MATHEMATICAL GIFTEDNESS AND FAMILY RELATIONSHIP

From 1963 to 1971 about 2.8 million East German school children participated in nine nationwide mathematical competitions. The 1329 most successful participants were selected for further study. In 1970/71 and in two follow ups in 1983 and 1993, data on 23,000 relatives of these children were gathered. The data indicated the existence of a strong relationship between mathematical‐technical giftedness in school and achievement in life. There was evidence from the distribution of high professional achievement among the relatives that such achievement needs not only nurture but also an appropriate genetic background, which seems to be transmitted as a simple Mendelian trait, now open to investigation by molecular genetics.     

Children Using Audiovisual Media for Communication: a new language?

The author reports on the Schools Council Project based at Brighton Polytechnic, where children in schools have been encouraged and taught to use audiovisual media in the classroom for communication and social purposes. He looks at how the process of making television programmes can have dramatic effects on education and points to the power and responsibility this places on all of us who are involved in audiovisual production.     

The parent-coach/child-athlete relationship in youth sport: cordial, contentious, or conundrum?

The roles of coach and parent are often synonymous in youth sport, but little data-based research has been conducted on the parent-coach/child-athlete relationship. Six boys in U-12 competitive soccer were interviewed regarding positive and negative aspects about playing for their father-coach. Similar questions were posed to father-coaches and two teammates. Inductive content analysis indicated that, among the benefits, sons identified perks, praise, technical instruction, understanding of ability level, insider information, involvement in decision making, special attention, quality time, and motivation. Costs of being coached by one's father included negative emotional responses, pressure/expectations, conflict, lack of understanding/empathy, criticism for mistakes, and unfair behavior. For father-coaches, positive themes included taking pride in son's achievements, reason for coaching, positive social interactions, opportunity to teach skills and values, enjoying coaching son, and quality time. Negatives included inability to separate parent-child from coach-player role, placing greater expectations and pressure on son, and showing differential attention toward son. While teammates perceived some favoritism by the parent-coach, they cited mostly positive instructional experiences. Results are discussed within motivational theories that highlight the influence of significant adults on children's psychosocial development in the physical domain.     

University policies under varying market conditions: The training of electrical engineers

This paper analyzes the problem faced by a university in optimizing the quality and quantity of engineers in the face of fluctuating enrollment. This problem is embedded within an equilibrium model that considers the dynamic rational occupation choice of high school graduates and the effect of the students and the university decision on the current and future demand and supply of engineers. The explicit considerations lead to an estimable model that is capable of providing economic forecasts of the demand and supply of electrical engineers under various economic conditions. The model is estimated using aggregate data from Israel. The estimated parameters are consistent with the economic theory and fit the sample well. In particular, the model is capable of estimating the observed cyclical movements in the number of graduating electrical engineers in Israel. Finally, we provide several predictions on the equilibrium number of electrical engineers towards the end of the century.     

Beware! Uncle Sam has Your DNA: Legal Fallout from its Use and Misuse in the U.S.

Technology has provided state and federal governments with huge collections of DNA samples and identifying profiles stored in databanks. That information can be used to solve crimes by matching samples from convicted felons to unsolved crimes, and has aided law enforcement in investigating and convicting suspects, and exonerating innocent felons, even after lengthy incarceration. Rights surrounding the provision of DNA samples, however, remain unclear in light of the constitutional guarantee against "unreasonable searches and seizures" and privacy concerns. The courts have just begun to consider this issue, and have provided little guidance. It is unclear whether the laws governing protected health information are applicable to the instant situation, and if so, the degree to which they apply. DNA databanks are not uniformly regulated, and it is possible that DNA samples contained in them may be used for purposes unintended by donors of the samples. As people live their lives, they leave bits of their DNA behind. They cannot be assured that these tiny specimens will not be taken or used against their will or without their knowledge for activities such as profiling to measure tendencies such as thrill-seeking, aggressiveness, or crimes with threatening behavior. Existing racial or ethnic discrimination and profiling may also encompass genetic discrimination and profiling, creating societal class distinctions. This article will explore the constitutionality of collecting genetic materials, the ethics of such activities, and balance the social good in solving crime and deterrence against the individual's security, liberty, and privacy.     

Using student feedback about the learning environment as a starting point for co-construction

Learning Environments Research - The context in which learning takes place, or learning environment, is pivotal to a positive learning experience for students. Although numerous studies have...     

Editor's Viewpoint

Abstract

From each volume of Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport, the Research Consortium selects one or mwe papem that are outstanding contributions to scholarship and are likely to signifcantly aflect theoy and/or practice. The Selection Committee for Volume 65, 1994, was comprised of Daniel Landers, Chaiq Arizona State University; Penny McCukgh, University of Colorado, Boulder; Gil Reme, Auburn University; Christine Wells, Arizona State University; Richard Magill, Louisiana State University; Allen Jackson, University of North Texas; and Thomas Martinek, University of North Carolina at Greensboro. The RQES Editorial Board has asked the author of the selected paper to preparee a brief retrospective of the development of her research.     

Newborn response to auditory stimulus discrepancy

Newborns were assessed for their recovery of head turning toward laterally presented auditory stimuli (titi) that varied from a familiar standard on 1 of 5 levels of fundamental frequency. Following habituation to repeated standard trials, newborns recovered to 14% and 21%, but not to 0%, 7%, or 28% discrepancies, indicating that recovery was a quadratic function of the degree of stimulus-schema discrepancy. Moreover, newborns reliably turned away from the standard stimulus during posthabituation no-change control trials, indicating that the neural network associated with that stimulus was not fatigued. Infants in every condition showed recovery of head turning to a novel posttest stimulus (papa). These data are interpreted with a dual processing model postulated to include both reflexive (context-independent) orientation and stimulus-schema comparison process (context-dependent) orientation.     

The relationship between leg preference and knee mechanics during sidestepping in collegiate female footballers

This study examined the relationship between leg preference and knee mechanics in females during sidestepping. Three-dimensional data were recorded on 16 female collegiate footballers during a planned 45° sidestep manoeuvre with their preferred and non-preferred kicking leg. Knee kinematics and kinetics during initial contact, weight acceptance, peak push-off, and final push-off phases of sidestepping were analysed in both legs. The preferred leg showed trivial to small increases (ES = 0.19–0.36) in knee flexion angle at initial contact, weight acceptance, and peak push-off, and small increases (ES = 0.21–0.34) in peak power production and peak knee extension velocity. The non-preferred leg showed a trivial increase (ES = 0.10) in knee abduction angle during weight acceptance; small to moderate increases (ES = 0.22–0.64) in knee internal rotation angle at weight acceptance, peak push-off, and final push-off; a small increase (ES = 0.22) in knee abductor moment; and trivial increases (ES = 0.09–0.14) in peak power absorption and peak knee flexion velocity. The results of this study show that differences do exist between the preferred and non-preferred leg in females. The findings of this study will increase the knowledge base of anterior cruciate ligament injury in females and can aid in the design of more appropriate neuromuscular, plyometric, and strength training protocols for injury prevention.