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.     

Early development of quantity to number-word linkage as a precursor of mathematical school achievement and mathematical difficulties: Findings from a four-year longitudinal study

This article reports results of a four-year longitudinal study that investigated the impact of specific and non-specific precursors on mathematical school achievement. Preschool quantity-number competencies (QNC) predicted mathematical achievement in primary school. Furthermore, basic arithmetic fact retrieval in Grade 1 had an impact on early mathematics school achievement. The influence of socioeconomic status and number naming speed, assessed in kindergarten, became especially important at the end of Grade 4. Particularly, a subgroup of mathematically low-achieving children in Grade 4 had already performed more poorly than normal children in tasks assessing preschool QNC, number naming speed, and basic arithmetic fact retrieval, as well as nonverbal intelligence and socioeconomic status.     

Does Posttransfer Involvement Matter for Persistence of Community College Transfer Students?

Because of increasing mobility among various college student populations, both the baccalaureate degree attainment of community college beginners and the role played by their receiving 4-year institution are growing in importance. In this study, we examined how the academic and social involvement of community college transfer students differs by the type of receiving institution, and how strongly their posttransfer involvement is associated with persistence. Results indicated that academic and social involvement were higher for students who transferred to private not-for-profit doctoral institutions, as compared to those who transferred to other types of institutions. Also, among the involvement variables, academic advising is the factor that is most positively associated with the persistence of these students. Our findings make the case for a comprehensive examination of persistence of community college transfer students, looking at both their level of involvement and the type of institution they move to.     

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.     

Körperbild und Körperzufriedenheit im Leistungssport

The controversy surrounding the role of competitive sports in the development of eating disorders has increased in recent decades. There are inconsistent findings in the literature concerning the relationship between eating disorders and competitive sports, especially aesthetic sports. The aim of this study was therefore to assess eating disorder-related psychopathology in a sample of competitive figure skaters (FS) representative for competitive aesthetic sports. Special attention is paid to the investigation of body image and body satisfaction. Patients with anorexia nervosa (AN) and a healthy control group (CG) served as comparison groups. None of the FS met the complete diagnostic criteria for an eating disorder. Furthermore no significant differences were observed between the FS and the CG regarding body image and body satisfaction. However, a significant difference was detected compared to the AN patients. Our results underline the necessity for a differentiated analysis and careful diagnostics of sport-specific aspects when considering eating disorder-related psychopathology in competitive sports.     

Misremembering Past Affect Predicts Adolescents’ Future Affective Experience During Exercise

Purpose: Increasing physical activity among adolescents is a public health priority. Because people are motivated to engage in activities that make them feel good, this study examined predictors of adolescents’ feelings during exercise. Method: During the 1st semester of the school year, we assessed 6th-grade students’ (N = 136) cognitive appraisals of the importance of exercise. Participants also reported their affect during a cardiovascular fitness test and recalled their affect during the fitness test later that semester. During the 2nd semester, the same participants rated their affect during a moderate-intensity exercise task. Results: Affect reported during the moderate-intensity exercise task was predicted by cognitive appraisals of the importance of exercise and by misremembering affect during the fitness test as more positive than it actually was. This memory bias mediated the association between appraising exercise as important and experiencing a positive change in affect during the moderate-intensity exercise task. Conclusion: These findings highlight the roles of both cognitive appraisals and memory as factors that may influence affect during exercise. Future work should explore whether affect during exercise can be modified by targeting appraisals and memories related to exercise experiences.