

Abstract

Despite a wide international literature on the effect of vocational and general education on school-to-work transition, relatively little is known about the role of having studied specific subjects in explaining inequalities in young people’s labour market outcomes. This paper aims to fill this gap by examining differences in employment chances of young people who left education early, either at the end of compulsory schooling or at the end of secondary school. Using data from the Scottish Longitudinal Study, a large-scale linkage study created using data from administrative and statistical sources, we found little gender differences but strong parental background differences in school leavers’ employment status and type of occupation entered. Social inequalities in labour market outcomes were only partly explained by curriculum choices. Moreover, after controlling for social origin and grades, only history and business for lower-secondary leavers and maths for upper-secondary leavers were associated with a reduction in the chances of being unemployed/inactive.     

Cheating by economics and business undergraduate students: an exploratory international assessment

Today’s economics and business students are expected to be our future business people and potentially the economic leaders and politicians of tomorrow. Thus, their beliefs and practices are liable to affect the definition of acceptable economics and business ethics. The empirical evaluation of the phenomenon of cheating in academia has almost exclusively focused on the US context, and non-US studies usually only cover a narrow range of countries. This paper presents a comprehensive, cross-country study on the magnitude and determinants of cheating among economics and business undergraduates, involving 7,213 students enrolled in 42 universities located in 21 countries from the American (4), European (14), Africa (2) and Oceania (1) Continents. We found that the average magnitude of copying among economics and business undergraduates is quite high (62%) but there was significant cross-country heterogeneity. The probability of cheating is significantly lower in students enrolled in schools located in the Scandinavian, and the US and British Isles blocks when compared with their Southern European counterparts; quite surprisingly this probability is also lower for the African block. On a distinctly different level, however, students enrolled in schools in Western and especially Eastern European countries reveal statistically significant higher propensities towards committing academic fraud.     

European Journal of Special Needs Education Vol. 18, No. 3, October 2003 erratum

The current paper reports on the outcome of an ongoing action research project at a school for higher-functioning students with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) in Sweden. The overall aim of the study was to develop and evaluate a questionnaire that captures social and individual aspects of classroom learning suitable for use with students with ASD. Interview data is presented on the perceived utility of the questionnaire for understanding and planning classroom instruction for the children with ASD through the eyes of the students’ teachers and their parents, as assessed during an Individual Education Plan meeting. Further, teacher ratings obtained by means of the instrument were found to differentiate a group of students with ASD (n = 10) from a group of typically developing children matched with regard to grade year, word reading ability and receptive vocabulary (n = 10). Implications and future directions are discussed, as are limitations of this pilot study.     

Development and validation of ageist myths in a psychotherapy questionnaire (AMPQ): professional ageism among psychology graduate students

ABSTRACT

Ageism is a problem in aging societies. Clinical psychologists and undergraduate psychology students have shown negative attitudes toward older adults. However, no speci?c measure against ageist myths in the psychotherapeutic context is available. This study aims to develop and present the psychometric properties of the Ageist Myths about Psychotherapy Questionnaire (AMPQ).

These issues were examined by surveying 222 psychology graduates at higher education institutions about their attitudes and behaviors concerning psychotherapy with older adults, negative stereotypes toward aging, and attitudes toward dementia.

Using principal components analysis, 10 items were retained and one factor was obtained with an acceptable reliability index. Signi?cant associations were found between the AMPQ and negative stereotypes toward aging, and attitudes toward dementia.

Results revealed that universities and colleges with psychology programs have an ageist bias. Implications for college formation in aging, and older adults with mental health problems, are discussed and presented.     

Digital Generation: Overview of Cultural and Entertainment Content Usage in Italy

The article investigates the relations between the technological innovation and the usage done, in particular but not exclusively, by the young generation in Italy: the basis for the analysis will be the results of the 2008 edition of the Permanent Observatory on Digital Content. Moreover it presents an overview on how the use of technologies affects the consumption of cultural and entertainment content. It highlights that there is a strong relationship among the level of consumption of these kind of goods and the way technologies are used and, more in particular, shows how the more advanced use of the technologies is depending, more than from the frequency or regularity, from the level of awareness in their use, deriving in general by a strong knowledge and skill, and, especially by the consumption done by the users of the cultural and entertainment goods. The research shows two different clusters of innovative users of technologies: Technofan and Eclectic with very different habits.

Effects of an unsupervised pedometer-based physical activity program on daily steps of adults with moderate to severe asthma: a randomized controlled trial

Supervised exercise has shown benefits for subjects with asthma, but little is known about the effectiveness of unsupervised physical activity on this population. We investigated the effects of a 12-week unsupervised pedometer-based physical activity program on daily steps and on clinical and psychological parameters of adults with asthma. Clinically stable adults with moderate to severe asthma were encouraged to take daily 30-minute walks and were randomized to pedometer and control groups. The pedometer group received pedometers and individualized daily step targets. Changes in daily steps (average of steps taken during six consecutive days), six-minute walk test (6MWT), health-related quality of life, asthma control and anxiety and depression levels were assessed 12 weeks after intervention and 24–28 weeks after randomization. Thirty-seven participants were recruited and 30 completed the intervention. At 12 weeks, the groups differed significantly in daily steps (adjusted average difference, 2488 steps; 95% confidence interval [CI], 803 to 4172; p = 0.005) and in the 6MWT (adjusted average difference, 21.9 m; 95% CI, 6.6 to 37.3; p = 0.006). These differences were not significant 24–28 weeks after randomization. The program was effective in increasing daily steps of adults with moderate to severe asthma 12 weeks after intervention.