Strom,Paris S & Strom,Robert D (2014) Adolescents in the internet age. IAP (Charlotte,NC & Eurospan,London) isbn 978‐1‐623‐96762‐8 444 pp $45.99 (boards $85.99, ebook $50) http://www.infoagepub.com/products/Adolescents‐In‐The‐Internet‐Age‐2nd‐Edition

This text discusses contemporary research that relates to adolescents' technology use, and evaluates a range of recent literature. However, while the topic is likely to appeal to a wide audience, you should be mindful that the book is primarily targeted at the USA, and even in that context is best borrowed rather than bought. Lucy R Betts     

The application of self-determination theory to support students experiencing disaffection

This paper provides a rationale for educational psychologists (EPs) to consider the concept of disaffection systemically. In order to understand how contextual and interactional factors initiate or maintain disaffection it may be useful for EPs to draw upon self-determination theory (SDT). This theory emphasises how contextual factors determine the extent to which a student’s psychological needs – for autonomy, competence and relatedness – are met. It is hypothesised that students are more likely to disengage from school if this context does not meet these psychological needs. SDT may, therefore, assist EPs in understanding disaffection and suggest constructive changes to the student’s environment. In view of this, two approaches are suggested concerning the role of EPs: (1) the use of person-centred thinking, with students and teachers, to enhance student perceptions of autonomy, competence and relatedness; (2) the use of effective consultation to engage teachers in the process of systemic change.     

Kinematics of a striking task: accuracy and speed–accuracy considerations

Handballing in Australian football (AF) is the most efficient passing method, yet little research exists examining technical factors associated with accuracy. This study had three aims: (a) To explore the kinematic differences between accurate and inaccurate handballers, (b) to compare within-individual successful (hit target) and unsuccessful (missed target) handballs and (c) to assess handballing when both accuracy and speed of ball-travel were combined using a novel approach utilising canonical correlation analysis. Three-dimensional data were collected on 18 elite AF players who performed handballs towards a target. More accurate handballers exhibited a significantly straighter hand-path, slower elbow angular velocity and smaller elbow range of motion (ROM) compared to the inaccurate group. Successful handballs displayed significantly larger trunk ROM, maximum trunk rotation velocity and step-angle and smaller elbow ROM in comparison to the unsuccessful handballs. The canonical model explained 73% of variance shared between the variable sets, with a significant relationship found between hand-path, elbow ROM and maximum elbow angular velocity (predictors) and hand-speed and accuracy (dependant variables). Interestingly, not all parameters were the same across each of the analyses, with technical differences between inaccurate and accurate handballers different from those between successful and unsuccessful handballs in the within-individual analysis.     

Imagination for re-engagement from the margins of education

For marginalised secondary school students, mainstream education may no longer appear to be an inviting place. While proposed solutions to problems of disengagement and marginalisation appear to concentrate on finding ways to coerce students back to mainstream education through, for example, ‘learning or earning’ legislation, this article suggests that more effective solutions may be found by engaging with the students in the margins that they occupy. Following discussion of key influences on student disengagement and a theory of imaginations, a ‘students-as-researchers’ (SaR) model of working with young people is discussed to demonstrate that, through the scaffolded application of active imagination, it is possible for such students to identify and create their own connections to the mainstream. The SaR model is illustrated through reference to groups of disaffected high school students who participated in an action research project to investigate apparent low aspiration for tertiary education among their peers at schools serving low-income communities in Queensland, Australia.     

The Early Childhood Generalized Trust Belief Scale

The study was designed to develop and evaluate the Early Childhood Generalized Trust Belief Scale (ECGTBS) as a method of assessing 5–8-year-olds’ generalized trust. Two hundred and eleven (103 male and 108 female) children (mean age 6 years and 2 months at Time 1) completed the ECGTBS twice over a year. A subsample of participants completed the ECGTBS after two weeks to assess the scale's test–retest reliability. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses confirmed that the ECGTBS assessed the expected three factors: reliability, emotional trust, and honesty with item-pairs loading most strongly on their corresponding factor. However, the ECGTBS demonstrated low to modest internal consistency and test–retest reliability which indicates a need for further development of this instrument. As evidence for the convergent validity of the ECGTBS, the reliability and emotional trust items were associated with the children's trust in classmates at Time 2. Concurrent asymmetric quadratic relationships indicated the importance of midrange generalized trust. Specifically, children with very high generalized trust experienced greater loneliness and children with very low generalized trust had fewer friendships than children with midrange trust.