Students’ Approaches to Summarisation

This paper considers the role that students’ approaches to learning play in summarising text, and in learning from summarisation. Students’ approaches to learning are characterised in terms of their relative reliance upon deep and surface processing. Two forms of summarisation are studied: the familiar text present summarisation, in which students have access to the text while summarising, and the less familiar text absent summarisation, in which students are warned that the text will be removed after they read it, but before they summarise it. It is predicted that text absent summarisation will facilitate deeper processing for students who normally adopt a deep approach and who are able to write competent summaries, and that these effects will be more apparent for the more difficult text. The results confirm the hypotheses and indicate that the two types of summarisation encourage different processes. Discussion focuses upon the relative merits of the approaches to learning and of the two forms of summarisation. It is concluded that the effects of students’ approaches to learning play a powerful role in summarisation, and need to be studied with respect to other learning activities.     

Processing of derived forms in high-functioning dyslexics

We report on an experiment designed to evaluate processing of derived forms in high-functioning dyslexics, defined as university students with a history of reading difficulties who have age-appropriate reading comprehension skills. We compared high-functioning dyslexics with a group of normal adult readers in their performance on a lexical decision task with derived items (such as cloudy and ably) and pseudo-derived items (such as belly and gravy). Some items contained an orthographic change (such as able-ably and gravy) and others did not (such as cloud - cloudy). The results indicated that although control participants’ response times varied systematically as a function of morphological complexity, those of high-functioning dyslexics did not. Further, there was some evidence of a relationship between derivational processing and reading. It seems that high-functioning dyslexics have persistent difficulties in processing one particular aspect of morphology; that of derived forms.     

Benefits of omega‐3 supplementation for schoolchildren: Review of the current evidence

Despite the potential impact nutrition may have on learning, there have been surprisingly few papers published directed towards the educational research community. In contrast, omega‐3 supplementation studies are being frequently cited in the media, leading to parents asking for advice and guidance. The purpose of this article is to review the evidence to date for any effect of using omega‐3 supplementation in school‐aged children. This article focuses on the research that has been undertaken, particularly in relation to behaviour, education and cognitive development, in both typically developing populations as well as in children with specific learning difficulties and developmental disorders. Recommendations for future studies in this area have been highlighted in view of current knowledge. In conclusion, it was found that there is a shortage of properly controlled omega‐3 supplementation trials, particularly with typically developing children, to advocate the supplementation of all children with omega‐3 fatty acids, but due to the known importance of omega‐3 fatty acids in the brain and early development, further research is required.     

The ‘worn-out athlete’: A clinical approach to chronic fatigue in athletes

Chronic fatigue in the athletic population is a common but difficult diagnostic challenge for the sports physician. While a degree of fatigue may be normal for any athlete during periods of high-volume training, the clinician must be able to differentiate between this physiological fatigue and more prolonged, severe fatigue which may be due to a pathological condition. As chronic fatigue can be the presenting symptom of many curable and harmful diseases, medical conditions which cause chronic fatigue have to be excluded. The clinician must then be able to differentiate between chronic fatigue associated with training or chronic fatigue from other medical causes, and also between the chronic fatigue syndrome and the overtraining syndrome. Once the clinician has excluded all of the above medical conditions which cause chronic fatigue in athletes, a significant proportion of fatigued athletes remain without a diagnosis. Novel data indicate that skeletal muscle disorders may play a role in the development of symptoms experienced by the athlete with chronic fatigue. The histological findings from muscle biopsies of athletes suffering from the ‘fatigued athlete myopathic syndrome’ are presented. We have designed a clinical approach to the diagnosis and work-up of the athlete presenting with chronic fatigue. The strength of this approach is that it hinges on the participation of a multidisciplinary team in the diagnosis and management of the athlete with chronic fatigue. The athlete, coach, dietician, exercise physiologist and sport psychologist all play an important role in enabling the physician to make the correct diagnosis.     

Classification of Double Deficit Groups Across Time: An Analysis of Group Stability From Kindergarten to Second Grade

The Double Deficit Hypothesis of dyslexia is one approach to classifying students with reading disabilities. The theory offers four distinct groups of readers: (a) average readers, (b) students with phonological deficits, (c) students with naming speed deficits, and (d) students with double deficits: those having both (b) and (c). This study examines the stability of these groups from kindergarten to second grade. An initial sample of 214 students were tested at four time points on measures of rapid automatized naming, phonological awareness, and reading. Latent transition analyses were used to examine the stability of these groups over time. These analyses indicated moderate stability from kindergarten to second grade with the probability of movement between groups being higher in kindergarten and early first grade. The groups differed in reading achievement at each testing time, with the double deficit group obtaining the lowest scores. Implications for early assessment and intervention are discussed.     

A comparison of men's and women's strength to body mass ratio and varus/valgus knee angle during jump landings

The purpose of this investigation was to compare valgus/varus knee angles during various jumps and lower body strength between males and females relative to body mass. Seventeen recreationally active females (age: 21.94 ± 2.59 years; height: 1.67 ± 0.05 m; mass: 64.42 ± 8.39 kg; percent body fat: 26.89 ± 6.26%; squat one-repetition maximum: 66.18 ± 19.47 kg; squat to body mass ratio: 1.03 ± 0.28) and 13 recreationally active males (age: 21.69 ± 1.65 years; height: 1.77 ± 0.07 m; mass: 72.39 ± 9.23 kg; percent body fat: 13.15 ± 5.18%; squat one-repetition maximum: 115.77 ± 30.40 kg; squat to body mass ratio: 1.59 ± 0.31) performed a one-repetition maximum in the squat and three of each of the following jumps: countermovement jump, 30 cm drop jump, 45 cm drop jump, and 60 cm drop jump. Knee angles were analysed using videography and body composition was analysed by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry to allow for squat to body mass ratio and squat to fat free mass ratio to be calculated. Significant differences (P ≤ 0.05) were found between male and female one-repetition maximum, male and female squat to body mass ratio, and male and female squat to fat free mass ratio. Significant differences were found between male and female varus/valgus knee positions during maximum flexion of the right and left leg in the countermovement jump, drop jump from 30 cm, drop jump from 45 cm, and drop jump from 60 cm. Correlations between varus/valgus knee angles and squat to body mass ratio for all jumps displayed moderate, non-significant relationships (countermovement jump: r = 0.445; drop jump from 30 cm: r = 0.448; drop jump from 45 cm: r = 0.449; drop jump from 60 cm: r = 0.439). In conclusion, males and females have significantly different lower body strength and varus/valgus knee position when landing from jumps.     

RAN Components and Reading Development From Grade 3 to Grade 5: What Underlies Their Relationship?

We examined (a) how rapid automatized naming (RAN) components—articulation time and pause time—predict reading accuracy and reading fluency in Grades 4 and 5, and (b) what cognitive-processing skills (phonological processing, orthographic processing, or speed of processing) mediate the RAN–reading relationship. Sixty children were followed from Grade 3 to Grade 5 and were administered RAN (Letters and Digits), phonological processing, lexical and sublexical orthographic processing, speed of processing, reading accuracy, and fluency tasks. Pause time was highly correlated with reading fluency and shared more of its predictive variance with lexical orthographic processing and speed of processing than with phonological processing. Articulation time also predicted reading fluency, and its contribution was mostly independent from other cognitive-processing skills. Implications for the relationship between RAN and reading are discussed.