The impact of global and local context information on the processing of deceptive actions in game sports

In basketball, the defender’s reaction to a pass is slower and more error prone if the attacking player gazes into the opposite direction. This so-called head-fake effect might be modulated by context information, that is, the frequency and the sequence of head fakes occurring. Accordingly, the present study investigates the head-fake effect for different frequency proportions (20% vs. 50% vs. 80%). The results show that the head-fake effect decreases when the head fake occurs more often. Furthermore, a potential influence of previous fake experience (i.e., congruency-sequence effect) on the size of the head-fake effect was investigated. Importantly, previous fake experience did not cause the frequency-based modulation of the general size of the head-fake effect. These findings bare important implications for sports practice, especially when it comes to instructing players about the tactical use of deceptive actions.     

Emotion Reactivity and Regulation in Maltreated Children: A Meta-Analysis

The many adverse effects of child maltreatment make the scientific investigation of this phenomenon a matter of vital importance. Although the relationship between maltreatment and problematic emotion reactivity and regulation has been studied, the strength and specificity of these associations are not yet clear. We examine the magnitude of the maltreatment—child-emotion reactivity/regulation link. Studies with substantiated maltreatment involving children aged up to 18 were included, along with a smaller number of longitudinal studies (58 papers reviewed, encompassing more than 11,900 children). In comparison to nonmaltreated children, maltreated children experience more negative emotions, behave in a manner indicative of more negative emotion, and display emotion dysregulation. We outline several theoretical implications of our results.     

Multi-level model of contextual factors and teachers’ assessment practices: an integrative review of research

We present a multi-level model of contextual factors that may influence teachers’ assessment practices, and use this model in a selected review of existing literature on teachers’ assessment knowledge, views and conceptions with respect to these contextual factors. Adapting Kozma’s model, we distinguish three levels of influence on teachers’ practices: micro, meso and macro. We searched for relevant articles in EBSCO, JSTOR and other databases, and review selected articles with a focus on the complex relationships within and across these levels. Findings reveal a large body of research at the micro-level (teacher), such as on teachers’ values, conceptions and knowledge. However, there is relatively less research at the meso-level (school) or connecting it with the micro- or macro-levels. Implications for future research are also discussed.     

Effort Self-Talk Benefits the Mathematics Performance of Children With Negative Competence Beliefs

Children with negative competence beliefs often achieve below their potential in school. This randomized field experiment tested whether engaging in positive self-talk may benefit these children’s mathematics performance. Participants (N = 212, Grades 4–6, M_age = 10.6) worked on the first half of a standardized mathematics test, engaged in effort self-talk (“I will do my very best!”), ability self-talk (“I am very good at this!”), or no self-talk, and worked on the second half of the test. Compared to both the conditions, effort self-talk benefited the performance of children holding negative competence beliefs: It severed the association between negative competence beliefs and poor performance. By internally asserting that they will deliver effort, children with negative competence beliefs can optimize their achievement in school.     

Young Children's Ability to Read and Spell Their Own and Classmates' Names: The Role of Letter Knowledge

Children's ability to read and spell their own and classmates' personal names in and out of context in Hebrew was studied. Preliterate children aged 4 to 6 years (N = 60) showed high knowledge of their own names but varied greatly in knowledge of others' names and emergent literacy skills. Reading and spelling of names was primarily related to letter knowledge rather than to phonemic awareness. Superior performance with initial over medial/final letters occurred despite no capitalization in Hebrew names. Names of two letters were read better than longer names, which were read equally well, indicating use of partial cues. These results bear on Ehri's (2005) phase theory. We speculate that informal learning of names is founded on letter knowledge plus exposure to names and is fueled by children's interest in names.     

Absence of girl images: the gender construct in personal and social education in Hong Kong

Education Ordinance 1971 in Hong Kong not only provided girls with a much greater chance of receiving education than had hitherto been the case, it also had the effect of incorporating them into the regulatory framework of the school system. This paper examines how the discourses of civic education and sex education before and after reunification with mainland China have interchanged the concept of gender with the biological sex in the construction of the girl. In particular, it argues that, in the name of maintaining the stability of society, the developmental path for girls has been limited in the discourses of sex, personal and social education. As a result, girls are only presumed to become women and take up their appropriate gender roles according to the social norms of contemporary Hong Kong.     

Children's Frequency of Participation in Moderate to Vigorous Physical Activities

Abstract

Third and fourth grade boys (n = 422) and girls (n = 390) in four Texas elementary schools reported their participation in moderate to vigorous physical activities (MVPAs) over a 3-day period. Students were surveyed during class on successive days. On a subsample (n = 44), the agreement between reported and observed physical activities during physical education or recess was 86.3%. Running, walking fast, games and sports, and bicycling accounted for 70% of Total MVPAs. Of Total MVPAs reported, 47.0% for boys and 44.6% for girls were 10 min or longer in duration (LMVPA). The average number of LMVPAs per day was 1.7 for both boys and girls. Students reported significantly more occurrences of LMVPAs out of school than during school. Significant interaction between grade and gender indicated that third grade boys reported more Total MVPAs and LMVPAs than third grade girls, but fourth grade boys reported fewer Total MVPAs and LMVPAs than fourth grade girls. During the 3-day reporting period, 12.3% of boys and 13.3% of girls reported no LMVPAs, and 35.6% of boys and girls reported fewer than one LMVPAs per day. While the majority of children reported obtaining at least some activity daily, a substantial proportion of children in this sample reported fewer than one LMVPA daily, indicating that many children may not be obtaining adequate amounts of physical activity.