Newborn irritability moderates the association between infant attachment security and toddler exploration and sociability

This longitudinal investigation of 84 infants examined whether the effect of 12-month attachment on 18- and 24-month exploration and sociability with unfamiliar adults varied as a function of newborn irritability. As expected, results revealed an interaction between attachment (secure vs. insecure) and irritability (highly irritable vs. moderately irritable) in predicting both exploration and sociability with unfamiliar adults. For exploration, results supported a dual-risk model; that is, toddlers who had been both highly irritable and insecurely attached were less exploratory than other toddlers. For sociability, results supported the differential-susceptibility hypothesis; that is, highly irritable infants, compared to moderately irritable infants, were both less sociable as toddlers when they had been insecurely attached and more sociable when they had been securely attached.     

Two for One: Squeezing Human-Computer Interaction and Software Engineering into a Core Computer Science Course

The final report of the Joint Task Force on Computing Curricula (CC2001) suggests that an updated computer science curricula must reflect the broadening nature of our discipline. Two areas that are included in the CC2001 are software engineering (SE) and human-computer interaction (HCI). While the first inclination might be to incorporate HCI concepts into a traditional SE course, we propose a different approach. This paper outlines a project-oriented HCI course in which we are able to emphasize some SE notions in the context of HCI concepts. Our course is also a maturation class for our students because they are exposed to a number of non-programming computer science activities, including project specification, software and interface design, user testing, prototyping and use of guidelines. We include an overview of course content that illustrates our approach. We also describe our coverage of specific CC2001 knowledge units and provide some feedback data for our course.     

Examination of the Psychometric Properties of the Knowledge of Aging for Social Work Quiz

Using graduate social work students' data (n = 481) in the Hartford Partnership Program for Aging Education (HPPAE) in the United States, the study examined psychometric properties of the Knowledge of Aging for Social Work Quiz (KASW), a revision of the Facts on Aging Quiz, to evaluate biopsychosocial knowledge relevant to social work. We examined the intercorrelations of the KASW with the academic and practice experience in aging and score differences by the specialization and school year, and estimated the internal consistencies as reliability. Results showed the convergent validity of the KASW, indicating the items measured theoretically related areas of content with students' skills and experiences in aging. The internal consistencies, nevertheless, remained relatively low, representing the items that failed to measure the expected constructs of biopsychosocial domains. The KASW will be further refined to more sensitively identify students' knowledge deficiencies by selecting an optimal panel of items in biopsychosocial content areas and by providing information relevant to the pedagogical agenda and guidance in field education.     

The Role of Set for Variability in Irregular Word Reading: Word and Child Predictors in Typically Developing Readers and Students At-Risk for Reading Disabilities

ABSTRACT

In a quasiregular orthography like English, children inevitably encounter irregular words during reading. Previous research suggests successful reading of an irregular word depends at least partially on a child’s ability to address the mismatch between decoded form and stored word pronunciation, referred to as a child’s set for variability, and the word’s relative transparency, measured here using a spelling to pronunciation transparency rating. Item-level analyses were used to explore the relationship between general child performance on the set for variability mispronunciation task, word specific set for variability (predicting reading of that word), spelling to pronunciation transparency rating, and irregular word reading. Significant predictors included general word reading, general set for variability performance, and item-specific set for variability performance; word frequency and spelling to pronunciation transparency rating; and an interaction between word reading and the transparency rating. Results underscore the importance of considering both general and item-specific factors affecting irregular word reading.     

Learning by starch potato growers: learning in small businesses with no employees

In small businesses with no employees, learning environments have a low learning readiness. Consequently, learners need to rely on their own agency to shape their learning experiences. Results from a study of agricultural entrepreneurs indicated that the components of motivation and self-regulated learning strategies shape learner's agency and explain learning environment configuration in small businesses with no employees. Configuration of the learning environment was found to be a weak determinant of the learning performance of these learners. However, results showed that prior performance of learners in small businesses with no employees dictates how their agency operates and what learning effect is achieved; higher prior performance results in higher learning effects. We conclude that mechanisms that underlie learning in traditional learning environments work similarly in learning environments in small businesses with no employees.     

Identifying the required knowledge elements for the effective detection,investigation, and prosecution of high technology crime: The perspective of academe

This is a selective bibliography of 89 references on recruitment of minority students and faculty for graduate and professional schools and programs. Education, social sciences, and law literature were scanned for the years 1981 to 1991. Resources on recruitment in graduate and professional education are included, as well as a few relevant references of somewhat broader scope on diversity in higher education. This bibliography is divided into two parts: Part 1 is on student recruitment, Part 2 on faculty recruitment. Each part is subdivided into three sections—general literature, strategies and programs, and literature pertaining to particular fields of study or professions.     

An evaluation of the effect of two different lengths of inservice training on teacher attitudes

This investigation compares the effectiveness of two types of inservice training offered through the Arizona Portal School Program. Both methods were designed to provide teachers with positive attitudes toward activity-centered energy education. The methods differed in length and energy-related content with one course running for 5 sessions and the other for 15 sessions. The longer course placed more emphasis on content knowledge. Three types of attitudes were assessed: attitudes toward curricular change, opinions on energy concepts, and beliefs about science education. Although the longer course had a more positive effect on the participants' views of and willingness to participate in curricular change and the shorter course had a more positive effect on the participants' views of teaching activity-oriented science, both courses produced the same type of change in the participants' views of energy issues.     

Disorganized Behavior in Adolescent–Parent Interaction: Relations to Attachment State of Mind,Partner Abuse,and Psychopathology

Disoriented, punitive, and caregiving/role‐confused attachment behaviors are associated with psychopathology in childhood, but have not been assessed in adolescence. A total of 120 low‐income late adolescents (aged 18–23 years) and parents were assessed in a conflict‐resolution paradigm. Their interactions were coded with the Goal‐Corrected Partnership in Adolescence Coding Scales. Confirmatory factor analysis demonstrated that the three disorganized constructs (punitive, caregiving, and disoriented interaction) were best represented as distinct factors and were separable from a fourth factor for collaboration. The four factors were then assessed in relation to measures of attachment disorganization, partner abuse, and psychopathology. Results indicate that forms of disorganized behavior first described in early childhood can also be reliably assessed in adolescence and are associated with maladaptive outcomes across multiple domains.     

Poly(vinyl alcohol)-heparin biosynthetic microspheres produced by microfluidics and ultraviolet photopolymerisation

Biosynthetic microspheres have the potential to address some of the limitations in cell microencapsulation; however, the generation of biosynthetic hydrogel microspheres has not been investigated or applied to cell encapsulation. Droplet microfluidics has the potential to produce more uniform microspheres under conditions compatible with cell encapsulation. Therefore, the aim of this study was to understand the effect of process parameters on biosynthetic microsphere formation, size, and morphology with a co-flow microfluidic method. Poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA), a synthetic hydrogel and heparin, a glycosaminoglycan were chosen as the hydrogels for this study. A capillary-based microfluidic droplet generation device was used, and by varying the flow rates of both the polymer and oil phases, the viscosity of the continuous oil phase, and the interfacial surface tension, monodisperse spheres were produced from ∼200 to 800 μm. The size and morphology were unaffected by the addition of heparin. The modulus of spheres was 397 and 335 kPa for PVA and PVA/heparin, respectively, and this was not different from the bulk gel modulus (312 and 365 for PVA and PVA/heparin, respectively). Mammalian cells encapsulated in the spheres had over 90% viability after 24 h in both PVA and PVA/heparin microspheres. After 28 days, viability was still over 90% for PVA-heparin spheres and was significantly higher than in PVA only spheres. The use of biosynthetic hydrogels with microfluidic and UV polymerisation methods offers an improved approach to long-term cell encapsulation.