Domain-specific knowledge and memory performance in children

Developmental studies assessing the impact of domain-specific knowledge on memory are discussed. In the first section of the review, different ways through which domain-specific knowledge relates to strategy use in memory tasks are briefly summarized. Empirical evidence indicating nonstrategic effects of the knowledge base are discussed next. In particular, findings based on the expert-novice paradigm are used to compare the knowledge structure and memory performance of experts and novices of different ages, and to explore how individual differences relate to the acquisition and use of domain-specific knowledge. The review shows that domain-specific knowledge permits children to process and remember domain-related information more efficiently, apply strategies more effectively, and integrate novel information more easily than domains for which they have less detailed knowledge. If the knowledge base is particularly rich, it exerts a greater influence than other sources of memory development (i.e., memory capacity, strategies, and metamemory) combined.     

The impact of relational consequences and intimacy on the selection of interpersonal persuasion tactics: A reanalysis

This study investigated the effects of situational variables on the likelihood of use of four types of compliance‐gaining strategies: justification, exchange, manipulation and personal rejection. Subjects rated the strategies on the probability that they would actually use them to gain compliance in each of four situations that varied systematically in intimacy and relational consequences. Both situational variables were found to he significant predictors of strategy preference. Message strategy selection was concluded to be based upon an assessment of the relative risk associated with the implementation of a given strategy and on the basis of the relative importance of three communicative goals: (1) whether strategy implementation would lead to successful compliance; (2) whether strategy implementation would result in relational harm; and, (3) whether strategy implementation would result in poor management of the agent's image. Recommendations for future research were noted.     

The Cognitive-Affective-Social Theory of Learning in digital Environments (CASTLE)

Educational Psychology Review - For a long time, research on individuals learning in digital environments was primarily based on cognitive-oriented theories. This paper aims at providing evidence...     

The Development of Scientific Thinking in Elementary School: A Comprehensive Inventory

The development of scientific thinking was assessed in 1,581 second, third, and fourth graders (8‐, 9‐, 10‐year‐olds) based on a conceptual model that posits developmental progression from naïve to more advanced conceptions. Using a 66‐item scale, five components of scientific thinking were addressed, including experimental design, data interpretation, and understanding the nature of science. Unidimensional and multidimensional item response theory analyses supported the instrument's reliability and validity and suggested that the multiple components of scientific thinking form a unitary construct, independent of verbal or reasoning skills. A partial credit model gave evidence for a hierarchical developmental progression. Across each grade transition, advanced conceptions increased while naïve conceptions decreased. Independent effects of intelligence, schooling, and parental education on scientific thinking are discussed.     

An exploration of school communication approaches for newly arrived EAL students: applying three dimensions of organisational communication theory

This article explores the modes of school communication associated with language and cultural diversity, demonstrating how organisational communication theory can be applied to the analysis of schools’ communication responses to the presence of pupils who have English as an additional language (EAL). The article highlights three analytical dimensions: the external factors influencing school communication systems; communication models reflected in school structures; and the content of communication between stakeholders. An exploratory study of a primary and a secondary school in the East of England, involving 32 semi-structured interviews with school managers, teachers, EAL staff, parents and newly arrived Eastern European students, reveals the interactional and transactional models of communication in the primary school, while the secondary school frequently used a linear approach. Communication in both schools showed a lack of information on EAL students and their parents, hindering a sustained outreach and empowering partnership, and possibly placing these students at a disadvantage.     

DEGREE OF ALIGNMENT BETWEEN BEGINNING TEACHERS' PRACTICES AND BELIEFS ABOUT EFFECTIVE CLASSROOM PRACTICES

Six beginning teachers were compared to an exemplary, experienced teacher. Teacher beliefs, classroom practices, and student engagement data were coded from theory-driven and data-driven perspectives. The strongest teachers demonstrated alignment between promotive/positive practices, beliefs, and students' engagement. The weakest teachers, whose students were less consistently engaged, demonstrated alignment between undermining practices and beliefs. For beginning teachers, with misaligned practices and beliefs, there may be potential for improving practices with experience. A testable model emerged depicting a metacognitive feedback loop for teachers who are aware of their shortcomings and place responsibility for students' behaviors and learning on themselves.     

Reflections on “peer acceptance and social play of gifted kindergarten children”

In this article, we review methods of writing assessment, focusing specifically on a method designed for special education: curriculum-based measurement. At the elementary and middle school levels, valid and reliable indicators of performance have been identified. At the high school level, research is sparse and has not yet supported the validity and reliability of the measures. More research is needed on the development of measures at the high school level, on the technical adequacy of the measures as growth indicators, and on the effects of implementation of the measures as they relate to teacher instruction and student performance.     

Affordances for Risky Play in Preschool: The Importance of Features in the Play Environment

The purpose of this article is to qualitatively explore the affordances for risky play in two different preschool outdoor environments, an ordinary preschool playground and a nature playground, based on Gibson (The ecological approach to visual perception, 1979) theory of affordances and Heft’s and Kytte?’s (Heft in Children’s Environ Qual 5(3) 29–37, 1988; Kytt? in J Environ Psychol 22:109–123, 2002, Kytt? in J Environ Psychol 24:179–198, 2004) extended work on this theory. Observations of risky play in two Norwegian preschools, one ordinary preschool (where play took place on an ordinary playground) and one nature and outdoor preschool (where play took place in a nature area) were conducted. In addition, the children were interviewed about their actualized affordances of risky play, their mobility license, and the constraints on risky play. The results show that both play environments afford an extensive amount of risky play among the children, and that the degree of mobility license tolerated by the staff is an important factor for the children to actualize these affordances. Differences in the qualities and features in the two play environments were found to have an impact on the degree of riskiness in the play situations. As such, the nature playground afforded a higher degree of risk in children’s risky play.     

Human genetic variation: new challenges and opportunities for doping control

Sport celebrates differences in competitors that lead to the often razor-thin margins between victory and defeat. The source of this variation is the interaction between the environment in which the athletes develop and compete and their genetic make-up. However, a darker side of sports may also be genetically influenced: some anti-doping tests are affected by the athlete's genotype. Genetic variation is an issue that anti-doping authorities must address as more is learned about the interaction between genotype and the responses to prohibited practices. To differentiate between naturally occurring deviations in indirect blood and urine markers from those potentially caused by doping, the "biological-passport" program uses intra-individual variability rather than population values to establish an athlete's expected physiological range. The next step in "personalized" doping control may be the inclusion of genetic data, both for the purposes of documenting an athlete's responses to doping agents and doping-control assays as well facilitating athlete and sample identification. Such applications could benefit "clean" athletes but will come at the expense of risks to privacy. This article reviews the instances where genetics has intersected with doping control, and briefly discusses the potential role, and ethical implications, of genotyping in the struggle to eliminate illicit ergogenic practices.