Danish majority children's reasoning about exclusion based on gender and ethnicity

This study investigated 282 eight- to twelve-year-old Danish majority children's judgments and justifications of exclusion based on gender and ethnicity (i.e., Danish majority children and ethnic-minority children of a Muslim background). Children's judgments and reasoning varied with the perpetrator of the exclusion and the social identity of the target. Children assessed exclusion based on ethnicity as less acceptable than exclusion based on gender and used more moral reasoning for the former than the latter. Children judged it less acceptable for a teacher than a child to exclude a child protagonist. Children were sensitive to status, judging it less acceptable to exclude a less powerful group member. The findings are discussed in relation to intergroup relations in Denmark.     

Trigger videos on the Web: Impact of audiovisual design

Audiovisual design might impact emotional responses, as studies from the 1970s and 1980s on movie and television content show. Given today's abundant presence of web‐based videos, this study investigates whether audiovisual design will impact web‐video content in a similar way. The study is motivated by the potential influence of video‐evoked emotional responses to related activities in a web‐based learning environment. To examine this, a video scene was designed that follows the concept of an educational trigger video. A trigger video aims to evoking affective responses in viewers with respect to a social problem situation. An experiment was conducted that explored whether the manipulation of two audiovisual design variables—shot length and camera height—of a web trigger video affects how the problem situation and the characters are perceived. The results showed that audiovisual design did impact these video‐related tasks.     

Preschool‐Age Problem Behavior and Teacher–Child Conflict in School: Direct and Moderation Effects by Preschool Organization

The hypothesis was tested that the new open‐group Norwegian day‐care centers would more than traditionally organized centers negatively affect (a) current and (b) future teacher–child relationships, and (c) the developmental legacy of preschool problem behavior. The focus was on eight hundred and fifty 4‐year‐olds from 153 centers who were followed up in first grade. Results of this natural quasi‐experiment revealed that children from open‐group centers (a) experienced less teacher–child closeness in preschool and (b) more teacher–child conflict in first grade, and (c) that high levels of preschool problem behavior forecast especially high levels of future teacher–child conflict, but only for children from open‐group centers. Results highlight the importance of spatial and social organization of day care and their translational implications.     

Using concept maps to elicit and study student teachers’ perceptions about inclusive education: a Tanzanian experience

In this study, concept map activities were used to trigger group discussions about inclusive education, with a focus on learners with disabilities. The participants were 226 Tanzanian student teachers. This article reports and discusses how the maps were analysed and what they indicate about the students’ thinking about certain aspects of inclusive education. The results also indicate that concept mapping as an activity in teacher education may be useful and engaging for students. It may help them to organise knowledge and make them aware of their own and others’ understanding of inclusive education practices. An analysis of concept maps constructed by student teachers may also help lecturers to identify views, misconceptions, knowledge gaps and insights about inclusion in education settings.     

Relationships between functional movement screen scores,maturation and physical performance in young soccer players

The purpose of this study was to examine relationships between functional movement screen scores, maturation and physical performance in young soccer players. Thirty males (11–16 years) were assessed for maturation, functional movement screen scores and a range of physical performance tests (squat jump, reactive strength index protocol and reactive agility cut). Older players significantly outperformed younger participants in all tests (P < 0.05; effect sizes = 1.25–3.40). Deep overhead squat, in-line lunge, active straight leg raise and rotary stability test were significantly correlated to all performance tests. In-line lunge performance explained the greatest variance in reactive strength index (adjusted R² = 47%) and reactive agility cut (adjusted R² = 38%) performance, whilst maturation was the strongest predictor of squat jump performance (adjusted R² = 46%). This study demonstrated that variation of physical performance in youth soccer players could be explained by a combination of both functional movement screen scores and maturation.     

Do young children think of television images as pictures or real objects?

Three studies investigated whether 3‐ and 4‐year‐olds interpret television images as mere pictorial representations of objects or as real, physically‐present objects. Four‐year‐olds gave clear evidence of making the former interpretation whereas 3‐year‐olds seemed to make the latter one. However, the data suggest that the younger children's errors reflect a failure to differentiate conceptually between television images and their referent objects rather than a conviction that real objects populate television sets.