A Review of Imaginary Companions and Their Implications for Development

2021 ◽  
pp. 027623662199932
Author(s):  
Annabelle Armah ◽  
Melissa Landers-Potts
Keyword(s):  
Theory Of Mind ◽  
Literature Review ◽  
Social Development ◽  
Personality Characteristics ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Imaginary Companions ◽  
Diverse Range ◽  
Relevant Topic ◽  
Imaginary Companion ◽  
Imaginative Play

A curious childhood phenomenon that has received relatively little attention in developmental literature is the imaginary companion (IC). Increased recognition of the importance of imaginative play and a desire to stimulate children’s early cognitive development makes ICs a particularly relevant topic. The significant prevalence of ICs in the population has permitted a modest yet diverse range of research investigating the functions, correlates, and implications of ICs for the children that create them. This literature review summarizes some of this research in order to describe the functions and forms that ICs may take, as well as social and personality characteristics of children with ICs. It also examines the role that ICs may serve in cognitive and social development, particularly with respect to children’s acquisition of Theory of Mind. Finally, this article addresses ways to integrate ICs into other aspects of children’s lives, gaps in the existing literature, and potential directions for future research in the field.

What is religious fundamentalism? A literature review

2021 ◽  
Vol 43 (3) ◽  
pp. 317-338
Author(s):  
Russell Earl Phillips ◽  
Michael Kitchens
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Literature Review ◽  
Religious Fundamentalism ◽  
Future Research ◽  
The Past ◽  
World Today ◽  
The Social ◽  
The World ◽  
Relevant Topic

Religious fundamentalism (RF) is a relevant topic in the world today. Over the past two decades there is an increase in definitions, theories, and measures of RF in the social sciences. The present publication reviews and integrates this information into an overarching definition and provides suggestions for future research.

Gender budgeting in emerging economies–a systematic literature review and research agenda

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Isabella M. Nolte ◽  
Tobias Polzer ◽  
Johann Seiwald
Keyword(s):  
Literature Review ◽  
Systematic Literature Review ◽  
Emerging Economies ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Economic Sectors ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Actual Use ◽  
Relevant Topic ◽  
Positive Experiences ◽  
Gender Budgeting

PurposeGender budgeting aims to include a gender perspective at all stages of the budgetary process. Emerging economies (EEs) face different challenges in gender equality to high-income economies–with larger informal economic sectors that typically employ a larger proportion of women and weaker political accountability. We analyse the literature on gender budgeting in EEs and derive avenues for future research.Design/methodology/approachAdopting a systematic literature review, we investigate the focus of research on gender budgeting in EEs and analyse how the literature has developed over the last decade.FindingsOur results show that gender budgeting is a relevant topic in EEs. The literature focuses on overall rationales for employing gender budgeting and its theoretical implementation. However, many studies remain explorative, reviewing existing content without collecting new and potentially more suitable data. The evidence on the success of gender budgeting initiatives is mixed. While a number of studies present positive experiences regarding certain aspects of gender budgeting, other studies discuss a decoupling between adopted instruments and their actual use, as well as projects not being further pursued or developed when donors retreat.Originality/valueGiven the identified lack of studies reporting on actual implementation experiences, future research should address gender budgeting from an accounting and accountability perspective and focus on the reform impacts.

scholarly journals Commentary on Canonne (2018): Listening to Improvisation

2019 ◽  
Vol 13 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 16
Author(s):  
Manuel Anglada-Tort
Keyword(s):  
Grounded Theory ◽  
Literature Review ◽  
Contextual Information ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Theory Approach ◽  
Musical Piece ◽  
Subjective Evaluations ◽  
Relevant Topic ◽  
Methodological Considerations ◽  
Grounded Theory Approach

The target study explores whether evaluations of the same piece of music differ under two distinct listening conditions: listening to a piece described either as an improvisation or as a preexisting composition. Participants (N = 16) in the two conditions listened to the same musical piece and provided verbal evaluative judgements. The author used a grounded theory approach to analyze listeners' responses, reporting different listening experiences in the two groups. The findings provide unique insights to enable a greater understanding of the nature of the aesthetics of improvisation. In this commentary, I first discuss the strengths of the article, followed by methodological considerations and suggestions for future research. I then present a short literature review and discussion of what I consider the most relevant topic in relation to this study, namely, the effects of contextual information on subjective evaluations.

scholarly journals Prevalence of Imaginary Companions in Children: A Meta-Analysis

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yusuke Moriguchi ◽  
Naoya
Keyword(s):  
Birth Order ◽  
Meta Analysis ◽  
Pretend Play ◽  
Assessment Method ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Imaginary Companions ◽  
Age Assessment ◽  
Total Prevalence ◽  
Imaginary Companion

Having an imaginary companion (IC) is a fascinating example of children’s imaginative and pretend play. However, there are inconsistencies in the reported prevalence of children’s ICs. This study examined how culture may affect this prevalence. We conducted a meta-analysis to assess whether the culture as well as age, assessment method, sex, and birth order may affect the prevalence of ICs in studies that included children under 12 years of age. The results revealed that culture as well as assessment method and sex/birth order may have a significant impact on the prevalence of ICs. Specifically, children in Western cultures were more likely to report invisible friends as compared to those in Japan, but the total prevalence of ICs did not differ across cultures. We illustrate several implications for future research on ICs.

A Systematic Literature Review of the EFQM Excellence Model from 1991 to 2019

1970 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 11-15
Author(s):  
Muhammad Yousaf ◽  
Petr Bris
Keyword(s):  
Quality Management ◽  
Data Collection ◽  
Literature Review ◽  
Systematic Literature Review ◽  
Quantitative Research ◽  
Web Of Science ◽  
State Of The Art ◽  
Future Research ◽  
European Foundation ◽  
The Subject

A systematic literature review (SLR) from 1991 to 2019 is carried out about EFQM (European Foundation for Quality Management) excellence model in this paper. The aim of the paper is to present state of the art in quantitative research on the EFQM excellence model that will guide future research lines in this field. The articles were searched with the help of six strings and these six strings were executed in three popular databases i.e. Scopus, Web of Science, and Science Direct. Around 584 peer-reviewed articles examined, which are directly linked with the subject of quantitative research on the EFQM excellence model. About 108 papers were chosen finally, then the purpose, data collection, conclusion, contributions, and type of quantitative of the selected papers are discussed and analyzed briefly in this study. Thus, this study identifies the focus areas of the researchers and knowledge gaps in empirical quantitative literature on the EFQM excellence model. This article also presents the lines of future research.

Depressive Traits and Theory of Mind in Healthy Individuals: A Mediation Study

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicholas James Rowark
Keyword(s):  
Theory Of Mind ◽  
Executive Functions ◽  
Executive Control ◽  
Statistical Power ◽  
Social Cognitive ◽  
Clinical Sample ◽  
Small Sample ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Healthy Individuals ◽  
Prepotent Response

Depression has been associated with poor social cognitive functioning, including impaired performance on measures of theory of mind. However, the association between depression and theory of mind performance has been removed when controlling for differences in executive functioning, which is also impacted by depression. Among these executive functions, inhibition of prepotent response has been demonstrated as enabling success on theory of mind tests. In the context of these findings, the current investigation tested whether a relationship could be found between depressive traits and theory of mind in a non-clinical sample, and whether this relationship was mediated by differences in executive control of inhibition. Theory of mind was assessed in 31 healthy individuals using an audio-presented false-belief reasoning task, which also tested baseline performance in non-mental-state reasoning. Inhibition of prepotent response was assessed with interference measures on a Stroop colour-word task, and depressive traits were self-reported through the second version of the Beck Depression Inventory. Mediation analysis revealed that executive control of inhibition did not significantly mediate an indirect effect of depressive traits on theory of mind. It was interpreted that relationships previously found between major depression, executive and social-cognitive functions do not generalise beyond clinical boundaries. However, these findings are discussed in terms of the small sample size, limiting statistical power, and several methodological limitations. Future research should assess the relationship between depressive traits and theory of mind using alternative measures of mental representation, or include a neurocognitive battery assessing executive functions other than inhibition.

Developing Management from Islamic Perspectives (MIP) as a Formal Academic Discipline

2009 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 46-69
Author(s):  
Shamas-Ur-Rehman Toor
Keyword(s):  
Literature Review ◽  
Academic Discipline ◽  
Real Life ◽  
Growth Potential ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Business Practices ◽  
Research Directions ◽  
International Consortium ◽  
Future Research Directions ◽  
Scholarly Attention

Management from Islamic Perspectives (MIP) is an emerging field that has begun to attract scholarly attention. However, the research undertaken so far has been rather fragmented and lack a clear agenda. This paper presents a literature review of the field and the areas of current focus. Although the field has a huge growth potential, I argue that it faces several challenges and problems as it develops further. I outline these potential pitfalls, suggest how to develop MIP as a formal discipline, and explain how to integrate it within real-life business practices. The article closes with a call for research to be conducted in a more organized fashion through an international consortium of researchers as well as recommendations for future research directions.

A Literature Review of “ Parenting Styles and Emotional Intelligence of X Class Students”

2017 ◽  
Vol 4 (36) ◽  
Author(s):  
P. Bhavani ◽  
T. G. Amuthavally
Keyword(s):  
Emotional Intelligence ◽  
Literature Review ◽  
Parenting Styles ◽  
Research Programme ◽  
Research Process ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Review Of Literature ◽  
Related Literature

The research for the review of literature is one of the first and foremost important steps in the research process. The search for related literature is a time consuming but fruitful phase of any research programme. In this article, the researcher was made an attempt to present findings from the collected related literature on parenting styles and emotional intelligence of adolescents. The main motto behind this article is to review of related literature from 1990 to till date. The paper also summarizes the findings of the studies on Emotional Intelligence and Parenting Styles giving a direction for future research.

The Social Consequences of Phubbing

2020 ◽  
pp. 157-174 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mariek Vanden Abeele
Keyword(s):  
Literature Review ◽  
Social Relationships ◽  
Empirical Work ◽  
Social Consequences ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Expectancy Violations ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
Comprehensive Literature Review ◽  
The Social

Recent empirical work suggests that phubbing, a term used to describe the practice of snubbing someone with a phone during a face-to-face social interaction, harms the quality of social relationships. Based on a comprehensive literature review, this chapter presents a framework that integrates three concurrent mechanisms that explain the relational impact of phubbing: expectancy violations, ostracism, and attentional conflict. Based on this framework, theoretically grounded propositions are formulated that may serve as guidelines for future research on these mechanisms, the conditions under which they operate, and a number of potential issues that need to be considered to further validate and extend the framework.

scholarly journals Measuring Digital Competence and ICT Literacy: An Exploratory Study of In-Service English Language Teachers in the Context of Saudi Arabia

2017 ◽  
Vol 10 (12) ◽  
pp. 38 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ahmed Abdulteeef M. Al Khateeb
Keyword(s):  
Saudi Arabia ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
English Language ◽  
Research Question ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Ict Literacy ◽  
Digital Competence ◽  
Diverse Range ◽  
English Language Teachers

The purpose of this research is to measure in-service English language teachers' digital competence, particularly for the enhancement of teaching English as a second/foreign language in schools in Saudi Arabia. Information and communication technology (ICT) knowledge is currently considered as a vital skill for foreign language teachers in addition to their linguistic competence. Recently, there has been a focus on digital competence, since it can be regarded as a gateway for enriching knowledge, economies, societies and individuals. There is also a massive need for teachers to assess their own digital competence according to non-conventional norms (i.e., having the ability to share content and manage information). In light of this rationale, this paper investigates the following research question: to what extent are English language teachers in Saudi Arabia digitally competent and in what aspects? This study used a standardized questionnaire that was constructed using a validated comprehensive framework. This instrument was designed to assess the professional capability of English language teachers in terms of their willingness and readiness to use ICTs along with their current digital competence used throughout their teaching and educational practices. The research included a diverse range of participants who come from various backgrounds, genders and experiences. The study was concluded with a presentation of useful recommendations and key research questions for future research.

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