Patterns of coparenting and young children's social–emotional adjustment in low-income families

This study identified coparenting patterns using data collected across 2007–2010 from low-income couples (N = 2915; 26.90% non-Hispanic White; 9.41% non-Hispanic Black; 34.24% Hispanic, 29.27% other or mixed race) with young children (M = 3.65 years; SD = 1.31 years; 48% girls) and examined relations with children's social–emotional adjustment. Latent profile analysis revealed four coparenting patterns: mutual high-quality (43.4%), moderate-quality, mothers less positive (31.8%), moderate-quality, fathers less positive (15.9%), and low-quality, mothers less positive (8.9%). When parents' perspectives on coparenting were positive and congruent, children fared best. Children also fared well when coparenting quality was moderate, and mothers were less positive than fathers. When coparenting quality was moderate and fathers were less positive than mothers, children showed the poorest adjustment.     

The Effect of Addition and Subtraction Practice within a Word-Problem Intervention on Addition and Subtraction Outcomes

This study examined the influence of addition and subtraction practice embedded within a word-problem intervention for Grade 3 students experiencing word-problem difficulty. Students (N = 448) were randomly assigned to one of two variants of a word-problem intervention or a business-as-usual comparison condition. Within the word-problem interventions, students participated in targeted addition and subtraction fact and computation practice for approximately 3 minutes of each 30-minute session across 47 intervention sessions, but also continually practiced addition and subtraction through word-problem solving. At posttest, students who participated in the intervention demonstrated improved single-digit addition and subtraction performance as well as improved double-digit addition and subtraction performance. At follow-up in Grade 4, persistence of effects was only identified for double-digit addition. Considering addition and subtraction are foundational to many other mathematics skills, addition and subtraction practice serves as an important component of mathematics intervention.     

Language Proficiency and the Relation to Word-Problem Performance in Emergent Bilingual Students with Mathematics Difficulties

As students enter the upper elementary grades, word problems become a main component of mathematics instruction, increasing in complexity as students advance through the curriculum. For students identified as emergent bilinguals with mathematics difficulty (MD), the linguistic complexity inherent in word problems may serve as a barrier to word-problem proficiency. The current study investigated the potential relation between academic English proficiency and word-problem outcomes for emergent bilinguals with MD. After analyzing data from 241 third-grade students, results indicated students who participated in an evidence-based word-problem intervention outperformed students who did not receive the intervention. Moreover, students’ academic English-language proficiency scores in the domains of reading and writing positively correlated with higher scores on a measure of word-problem solving.     

Spatial Visualization of Human Anatomy through Art Using Technical Drawing Exercises

Spatial visualization, the ability to mentally rotate three-dimensional (3D) images, plays a significant role in anatomy education. This study examines the impact of technical drawing exercises on the improvement of spatial visualization and anatomy education in a Neuroscience course. First-year medical students (n = 84) were randomly allocated into a control group (n = 41) or art-training group (n = 43). Variables including self-reported artistic drawing ability, previous technical drawing experience, or previous anatomy laboratory exposure were gathered. Participants who self-identified as artistic individuals were equally distributed between the two groups. Students in the art-training group attended four 1-hour sessions to solve technical drawing worksheets. All participants completed two Mental Rotations Tests (MRT), which were used to assess spatial visualization. Data were also collected from two neuroscience written examinations and an anatomical “tag test” practical examination. Participants in the art-training and control groups improved on the MRT. The mean of written examination two was significantly higher (P = 0.007) in the art-training group (12.95) than the control group (11.48), and higher (P = 0.027) in those without technical drawing experience (12.44) than those with (11.00). The mean of the anatomical practical was significantly higher (P = 0.010) in those without artistic ability (46.24) than those with (42.00). These results suggest that completing technical drawing worksheets may aid in solving anatomy-based written examination questions on complex brain regions, but further research is needed to determine its implication on anatomy practical scores. These results propose a simple method of improving spatial visualization in anatomy education.     

A Meta-synthesis of Caregivers’ Experiences Transitioning from Early Intervention to Early Childhood Special Education

Early Childhood Education Journal - The transition from Early Intervention (EI) to Early Childhood Special Education (ECSE) is a stressful time for caregivers of children with disabilities....     

There's no place like home: Exploring sexual and gender diverse youth's outcomes related to urban/nonurban settings,opted consent procedure,and social support

This study uses the minority stress model to examine the relationship between sexual and gender diverse youth's (SGDY's) emotional and peer problem outcomes with their school setting (i.e., attending school in an urban or nonurban setting) and consent type (i.e., parental/guardian or waived consent). The study also explores how social support can alter these relationships as a protective factor. The instruments used to collect data were self-report and included the Child and Adolescent Social Support Scale and the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire. Results indicated that more youth in nonurban settings experienced emotional and peer problems compared to those in urban settings, and youth who opted for waived consent endorsed fewer emotional and peer problems compared to youth who opted for parental/guardian consent. When controlling for social support, the consent procedure and school setting variables lost significance. Implications for school psychologists are reviewed.     

Year 3 student career choices: Exploring societal changes in constructions of masculinity and femininity in career choice justifications

This article reports on a survey of 332 Year 3 students from 14 Australian schools. We are interested in exploring Year 3 primary school student aspirations and what this data shows us about any societal changes, or not. This study is timely as it reports on contemporary data within an Australian educational context marked by significant investment in improving equitable gendered participation, particularly for girls entering STEM. Drawing on conceptions of masculinities and femininities as social constructions, we report on the participants’ desired occupations and explore their justifications for such choices. The top three occupations for boys included careers in professional sports, STEM-related jobs and policing/defence. Girls reported wanting to be teachers, veterinarians or to work in the arts as their top choices. As part of our exploration, we found issues of money and power—traditionally coded masculine—and conceptions of love and care—traditionally coded feminine—ingrained in boys’ and girls’ justifications for their desired trajectories. Findings are significant for illustrating how traditional constructions of gender are ingrained in career choices in the early years of primary school and how policy agendas to widen participation need to start early in life.     

Intangibles: theory,categories, and the Kozminski matrix

Analyzing the strategic significance of a firm's intellectual capital separates tangible assets from intangible assets, and demands close attention to how the latter are valued. Conventional methods based on cost or market value are of little relevance. Ultimately, the analysis turns on who makes the estimate and to what end. We argue for a third source of estimates, the same managers whose application of strategic assets sets the value-adding processes of the firm in motion. This is a constructivist approach that raises important theoretical and methodological questions about the nature of the firm and its value-creating capabilities. Objective measures cannot grasp these capabilities, and current efforts to establish such metrics are deeply counter-productive. We propose the ‘business model’ as the firm-specific natural language within which the future value of the intangible assets can be estimated.     

Theory and practice in sport psychology and motor behaviour needs to be constrained by integrative modelling of brain and behaviour

Because of advances in technology, the non-invasive study of the human brain has enhanced the knowledge base within the neurosciences, resulting in an increased impact on the psychological study of human behaviour. We argue that application of this knowledge base should be considered in theoretical modelling within sport psychology and motor behaviour alongside existing ideas. We propose that interventions founded on current theoretical and empirical understanding in both psychology and the neurosciences may ultimately lead to greater benefits for athletes during practice and performance. As vehicles for exploring the arguments of a greater integration of psychology and neurosciences research, imagery and perception–action within the sport psychology and motor behaviour domains will serve as exemplars. Current neuroscience evidence will be discussed in relation to theoretical developments; the implications for sport scientists will be considered.     

Electroencephalographic functional equivalence during observation of action

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the variability in cortical activation during physical air-rifle shooting and three different observation conditions. Elite air-rifle shooters performed a 40 shot individual match. Electroencephalograms were recorded from 11 active sites across the cortex during the final 6 s (3 × 2 s epochs) before shot release. Data collection was repeated while shooters watched a large-screen video of their worst shot performance from an internal-visual perspective when seated, standing and standing holding their rifle. The hypothesized differences between the three observation conditions and the physical shooting profile were not shown except at the left anterior temporal site, T5. This finding suggests that observation of performance cannot be differentiated clearly by posture or modified through kinetic and haptic afference, and that visual percepts predominate in observational functional equivalence. However, more functionally equivalent observation reduced the observation/execution variability over the temporal areas. Performer debriefs also identified different perceptions of physiological, psychological and behavioural functional equivalence associated with the different observation conditions. We conclude that elite performers' brains are accessed equally effectively during different observation conditions irrespective of some of the physical factors ascribed to the conditions. However, they may require more functionally matched conditions to attain greater equivalence in temporal areas.