Are belief‐based justifications associated with metalinguistic awareness? A cross‐sectional study in school‐age children

Previous research has consistently demonstrated that false‐belief (FB) understanding correlates with and predicts metalinguistic ability in preschoolers. Surprisingly, however, there is scant evidence on the question of whether this relation persists at later ages. The present cross‐sectional study sought to fill this gap by examining the association between FB understanding, belief‐based justifications and metalinguistic awareness. A sample of 150 children primary‐school children between 8 and 11 years of age were administered a test of receptive language, a second‐order theory‐of‐mind task and a comprehensive metalinguistic battery. The results of correlational and regression analyses showed that explicit metalinguistic awareness (in particular, performance in the Ambiguity and Phonemic Segmentation subtests) was significantly predicted by children's belief‐based responses to the justification question in the theory of mind task but only for children with small receptive vocabularies; in contrast, FB understanding made no independent contribution (either alone or in interaction with other measures). These findings complement and advance existing data by showing that, in school‐age children, the association between the 2 domains involves more mature, verbally explicit levels of FB understanding and metalinguistic awareness.

Highlights

• We examined the relation between metalinguistic awareness and theory‐of‐mind in primary‐school children.
• Metalinguistic awareness was associated to belief‐based justifications, but only for children with small vocabulary.
• In school‐age children the ability to provide verbal justifications plays a key role in the relation between theory‐of‐mind and metalinguistic awareness.

     

Exploring Associations Among African American Youths' Perceptions of Racial Fairness and School Engagement: Does Gender Matter?

In addition to experiencing race as a unique social milieu within school, gender may also provide an important context for African American students. The authors explored gender differences in associations between African American youths' perceptions of racial fairness and school engagement (behavioral, emotional, and cognitive). One hundred thirty-nine (72 girls, 67 boys) African American high schoolers were recruited from the southeastern region of the United States. Gender differences were found for neither perceptions of racial fairness nor emotional and cognitive engagement. Girls reported higher behavior engagement relative to boys. Also, racial fairness was positively associated with emotional engagement among girls. For boys, racial fairness related positively to the three engagement dimensions. Implications and resources relevant for school psychology practice are discussed.     

《管子》为杂家著作考

《管子》书非管仲所著已成学界公论,但其具体著者和成书年代当前却无一致认识,同时《管子》书的学派归属问题也存在着很大争议。笔者认为,《管子》为齐国稷下部分学者集体创作而成,其成书于战国晚期。《管子》的学派归属既非"齐法家",亦不是"道家黄老",而是先秦杂家。《管子》对于中国哲学、中国封建政治文化的发展起了重要的作用,它所体现出的"和而不同"的文化观对当代文化现代化的建设具有时代的价值。     

学校组织气氛与教师工作绩效的关系分析

本研究借助于自编的学校组织气氛量表和教师工作绩效量表,通过对分层随机抽取的378名教师进行了调查,探讨了学校组织气氛与教师工作绩效的关系,结果发现学校组织气氛与教师工作绩效相关非常显著。回归分析和差异检验的结果进一步揭示:学校组织气氛是教师工作绩效的较好预测变量。其中,教学气氛是教师工作绩效的显著预测变量。同时,本研究还发现学校组织气氛对教师任务绩效影响非常显著,但对教师情境绩效影响不显著。     

Integrating Behavioral and Social Sciences in the Medical School Curriculum: Opportunities and Challenges for Psychology

The Institute of Medicine has reviewed and made recommendations concerning current teaching approaches, content, and barriers to the incorporation of behavioral/social sciences in medical school curricula (Cuff & Vanselow, 2004). This paper discusses those recommendations, the history of medical education reform, the barriers to and evolution of behavioral/social sciences’ inclusion, and the implications for psychology’s future role in academic medicine. Psychological concepts and technology permeate medical practice, but little progress has been made in integrating psychological and biological sciences. Looking to its basic science domains (e.g. cognition, learning, development, neuroscience), psychology can take scientific leadership in illuminating the mechanisms by which behavioral/social processes interact with biological functions in health, thereby providing the empirical basis for a truly integrated bio-behavioral curriculum. This article is based upon a symposium, “IOM Report on Enhancing Behavioral & Social Science in Medical Education: Impact and Opportunities for Psychology,” presented at the Annual meeting of the American Psychological Association, Washington, D.C., August 21, 2005. Suzanne Bennett Johnson, Chair; Elena Reyes, John E. Carr, and Anthony Errichetti, participants; Eugene K. Emory, Discussant.