State-Space Modeling of Dynamic Psychological Processes via the Kalman Smoother Algorithm: Rationale,Finite Sample Properties,and Applications

This article presents a state-space modeling (SSM) technique for fitting process factor analysis models directly to raw data. The Kalman smoother via the expectation-maximization algorithm to obtain maximum likelihood parameter estimates is used. To examine the finite sample properties of the estimates in SSM when common factors are involved, a Monte Carlo study is conducted. Results indicate that the estimates of factor loading matrix, transition matrix, and unique variances were asymptotically normal, accurate, precise, and robust, especially for moderate and long time series. The estimates of state residual variances were positively biased for shorter time series, but as the length of series increased, these estimates became accurate and precise. To illustrate the application of SSM the technique is applied to empirical multivariate time-series data on daily affect collected from 2 individuals in a dating couple.     

Students’ motivation and engagement in higher education: the importance of attitude to online learning

Higher Education - The emergence of online environments has changed the landscape of educational learning. Some students thrive in this learning environment, but others become amotivated and...     

Non-formal education in Cuba

Conclusion In Cuba the sixties coincided with a unique national liberation movement which, supported by such fundamental achievements as agrarian reform and nationalisation, brought about the organisation of a national effort on the part of all the social sectors anxious to play their part in these changes.These unleashed forces have been both protagonists and apprentices in the accelerated campaign against underdevelopment. The work of transformation and social and economic construction has also logically included an educational effort, the success of which can be measured by such achievements as the literacy campaign of 1961 and the doubling of school enrolment during the decade. The first fruits of this drastic educational effort were the establishment of mass education groups in 1961, since when old structures and concepts have been rejected and an action programme has been emerging with ever greater forcefulness aimed at shaping and adapting education to the characteristics and needs of a socialist society.This tremendous undertaking, with service to all society as its major principle, is the fundamental reason for the many novel experiments made at all levels of education. It forms the basis of the search for a new kind of education which will correspond to current educational trends in the world and at the same time meet the exceptional situation of Cuba, where priority is given to education as a duty and a right of all and where everyone, from the humblest worker to the Prime Minister, is aware of the vital need for education and its inseparable links with development plans.Adapted by permission of UNESCO from Innovating Experiments in Education in Cuba by Raúl Ferrer Perez. International Commission on the Development of Education, Series C: Innovations, No. 4. Paris: UNESCO, 1973 (mimeographed).     

Processing speed in childhood and adolescence: longitudinal models for examining developmental change

The primary aim of the present study was to examine longitudinal models to determine the function that best describes developmental change in processing speed during childhood and adolescence. In one sample, children and adolescents (N= 503) were tested twice over an average interval of 2 years on two psychometric measures of processing speed: Visual Matching and Cross Out. In another sample, children and adolescents (N= 277) were tested four times, every 6 months, on Cross Out. Age-related changes in performance on both tasks were examined using six longitudinal models representing different hypotheses of growth. Linear, hyperbolic, inverse regression, and transition models yielded relatively poor fit to the data; the fit of the exponential and quadratic models was substantially better. The heuristic value of these latter models is discussed.     

10. General Media

50 Years of Japanese Broadcasting (NHK Radio &; TV Culture Research Institute, 1-10, Atago-cho, Minato-ku, Tokyo, Japan&;mdash;5,000 yen or $17.00 which includes airmail postage)

Gertrude Joch Robinson's Tito's Maverick Media: The Politics of Mass Communication in Yugoslavia (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1977&;mdash;$12.95)

Mie Berg, et al., eds. Current Theories in Scandinavian Mass Communication Research (GMT, Postbox 97, 8500 Grenaa, Denmark &;mdash;90 dkr, or about $15.00 or L9)

Nordicom: Bibliography of Nordic Mass Communication Literature. Editions are available for both 1975 and 1976, and each is in two parts: the document list and the index. The document list (about 100 pp. in each case

The List of Works on Mass Communication by Scandinavian Scholars in English (1976, revised edition, 21 pp.)

R.T.B.'s Studies in Radio -Television no. 28, “Local and Community Radio” (Bureau d'Etudes R.T.B., 1040 Brussels, Cite RTB, Local 10M25, Boulevard A. Rayers, Belgium)

Eulalio Ferrer's Por el Ancho Mundo de la Propaganda Politica (The Wide World of Political Propaganda) (Ediciones Eufesa, Apartado Postal 1945, Mexico 1, D.F.&;mdash;$40.00)

Benno Signitzer, et al. Massenmedia in Osterreich (Mass Media In Austria) (Internationale Publikationen, Altmannsdorferstr. 154-156, A- 1232 Vienna, Austria&;mdash;about $21.00)

Benno Signitzer, et al. Materialien Zu Massenmedien in Osterreich' (Department of Mass Communication, University of Salzburg, Austria&;mdash;about $3.20     

Aggressive and nonaggressive rejected students: An analysis of their differences

The present study aimed to analyze differences between aggressive and nonaggressive rejected students in four sets of variables: personal, family, school, and social. Participants in the study were 843 Spanish adolescents ranging in age from 11 to 16 years old, of whom 47% were boys. Results indicated that these two subgroups of rejected students show a different profile. Aggressive rejected students informed of lower levels of family self‐esteem, less parental support, higher levels of aggression between their parents at home, and a more offensive parent–child communication in comparison with nonaggressive rejected adolescents. Moreover, aggressive rejected students showed lower levels of academic self‐esteem, a more negative attitude toward school and studies, poorer relationships with teachers, and more academic difficulties than did adolescents in the nonaggressive rejected subgroup. Finally, aggressive rejected students indicated the presence of more undesirable life events and changes in their lives and, in general, higher levels of perceived stress. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Psychol Schs 43: 387–400, 2006.     

Engaging Élitism: the Mediating Effect of Work Engagement on Affective Commitment and Quit Intentions in Two Australian University Groups

Some universities rely on their élitism as one mechanism to attract and retain talented faculty. This paper examines two groups of élite and non‐élite universities and the mediating effect that work engagement has on affective commitment and intention to quit. Findings indicate partial support for the mediating effect of work engagement in the non‐élite group but no support in the élite university group. The implications of these diverse results are posed for the management of academics in élite and non‐élite universities, suggesting that a ‘one size fits all approach’ to performance outcomes does not always fit.     

Curriculum Elemental de Metrica

RESUMEN

La elaboración de un curriculum de métrica para el conocimiento de diferentes tipos de medida (longitud, peso, temperatura, volumen) es de gran utilidad en la escuela. Se comentan las características de otros tres curricula de métrica ya existentes. En el curriculum que proponen los autores se exponen los objetivos en cuatro secciones: longitud, temperatura, capacidad y peso. Dentro de cada sección los objetivos se dividen en dos apartados: medición no numérica y medición numérica. Se describen las actividades a desarrollar en términos de material, consignas y respuesta esperada del alumno.