Effects of a school reform on longitudinal stability of students’ preferences with regard to education

Background . Students’ perspective on education is of crucial importance for its effectivity, but students’ opinions are seldom acknowledged by teachers and designers. Student participation in the educational design process could be a suitable tool to better take students’ preferences into account. However, for effective participatory design, it is necessary to know whether students have stable preferences for the design of their education. Changeability of preferences would require a more continuing design process allowing continuous adaptations. Aims . This longitudinal survey study aimed to determine the changeability over time of students’ preferences for different aspects of a learning environment. Additionally, causes of possible changes in preferences are investigated. Sample . The participants were 1,335 high school students of five schools for secondary education in the Netherlands, joining this study during a period of 2 years. Method . Data about students’ preferences were collected at three moments, using the Inventory of Perceived Study Environment Extended. Learning‐related student characteristics, such as processing strategies and motivational orientations, were measured with the Inventory of Learning Styles. Additionally, data on learning performances were collected. Results . The results showed stability on preferences for almost all studied characteristics of the learning environment. Particularly remarkable was a drop in desirability for student autonomy. This was larger for students with a certificate‐oriented motivation and smaller for self‐regulated students. Additionally, poorly performing students had a larger decrease in preference for autonomy. Conclusions . The stability on most aspects supports that participatory design might result in fairly stable instructional designs, although caution is needed with respect to student autonomy.     

Accuracy of Effect Size Estimates From Published Psychological Experiments Involving Multiple Trials

The reporting of exaggerated effect size estimates may occur either through researchers accepting statistically significant results when power is inadequate and/or from repeated measures approaches aggregating, averaging multiple items, or multiple trials. Monte-Carlo simulations with input of a small, medium, or large effect size were conducted on multiple items or trials that were either averaged or aggregated to create a single dependent measure. Alpha was set at the .05 level, and the trials were assessed over item or trial correlations ranging from 0 to 1. Simulations showed a large increase in observed effect size averages and the power to accept these estimates as statistically significant increased over numbers of trials or items. Overestimation effects were mitigated as correlations between trials increased but still remained substantial in some cases. The implications of these findings for meta-analyses and different research scenarios are discussed.     

Left or right carotid endarterectomy in patients with atherosclerotic disease: ipsilateral effects on cognition?

We evaluated hemispheric functions ipsilateral to the side of carotid endarterectomy (CEA) in patients with a severe stenosis in the left or right carotid artery. Assessments took place 1 day before and 3 months after CEA. Only right-handed males were included. Nineteen patients underwent surgery of the left carotid artery and 17 of the right. Valid instruments for hemispheric function were included, such as verbal dichotic listening, finger tapping, and a lateralised test for motor planning. Results showed that, preoperatively, patients had lower scores compared to norms on the laterality tests, and on a visuoconstructive test. There was no evidence of ipsilateral improvement related to side of surgery. Left ear dichotic listening improved, which was seen in both left and right surgery groups. Also in both groups, left- and right-hand movement speed in the motor planning test decreased. Conclusion is that beneficial ipsilateral cognitive change after CEA in patients with severe stenosis in one of the carotid arteries may not be demonstrated, even if valid instruments for hemispheric function are included.     

Differentiation at higher levels of cognitive ability: evidence from the United States

Most psychologists and educators assume that intelligence is a linear construct, meaning that smart people simply have more intelligence than their less gifted peers. Likewise, individuals with mental retardation are thought to have less intelligence. In contrast to this widely accepted belief, the authors posed an alternative hypothesis--that intelligence is qualitatively different in various populations. Using factor analysis of a standardization sample of the Woodcock-Johnson Test of Cognitive Ability (R. W. Woodcock & M. B. Johnson, 1989), the authors examined the nature of intellect across ability. Results indicated that the amount of variance attributable to Spearman's g declined as measured intellectual ability increased.     

Cognitive and social-emotional development of children in different preschool environments

62 English-speaking preschool children were divided into three groups, a Montessori group (n = 21), a traditional preschool group (n = 21), and a homestaying group (n = 20) to compare their relative cognitive and social-emotional development. Significant differences in favour of the school groups were found for vocabulary, language comprehension, ability to judge the correctness of figural stimuli, visual memory, and perceptual organization. No differences were found for social-emotional development, and no relationship existed between type of preschool and level of development.     

Learning and retrieval rate of words presented auditorily and visually

Mode of presentation (visual or auditory) of a multitrial free recall test is stressed as an important factor in improving the diagnosis of certain neurological patients. For further use in neuropsychological research, an experiment was carried out using normal subjects, in which the effects of presentation mode and order of modality were investigated. There were no differential effects of these variables on several parameters, such as the number of words recalled and the learning curve. The time needed for the responses in immediate recall was the same in both auditory and visual conditions. In delayed recall, however, the interresponse times were significantly shorter when words had been presented auditorily than when presented visually. The results are discussed in light of further application in the field of neuropsychology.     

Profiles of Self-Esteem in Early Adolescence: Identification and Investigation of Adaptive Correlates

Investigated profiles of self-esteem during early adolescence and their adaptive correlates in two separate longitudinal studies. Using multidimensional ratings of self-esteem within a developmental-ecological framework, cluster analysis revealed five distinct profiles for each sample. The profiles found were characterized by differing patterns of self-evaluation across major contexts of development, including consistently positive or negative ratings for all domains as well as more variable patterns in which ratings for one or more domains (e.g., school) were elevated or diminished relative to those for other areas. Profiles, in turn, were found to be related to measures of youth adjustment both concurrently and longitudinally, independent of their associations with ratings of global self-esteem. Prospective analyses in each study further revealed that profile type predicted differential change in measures of youth adjustment over time, whereas this type of relationship was not found for global ratings of self-esteem. Implications for esteem-enhancement interventions with youth are discussed.     

Effects of salience of rape on sex role attitudes,trust, and self-esteem in non-raped women

Women who thought about rape prior to answering questions about themselves reported lower self-esteem, stronger belief in traditional sex roles, and lower trust in other persons than women who were not induced to think about rape. Achievement motivation and locus of control, on the other hand, were not affected by the salience of rape. The data suggest that rape has an intimidating effect on non-raped women as previously suspected in feminist literature, although not all variables suspected may be affected.