Development of decision making in school-aged children and adolescents: evidence from heart rate and skin conductance analysis

Age differences in decision making indicate that children fail to anticipate outcomes of their decisions. Using heart rate and skin conductance analyses, we tested whether developmental changes in decision making are associated with (a) a failure to process outcomes of decisions, or (b) a failure to anticipate future outcomes of decisions. Children aged 8-10, 12-14, and 16-18 years performed the Hungry Donkey task, a child version of the Iowa Gambling Task, while heart rate and skin conductance activity were continuously recorded. Children aged 16-18 learned to make advantageous choices over task blocks faster than the two younger age groups. Age differences were present for anticipation-related autonomic activity but not outcome-related autonomic activity. The results are interpreted vis-à-vis models of prefrontal cortex maturation.     

Developmental trends for object and spatial working memory: a psychophysiological analysis

This study examined developmental trends in object and spatial working memory (WM) using heart rate (HR) to provide an index of covert cognitive processes. Participants in 4 age groups (6-7, 9-10, 11-12, 18-26, n=20 each) performed object and spatial WM tasks, in which each trial was followed by feedback. Spatial WM task performance reached adult levels before object WM task performance. The differential developmental trends for object and spatial WM found in this study are taken to suggest that these WM components are separable. Negative performance feedback elicited HR slowing that was more pronounced for adults than for children. The development of performance monitoring as indexed by covert HR slowing following performance feedback contributes to WM performance.     

Training of poor readers' phonological decoding skills: Evidence for syllable-bound processing

A flash card computer program designed to increase decoding speed in reading was evaluated with a sample of 55 eight- to twelve-year-old Dutch poor readers by using a pretest-training-posttest control group design. The reading level of the poor readers was comparable to the reading level of normal readers in grade two. After 8 weeks of practicing (twice a week) for 30 minutes per session, children in the training group showed substantial improvements in decoding speed not only on pseudowords directly practiced during the training, but also in untrained pseudowords and in existing words. The no-training control group did not improve in decoding speed from pre- to posttest. The results, furthermore, indicate that syllable-bound processes play a role in phonological decoding in Dutch, and that the flash card method used in this study stimulates poor readers to decode letter strings into syllabic units, which leads to an increase in decoding speed. The role of the syllable in phonological decoding and the potential of a specific flash card technique as a means to improve decoding skills of poor readers are discussed.     

Training for Technology Entrepreneurs

New technology-based business enterprises need qualified and highly motivated entrepreneurs with access to technical resources, facilities and expertise. This paper describes two training programmes for graduate technologists, which assist the transition from full-time education to successful entrepreneurial activity. The programmes are the European Technology Entrepreneurs Programme (ETEP) operating in Northern Ireland and in the Republic of Ireland, and Tijdelijke Onderemers Plaatsen (Temporal Entrepreneurial Placement, TOP) which operates in the Twente region of the Netherlands. Both programmes are sponsored by partnerships of universities and public authorities. The structures and features of ETEP and TOP, and the operating experiences since 1984, are described and discussed. It is concluded that technology entrepreneur development can be accelerated with the support of programmes such as ETEP and TOP. Arrangements for continued collaboration between the centres involved now includes participation in the EC SPRINT programme.     

目前CUBA发展亟待解决的若干问题

应用献资料研究法、专家访谈法及归纳法，对1998年CUBA联赛开展以来的情况进行调查与分析，旨在总结成功的经验，揭示CUBA发展过程中潜在的危机，并探索相应的对策，为全国大学生联赛的健康发展提出需要解决的若干问题。     

An Approach to Teaching Electrical Energy

The paper discusses the implementation of a new teaching programme for electrical power engineering graduates. The balance between the different parts of the curriculum (non-technical, technical non-electric, electric non-power and real electrical power) is proposed and explained given the specific context. The logical information flow throughout the education process and the links between the course topics are explained.