Visuospatial superiority in developmental dyslexia: Myth or reality?     

Nicola Brunswick  G. Neil Martin  Lisa Marzano 《Learning and individual differences》2010,20(5):421-426

Anecdotal evidence indicates that dyslexia is positively associated with superior visuospatial ability but empirical evidence is inconsistent. We explicitly tested the hypothesis that dyslexia is associated with visuospatial advantage in 20 dyslexic and 21 unimpaired adult readers using paper-and-pencil measures and tests of 'everyday' visuospatial ability. We found no main effect of group on visuospatial task performance but did observe a series of significant sex × group interactions. Relative to dyslexic and unimpaired women, dyslexic men were significantly better at identifying shapes in ambiguous figures, reproducing complex figures, reproducing designs using coloured blocks, and recalling the direction of the Queen's head on a postage stamp. They were also significantly faster and more accurate than unimpaired men at navigating and recreating a virtual environment. These data suggest that visuospatial advantage in dyslexia may be confined to men. Possible explanations for this are discussed.  相似文献   

Mental rotation performance in fourth graders: No effects of gender beliefs (yet?)     

Corinna Titze  Petra Jansen  Martin Heil 《Learning and individual differences》2010,20(5):459-463

The influence of gender beliefs on cognitive task performance has been demonstrated repeatedly for adults. For children, there is evidence that gender beliefs can substantially impede or boost math performance — a task where gender differences in favour of boys declined over past decades. Therefore, we examined this phenomenon using the Mental Rotations Test (MRT), a task where gender differences still occur reliably favouring males — for adults as well as for children. A sample of 252 fourth graders, whose beliefs about spatial ability were manipulated experimentally (instructions given: boys are better, girls are better or independent of gender) had to complete the MRT. In contrast to adult's literature, children's performance did not decrease or increase as a function of instruction: boys always outperformed girls; girls not even outperformed their same-sex counterparts given the “girls better” instruction. The transfer of the conceptual approach failed — possible reasons are discussed.  相似文献   

Academic personal bests (PBs), engagement,and achievement: A cross-lagged panel analysis     

Andrew J. Martin  Gregory Arief D. Liem 《Learning and individual differences》2010,20(3):265-270

Using a cross-lagged analytic framework, the present study examined (1) the relative salience of prior academic personal bests (PBs) in predicting subsequent engagement and achievement compared with (2) the relative salience of prior engagement and achievement in predicting subsequent PBs. Academic PBs, engagement, and achievement measures were administered to 1866 high school students at two time waves across a one-year interval. Path models suggest the salience of prior academic PBs over subsequent engagement and achievement, and in some instances, evidence of reciprocal effects. The findings hold substantive, applied, and methodological implications for researchers and practitioners seeking to improve students' academic development through academic PBs.  相似文献   

There has to be a better way: The right systems for success     

Scott D. Anderson 《Performance Improvement》2010,49(2):45-48

Gordon J. H. Newman is the founder and president of the Newman Learning Group, a human performance improvement solutions provider offering custom learning program design and delivery. His focus areas are the design, delivery, and support of learning programs designed to effect a positive benefit to the financial bottom line. There Has to Be a Better Way: The Right Systems for Success is published by Lulu Press. It is available through http://www.lulu.com for downloading and as a paperback.  相似文献   

Warum entscheiden sich Lehrerinnen und Lehrer für das Sabbatjahr?     

Dr. Martin Rothland 《Zeitschrift für Erziehungswissenschaft》2010,13(4):661-681

The assumption of specific functions and expectation of specific effects, which are prevalent in discussions concerning teachers’ sabbatical years, have only been looked at in a small number of qualitative German-language studies. This contribution will add to such research efforts by investigating this special career-model empirically on the basis of a sample of 241 teachers, who took a sabbatical year in 2009/2010. We will show which motives lead to teachers taking a year out of their profession. Links between different motivations and job-related stress, staff resources, job satisfaction and having particular job-related styles of behavior will be investigated. In this way, the article will analyze whether in view of the fact that teachers tend to be exposed to continuous high demands the programmatic characterization of a sabbatical year as a preventative, intervention measure concurs with the motives of sabbatical-taking teachers or whether instead a more complex picture emerges after consideration of different job-related settings and personal situations. In the end, the analysis shows that the decision for a sabbatical can only be seen as a reaction to professional strain in a limited number of cases.  相似文献   

School violence roles and sociometric status among Spanish students     

Pulido R. Martin Seoane G. Diaz Aguado M.J. 《美中教育评论》2010,(1):51-61

This study examines the relation between the social adjustment in the classroom and the role of aggressor or victim, in school violence situations. Participants were 1,635 students （aged 14-18 years old）, from a representative sample, with different levels （compulsory secondary education, specific/initial training courses and vocational programs）. Students filled out a questionnaire that included measures of types of violence （exclusion, verbal violence, physical violence）, from the point of view of the three roles that are implicated （aggressors, victims and observants）, and a sociometric questionnaire. The variables measured were： frequency of school violence （exclusion, psychological violence and physical violence） and the peer status （rejected, controversial, neglected, average or popular）. The statistic analyses used were χ^2- and F- tests. From the results we can point out the importance of these variables in the school violence situations. The implications of these findings and the relevance for preventive programs are discussed.  相似文献   

How Accurate Is Peer Grading?     

Freeman S  Parks JW 《CBE life sciences education》2010,9(4):482-488

Previously we showed that weekly, written, timed, and peer-graded practice exams help increase student performance on written exams and decrease failure rates in an introductory biology course. Here we analyze the accuracy of peer grading, based on a comparison of student scores to those assigned by a professional grader. When students graded practice exams by themselves, they were significantly easier graders than a professional; overall, students awarded ≈25% more points than the professional did. This difference represented ≈1.33 points on a 10-point exercise, or 0.27 points on each of the five 2-point questions posed. When students graded practice exams as a group of four, the same student-expert difference occurred. The student-professional gap was wider for questions that demanded higher-order versus lower-order cognitive skills. Thus, students not only have a harder time answering questions on the upper levels of Bloom's taxonomy, they have a harder time grading them. Our results suggest that peer grading may be accurate enough for low-risk assessments in introductory biology. Peer grading can help relieve the burden on instructional staff posed by grading written answers-making it possible to add practice opportunities that increase student performance on actual exams.  相似文献   

Contextual influences on Latino adolescent ethnic identity and academic outcomes     

Supple AJ  Ghazarian SR  Frabutt JM  Plunkett SW  Sands T 《Child development》2006,77(5):1427-1433

This study examined the association between 3 components of ethnic identity (exploration, resolution, and affirmation) and factors related to family, neighborhood, and individual characteristics. The purpose was to identity factors that are positively associated with adolescent ethnic identity among a sample of 187 Latino adolescents with a mean age of 14.61. The findings suggested that family ethnic socialization was directly associated with exploration and resolution, but not ethnic affirmation. Analyses with moderator variables suggested that associations between family ethnic socialization and ethnic affirmation varied based on parental behaviors and neighborhood characteristics. The results also suggested that ethnic affirmation, but not exploration or resolution, was positively associated with teacher reports of school performance.  相似文献   

Racial self-categorization in adolescence: multiracial development and social pathways     

Hitlin S  Scott Brown J  Elder GH 《Child development》2006,77(5):1298-1308

Research on multiracial individuals is often cross-sectional, obscuring the fluid nature of multiracial self-categorization across time. Pathways of racial self-identification are developed from a nationally representative sample of adolescents aged 14-18, measured again 5 years later. A significant proportion of multiracial adolescents change racial self-identification across time. Youth who ever report being multiracial are 4 times as likely to switch self-identification as to report consistent multiracial identities. Across this time, more multiracial adolescents either add a racial category (diversify) or subtract one (consolidate) than maintain consistent multiracial self-categorization. Exploratory multinomial analyses show few differences between these pathways on select psychological and social characteristics. Results lend quantitative support to qualitative studies indicating the fluidity of racial self-categorization.  相似文献   

From American city to Japanese village: a cross-cultural investigation of implicit race attitudes     

Dunham Y  Baron AS  Banaji MR 《Child development》2006,77(5):1268-1281

This study examined the development of implicit race attitudes in American and Japanese children and adults. Implicit ingroup bias was present early in both populations, and remained stable at each age tested (age 6, 10, and adult). Similarity in magnitude and developmental course across these 2 populations suggests that implicit intergroup bias is an early-emerging and fundamental aspect of human social cognition. However, implicit race attitudes toward favored outgroups are more positive in older than in younger participants, indicating that "cultural prestige" enjoyed by a group moderates implicit bias as greater knowledge of group status is acquired. These results demonstrate (a) the ready presence, (b) early cultural invariance, and (c) subsequent cultural moderation of implicit attitudes toward own and other groups.  相似文献