Developmental dynamics between reading and math in elementary school

Reading and math attainment develop during elementary grades. Questions remain, though, about the co‐developmental nature of the relation between reading and math. This study examined dynamic, longitudinal pathways between reading and math in first through fourth grades. Participants of the study were 554 academically at‐risk children (M_age at the first assessment point = 6.57 years; SD = 0.38) from Texas Project Achieve. Children were assessed utilizing the Woodcock‐Johnson–III reading and math measures. Results from dynamic bivariate latent change score models indicated unidirectional longitudinal coupling effects from reading to math. Specifically, average and high levels of reading performance were associated with subsequent gains in math growth, in particular for below average performing children in math. In contrast, low levels of reading performance had negligible or no amplifying influences on change in math growth. The nature of the dynamics was replicated even when controlling for nonverbal cognitive abilities. Results demonstrated that good reading skills pave the way for children to develop their math skills. Such findings underscore the importance of considering reading performance in treating math difficulties.     

The Effects of Beliefs About Smoking and Health on Smoking Cessation

The purpose of this study was to examine whether beliefs of an American sample about smoking and health, as defined by cognitive orientation theory, would determine those smoking cessation program participants who would become abstainers and those who would not. Although the smoking cessation program was not designed to influence the specific kinds of beliefs studied, subscales measuring two of the four types of beliefs differentiated participants who would become abstainers from those who would not. Abstainers tended to have stronger goal beliefs about their desire to quit smoking, and stronger beliefs about the health-related implications of smoking. Participants' beliefs that they could resist an urge to smoke, which implied the use of coping skills, were more important in determining who would abstain from smoking than was their confidence that they could quit smoking, which implied the use of willpower.     

Children's Trait and Emotion Attributions in Socially Ambiguous and Unambiguous Situations

Children's attributions about story characters in ambiguous and unambiguous social situations were assessed. One hundred and forty-four 6–7-year-olds and 10–11-year-olds heard about actors who slighted a recipient intentionally or for an undetermined reason and then made causal attributions about the events, an emotion attribution about the recipient, and global personality attributions about the actors and recipient. Relations between perceived self-competence and attribution style were also assessed. Participants were more likely to make negative causal attributions in the unambiguous condition and with increasing age. Older girls and younger boys were more likely than other groups to attribute negative emotions to the recipient. Overall, participants perceived recipients positively and actors negatively. Perceived self-competence was positively correlated with actor attributions, although these differed by age and gender. Implications for children's psychosocial adjustment are discussed.     

The Emergence of Student Creativity in Classroom Settings: A Case Study of Elementary Schools in Korea

This research explores the emergence of student creativity in classroom settings, specifically within two content areas: science and social studies. Fourteen classrooms in three elementary schools in Korea were observed, and the teachers and students were interviewed. The three types of student creativity emerging in the teaching and learning process found in this research were: (a) heuristic creativity when the students express their thoughts about a new concept based on their experience, (b) interpretive creativity when the students explain the meaning of materials based on students' knowledge, and (c) integrative creativity when students generate new solutions or make new products based on their internalized knowledge. The study results will challenge teachers to find instances of student creativity in their teaching and learning situations and to facilitate student creativity when the students interpret data or materials related to the contents of the curriculum.     

中小学教师职业人格与主观幸福感的关系:工作投入的中介作用

采用问卷调查法,以692名中小学教师作为被试,探讨教师职业人格和主观幸福感的关系及其机制。结果发现：（1）专家型教师在职业人格得分上显著高于新手、熟手型教师,体现出与教师职业更匹配、更具适应性的人格特点;（2）职业人格与主观幸福感正相关显著,职业人格可通过影响工作投入程度进而影响主观幸福感,工作投入在二者之间起部分中介作用;（3）新手、熟手和专家型教师职业人格影响主观幸福感的作用机制存在差异：新手职业人格直接影响主观幸福感,熟手大部分通过工作投入影响主观幸福感,而专家完全通过工作投入影响主观幸福感。研究表明,教师职业人格可通过提高工作投入程度,进而提升其主观幸福感。     

Using differential reinforcement of low rates to reduce children's requests for teacher attention

We evaluated the effectiveness of full-session differential reinforcement of low rates of behavior (DRL) on 3 primary school children's rates of requesting attention from their teacher. Using baseline rates of responding and teacher recommendations, we set a DRL schedule that was substantially lower than baseline yet still allowed the children access to teacher assistance. The DRL schedule was effective in reducing children's requests for assistance and approval, and the teacher found the intervention highly useful and acceptable. The possible mechanisms that account for behavior change using full-session DRL schedules are discussed.     

小学生创造性文学问题提出能力的发展研究

运用实验的方法,对来自山西两所小学371名小学生创造性文学问题提出能力的发展进行了研究。结果表明:(1)小学生创造性文学问题提出能力整体呈现持续上升的趋势;(2)男女生在创造性文学问题提出能力上存在差异,但差异不显著;(3)城市小学生整体优于乡村小学生的发展,二者的发展趋势同中有异;(4)小学四年级、五年级是小学生创造性文学问题提出能力的两个关键期。     

小学生自我调节学习的特点

本文采用学业自我调节问卷,探讨了小学四、五、六年级学生自我调节学习的特点。结果表明,不同年级小学生在自我调节学习的外部调节、摄入性调节、认同调节和内部动机维度上存在差异;不同调节类型对学习成绩有影响;不同年级、不同调节水平对数学成绩有显著影响,在语文成绩上未达显著;最后,本文对于该方向的未来研究给予了展望。     

中小学教师心理授权的测量

本研究旨在编制适合我国实际教育情境的中小学教师心理授权问卷。在文献分析的基础上,结合开放式和半开放式问卷调查、教师访谈、专家访谈,采用分问卷开发技术,对1272份有效问卷进行了分析,结果表明中小学教师心理授权由心理授权体验、心理授权技能和心理授权行为三个分问卷构成。其中,心理授权体验包括自我效能、影响力、地位和自主性4个因素;心理授权技能包括决策参与技能和沟通交流技能2个因素;心理授权行为包括影响教学行为和决策参与行为2个因素。本研究编制的心理授权问卷共44个题项,信效度均达到了心理测量学要求,可以用作教师心理授权的测量。