Theory of Mind: a Hidden Factor in Reading Comprehension?

Theory of mind is the understanding that other people have mental states that drive their actions and that those mental states can be different from one’s own. Without understanding theory of mind and being able to take others’ perspectives, it could be difficult for children to read and understand narrative texts. This paper posits that children’s understanding of others’ minds may be a potential missing piece in current accounts of reading comprehension. Indeed, the typical progression of children’s theory of mind abilities across childhood is closely aligned with the development of narrative processing skills. Furthermore, emerging evidence shows that both narrative processing and theory of mind are predictive of children’s reading comprehension, both concurrently and longitudinally. We present a possible explanation for why such a link exists and propose a causal framework of this relation in which increased ToM leads to increased understanding of and inferencing about characters’ mental states. Understanding characters’ mental states then leads to better reading comprehension. The framework makes novel, testable predictions and provides directions for future research.     

NCAA football television viewership: Product quality and consumer preference relative to market expectations

The authors estimate the determinants of college football television viewership across the full quality spectrum of contests and test whether consumer preferences vary based on changes in the attributes of the core product. They utilize national television viewership data at the individual game level over a three season period and estimate numerous consumer demand models using zero-truncated negative binomial regression. The results indicate a lack of support for anticipated outcome uncertainty, but support for contests where actual outcomes are closer than market expectations. Consumer preferences are not consistent across game qualities, which may indicate that game type is linked to variation in the consumer base and reference-dependent preferences. The findings may also explain why the uncertainty of outcome hypothesis is supported in some contexts, but not others. Preference for absolute quality also dominates preference for relative quality. This finding has important implications for contest scheduling. Given the common practice of advance scheduling creates sub-optimal conference and network television schedules, stakeholders could be leaving television revenues on the table.     

Time-motion analysis of elite field hockey, with special reference to repeated-sprint activity

Limited information exists about the movement patterns of field-hockey players, especially during elite competition. Time-motion analysis was used to document the movement patterns during an international field-hockey game. In addition, the movement patterns of repeated-sprint activity were investigated, as repeated-sprint ability is considered to be an important fitness component of team-sport performance. Fourteen members of the Australian men's field-hockey team (age 26+/-3 years, body mass 76.7+/-5.6 kg, VO2max 57.9+/-3.6 ml.kg(-1).min(-1); mean+/-s) were filmed during an international game and their movement patterns were analysed. The majority of the total player game time was spent in the low-intensity motions of walking, jogging and standing (46.5+/-8.1, 40.5+/-7.0 and 7.4+/-0.9%, respectively). In comparison, the proportions of time spent in striding and sprinting were 4.1+/-1.1 and 1.5+/-0.6%, respectively. Our criteria for 'repeated-sprint' activity (defined as a minimum of three sprints, with mean recovery duration between sprints of less than 21 s) was met on 17 occasions during the game (total for all players), with a mean 4+/-1 sprints per bout. On average, 95% of the recovery during the repeated-sprint bouts was of an active nature. In summary, the results suggest that the motion activities of an elite field-hockey competition are similar to those of elite soccer, rugby and Australian Rules football. In addition, the investigation of repeated-sprint activity during competition has provided additional information about the unique physiological demands of elite field-hockey performance.     

NASA Education: Using Inquiry in the Classroom So that Students See Learning in a Whole New Light

This article addresses how NASA uses inquiry in the classroom so that students can see learning in a whole new light. The goal is to increase scientific literacy among Americans and to entice a greater number of students to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. Although NASA offers a diverse array of programs that incorporate inquiry learning through a well-established distribution network, this article examines two programs: the Virtual Design Center (VDC), created by the Classroom of the Future^TM, and the NASA Explorer Schools program, one of four pathfinder initiatives that the Agency launched to inspire the next generation of space explorers.     

Individual differences in young children's recall and clustering of pictures

Children's incidental recall of pictures was examined in two related experiments. Extrapolating from adult research, it was predicted that categorizing pictures with respect to their semantic properties would yield greater recall than categorizing them according to their physical properties. In Experiment 1, second-grade children were exposed to 16 line drawings cross-classified to represent four taxonomic categories and four shape categories, with four instances per category. Control subjects simply looked at pictures. Semantic subjects identified each picture's semantic category, and Physical subjects identified each physical category. In Experiment 2, first graders freely sorted the pictures and were classified as Semantic or Physical sorters based on their predominant bases for sorting. Following exposure (Experiment 1) or sorting (Experiment 2), all subjects were asked to recall the picture names. Results of both experiments show that semantic classification yields greater recall than physical classification. Experiment 2 also shows that semantic sorting yields greater semantic clustering in recall and that sorting by physical category yields greater physical clustering. It was suggested that children's preferences for a mode of processing (Experiment 2) may constitute an individual difference dimension with fairly clear-cut instructional implications.     

A transition model for placement of handicapped children in regular and special classes

Mainstreaming and deinstitutionalization are current phenomena which call for a variety of handicapped children to be transitioned to a range of educational settings not previously available to them. A model is presented in which critical transition parameters are conceived as functionally related continua, indicating degrees of readiness for both special and regular classroom settings. The model is based upon actual experience in placement of disturbed, learning disabled, and retarded children into school settings after discharge from a psychiatric hospital.     

Ground zero: The information war in the Persian Gulf

This article provides an overview for the symposium while delving into specific facts about the development and implementation of the Pentagon's press policy during the Persian Gulf War. The article assesses the military-media relationship, and the Pentagon's own policy development, in the aftermath of the invasions of Grenada and Panama. It describes the power and authority of the President, and civilian and military leaders, at the time of the war, to supersede the best intentions and plans of Pentagon public affairs specialists. It reveals the inability of the media during war to perceive and impact how such policy is shaped. The article identifies, as a high priority, the independent, timely, and accurate reporting to the nation when America enters combat.