The effect of directive tutor guidance on students' conceptual understanding of statistics in problem‐based learning

Background. Education is aimed at students reaching conceptual understanding of the subject matter, because this leads to better performance and application of knowledge. Conceptual understanding depends on coherent and error‐free knowledge structures. The construction of such knowledge structures can only be accomplished through active learning and when new knowledge can be integrated into prior knowledge. Aims. The intervention in this study was directed at both the activation of students as well as the integration of knowledge. Sample. Undergraduate university students from an introductory statistics course, in an authentic problem‐based learning (PBL) environment, were randomly assigned to conditions and measurement time points. Method. In the PBL tutorial meetings, half of the tutors guided the discussions of the students in a traditional way. The other half guided the discussions more actively by asking directive and activating questions. To gauge conceptual understanding, the students answered open‐ended questions asking them to explain and relate important statistical concepts. Results and conclusions. Results of the quantitative analysis show that providing directive tutor guidance improved understanding. Qualitative data of students' misconceptions seem to support this finding. Long‐term retention of the subject matter seemed to be inadequate.     

Dissecting online control in Developmental Coordination Disorder: a kinematic analysis of double-step reaching

In a recent study, children with movement clumsiness (or Developmental Coordination Disorder-DCD) were shown to have difficulties making rapid online corrections when reaching, demonstrated by slower and less accurate movements to double-step targets (Hyde & Wilson, 2011). These results suggest that children with DCD have difficulty using predictive estimates of limb position when making rapid adjustments to movement, in-flight. However, chronometric data alone does not provide strong evidence for this hypothesis: it remains unclear whether early (and rapid) control parameters or post-correction stages of the movement trajectory are affected. Thus, the overarching aim of this study was to conduct a kinematic analysis of double-step reaching in order to isolate the different control parameters that might explain the slower and less accurate double-step reaching performance of children with DCD. Participants were a new sample of 13 children with DCD aged between 8-12 years and 13 age-matched controls. Children were required to reach and touch one of three possible targets presented at the coordinates -20°, 0° and 20° on a 17 in. LCD touch-screen. For most trials (80%) the target remained stationary for the duration of movement (non-jump trials), while for the remainder (20%), the target jumped randomly to one of two peripheral locations at movement onset (jump trials). Consistent with earlier work, children with DCD were slower to initiate reaching compared to controls and showed longer MT and more errors on jump trials. Kinematic data showed that while the two groups did not differ on time to peak velocity or acceleration, children with DCD were slower to correct reach trajectory on jump trials. No group differences were observed on late kinematic markers, e.g., post-correction time. The pattern of results support and extend earlier work showing deficits in ROC in DCD. From a computational perspective, delayed corrections to the reach trajectory suggests some difficulty integrating information about the target perturbation with a predictive (or forward) estimate of limb position relative to the initial target. These conclusions are discussed, along with directions for future research.     

To be or not to be...included in an event file: integration and retrieval of distractors in stimulus-response episodes is influenced by perceptual grouping

The binding of stimulus and response features into stimulus-response (S-R) episodes or "event files" is a basic process for the efficient control of behavior. However, relevant information is usually accompanied by information that is irrelevant for the selection of action. Recent studies showed that even irrelevant information is bound into event files. In this study, we investigated the boundary conditions of distractor-response binding and subsequent distractor-based response retrieval processes. In particular, we tested whether the inclusion of distractor information into S-R episodes is modulated by whether the distractor and target stimulus are perceived as belonging to the same object or as belonging to different objects. We argue that distracting information is only bound into S-R episodes if it is perceived as belonging to the same object as the relevant information, whereas no binding occurs when the distracting information is perceived as belonging to a separate object. In 6 experiments, we found evidence for the modulation of distractor-response bindings according to perceptual grouping principles.     

Risk and protective factors associated with patterns of antisocial behavior among nonmetropolitan adolescents

This study used latent class analysis (LCA) to identify patterns of antisocial behavior (ASB) in a sample of 1,820 adolescents in a nonmetropolitan region of the Northeast. Self-reported ASBs including stealing, fighting, damaging property, and police contact were assessed. LCA identified four classes of ASB including a non-ASB class, a mild, a moderate, and a serious ASB class. Multinomial logistic regression indicated that parent-child relationships served as a protective factor against engaging in ASB and peer, school, and community risk and protective factors differentiated mild patterns of ASB from more intense patterns of involvment. These findings suggest utility in using the LCA to better understand predictors of adolescent ASB to inform more effective prevention and intervention efforts targeting youth who exhibit different patterns of behavior.     

Social Representations: A Normative and Dynamic Intergroup Approach

This commentary outlines an approach to social representations which emphasizes the normative and dynamic nature of shared knowledge. Social representations both connect and divide people, for example through shared ingroup and outgroup stereotypes derived from antagonistic social representations. Through asymmetrical intergroup communication and influence, in turn, social representations are formed, maintained, and contested. In this dynamic process, powerful majorities attempt to define the meaning of new or otherwise important information as a function of their group norms, while subordinate minorities employ propaganda techniques of social influence to resist majority influence and propose alternative positions.     

Relations between the Big Five personality traits and dispositional coping in Korean Americans: Acculturation as a moderating factor

The current study examined the individual and joint effects of the Big Five personality traits and acculturation on coping styles. Using the proposed framework of McCrae ( 22 2001), the relations among these variables were evaluated at the intracultural level to exploit previously unexplored within‐culture variability for an unstudied Asian American group (Korean Americans). This approach emphasizes the unique expression of specific personality traits in a single culture. A community sample of Korean Americans completed measures of the Five‐Factor Model of Personality (NEO‐PI‐R; Costa & McCrae, 13 1992), coping (Brief COPE; Carver, 7 1997), and acculturation (SL‐ASIA; Suinn, Ahuna, & Khoo, 40 1992). The results primarily showed statistically significant relations between the Big Five personality traits and coping. Neuroticism was positively related to indices of emotion‐focused coping (emotional support) and avoidance (substance abuse, behavioural disengagement, venting, self‐blame); Extraversion, Conscientiousness, and Openness were positively related to indices of problem‐focused (active coping, planning) and emotion‐focused coping (positive reframing, humour, acceptance); and Agreeableness was positively associated with active coping and humour. Acculturation was only significantly (and positively) associated with venting. Significant Acculturation×Big Five personality traits interactions were found, however. For individuals high in acculturation, both Neuroticism and Openness were positively related to indices of avoidance coping. Moreover, for individuals low in acculturation, a negative relationship was found between Conscientiousness and venting. These results show that there is considerable within‐culture variation for the dimensions of the Five‐Factor Model of Personality, coping styles, and acculturation in this largely bicultural sample. Moreover, the amount of variation and its directionality among the target study variables is similar to that typically found in Caucasian American samples. Finally, the stronger relations found between the dimensions of personality and coping styles (relative to the relations found between acculturation and coping styles) suggests that personality traits rather than acculturation may be more important clinically when profiling patients and developing treatment plans.     

The relationship between history of violent and criminal behavior and recognition of facial expression of emotions in men with schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorder

Social psychological research underscores the relation between aggression and emotion. Specifically, regulating negative affect requires the ability to appraise restraint‐producing cues, such as facial signs of anger, fear and other emotions. Individuals diagnosed with major mental disorders are more likely to have engaged in violent behavior than mentally healthy members of the same communities. We examined whether violent and criminal behavior in men with schizophrenia is related to emotion recognition abilities. Forty‐one men with schizophrenia underwent a computerized emotion discrimination test presenting mild and extreme intensities of happy, sad, angry, fearful and neutral faces, balanced for gender and ethnicity. History of violence was assessed by the Life History of Aggression Scale and official records of arrests. Psychopathology was rated using the Positive and Negative Symptom Scale. Criminal behavior was associated with poor emotion recognition, especially for fearful and angry facial expressions. History of aggression was also associated with more severe positive symptoms and less severe negative symptoms. These findings suggest that misinterpretation of social cues such as angry and fearful expression may lead to a failure in socialization and adaptive behavior in response to emotional situation, which may result in a higher number of criminal arrests. Aggr. Behav. 32:1–8, 2006. © 2006 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

Primärprävention bei Essstörungen

Zusammenfassung Essstörungen gelten als schwer therapierbar. Mit einer Mortalitätsrate von 5–16% ist Magersucht die schwerste psychosomatische Erkrankung bei Mädchen und jungen Frauen. In den letzten Jahren wurde daher verstärkt versucht, der Entstehung von Essstörungen durch präventive Maßnahmen entgegenzuwirken. Der Schwerpunkt liegt hierbei auf der Primärprävention im Rahmen von Schulprojekten. Hierfür liegen bereits ermutigende Wirkungs- und Qualitätsnachweise vor. Entsprechende Projekte stehen im Zentrum der vorliegenden Übersichtsarbeit. Diese stellt keinen Anspruch auf vollständige Darstellung, sondern ist ein Versuch der Systematisierung unterschiedlicher Herangehensweisen und soll durch die kurze Beschreibung möglichst prototypischer und evaluierter Beispiele einen Einblick in die derzeitige Praxis der Primärprävention von Essstörungen geben. Quellen der Übersicht sind die Datenbank der Bundeszentrale für gesundheitliche Aufklärung (BZgA), Veröffentlichungen in Fachzeitschriften sowie Internetauftritte. Da Art, Umfang und Umsetzung der Präventionsprogramme sehr von politischen Bedingungen und Voraussetzungen innerhalb des Gesundheits- und Bildungssystems abhängen, bleibt die Übersicht auf Programme aus dem deutschen Sprachraum beschränkt.     

Priming pride promotes delay of gratification

Motivation and Emotion - Distinct positive emotions signal adherence to specific goals: pride signals the successful pursuit of long-term goals, while joy signals the successful pursuit of...