A brief screening battery for predicting school achievement at ages seven and nine years

This article describes the development, utilization, and evaluation of an early screening battery for predicting school success or failure. The battery was administered to the pediatric population of the Southern California Permanente Medical Group, Panorama City Medical Center, at the time of the routine five-year health examination. For 411 children whose school performance was assessed by the teacher at age seven years, the Caldwell Test was the best predictor, but it had significant value for girls only (p<0.0001). In 1,251 children evaluated at age nine years, the Beery-Butkenica Developmental Test of Visual-Motor Integration (VMI) and the Caldwell Test were the best predictors (p⩽0.003). In 600 children for whom we had teacher ratings at ages seven and nine years, the VMI repeated at age seven years significantly predicted academic achievement and reading at age nine years for girls and boys (p = 0.007). Although combining the academic performance with VMI results at age seven years yielded 89% accuracy of prediction at age nine years, the false-positive rate represents a serious practical problem of mislabeling children as school failures.     

The relationship between kindergartners' play and achievement in prereading,language, and writing

The study examined the relationship between play and selected demographic variables (sex and SES) and kindergartners' achievement in prereading, language, and writing. Play was observed and ranked according to Smilansky's cognitive play categories. Prereading and language achievement were measured by the Metropolitan Reading Readiness Test; writing achievement was measured by students' word writing fluency. Sixty-five kindergartners (37 male, 28 female) were tested and observed in the classrooms over a four-week period. Multiple regression and ANOVA procedures were employed to determine the extent to which play, SES, and sex predicted student achievement. Play was a significant predictor of success on all three measures of achievement (p < .01). SES and sex appeared to have little influence on the prediction of achievement. There were significant main effects due to play for all achievement variables (p < .001). Post hoc analyses indicated that dramatic play had the most significant impact on play (p < .05). Pedagogical implications are made.     

中美母亲泪晶莹

洋太太跨国拯救"干女儿" 　　"妈妈,您醒醒啊!"2006年3月19日,8岁的小女孩黄金美跪在母亲的病床前,抓住妈妈的手,呜呜哭泣.黄金美知道,36岁的妈妈是因为女儿的"心"而昏倒的.……     

The Russian avant-garde painting palette: Documentary and physicochemical codification of organic colorants

In the present article an attempt is made to elucidate the organic colorants commonly encountered in the Russian avant-garde painting palette by a combined art historical, documentary and physicochemical investigation, and to examine the influence of environmental factors on the chromatic profile originally sought by the artist. The overall approach based on written sources is confirmed by measurements on relevant paintings. The documentary research deals with the influences of Orthodox iconography, folkloric art, and occidental modernist tendencies on the Russian avant-garde palette, and studies the effects of contradictory historical processes in the chromatic profile of individual paintings. In the experimental section a series of colorants are investigated concerning the effects of accelerated ageing on experimental painting tables, prepared as watercolor and gouache layers on paper ground. The resulting samples are subjected to colorimetric and spectroscopic measurements, and analogous analytical procedures are applied on samples taken from selected paintings. A systematic comparative study of all data permits evaluation of the materials used in terms of their stability towards extrinsic factors, and proposal of degradation routes in order to assist museum curators and conservators in every concrete case related to the broad spectrum of pigments examined.     

Repeated retention testing effects do not generalize to a contextual interference protocol

Three experiments examined repeated retention testing effects in a contextual interference (CI) protocol. Retention was assessed at 10 min and 24 hr following acquisition or at just 24-hr for the one-test conditions. Experiments 1 and 2 used speeded-response key-pressing tasks. Dependent measures were total time and errors. Experiment 3 used sequential-timing tasks. Dependent measures were absolute error and absolute constant error Results revealed CI effects in each experiment. Repeated retention testing effects were not found in Experiments 1 and 3. Experiment 2 revealed superior performance by the two-test condition compared to the one-test condition. This result was qualified by possible practice effects during the 10-min test. It was concluded that repeated retention testing does not present problems for most studies of CI.     

The performance environment of the England youth soccer teams

In the present study, we examined the performance environment of the England youth soccer teams. Using a semi-structured protocol with a prospective sample, national coaches (n = 6), sport scientists (n = 3), and players (n = 4) were interviewed directly following international tournaments about the factors that positively and negatively influenced performance. Qualitative content analysis revealed the following factors as major positive influences on performance: adhering to a consistent tournament strategy, player understanding, strong team cohesion, organized entertainment activities, detailed knowledge of opposition, an effective physical rest/recovery strategy, and previous tournament experience. Major factors perceived to have negatively influenced performance included: over-coaching, player boredom, player anxiety, physical superiority of the opposition, physical fatigue over the tournament, problems sleeping, and lack of information on the opposition. Eight overall dimensions emerged to describe the performance environment: planning and organization, physical environment, tactical factors, development and performance philosophy, psychological factors, physical factors, social factors, and coaching. The findings support recent work that suggests the performance environment is multifaceted, with performance being contingent upon a broad range of interacting factors that go beyond the traditional psychosocial and physical domains.