Refugee students' perspectives on inclusive and exclusive school experiences in Austria

This paper examines refugee students' experiences in the Austrian mainstream school system. It highlights four areas: school connectedness, social exclusion, support systems and friendships. In the study, 55 refugee students between 8 and 21 years old enrolled in primary and secondary education participated in a semi-structured interview. Data were analysed with directed qualitative content analysis, whereby codes were created deductively and inductively. Students stressed the importance of schooling in order to prosper in the future, particularly through language acquisition. Peers and bilingual teachers played an important role in their efforts to learn German and develop feelings of belonging in the school system. While language acquisition was important for the students, they indicated that other support measures (i.e., remedial education) were largely absent. Further, half of the students reported bullying experiences (verbal, social and physical) associated with their refugee status, language proficiency and religious affiliation. This study has implications for school professionals. The scope of support refugee students receive at school must be broadened, forced migration should be addressed in school in order to counteract negative effects of bullying students receive due to their refugee status and school connectedness can be promoted by hiring staff from diverse cultural backgrounds.     

Concepts and categorization: do philosophers and psychologists theorize about different things?

Synthese - I discuss Edouard Machery’s claim that philosophers and psychologists when using the term ‘concept’ are really theorizing about different things. This view is not new,...     

How much self-presentation behavior do applicants from the United Arab Emirates exhibit?

Applicants from different cultures vary in their self-presentation behavior during job interviews. This study investigates self-presentation behavior in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the second largest economy in the Arab world. Specifically, it examines self-presentation behavior of applicants from the UAE and compares it to the behavior of American, European, and Chinese applicants from previous studies. The randomized response technique was used to gather self-presentation prevalence data of 111 UAE applicants regarding self-presentation behavior in their last job interview. Prevalence rates were lower than those from the United States and from China but higher than those from Iceland and from Switzerland. Results indicate that though UAE culture values modesty, UAE applicants still engage in distinct self-presentation behavior.     

A comparison of isolated and synthesized contingencies in functional analyses

Recently, researchers have compared the utility of isolated versus synthesized contingencies in functional analysis (FA) methodology (e.g., Fisher et al., 2016; Slaton et al., 2017). A limitation of these studies is that there were other differences across FA methodologies (e.g., design, contingency) that did not allow for isolation of the influence of isolated versus synthesized contingencies. Therefore, the current study compared outcomes of FAs that involved isolated versus synthesized contingencies for problem behavior of 5 children while controlling for these other differences across FAs (Experiment 1). Next, the current study compared the effects of interventions based on the functions identified in the isolated and synthesized contingencies for each participant (Experiment 2). Results indicated isolated contingency FAs produced differentiated responding for 1 or both functions for all 5 participants, and there were little to no differences between treatments informed by isolated and synthesized contingency FAs.     

Beyond principal component analysis: A trilinear decomposition model and least squares estimation

The paper derives sufficient conditions for the consistency and asymptotic normality of the least squares estimator of a trilinear decomposition model for multiway data analysis.     

Haptic probing: Perceiving the length of a probe and the distance of a surface probed

Knowing about the properties of objects by wielding them and knowing about the distances of surfaces by striking them with objects as probes are examples of dynamic or effortful touch. Six experiments focused on the invariant mechanical parameters that couple the time-varying states (displacements, velocities) of hand-held rods to the time-varying torques and forces imposed upon them by wielding and probing. There were three major conclusions. First, when a probe is wielded without contact, perceived probe length is a function of the probe’s rotational inertia; however, with contact, perceived probe length is affected by the rotational inertia and the distance of the point of contact from the probe’s center of percussion. Second, when a surface is struck with a probe, perceived surface distance is affected by the probe’s rotational inertia and the angle of inclination of the probe at contact. Third, under seemingly identical conditions of probing, either probe length or surface distance can be perceived selectively without confusion. Results were discussed in terms of haptic information, haptic attention, and the dynamics of probing.