Modern Settlements in Special Needs Education: Segregated Versus Inclusive Education

In the history of special needs education, the distinction between human nature and its social environment has been a controversial matter. The controversy regards whether special needs are primarily caused by the child's psycho-medical body or by cultural concepts of normality and deviance. Settlements of this controversy govern whether the pupil or the educational institution becomes the main point of intervention. In Denmark, the particularities of settlements can be identified by juxtaposing the introduction of intelligence testing in the 1930s with the contemporary policy agenda of inclusion. With intelligence testing, special needs education was to service children whose needs were seen as part of their human nature. Inclusion, in turn, assumes special needs to be stigmatizing cultural labels that need to be abandoned by changing school cultures. Drawing on actor-network theory we can approach such settlements as a product of a modern division between human nature and social environment. Although both these settlements depend on a distinction between human nature and social environment, this distinction generates practical tensions for each settlement.     

Measurement of Preoperative Anxiety in Young Children: Self-report Versus Observer-rated

The utility of the self-report Children’s Anxiety and Pain Scale Anxiety subscale (CAPS-A) in comparison to the widely used, observer-rated Modified Yale Preoperative Anxiety Scale (mYPAS) in assessing anxiety in children undergoing day surgery procedures was examined. The CAPS-A test-retest reliability, concurrent validity with the Modified Yale Preoperative Anxiety Scale (mYPAS), and sensitivity to expected increases in anxiety at stressful times during the preoperative period were examined. Levels of observer-rated (mYPAS) and self-reported anxiety (CAPS-A) were obtained from 61 children (3 to 6 years) undergoing day surgery procedures. The CAPS-A demonstrated adequate test-retest reliability. Concurrent validity between the CAPS-A and mYPAS scores was poor. The CAPS-A failed to show sensitivity to the expected increases in anxiety at stressful time-points. Thus, an alternative scoring strategy for the CAPS-A was proposed (i.e., child’s refusal to point was scored as high anxiety). Post-hoc analyses demonstrated good concurrent and adequate convergent validity with the alternative scoring strategy.     

Evaluations of Clergy Children Versus Non-Clergy Children: Does a Negative Stereotype Exist?

Studies that have been conducted on PKs (children of the clergy) are limited and outdated. But it has been thought that numerous stresses coincide with being a PK. This study tried to document the existence of a negative stereotype of PKs. The participants were 63 college students consisting of 40 Non-PKs and 23 PKs. They were given a mock college application to evaluate and then asked to rate the applicant on various dimensions. The participants rated one of three applicants: PK with bad behavior, PK with good behavior, or non-PK with bad behavior. The bad behavior was a DWI offense. Results indicated limited support of the hypothesis of a negative stereotype of PKs. A separate questionnaire given to the PKs inquiring about the stresses of their lifestyle revealed that PKs do report experiencing a significant amount of stress.     

GLOMOsys: A Systems Account of Global Versus Local Processing

Within GLOMO^sys (the GLObal versus LOcal processing MOdel, a systems account) we examine the functionalities of two processing systems that process information either globally or locally (looking at the forest vs. the trees). GLOMO^sys suggests that (a) global versus local perceptual processing carries over to other tasks; (b) perceptual processing is related to conceptual processing (e.g., creative/analytic tasks; face/verbal recognition; similarity/dissimilarity generation; abstract/concrete construals, distance estimates, inclusive/exclusive categorization; assimilation/contrast in social judgments); (c) perceptual and conceptual processing is elicited by real-world variables (e.g., mood, exteroceptive and interoceptive cues of approach/avoidance, promotion/prevention focus, high/low power, distance, obstacles, novelty/familiarity, love/sex, interdependent/independent selves); (d) regulatory focus, psychological distance, and novelty are driving effects; and (e) the global system (glo-sys) processes novelty and the local system (lo-sys) processes familiarity. We discuss whether glo-sys is responsible for understanding meaning, relate the systems to physiological research, and discuss new research questions.     

Executive Function Among Preschool Children: Unitary Versus Distinct Abilities

Working memory (WM) and inhibitory control (IC) are considered related but separable executive functions (EFs) among adults and adolescents. Although available evidence suggests that these constructs have not diverged, especially among younger preschool children, questions remain regarding the age at which separable factors emerge.This study used confirmatory factor analysis to test a 2-factor model of EF among 289 preschool children whose ages ranged from 45 to 63 months (M?=?55.74, SD?=?7.56). As hypothesized, the model including separate but related factors provided a significantly better fit than a unitary model, indicating the presence of distinct WM and IC factors. Based on evidence that WM and IC measured during preschool relate differently to a variety of academic and behavioral outcomes, it was hypothesized that a model including separate factors for each EF would fit the observed data better than a single-factor model. Although the two-factor model provided the best fit for the full sample, the correlation between WM and IC factors was significantly higher for younger (??=?.95) than older (??=?.68) children, indicating increasing divergence as a function of age.     

Form and Variability During Sit-to-Stand Transitions: Children Versus Adults

In performing the sit-to-stand transition, young children (6- to 7-year-olds) were expected to display a movement form similar to that of adults. However, movement consistency was predicted to be poorer in children than in adults because they lack refinement of motor control processes. Kinematic analysis of 10 repetitions of the sit-to-stand movement was carried out for 6 typically developing children and 6 adults. Supporting the authors' prediction of comparable form, no differences were evident between age groups for sequence of joint onsets, proportional duration of segmental motion, or in angle-angle plots of displacement at 2 segments. In contrast, within-participant variability was found to be higher for children: Coefficients of variation for most kinematic measures were twice those seen for adults. The authors interpret the children's lack of movement consistency as a reflection of inadequate stabilization of an internal model of intersegmental dynamics. Whereas adults have attained a skill level associated with refinement of that model, children have not. Children have an additional control problem because changes in body morphology throughout childhood require ongoing updating of the internal model that controls intrinsic dynamics.     

Contextualising Risk and Building Resilience: Returnees Versus Local Entrepreneurs in China

Risk is a pivotal concept in entrepreneurship research, as entrepreneurs constantly face uncertainty, ambiguity, setbacks, and stressful situations. Attitudes toward risk vary contingent upon individual risk preferences and cultural influences. Building resilience is critical for entrepreneurs to overcome obstacles, deal with risk, and grow their ventures. By juxtaposing effectuation theory and resilience literature, we compare the perceptions of risk held by Chinese returnees and local entrepreneurs and their coping strategies in building resilience. Our research reveals two types of coping approaches, namely effectual coping and causal coping. This study contributes to the comparative international entrepreneurship literature by contextualising the notion of risk held by entrepreneurs influenced by Eastern and Western cultures. Our study further contributes to the nascent literature on resilience in organisations by specifying the entrepreneurial occupational context and exploring the influence of cultures on resilience, and by identifying distinctive resilience-building coping strategies based upon cultural influences and interpretations of risk. Furthermore, we suggest that resilience can constitute one micro-foundation of effectuation theory in the context of entrepreneurship dealing with risk.     

Personality Assessment With Children of Superior Intelligence: Divergence Versus Psychopathology

The perceptual and cognitive functioning of children with intelligence quotients > 135 was examined with the Rorschach Inkblot Test. A criterion measure, the Child Behavior Checklist, was also administered so as to determine whether deviations for Rorschach variables from age-appropriate norms indicated the presence of psychopathology or were evidence of nonentrenched, novel, or creative styles of encoding and processing information. Rorschach variables indicative of intellectual sophistication, nonentrenched thinking or inaccurate testily perception, and cognitive slippage were reliably elevated for this sample versus norms. Results for the Child Behavior Checklist demonstrated that the incidence of psychopathology in the intellectually superior and average samples were comparable. There was a lack of covariance between Rorschach markers of inaccurate reality perception, cognitive slippages, and schizophrenia, and the sum of behavior problems on the Child Behavior Checklist. Results for the Rorschach and Child Behavior Checklist variables were comparable for children with intelligence quotients > 150 versus between 136 and 140. It was concluded that the intellectually superior children did process the Rorschach stimuli in a manner that was nonentrenched and reliably different from norms, but that these differences should not routinely be considered as indications of psychopathology.     

On the Varieties of National Attachment: Blind Versus Constructive Patriotism

Two studies explored a theoretical distinction between "blind" and "constructive" patriotism. Blind patriotism is defined as an attachment to country characterized by unquestioning positive evaluation, staunch allegiance, and intolerance of criticism. Constructive patriotism is defined as an attachment to country characterized by support for questioning and criticism of current group practices that are intended to result in positive change. Items designed to investigate these dimensions of national attachment were administered to two groups of undergraduates in separate surveys. Measures of the two constructs derived from factor analysis of the responses proved to be reliable and valid. Blind patriotism was positively associated with political disengagement, nationalism, perceptions of foreign threat, perceived importance of symbolic behaviors, and selective exposure to pro-U.S. information. In contrast, constructive patriotism was positively associated with multiple indicators of political involvement, including political efficacy, interest, knowledge, and behavior. The implications of this distinction for theory and research on patriotism are discussed.     

Home-Based Early Education for Refugee and Local Children via Mothers: A Model of Contextually Sensitive Early Intervention

Journal of Child and Family Studies - Contextually sensitive home-visiting programs can foster positive parenting and enhance child development and learning especially among vulnerable families...     

Perception Versus Knowledge of Cause and Effect in Children: When Seeing Is Believing

Recent research has shown that even infants have perceptual sensitivity to the causal structure of the world, and it is often claimed that causal knowledge supports many of preschoolers' impressive cognitive achievements. That older children nevertheless can encounter difficulties in causal-reasoning tasks is typically attributed to lack of domain knowledge. A different explanation, however, is that causal structure may appear at more than one level, in perception, as well as in underlying knowledge. Children may make some reasoning errors because they have difficulty coordinating these levels. This article reviews relevant evidence on physical causality: Even infants in their first year perceive the causal structure of simple collision events. This perceptual skill could support rapid causal learning without prior knowledge and thus helps us understand children's precocity preschoolers already reason with the assumption that causes and effects are linked by underlying physical mechanisms. However, what may promote early development may later become a hindrance: When perception and mechanism point to different causes, children may not realize that mechanism is superordinate. Although the components of competent causal reasoning are available early in development, much experience may be required before children learn how to integrate them.     

日本医学人文教育

探究日本医学人文教育的现状.首先介绍日本目前的医学教育体制:本科教育、医师资格考试以及毕业后临床教育.然后分别在本科和毕业后两个水平对现有的医学人文教育进行评价,其中包括核心课程计划、现状以及其他相关的问题.指出日本的医学人文教育系统性仍较差,本科教育和毕业后教育中仍面临着一些问题.     

The Influence of a Foreign Versus Native Language on Creativity

Creativity may be enhanced by contextual factors that contribute to a divergence from conventional and habitual modes of thought. Two studies tested the prediction that a foreign language (that is frequently associated with moving away from the routine experiences) will contribute to originality of solutions, compared to one’s native language. Findings demonstrate that a foreign language confers benefits for creativity on well-established nonverbal tasks. Participants were more creative in designing t-shirt outlines (Study 1) and in drawing an alien character for a story (Study 2) within the context of their foreign, as compared to the native, language. The potential underlying mechanisms and implications of the effect are discussed.     

日本学校中的公民教育浅议

学校中的公民教育是培养未来合格公民的重要渠道。日本在战后加强了学校中的公民教育 ,本文通过分析日本学校公民教育的历史、公民教育的内容 ,探讨日本在公民教育方面的得失。     

Sociability Versus Privacy of Residential Choice: Impacts of Personality and Local Social Ties

Intra- and inter-personal determinants of sociability vs. privacy provided by a residential choice were investigated. We hypothesized that persons: (1) with strong affiliative needs; and (2) who were more socially involved with coresidents, would choose a living arrangement that offered more potential interaction (less potential privacy). Results from surveys and personality assessments of 60 male freshmen who had lived in a dorm for one year, and were forced to live in a non-dorm setting for their second year, supported both hypotheses. Follow-up interviews with the sample, conducted at the beginning of their junior year, also upheld the two hypotheses. Results confirm the role of affiliative tendencies in responding to and subsequently structuring the college environment. They also suggest that the development of local social ties, that serve as a "buffer" to the negative aspects of dorm life, also has effects that carry forward in time producing a greater tolerance for the presence of proximate others, and influencing subsequent residential decisions.     

Integration Versus Segregation: Applications of the Spiritual Competencies in Counselor Education Programs

This article explores how educators can integrate the 9 Spiritual Competencies developed by the Association for Spiritual, Ethical and Religious Values in Counseling (M. T. Burke, 1998; G. Miller, 1999) into the counselor education curriculum. Rather than relegating this content to courses in which one might expect discussions of spirituality, the authors advocate for an infused approach. Input was sought from counselor educators and supervisors from around the nation with expertise in spirituality in counseling. These experts provided useful exercises, activities, and assignments that they have successfully used to integrate religious and/or spiritual discussions into the curriculum.     

Observation of Depictive Versus Tracing Gestures Selectively Aids Verbal Versus Visual–Spatial Learning in Primary School Children

Previous research has established that gesture observation aids learning in children. The current study examined whether observation of gestures (i.e. depictive and tracing gestures) differentially affected verbal and visual–spatial retention when learning a route and its street names. Specifically, we explored whether children (n = 97) with lower visual and verbal working‐memory capacity benefited more from observing gestures as compared with children who score higher on these traits. To this end, 11‐ to 13‐year‐old children were presented with an instructional video of a route containing no gestures, depictive gestures, tracing gestures or both depictive and tracing gestures. Results indicated that the type of observed gesture affected performance: Observing tracing gestures or both tracing and depictive gestures increased performance on route retention, while observing depictive gestures or both depictive and tracing gestures increased performance on street name retention. These effects were not differentially affected by working‐memory capacity. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Pure Versus Co-occurring Externalizing and Internalizing Symptoms in Children: The Potential Role of Socio-Developmental Milestones

Co-occurring internalizing and externalizing disorders are moderately prevalent in children, adolescents, and adults (Anderson, Williams, McGee, & Silva, 1987; McConaughy & Skiba, 1994), but much remains to be understood regarding why some children show “pure” versus co-occurring internalizing and externalizing symptoms. One possible influence that has previously not been considered is the failure to attain socio-developmental milestones, which paradoxically may prevent the development of co-occurring symptoms for some children. The present study proposes a model in which failure to attain relevant socio-developmental milestones might explain why some children may not develop heterotypic co-occurring symptoms. Specifically, it is proposed that specific clusters of internalizing symptoms (i.e., high social anxiety, withdrawal, and inhibition) and externalizing symptoms (i.e., high impulsivity, hyperactivity, and emotional reactivity) may be associated with the failure to attain socio-developmental milestones (i.e., poor peer relations for anxious children, lack of self-reflection and evaluation for impulsive/reactive children) that, in turn, may prevent subgroups of children from developing co-occurring, heterotypic symptoms.