Comparing Correlates of Civic Engagement Between Immigrant and Majority Youth in Belgium,Germany, and Turkey

Drawing on data from a large-scale international project, this research examined predictors of civic engagement between immigrant (n = 599) and majority youth (n = 1,027) in Belgium, Germany, and Turkey. In all three countries immigrants were found to be more civically engaged than their majority peers. Further, based on the assumptions of the civic voluntarism model, civic engagement was predicted by resources, social experiences, and psychological engagement (i.e., internal political efficacy). The results showed that predictors differed by ethnic background. Although internal political efficacy beliefs were only found to be a significant predictor of civic engagement among majority youth, involvement in social networks was found to be a more meaningful predictor among immigrant youth. These results are discussed in terms of theoretical and practical implications.     

Text–Picture Integration: How Delayed Testing Moderates Recognition of Pictorial Information in Multimedia Learning

When learning with multimedia, text and pictures are assumed to be integrated with each other. Arndt, Schüler, and Scheiter (Learning & Instruction, 35, 62–72, 2015) confirmed the process of text picture integration for sentence recognition, not, however, for picture recognition. The current paper investigates the underlying reasons for the latter finding. Two experiments are reported, where subjects memorized text–picture stimuli that differed in the specificity of information contained in either sentences or pictures. In a subsequent picture recognition test, subjects showed no integration effect after a 30‐minute delay (Experiments 1 and 2), but only after a 1‐week delay (Experiment 2). Furthermore, eye‐tracking data showed that participants sufficiently processed the pictures during learning (Experiment 1). This data pattern speaks in favor of the assumption that after a short delay participants had available a short‐lived pictorial surface representation, which masked the integration effect for pictorial recognition.Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

How Alluring Are Dark Personalities? The Dark Triad and Attractiveness in Speed Dating

Dark Triad traits (narcissism, psychopathy, and Machiavellianism) are linked to the pursuit of short‐term mating strategies, but they may have differential effects on actual mating success in naturalistic scenarios: Narcissism may be a facilitator for men's short‐term mating success, while Machiavellianism and psychopathy may be detrimental. To date, little is known about the attractiveness of Dark Triad traits in women. In a speed‐dating study, we assessed participants' Dark Triad traits, Big Five personality traits, and physical attractiveness in N = 90 heterosexual individuals (46 women and 44 men). Each participant rated each partner's mate appeal for short‐ and long‐term relationships. Across both sexes, narcissism was positively associated with mate appeal for short‐ and long‐term relationships. Further analyses indicated that these associations were due to the shared variance among narcissism and extraversion in men and narcissism and physical attractiveness in women, respectively. In women, psychopathy was also positively associated with mate appeal for short‐term relationships. Regarding mating preferences, narcissism was found to involve greater choosiness in the rating of others' mate appeal (but not actual choices) in men, while psychopathy was associated with greater openness towards short‐term relationships in women. Copyright © 2016 European Association of Personality Psychology     

Explaining Social Disparities in Mathematical Achievement: The Role of Motivation

This study examined the role of motivation as a mediator of the relationship between parents' socio‐economic status (SES) and children's standardized test achievement in math. We employed a one‐year longitudinal approach using Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2003 and a follow‐up exam in 2004. The sample consisted of N = 6020 German students (mean age 15.5 years, SD = .55) who continued school after Grade 9 (PISA 2003) and were in Grade 10 at the time of PISA 2004. Children completed measures related to their parents' SES, math‐specific self‐concept, task‐specific and global self‐efficacy, and interest, intelligence and mathematical competence. We found a small to moderate correlation between parents' SES and children's achievement. All motivational constructs partially mediated the relationship between father's SES as well as a family index for SES (economic, social, and cultural status) and children's mathematical competence, but only math‐specific self‐concept and self‐efficacy were significant mediators for mother's SES. Even when simultaneously considering the mediating effect of children's intelligence and prior achievement, the mediation effects of motivation remained significant. These results are important for our understanding of educational equality. Copyright © 2016 European Association of Personality Psychology     

The effect of layout and pacing on learning from diagrams with unnecessary text

Although the presentation of extraneous (i.e., irrelevant or unnecessary) information hinders learning, it is unclear whether and how layout and pacing influence this effect. In two experiments, participants learned how the heart functions using four different layouts: a diagram presented without unnecessary text (diagram only), with unnecessary text separated from the diagram (separated) or integrated into the diagram (integrated), or with separated unnecessary text and the instruction to integrate (integration instruction). In Experiment 1, study time was self‐paced for half of the participants and system paced for the other half. There were no effects of layout and of pacing on learning, although system pacing was more effortful than self‐pacing. In Experiment 2, which was system paced and employed eye tracking, the integrated condition showed worse learning outcomes than the separated condition. Moreover, in the integrated condition, participants made more integration attempts between the unnecessary text and the diagram than in the separated condition.     

Inferring task performance and confidence from displays of eye movements

Eye movements reveal what is at the center of people's attention, which is assumed to coincide with what they are thinking about. Eye-movement displays (visualizations of a person's fixations superimposed onto the stimulus, for example, as dots or circles) might provide useful information for diagnosing that person's performance. However, making inferences about a person's task performance based on eye-movement displays requires substantial interpretation. Using graph-comprehension tasks, we investigated to what extent observers (N = 46) could make accurate inferences about a performer's multiple-choice task performance (i.e., chosen answer), confidence, and competence from displays of that person's eye movements. Observers' accuracy when judging which answer the performer chose was above chance level and was higher for displays reflecting confident performance. Observers were also able to infer performers' confidence from the eye-movement displays; moreover, their own task performance and perceived similarity with the performer affected their judgments of the other's competence.     

Embracing complexity in research on learning from examples and from problem solving

This contribution is a commentary to a special issue titled “Example-based learning: New theoretical perspectives and advances to a contemporary instructional approach” published in Applied Cognitive Psychology (2020). In the commentary, the presented research is discussed with respect to three extensions compared with previous research, namely, theoretical frameworks, learning scenarios and domains. It concludes with some suggestions for methodological advancements.     

Ethnic Speech and Ethnic Action as Ethnic Behavior: Part 2. Validation of the Brunel Ethnic Behavior Inventory

This study sought to validate the Brunel Ethnic Behavior Inventory (BEBI) as a measure of two aspects of “doing” (i.e., ethnic speech and ethnic action) among the “ways of ethnicity” identified by Verkuyten. It also evaluates the construct validity of the BEBI alongside the Multigroup Ethnic Identity Measure-Revised (MEIM-R) and evaluates the BEBI and the MEIM-R (the latter of which measures exploration as “thinking” and commitment as “feeling” among ways of ethnicity) regarding criterion-related validity. Across two samples (n = 120 for Sample 1 and n = 148 for Sample 2), the BEBI and the MEIM-R performed suitably with regard to construct validity. However, the BEBI arguably performed better with regard to criterion-related validity (i.e., in predicting scores on life satisfaction, flourishing, positive and negative moods, and positive and negative emotions). Implications for validation studies on ways of ethnicity are discussed.