A Test of the Bistrategic Control Hypothesis of Adolescent Popularity

Resource Control Theory (Hawley, 1999) posits a group of bistrategic popular youth who attain status through coercive strategies while mitigating fallout via prosociality. This study identifies and distinguishes this bistrategic popular group from other popularity types, tracing the adjustment correlates of each. Adolescent participants (288 girls, 280 boys; M_age = 12.50 years) completed peer nominations in the Fall and Spring of the seventh and eighth grades. Longitudinal latent profile analyses classified adolescents into groups based on physical and relational aggression, prosocial behavior, and popularity. Distinct bistrategic, aggressive, and prosocial popularity types emerged. Bistrategic popular adolescents had the highest popularity and above average aggression and prosocial behavior; they were viewed by peers as disruptive and angry but were otherwise well-adjusted.     

Linking the shapes of alphabet letters to their sounds: the case of Hebrew

Learning the sounds of letters is an important part of learning a writing system. Most previous studies of this process have examined English, focusing on variations in the phonetic iconicity of letter names as a reason why some letter sounds (such as that of b, where the sound is at the beginning of the letter’s name) are easier to learn than others (such as that of w, where the sound is not in the name). The present study examined Hebrew, where variations in the phonetic iconicity of letter names are minimal. In a study of 391 Israeli children with a mean age of 5 years, 10 months, we used multilevel models to examine the factors that are associated with knowledge of letter sounds. One set of factors involved letter names: Children sometimes attributed to a letter a consonant–vowel sound consisting of the first phonemes of the letter’s name. A second set of factors involved contrast: Children had difficulty when there was relatively little contrast in shape between one letter and others. Frequency was also important, encompassing both child-specific effects, such as a benefit for the first letter of a child’s forename, and effects that held true across children, such as a benefit for the first letters of the alphabet. These factors reflect general properties of human learning.     

Godfrey Thomson and the rise of university pedagogical study: a recorded lecture delivered at the University of Edinburgh in November 1950 by Godfrey H. Thomson: a transcript with commentary

Professor Sir Godfrey Thomson is one of the key foundational actors in the history of the educational sciences in the UK. At a time when educational studies and the study of educational psychology were very closely linked, in the decades of the mid‐twentieth century, Thomson was a crucial figure in education research. He is known for his work on intelligence, factorial analysis and the validation and production of intelligence tests (the Moray House tests). However, he viewed himself as a teacher in his work as a professor at the University of Edinburgh and as director of Moray House teachers’ college. He managed closely an ambitious plan to develop an advanced school of education, combining the university department of education, teacher training and a demonstration school, and supervised and taught on many of its courses. This paper is based on a unique resource, an audio recording of Thomson teaching in the early 1950s. It considers the distinctiveness and the research value of this audio source in relation to complementary oral and documentary sources.     

Help will be welcomed from every quarter: the work of William Boyd and the Educational Institute of Scotland’s Research Committee in the 1920s

This paper discusses evidence, collected during an ESRC‐funded project (‘Reconstructing a Scottish School of Educational Research, 1925–1950’), of a remarkable vision to involve teachers in educational research in Scotland by the Educational Institute of Scotland in the 1920s through the work of its Research Committee. Led by William Boyd, the Committee thought that involvement in research was a crucial stepping stone towards achieving professional status for teachers. It conducted a number of detailed investigations involving teachers, thereby introducing research into the consciousness and practice of teachers. This paved the way for Scotland to make significant contributions to educational research on the international stage.     

Spelling of Deaf Children Who Use Cochlear Implants

The spellings of 39 profoundly deaf users of cochlear implants, aged 6 to 12 years, were compared with those of 39 hearing peers. When controlled for age and reading ability, the error rates of the 2 groups were not significantly different. Both groups evinced phonological spelling strategies, performing better on words with more typical sound–spelling correspondences and often making misspellings that were phonologically plausible. However, the magnitude of these phonological effects was smaller for the deaf children than for hearing children of comparable reading and spelling ability. Deaf children with cochlear implants made the same low proportion of transposition errors as hearing children. The findings indicate that deaf children do not rely primarily on visual memorization strategies, as suggested by previous studies. However, deaf children with cochlear implants use phonological spelling strategies to a lesser degree than hearing peers.     

Influences of volitional and forced intentions on physical activity and effort within the theory of planned behaviour

Abstract

In the present study, we examined the utility of volitional and forced intentions in predicting participation in physical activities and effort within the theory of planned behaviour. Four hundred and forty-four participants (184 males, 260 females) aged 19.1 ± 3.3 years (mean ± s) completed self-report measures of intentions, attitudes, subjective norms, perceived behavioural control, volitional intentions, forced intentions, and past behaviour in a physical activity context. Six weeks later, they completed self-report measures of physical activity behaviour and effort. Results indicated that volitional intentions and forced intentions contributed to the prediction of effort over and above intentions, attitudes, subjective norms, perceptions of control, past behaviour, and the product terms of attitudes×intentions and subjective norms×intentions. Volitional intentions and forced intentions did not predict participation in physical activities over and above effort. We concluded that volitional intentions and forced intentions assist in the explanation of effort in the context of physical activity behaviour.     

The Validity of Relative Fat Mass and Body Adiposity Index as Measures of Body Composition in Healthy Adults

ABSTRACT

Higher relative adiposity is independently associated with adverse health consequences. As such, accurate estimates of body composition in field settings are of utmost importance. The aim of this study was to examine the validity of the Body Adiposity Index (BAI) and Relative Fat Mass (RFM) as measures of total body adiposity. BAI and RFM were assessed in young adults (n = 188, 48.4% female, 21.8 ± 4.8 years, 24.4 ± 4.6 kg/m²). Adiposity was assessed using the 4C model (%Fat_4C) and derived from underwater weighing for body density, dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry for bone mineral content, and bioimpedance spectroscopy for total body water. Bivariate correlations between BAI, RFM, and %Fat_4C were assessed using Pearson’s r. Differences between measures were assessed using a repeated-measures ANOVA. BAI and RFM were associated with %Fat_4C (r = 0.668 and 0.827 respectively, both p < .001). BAI and RFM overestimated %Fat_4C (+4.3 ± 6.1 versus +4.3 ± 4.6, respectively, p < .001). The large error limits the practical utility of these anthropometric indices.

Abbreviation: ANOVA: Analysis of Variance; BAI: Body Adiposity Index; BM: Body Mass; BMI: Body Mass Index; CM: centimeter; DXA: Dual X-ray Absorptiometry; HC: Hip Circumference; KG: kilogram; RFM: Relative Fat Mass; SPSS: Statistical Package for the Social Sciencesp; WC: Waist Circumference; %Fat: Body Composition.     

Attachment Security Priming Decreases Children's Physiological Response to Threat

Ninety 6- and 7-year-olds (49.3% White, mostly middle class) from greater Washington, DC were randomly assigned to a subliminal priming condition (secure, happy, or neutral) to determine if attachment security priming decreases physiological, expressive, and self-reported fear reactions to threatening stimuli. Dispositional attachment security was also assessed. Secure priming and attachment security each decreased electrodermal reactivity, increased vagal augmentation, and decreased fearful facial expressions compared to control conditions. Examination of a statistical interaction between security priming and child attachment indicated that, although secure children had increased vagal augmentation and fewer fearful expressions than insecure children, the effects of priming were constant across secure and insecure children. There were no priming or attachment effects associated with children's self-reported fear.