Further Reflections on Disentangling Shape and Level Effects in Person-Centered Analyses: An Illustration Exploring the Dimensionality of Psychological Health

Morin and Marsh (2015) proposed a methodological framework to disentangle shape and level effects in latent profile analyses. We discuss limitations of this framework (based on a logic similar to that of higher-order measurement models), and suggest that these limitations are easily solved by a more thorough examination of the variable-centered measurement models underlying profile indicators. This study presents complementary variable- and person-centered approaches aiming to assess the dimensionality of psychometric constructs. Psychometric measures often assess separate conceptually-related facets of global overarching constructs, based on the assumption that these overarching constructs exist as global entities including specificities mapped by the facets. The framework proposed here explicitly models this dimensionality in both variable- and person-centered analyses. To illustrate this revised psychometric framework, we use ratings of psychological health collected from 1,232 teachers, and show how this revised framework provides a clearer picture of teachers’ profiles of psychological health.     

Teaching Mathematics and Astronomy in France: The Collège Royal (1550–1650)

For a long time, the medieval university maintained relative consistency throughout Europe in teaching topics and methods. But between 1550 and 1650 this came to an end. The evolution concerned the content of the courses and, to a lesser extent, the way the field was taught. The impact of these changes varied greatly from place to place, and new knowledge was not processed and accepted in a consistent way. Differences became more striking and different places tended to develop in different directions. This is the rationale for my proposal to study the Collège Royal, a pivotal institution of the French educational system, which was founded by François 1^er in 1530. I propose, at first, a brief survey of a century of mathematics at the Collège, to determine the place of astronomy in the teaching, and, secondly, I examine how the Collège Royalwas influenced by the main transformations of the discipline. My conclusion is that although the Collègemay at first appear to be a rather conservative institution, upon closer examination this view need to be partly revised.     

Children’s Drawings: A mirror to their minds

Children’s drawings are thought to be a mirror of a child’s representational development. Research suggests that with age children develop more complex and symbolic representational strategies and reference points become more differentiated by gender. We collected two drawings from 109 5–13‐year‐old children (three age groups). Each child drew their family and their school and participated in an independent recall task. The results indicated significant gender and age differences in the number of details depicted in the family drawings. There were also significant differences between boys’ and girls’ stereotyped drawings, usage of proportionality, and clothing. With age, children tended to draw more aerial views of their school. The results are discussed in terms of the contribution children’s drawings can make to the study of cognitive development and vice versa, as well as their importance for education.     

The Improvement of Mothers’ and Children’s Emotional and Behavioral Reactions through the Modification of Attentional Bias in Mothers: A Micro-Trial Study

Objective. The aim of this study was to test whether and to what extent inducing attentional bias in mothers toward a child’s positive emotions using a micro-trial method would improve mothers’ emotional and behavioral reactions in parenting-related situations. Effects on children were also assessed. Design. Forty-two mothers of 4- to 5-year-old children participated. Half of the mothers were exposed to an attention bias modification task designed to elicit a transient bias toward positive stimuli. After the manipulation, they were observed during a free-play session and frustration laboratory tasks designed to elicit positive and negative emotions. Results. Mothers exposed to the attention bias modification task displayed more positive emotional and behavioral reactions toward their child during both free-play and frustration tasks. Their children also behaved better, especially during the free-play session. The influence of mothers’ attention allocation on children’s outcomes was mediated by mothers’ behavior. Conclusions. An attention bias modification program is useful in improving interactions between mothers and children.     

Representation in memory and acquisition of knowledge from text and picture: Theoretical,methodological, and practical outcomes

Over the last 10 years, text comprehension research has undergone profound theoretical and methodological upheaval. Today, psychologists study language and texts because they present the trace markers of structures and cognitive operations. A text is no longer seen as a vehicle for conveying constructed meaning. Rather, text has been redefined as merely a structured sequence of stimuli, which activates both domain-related knowledge triggered by text information and linguistic knowledge. We present the theoretical views and experimental findings of the TEXTIMA group, characterized by the importance of the connectionist concepts.     

The paths between gender,barriers, social support,coping efficacy and vocational indecision

We investigated the paths between gender, social support, barriers, coping efficacy, and vocational indecision in the light of social cognitive career theory. A path model was tested with a sample of 203 undergraduates. We expected coping efficacy to partially mediate the paths between career barriers, educational barriers, social support and indecision. However, this prediction was only confirmed for educational barriers. Results are discussed with reference to the literature and in terms of their practical implications.     

Algebraic thinking,pattern activities and knowledge for teaching at the transition between primary and secondary school

We were interested in exploring the extent to which advanced mathematics lecturers provide students with opportunities to play a role in considering or generating course content. To do this, we examined the questioning practices of 11 lecturers who taught advanced mathematics courses at the university level. Because we are unaware of other studies examining advanced mathematics lecturers’ questioning, we first analyzed the data using an open coding scheme to categorize the types of content lecturers solicited and the opportunities they provided students to participate in generating course content. In a second round of analysis, we examined the extent to which lecturers provide students with opportunities to generate mathematical contributions and to engage in reasoning that researchers have identified as important in advanced mathematics. Our findings highlight that, although lecturers asked many questions, lecturers did not provide substantial opportunities for students to participate in generating mathematical content and reasoning. Additionally, we provide several examples of lecturers providing students with some opportunities to generate important contributions. We conclude by providing implications and areas for future research.     

The role of academic ability indicators in big-fish-little-pond effect research: A comparison study

The authors examined the big-fish-little-pond effect (BFLPE) on academic self-concept (ASC) using different indicators of academic ability (i.e., achievement test, cognitive ability test, grades corrected for grading-on-a-curve effects, uncorrected grades). They investigated under what circumstances grades are suitable indicators of academic ability in BFLPE research. The sample comprised 730 sixth-grade students from 30 classes belonging to the top track of the German secondary high school system. Using multilevel models, all indicators of academic ability exhibited negative contrast effects on ASC at class level (i.e., BFLPE). The authors found the strongest effects for corrected grades, followed by achievement tests, cognitive ability, and, finally, uncorrected grades. Thus, the study provides evidence for the usage of grades within BFLPE research for investigating the BFLPE.     

Rethinking saving: Indian ceremonial gifts as relational and reproductive saving

ABSTRACT

Economic anthropology has long advocated a broader vision of savings than that proposed by economists. This article extends this redefinitional effort by examining ceremonial gifts in India and arguing that they are a specific form of savings. Rural households, including those at the bottom of the pyramid, do save, in the sense of storing, accumulating and circulating value. But this takes place via particular forms of mediation that allow savers to forge or maintain social and emotional relations, to keep control over value – what matters in people’s lives – and over spaces and their own future. We propose terming these practices relational and reproductive saving, insofar as their main objective is to sustain life across generations. By contrast, trying to encourage saving via bank mediation may dispossess populations of control over their wealth, their socialisation, their territories and their time. In an increasingly financialised world of evermore aggressive policies to push people into financial inclusion, the social, symbolic, cultural and political aspects of diverse forms of financial mediation deserve our full attention.