Linguistic experience and phonemic perception in infancy: a crosslinguistic study.     

R E Eilers  W Gavin  W R Wilson 《Child development》1979,50(1):14-18

English- and Spanish-learning infants were tested for perception of 2 synthetic speech contrasts differing in voice onset time. The 2 pairs were chosen so that they were native to either Spanish or English. Using the Visually Reinforced Infant Speech Discrimination (VRISD) paradigm, 6--8-month-old infants were taught to respond to a change in auditory stimuli with a headturn. Correct headturns were reinforced by the activation of a lighted animated toy. While Spanish-learning infants provided evidence of discriminating both English and Spanish contrasts, English-learning infants only provided evidence of discriminating their native contrast. The results are discussed in terms of the role of linguistic experience in the development of speech perception skills in infancy.  相似文献   

Role of health-promoting behaviours for on-campus and distance education students     

Lisa Beccaria  Cath Rogers  Lorelle Burton  Gavin Beccaria 《Distance Education》2016,37(1):22-40

University students are likely to experience high rates of stress, which has the potential to negatively affect academic performance and their experience of study. Research with on-campus students has found positive benefits of health-promoting behaviours such as stress reduction and academic achievement; yet no research has examined these relationships with distance education students (and in comparison with on-campus students). Distance education students are a growing cohort in Australia higher education and elsewhere. This paper aims to redress this imbalance by comparing the relationships between stress, strain and coping, academic outcomes, and health-promoting behaviours in tertiary students (on-campus and distance education students). The study involved 242 on-campus and 399 distance education students at a regional Australian university. A path model was developed comparing both cohorts, and relationships were found to be similar, indicating no significant difference. Online interventions for distance education students which could be used to enhance coping are discussed.  相似文献   

Organisational change: a solution-focused approach     

Gavin Morgan 《Educational Psychology in Practice》2016,32(2):133-144

This study investigates the effectiveness of a solution-focused approach to organisational change. Planning Alternative Tomorrows with Hope (PATH) is an intervention more commonly applied to individuals. In this study the intervention is used with groups of people working in educational organisations to help manage the change process. The approach allows group members to plan a way forward to manage change. Semi-structured interviews took place with six education officers involved in the interventions. The design of the research study follows an interpretative case-study model, and uses content analysis to identify key factors. Findings show the importance of PATH acting as a catalyst for change, giving a sense of immediacy, and allowing participants to shape their own future. For change to be sustained and be successful it cannot occur in isolation. Based on the conclusions of the research study, a number of issues for professional practice are discussed and considered.  相似文献   

‘Education comes second to surviving’: parental perspectives on their child/ren’s early school leaving in an area challenged by marginalisation     

Gavin Doyle 《Irish Educational Studies》2019,38(1):71-88

This paper examines early school leaving from the perspective of parents of early school leavers in an inner-city local authority housing estate in the Republic of Ireland living with the challenges of significant marginalisation. While the vast majority of post-primary pupils now sit a Leaving Certificate examination, and improvements in school retention rates have also been found in ‘disadvantaged’ schools in recent years, a disproportionate number of those leaving school early come from lower socio-economic backgrounds. Through in-depth, semi-structured, interviews, this qualitative study examined the perspectives of nine parents of early school leavers about the factors contributing to young people from this area leaving school early. This article focuses on three aspects of the findings through which the parent participants framed their views on early school leaving; (1) feeling let down by school, and (2) being stigmatised being from a ‘disadvantaged’ area, and (3) dealing with life traumas. For the participants, these factors significantly constrained their child/ren in engaging with education. The findings are examined through an interrogation of the shaping impact of social class and ‘place’. Recommendations include specific professional development for educators in challenging contexts about the impact of trauma and socio-demographical positionality on educational engagement and outcomes.  相似文献   

Dyscalculia and Typical Math Achievement Are Associated With Individual Differences in Number-Specific Executive Function     

Eric D. Wilkey  Courtney Pollack  Gavin R. Price 《Child development》2020,91(2):596-619

Deficits in numerical magnitude perception characterize the mathematics learning disability developmental dyscalculia (DD), but recent studies suggest the relation stems from inhibitory control demands from incongruent visual cues in the nonsymbolic number comparison task. This study investigated the relation among magnitude perception during differing congruency conditions, executive function, and mathematics achievement measured longitudinally in children (n = 448) from ages 4 to 13. This relation was investigated across achievement groups and as it related to mathematics across the full range of achievement. Only performance on incongruent trials related to achievement. Findings indicate that executive function in a numerical context, beyond magnitude perception or executive function in a non-numerical context, relates to DD and mathematics across a wide range of achievement.  相似文献   

Humor and heuristics: culture,genre, and economic thought in The Big Short     

Gavin Benke 《Journal of Cultural Economy》2018,11(4):303-314

This article uses the 2015 film, The Big Short, to explore the limits of representing and critiquing Wall Street culture on film. Critics have praised the film, suggesting that it offers an account of the 2007–2008 financial crisis that both critiques Wall Street culture and democratizes financial knowledge. I argue that the film is an early representative example of a public narrative based on behavioral economics. A popular movie informed by this discipline has a good deal of political potential for challenging injustices produced by neoliberal approaches to the financial services industry. However, I also argue that despite this political potential, The Big Short is unable to fundamentally challenge the belief in efficient markets that justify many of Wall Street’s practices. I also argue that the film uses unexamined and problematic understandings of both class and gender in characterizing the film’s protagonists.  相似文献   

Walking-friendly built environments and objectively measured physical function in older adults     

Mohammad Javad Koohsari  Gavin R. McCormack  Tomoki Nakaya  Ai Shibata  Kaori Ishii  Akitomo Yasunaga  Yung Liao  Koichiro Oka 《运动与健康科学(英文)》2020,9(6):651-656

BackgroundFew studies have examined the associations between urban design attributes and older adults’ physical function. Especially, it is not well known how built-environment attributes may influence physical function in Asian cities. The aim of this study was to examine associations between objectively measured environmental attributes of walkability and objectively assessed physical function in a sample of Japanese older adults.MethodsCross-sectional data collected in 2013 from 314 older residents (aged 65–84 years) living in Japan were used. Physical function was estimated from objectively measured upper- and lower-body function, mobility, and balance by a trained research team member. A comprehensive list of built-environment attributes, including population density, availability of destinations, intersection density, and distance to the nearest public transport station, were objectively calculated. Walk Score as a composite measure of neighborhood walkability was also obtained.ResultsAmong men, higher population density, availability of destinations, and intersection density were significantly associated with better physical function performance (1-legged stance with eyes open). Higher Walk Score was also marginally associated with better physical function performance (1-legged stance with eyes open). None of the environmental attributes were associated with physical function in elderly women.ConclusionOur findings indicate that environmental attributes of walkability are associated with the physical function of elderly men in the context of Asia. Walking-friendly neighborhoods can not only promote older adults’ active behaviors but can also support their physical function.  相似文献   

The relationships between self-assessed habitual physical activity and non-invasive measures of cardiac autonomic modulation in young healthy volunteers     

Sandercock GR  Hardy-Shepherd D  Nunan D  Brodie D 《Journal of sports sciences》2008,26(11):1171-1177

Heart rate variability estimates cardiac autonomic modulation, but the relationship between habitual physical activity and heart rate variability remains unclear. The aims of this study were to compare RR-interval and heart rate variability indices in individuals of different habitual physical activity levels, and examine the relationship between habitual physical activity and heart rate variability. Ninety-two healthy volunteers (47 men, 45 women; mean age 23.1 years, s = 2.1) were divided into tertiles according to the Baecke Questionnaire score. Standard heart rate variability indices were derived from 5-min resting RR-interval recordings with paced respiration (0.25 Hz). Between-group differences and the relationship between habitual physical activity and heart rate variability were assessed. More active participants (tertiles 2-3) had longer RR-intervals than those in tertile 1 (P < 0.05). Participants in tertile 2 had higher root mean squared differences of successive normal RR-intervals than those in tertile 1 and a higher standard deviation of normal RR-intervals than those in tertiles 1 and 3. There was a positive linear relationship between habitual activity and RR-interval. Differing RR-interval lengths were found in subgroups of young individuals according to level of habitual physical activity. More active individuals showed resting bradycardia without evidence of enhanced cardiac parasympathetic modulation. The mechanism linking habitual physical activity and RR-interval length appears to be independent of physiological mechanisms that can be measured by heart rate variability.  相似文献   

Changing organizational culture and instructional methods in elementary schools: Perceptions of teachers and professional educational consultants     

Hanna Shachar  Suss Gavin  Sharan Shlomo 《Journal of Educational Change》2010,11(3):273-289

The present study examines teachers’ perceptions of organizational changes in their elementary schools. These changes occurred following the implementation of a long-term comprehensive school improvement project (CSIP). One hundred and seventy one teachers who taught in six elementary schools located in two different school districts in Israel responded to a questionnaire both before and after a period of 3 years during which they participated in a CSIP. The teachers, assisted by six professional consultants, one in each school, studied cooperative learning as well as new forms of collaborative staff work. The study addressed two primary research questions: What changes in teachers’ perceptions of their schools’ organizational culture emerged from teachers’ participation in the project? How were the professional relationships between the schools’ supervisors and the teachers in the two districts reflected in the teachers’ perception of school organizational changes? Results indicated that teachers in three schools from one district recorded a significant improvement in their perceptions of their schools’ organizational culture at the end of the project, whereas the teachers from the other district indicated either no change, or a significant decline in their evaluation of their schools’ organizational culture. A cross-validation of the teachers’ data was performed through a content analysis of 500 reports written over the course of 2 years, submitted by six external consultants. The analysis yielded four categories: general difficulties to work with the school’s staff, problems implementing the project, teacher resistance, and cancellations of planned meetings. The analysis provided valuable information as to why the teachers from the two districts differed in their reactions to the project.  相似文献   

Lactate accumulation following isometric exercise training and its relationship with reduced resting blood pressure     

Devereux GR  Coleman D  Wiles JD  Swaine I 《Journal of sports sciences》2012,30(11):1141-1148

The purpose of this study was (a) to assess lactate accumulation during isometric exercise, and to quantify the shifts in accumulation following isometric training; and (b) to relate any training-induced changes in lactate accumulation to reductions in resting blood pressure. Eleven male participants undertook isometric training for a 4-week period using bilateral-leg exercise. Training caused reductions in systolic, diastolic, and mean arterial resting blood pressure (of -4.9 ± 6.3 mmHg, P = 0.01; -2.6 ± 3.0 mmHg, P = 0.01; and -2.6 ± 2.3 mmHg, P = 0.001 respectively; mean ± s). These were accompanied by changes in muscle activity, taken as electromyographic activity to reach a given lactate concentration (from 114 ± 22 to 131 ± 27 mV and from 136 ± 25 to 155 ± 34 mV for 3 and 4 mmol · L(-1) respectively. Training intensity expressed relative to peak lactate was correlated with reduced resting systolic and mean arterial blood pressure. Training caused significant shifts in lactate accumulation, and reductions in resting blood pressure are strongly related to training intensity, when expressed relative to pre-training peak lactate. This suggests that higher levels of local muscle anaerobiosis may promote the training-induced reductions in resting blood pressure.  相似文献