Explicit Theory of Mind Is Even More Unified Than Previously Assumed: Belief Ascription and Understanding Aspectuality Emerge Together in Development

Existing evidence suggests that children, when they first pass standard theory‐of‐mind tasks, still fail to understand the essential aspectuality of beliefs and other propositional attitudes: such attitudes refer to objects only under specific aspects. Oedipus, for example, believes Yocaste (his mother) is beautiful, but this does not imply that he believes his mother is beautiful. In three experiments, 3‐ to 6‐year‐olds' (N = 119) understanding of aspectuality was tested with a novel, radically simplified task. In contrast to all previous findings, this task was as difficult as and highly correlated with a standard false belief task. This suggests that a conceptual capacity more unified than previously assumed emerges around ages 4–5, a full‐fledged metarepresentational scheme of propositional attitudes.     

Intergenerational solidarity in triads of adult grandchild,parent, and grandparent: the positive view of elders,positive expectations towards the future and young-elders divide

ABSTRACT

Introduction

The remarkable growth of older adults represents a challenge for our societies.

The population of aging requires adjustments that sometimes are difficult to achieve for already stressed welfare systems. In this context, intergenerational solidarity may play a central role. Demographic shifts over the past century have also increased the percentage of grandchildren who, as young adults, have living grandparents. Adult grandchildren could become an important source of intergenerational solidarity, but few studies have explored intergenerational relations, including grandparents, adult children, and adult grandchildren. None to our knowledge have examined which aspects of intergenerational solidarity affect the positive view of elders, positive expectations toward the future, and old-young divides.     

Equality of opportunity for work experience? Computing students at two UK universities “play the game”

A recent UK Government commissioned study found concerning levels of unemployment among computing students from disadvantaged, black and minority ethnic backgrounds. The study highlighted that work experience was a factor in increased levels of graduate employment. As such, it is vital that students have equal access to such work experience. This study considers the availability of work experience to 140 computing students at two city centre UK universities. Data analysis considered socioeconomic background and ethnicity to determine if these influenced attitudes to work experience. While students’ socioeconomic backgrounds and ethnicity had little influence on their interest in work experience, patterns of success in gaining work experience reflected worrying graduate (un)employment patterns, with those from disadvantaged, black or minority ethnic backgrounds less able to secure work experience. These findings have serious implications for university and government policies promoting work experience and highlight the need for national interventions.     

Values as protective factors against violent behavior in Jewish and Arab high schools in Israel

This study tested the hypothesis that values, abstract goals serving as guiding life principles, become relatively important predictors of adolescents' self-reported violent behavior in school environments in which violence is relatively common. The study employed a students-nested-in-schools design. Arab and Jewish adolescents ( N = 907, M age = 16.8), attending 33 Israeli schools, reported their values and their own violent behavior. Power values correlated positively, and universalism and conformity correlated negatively with self-reported violent behavior, accounting for 12% of the variance in violent behavior, whereas school membership accounted for 6% of the variance. In schools in which violence was more common, power values' relationship with adolescents' self-reported violence was especially positive, and the relationship of universalism with self-reported violence was especially negative.     

Value differentiation in adolescence: the role of age and cultural complexity

Living in complex social worlds, individuals encounter discordant values across life contexts, potentially resulting in different importance of values across contexts. Value differentiation is defined here as the degree to which values receive different importance depending on the context in which they are considered. Early and mid-adolescents (N = 3,497; M = 11.45 years, SD = 0.87 and M = 16.10 years, SD = 0.84, respectively) from 4 cultural groups (majority and former Soviet Union immigrants in Israel and Germany) rated their values in 3 contexts (family, school, and country). Value differentiation varied across individuals. Early adolescents showed lower value differentiation than mid-adolescents. Immigrant (especially first generation) adolescents, showed higher value differentiation than majority adolescents, reflecting the complex social reality they face while negotiating cultures.     

Relation of Performance of Selected Physical Skills to Perceptual Aspects of Reading Readiness in Elementary School Children

Abstract

Relationships between performance scores in reading achievement, Frostig Developmental Test of Visual Perception, Lincoln-Oseretsky Motor Development Scale, two perceptual-motor tasks and eye-hand dominance tests were studied in 75 first and second grade children. Correlations among many variables were significant although none were high enough for reliable prediction of one variable from another. Mixed eye-hand dominance was not found to be associated with deficient performance in any of the tests. Factor analysis failed to provide factors indicative of interrelationships among elements of visual, motor, and reading functions.     

The engagement of mature distance students

An increasing proportion of tertiary students are aged 25 and over, and many of these students choose to study at a distance in order to more easily combine their studies with their family and work commitments. Higher attrition rates and lower course completion rates for this group highlight the need for a greater understanding of their student experience. To explore whether age and mode of study impact on student engagement, satisfaction, learning and departure intention, data from the Australasian Survey of Student Engagement from 1116 first-year undergraduate students from a single New Zealand university were analysed. Results confirm the influence of student engagement on both student satisfaction and learning, in particular the importance of a supportive learning environment. The findings suggest that while older and distance students are less likely to engage in active learning strategies with their fellow students, they have a much greater capacity to integrate their learning with their work experience. The finding that these students are as satisfied as the more traditional-aged, on-campus students suggests that their experience is different, but not second-rate. Universities need to build on the strengths of these students as well as provide greater opportunities for them to form collaborative relationships with similar students. Limitations stemming from the timing of the survey and the inherent limitations of cross-sectional surveys suggest the need for more in-depth longitudinal work to understand the changing nature of engagement for these students and to explore why they engage differently with their studies.     

音乐对大脑和智力发育影响的研究

原著作者综合了近期有关音乐教育的一些研究资料,向人们展示了音乐对儿童大脑发育和智力发展的诸多影响,尤其是列举了各种有关音乐的教育价值方面不同观点的研究材料,对于从事音乐教育工作的人们具有一定的借鉴意义。     

College Entrance Examination Reform Concerning Children of Migrant Workers

近期,各省区市"异地高考"方案密集出炉,主要内容为允许外来务工人员随迁子女在当地参加高考.然而,社会各界尤其是学生和家长们的不同表态说明此次改革并不完美.