Review of Samuel D. Rocha’s the Syllabus as Curriculum: A Reconceptualist Approach

Studies in Philosophy and Education - The Syllabus as Curriculum: A Reconceptualist Approach by Samuel D. Rocha. The review examines the central tenets of Rocha’s book, namely that the...     

The commitment of young soccer players

The main purpose of this study was to test the Sport Commitment Model in young soccer players. Participants' ( N = 437) age ranged from 14 to 16 years. Based on the sport commitment model proposed by Scanlan and colleagues, 6 scales and 28-items constitute the Sport Commitment Questionnaire (SCQ). Results of this study provide some support for the reliability and validity of the SCQ, using a sample of young soccer players. Reliability analysis provided acceptable internal consistency for four scales: Sport Commitment, Sport Enjoyment, Involvement Alternatives and Social Constraints. Sport Enjoyment (Beta= .56, p <.001) and Involvement Alternatives (Beta= -.40, p <.001) were the strongest sport commitment predictors. Further studies with a broader age range, different genders, and other sports or competitive levels are required to continue analyzing the sport commitment model.     

Rorschach Comprehensive System data for a sample of 517 adults from Spain (Barcelona)

This study is composed of 517 adult voluntary participants, from Barcelona and its surroundings, all of whom are from Spain, Barcelona, and Catalonia. The study builds on a previously published report for a smaller sample (N = 250; see Alvarez, Baeza, Campo, Garcia, Guardia, et al., 1993) and is the result of collaboration between students and professors at the Barcelona Rorschach School (Catalan Rorschach Society). Our aim is to offer local data that should help to understand possible differences with existing reference data for the Rorschach Comprehensive System (CS; Exner, 2005), which is the system that has been taught at this school since 1978. Inclusion and exclusion criteria are described and interrater reliability statistics at the response level are presented, along with scores for the CS, followed by a discussion and very brief comparison with other international reference samples.     

Integrative neuropsychological characteristics of subcortical-frontal brain regions as a schizophrenia liability factor

In order to study neuropsychological characteristics of subcortical-frontal brain regions function and assessment of their relation with vulnerability to schizophrenia 59 patients and 23 controls were investigated using Luria's neuropsychological methods. The analysis established bilateral abnormalities of the function of prefrontal and profound frontal lobe zones in patients as compared with controls. These abnormalities were more predominate in the left hemisphere. Point biserial correlation coefficients of determined integrative neuropsychological indicators with liability to schizophrenia were 0.39 +/- 0.11 and 0.28 +/- 0.09, for the left and right brain zones respectively. The obtained data permits discussion of the integrative neuropsychological indicators of subcortical-frontal brain regions as potential markers of liability to schizophrenia and confirms the role of structural and functional brain asymmetry in the pathogenesis of schizophrenia.     

Inconsistent handedness is linked to more successful foreign language vocabulary learning

The study examined correlations between incidental learning of foreign words and interhemispheric connectivity, operationalized as consistency of hand preference, using pooled data of five experiments on adult foreign language learning (N=242). Inconsistent hand preference was found to be positively correlated with vocabulary learning even after effects of cognitive variables (verbal working memory capacity and nonverbal IQ), identified previously as predictive of successful foreign-language vocabulary learning, were partialled out. This observed relationship between handedness consistency and vocabulary learning persisted when left-handed and right-handed individuals were analyzed separately, and there was no overall difference in performance between left- and right-handers. The findings confirm an association between degree of handedness and verbal episodic memory.     

Aggression, conflict resolution, popularity, and attitude to school in Russian adolescents

The objective of the present study was to examine the effects of aggression and conflict-managing skills on popularity and attitude to school in Russian adolescents. Three types of aggression (physical, verbal, and indirect), constructive conflict resolution, third-party intervention, withdrawal, and victimization were examined using the Peer-Estimated Conflict Behavior (PECOBE) inventory [Bjorkquist and Osterman, 1998]. Also, all respondents rated peer and self-popularity with same-sex classmates and personal attitude to school. The sample consisted of 212 Russian adolescents (101 boys, 111 girls) aged between 11 and 15 years. The findings attest to significant sex differences in aggression and conflict resolution patterns. Boys scored higher on physical and verbal aggression, and girls on indirect aggression. Girls were socially more skillful than boys in the use of peaceful means of conflict resolution (they scored higher on constructive conflict resolution and third-party intervention). The attributional discrepancy index (ADI) scores were negative for all three types of aggression in both sexes. Verbal aggression is apparently more condemned in boys than in girls. ADI scores were positive for constructive conflict resolution and third-party intervention in both genders, being higher in boys. In girls, verbal aggression was positively correlated with popularity. In both sexes, popularity showed a positive correlation with constructive conflict resolution and third-party intervention, and a negative correlation with withdrawal and victimization. Boys who liked school were popular with same-sex peers and scored higher on constructive conflict resolution. Girls who liked school were less aggressive according to peer rating. They also rated higher on conflict resolution and third-party intervention. Physical aggression was related to age. The results are discussed in a cross-cultural perspective.     

Mastery pleasure versus mere ownership: A quasi-experimental cross-cultural and cross-alphabetical test of the name letter effect

Four studies test both the alternative explanation advanced by Hoorens and Todorova (1988) for Nuttin's (1984, 1985, 1987) name letter effect (NLE), and two interpretations for an unexplained finding of the former authors. Flemish, Hungarian and Thai children show an increasing rather than a decreasing NLE over primary school grades (studies 1, 2 and 4). Thai university students and school children prefer own name letters in their ‘mother’ alphabet (Thai) but also in their second (Roman) alphabet (studies 3 and 4). All these results contradict the primacy of own name writing or mastery pleasure hypothesis. Independently of the time interval between the acquisition of both alphabets, a stronger NLE is found in the subjects ‘mother’ alphabet than in their second alphabet, contradicting a mitigated mastery pleasure explanation for the stronger NLE in one's ‘mother’ alphabet (Hoorens and Todorova, 1988). All the data are consistent with Nuttin's interpretation of the NLE in terms of the affective consequences of ‘mere ownership’. Finally, the striking generality of the NLE over languages, alphabets, and cultures is again demonstrated.