Connaissance du nom et du son des lettres, habiletés métaphonémiques et capacités de décodage en grande section de maternelle

This study examined the specific implication of letter-name knowledge in reading acquisition on 5-year-old kindergarten children. Several studies underlined the importance of both phonological and orthographic skills (letters and grapho-phonological associations’ knowledge developed during reading acquisition). So, we focused on the link between those different early abilities and on their links with reading acquisition during school year. Thus, at the beginning and at the end of the year, we proposed to 40 children metaphonemic tasks (phoneme identification in initial and final position in the words), letter-sound and letter-name knowledge tasks (naming and identification) and a pseudo-words decoding task. In addition, to access letter-name knowledge, two types of measurements were proposed: an accuracy measure and a speed one. Mean number of correct responses and reaction times were collected by children and analysed too. Results show that letter-name knowledge could play a part in metaphonemic abilities development and in letter-sound associations’ discovery and acquisition, at the beginning of the year. Thanks to those skills improvement, letter-name knowledge could have an indirect impact on later children's decoding skills. Furthermore, the direct link, already observed at the beginning of the year, between letter-name knowledge and decoding skills still exists in April. At last, analyses on letter-name knowledge access time show that the more children name an important number of letters, the more they do it quickly. These results could mean that a certain level of letter-name knowledge have to be reach before children could use this knowledge automatically. All together, results confirm the importance of good letter-name knowledge in the first stages of reading acquisition. We also suggest taking into account some clues of letter-name knowledge's automatic use to better understand reading acquisition processes.     

Les troubles des comportements alimentaires chez des étudiants de première année : une étude prospective multigroupes

There is increasing use of the phrase “campus eating symptoms” to describe regular binge eating (together with frequent exercise, and occasional reliance on vomiting or laxatives), concerns about body image, depressive symptoms, stress, and university adjustment problems among students. Incidence of eating disorders in the early grades of university is increasing, and the period from age 17–19 years (peak of bulimia) which corresponds to the beginning of study at university is critical. Given the stressful environment that is the 1st academic year, it is useful to consider eating disorders risk factors.

Method

Our study is longitudinal. At the beginning, the participants consisted of 1110 freshmen. Data regarding adjustment to university, gender, body image, BMI, transactional variables (perceived stress and coping) and eating disorders (EAT-26) were collected. At T2 (end of academic year), 556 students were recruited to reassess their eating behaviours. The aim of the study was to test gender invariance of a theoretical eating disorders model including all these variables and eating disorders measured a year apart from a mixed population integrating the university for the first times. This model assumes that these variables exert direct effects on eating disorders as measured in time one who in turn will affect the stability of these troubles a year later. Although very little research include boys in the study of eating disorders, the results of our multi-group analysis support the idea of the existence of sex differences in eating disorder predictors: the only common predictor of eating disorders among girls and boys was the use emotion-focused coping. Among boys, the best predictors of eating disorders were problem-focused coping, and seeking social support. Among girls, our results revealed that body mass index, body image, and academic adjustment and stress were the predictors of eating disorders. Finally, we found a temporal stability of eating disorders. This study showed that personal and contextual aspects have a direct impact on students’ eating behaviour. However, among boys, neither body image nor perceived stress affect the eating behaviour but how they cope with stress. The gender gap in the explanation of eating disorders suggest to not exclude the male population in this type of study and to treat the data separately.     

Développement de la connaissance des lettres capitales. Étude transversale chez les enfants français de trois à six ans

The present study examined the knowledge of uppercase letters in 160 children aged from three to six. Three tasks were administrated: letter saying, letter naming, letter recognition. Children's responses were analyzed according to several variables: school level, gender, task, letter type, letter frequency, etc. Letter knowledge improved from three to six years, but with huge differences among children, namely the superiority of girls over boys. Letter by letter analyses showed that scores were highly consistent between tasks and school levels. They also revealed that letter knowledge was affected by letter type, letter frequency, alphabetic rank and the presence of letters in the child's first name. The findings are discussed for their contribution to the understanding of letter learning.     

Emilie du Châtelet on the Existence and Nature of God: An Examination of Her Arguments in Light of Their Sources

Many commentators have suggested that the metaphysical portions of Emilie du Châtelet's Institutions de physique are a mere retelling of Leibniz's views. I argue that a close reading of the text shows that du Châtelet's cosmological argument and discussion of God's nature contains both Lockean and Leibnizian elements. I discuss where she follows Locke in her arguments, what Leibnizian elements she brings in, and how this enables her to avoid some of the mistakes commonly attributed to Locke's formulation of the cosmological argument. I show that while du Châtelet accepts the causal principle ex nihilo nihil fit, she does not utilize Locke's stronger causal principle. I also discuss her use of the principle of sufficient reason in both improving the Lockean cosmological argument and in proving the attributes of God.     

Working in the borderland: early relational trauma and Fordham's analysis of ‘K’

This paper outlines a view of early relational trauma as underlying borderline states of mind, and argues that Knox's 1999 paper on internal working models and the complex provides a basis for understanding such states of mind. The author argues that in addition to internal working models, the complex also embodies and contains primitive defences of the core self. He outlines how these apply on the objective, subjective, transference and archetypal levels, and in direct and reversed forms and applies this to the account of Fordham's analysis of his patient ‘K’, which ended in impasse. The paper explores the dynamic that emerged in that analysis and suggests that it could be helpfully accounted for in terms of the co‐construction and re‐construction of early relational trauma in the analytic relationship.     

Psychometric properties of the Problem Video Game Playing scale in adults

IntroductionInternet Gaming Disorder (IGD) was introduced for the first time within the “conditions for further study” in the fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of the American Psychiatric Association, and a systematic review has concluded that the only available instrument for its measurement is the Problem Video Game Playing scale (PVP). Nevertheless, this scale was presented as a diagnostic tool for adolescents, and to date no study has analyzed its properties amongst adults.ObjectiveThe aim of the study was to analyze and compare the diagnostic and psychometric properties of the PVP in adult and adolescent gamers.MethodTwo samples of adult (n = 525) and adolescent (n = 384) gamers completed a survey including patterns of play, PVP, Severity of Dependence Scale, and other measures of playing to excess.ResultsConfirmatory factor analyses revealed that the scale presents a one-factor structure that is similar to that of the original version, both in adults and adolescents. Construct validity was supported by highly significant associations between the PVP and all alternative measures of playing to excess. On the other hand, reliability values were lower than in previous studies.ConclusionsThe PVP scale's properties are appropriate for the measurement of problem video gaming in adults as well as in adolescents, but studies with clinical assessments are still needed before any cutoff value for diagnosis can be established.