Executive Functioning: Assessing the Role of Perceived Paranormal Ability

This study examined whether scores on self-report measures of executive functions varied in accordance with level of self-professed paranormal ability. The investigators compared three groups varying in attribution of paranormal facilities: practitioners (Mediums, Psychics, Spiritualists and Fortune-Tellers), self-professed ability and no ability. Consistent with recent research on cognitive-perceptual factors allied to delusional formation and thinking style, the researchers anticipated that practitioners would score higher on paranormal belief and self-reported executive function disruption. Correspondingly, the investigators also hypothesised that the self-professed ability group would demonstrate greater belief in the paranormal and higher levels of executive function disruption than the no ability group. A sample of 499 (219 males, 279 females) respondents completed the measures online. Multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) found a large effect size, alongside significant differences on all variables apart from Cognitive Reappraisal. Pairwise comparisons indicated that Paranormal Belief increased as a function of level of ability; practitioners scored higher than self-professed, who in turn scored higher than the no ability group. For executive functioning, significant differences emerged only for the no ability vs. self-professed ability and no ability vs. practising groups. Collectively, outcomes indicated that perception of ability, regardless of intensity of paranormal conviction, influenced subjective appraisal of executive functions. Failure to find consistent differences between practitioner and self-professed ability groups suggested that discernment of ability was sufficient to heighten awareness of executive functioning disruptions.

Is Kindergarten Ability Group Placement Biased? New Data, New Methods, New Answers

Half of kindergarten teachers split children into higher and lower ability groups for reading or math. In national data, we predicted kindergarten ability group placement using linear and ordinal logistic regression with classroom fixed effects. In fall, test scores were the best predictors of group placement, but there was bias favoring girls, high-SES (socioeconomic status) children, and Asian Americans, who received higher placements than their scores alone would predict. Net of SES, there was no bias against placing black children in higher groups. By spring, one third of kindergartners moved groups, and high-SES children moved up more than their score gains alone would predict. Teacher-reported behaviors (e.g., attentiveness, approaches to learning) helped explain girls’ higher placements, but did little to explain the higher placements of Asian American and high-SES children.

Teachers’ Use of Within-Class Ability Groups in the Primary Classroom: A Mixed Methods Study of Social Comparison

It is common practice within primary classrooms for teachers to spilt children into different ability groups so that children of similar level are taught together. Whilst this practice is used across the globe, research is mixed on the benefits of such grouping strategy. This paper presents data collected from mixed methods research which investigated teachers use of grouping strategies and social comparison, the act of comparing oneself with others. It focuses on when, why and with whom children from different ability groups compare themselves and the impact this has on their self-perceptions. Drawing upon data from children aged between 10 and 11 years from 12 primary schools, social comparison was found to play a significant role in daily classroom life for some children. The study identified different strands of the social comparison process including acknowledgment, topic, target, and direction, and it revealed positive and negative effects of social comparison. A difference by ability group was identified. Children within the low ability group were particularly vulnerable to the negative effects of social comparison and found to engage in more frequent and intentional social comparisons which were heavily relied upon for self-evaluation and performance evaluation. The paper discusses the educational implications of social comparison regarding pupil ability grouping strategies, motivation, engagement, and academic performance. Implications for teacher education and professional development is discussed.

Vision-specific risk factors impacting self-rated health among older men in urban China: a population-based cross-sectional study

BackgroundSelf-rated health (SRH) has been well documented as an important assessment of health status among the older adults. Interestingly, visual ability has been reported to have a considerable impact on the quality of life of the older adults. This study clarified vision-specific risk factors impacting SRH among older men without cognitive impairment in order to optimise healthcare for the older adults.MethodsA population-based cross-sectional study was conducted in urban areas of Liaoning Province. A stratified sampling method was used and all men aged ≥65 years and living in sampled communities without dementia were interviewed between March and November 2012. SRH, visual ability and factors including demographic characteristics, physical conditions, lifestyle factors, social psychological factors and social activities, were measured. 1884 effective responses were received (effective response rate, 84.8%) and 1724 individuals were enrolled after further cognitive screening.ResultsThe mean age was 72.9±5.9 (mean±SD). Of individuals with good and poor visual ability, 38.3% and 33.0% reported good SRH, respectively. The characteristics between different visual ability groups were significantly different. Interactions between visual ability and four items had significant effects on SRH. In good visual ability group, chronic disease had the strongest association with good SRH followed by participating in entertainment, taking a walk, filial piety and alcohol consumption. In poor visual ability group, taking a walk had the strongest association with good SRH followed by participating in entertainment, hearing ability, smoking, quality of sleep, going out alone to distant places and alcohol consumption.ConclusionsA good SRH status, even among the individuals with good visual ability, had a low prevalence among older men in urban areas. The risk factors impacting SRH was vision-specific. Physical conditions were crucial for SRH among those with good visual ability. In contrast, lifestyle factors were prominent for those with poor visual ability.

Teaching the Duck, the Rabbit, the Eagle and the Squirrel: Teachers Talk Differentiated Instruction

<p>Student differences become more and more acute in today’s classrooms. Our modern world is rapidly changing and the classroom societies become more and more diverse. There is an urgent need for teachers to react to these changes and particularly the classroom diversity in order to ensure learning. This thesis examines instruction methods that create a differentiated learning environment. It built on the experiences of teaching experts in the area of differentiated instruction and sought to discover effective methods to teach in a differentiated way. The methodological approach was a multiple case study lead under a constructionist approach. Four teachers who considered themselves as experts in the area of differentiated instruction volunteered to take part. They have been observed in their work environment, and their experiences and methods have been questioned in two interviews. A vivo approach has been used to transcribe the interviews and data has been analysed through analytic induction. Teachers generally agreed on differentiated instruction being a key feature of modern teaching. They admitted that they wouldn’t want to teach in any other way. All four participants organised their instruction majorly around ability group teaching and differentiated according to the students’ readiness to learn. They sometimes differentiated through interest but only rarely considered differentiation through learning styles and learning preferences when planning their activities. Nevertheless they used many methods aiming to reach every student’s preferred sensory channel or intelligence at some point rather than differentiating through it. Overall, the researcher could observe students that seemed to be at ease and to be working according to their needs. The findings from the research identified that differentiated instruction is not a myth which only exists in literature, but that it actually can be put into practice. Various teaching methods were considered and the difficulties they implicate were being discussed. Readers can learn from the participants’ teaching methods and reuse them in teaching situations. In observed classroom situations, their methods proved to be valuable and of considerable use. They can offer the readers an exciting approach to teaching and give teachers new ideas to vary their instruction. Nevertheless they cannot be generalized. There are many successful ways of teaching, in order to get to know more, further research would need to occur.</p>

Teaching the Duck, the Rabbit, the Eagle and the Squirrel: Teachers Talk Differentiated Instruction

<p>Student differences become more and more acute in today’s classrooms. Our modern world is rapidly changing and the classroom societies become more and more diverse. There is an urgent need for teachers to react to these changes and particularly the classroom diversity in order to ensure learning. This thesis examines instruction methods that create a differentiated learning environment. It built on the experiences of teaching experts in the area of differentiated instruction and sought to discover effective methods to teach in a differentiated way. The methodological approach was a multiple case study lead under a constructionist approach. Four teachers who considered themselves as experts in the area of differentiated instruction volunteered to take part. They have been observed in their work environment, and their experiences and methods have been questioned in two interviews. A vivo approach has been used to transcribe the interviews and data has been analysed through analytic induction. Teachers generally agreed on differentiated instruction being a key feature of modern teaching. They admitted that they wouldn’t want to teach in any other way. All four participants organised their instruction majorly around ability group teaching and differentiated according to the students’ readiness to learn. They sometimes differentiated through interest but only rarely considered differentiation through learning styles and learning preferences when planning their activities. Nevertheless they used many methods aiming to reach every student’s preferred sensory channel or intelligence at some point rather than differentiating through it. Overall, the researcher could observe students that seemed to be at ease and to be working according to their needs. The findings from the research identified that differentiated instruction is not a myth which only exists in literature, but that it actually can be put into practice. Various teaching methods were considered and the difficulties they implicate were being discussed. Readers can learn from the participants’ teaching methods and reuse them in teaching situations. In observed classroom situations, their methods proved to be valuable and of considerable use. They can offer the readers an exciting approach to teaching and give teachers new ideas to vary their instruction. Nevertheless they cannot be generalized. There are many successful ways of teaching, in order to get to know more, further research would need to occur.</p>

Spatial Cognition in Children With Physical Disability; What Is the Impact of Restricted Independent Exploration?

Given the developmental inter-relationship between motor ability and spatial skills, we investigated the impact of physical disability (PD) on spatial cognition. Fifty-three children with special educational needs including PD were divided into those who were wheelchair users (n = 34) and those with independent locomotion ability (n = 19). This division additionally enabled us to determine the impact of limited independent physical exploration (i.e., required wheelchair use) on spatial competence. We compared the spatial performance of children in these two PD groups to that of typically developing (TD) children who spanned the range of non-verbal ability of the PD groups. Participants completed three spatial tasks; a mental rotation task, a spatial programming task and a desktop virtual reality (VR) navigation task. Levels of impairment of the PD groups were broadly commensurate with their overall level of non-verbal ability. The exception to this was the performance of the PD wheelchair group on the mental rotation task, which was below that expected for their level of non-verbal ability. Group differences in approach to the spatial programming task were evident in that both PD groups showed a different error pattern from the TD group. These findings suggested that for children with both learning difficulties and PD, the unique developmental impact on spatial ability of having physical disabilities, over and above the impact of any learning difficulties, is minimal.

Functional independence in the Finnish spinal cord injury population

Study design A cross-sectional survey of the Finnish population with spinal cord injury (FinSCI database). Objectives To describe the functional independence of the population with spinal cord injury (SCI) in Finland and to identify how generic and lesion characteristics affect their functional independence. Setting The participants were recruited from the registers of three SCI outpatient clinics responsible for lifelong follow-up and care for people with SCI in Finland. Methods The data were retrieved from FinSCI (n = 1772). The response rate was 50% (n = 884). The Spinal Cord Independence Measure-Self Report (SCIM-SR) was used. The data were analyzed with univariate testing, factor analyses, and multiple linear regression models. Results The median (percentiles 25; 75) SCIM-SR total score was 76.0 (58.8; 89.0), and the score was 18.0 (13.0; 20:0) for the self-care sub-scale, 33.0 (25.0; 39.0) for the respiration and sphincter management sub-scale and 29.0 (16.0; 36.8) for the mobility sub-scale. The higher the neurological level in groups AIS A, B, and C, the lower the functional ability. Group AIS D at any injury level had the highest level of functional ability. Age and the number of years since injury negatively influenced the SCIM-SR scores for every sub-scale. Conclusion Based on the International Spinal Cord Injury Core Data Set, the severity of SCI can differentiate persons with SCI according to their functional ability. The results suggest that SCI affects individuals’ health more than ageing alone does, thereby reducing the functional ability and independence of persons with SCI over time.

THE TALE OF THE TWO LANGUAGES: THE QUEST IN UNDERSTANDING STUDENTS TOWARD ORAL COMMUNICATION

This study investigates how students with basic English and Arabic language proficiency from the foreign language perceive their oral communication challenges in completing their oral project for Oral Communication in English and Arabic Language Level 3 - Interviewing Native/Second language speakers in the target language. Qualitative research using the case study method was adopted. A total of 74 Arabic students & English were taken for this study is on purposeful sampling. Students were required to present a short reflective journal on their view of their project at the end of the semester to the teacher-researcher. Major findings indicate that students generally held a positive view towards the idea of approaching native speakers to practice the languages. Finally, to maximize the potential of the students, it is suggested that a need analysis should be conducted at the beginning of the semester to understand the needs and preferences of students when using the languages orally both inside and outside the campus, formal and informal use. Teachers should also try to utilize the potential of the mixed-ability group to enhance peer learning and sharing.

Choral singing and personal well-being: A Choral Activity Perceived Benefits Scale (CAPBES)

Numerous studies have demonstrated the capacity of choral singing to improve human well-being and that, in certain sectors of society (including older adults, prison populations, underprivileged social groups, and mentally illness groups), choral singing bears several benefits. Thus, this descriptive study proposed a comprehensive structural model of the dimensions that comprise choral singing’s contribution to individual well-being and aimed to explain these benefits. The study was conducted in a non-random sample of 1,513 adult Spanish singers of both sexes and variable age. An instrument was developed to assess the psychosocial benefits of choral singing, as perceived by singers; it comprised five constituent dimensions: satisfaction, ability, group engagement, belonging, and optimism. The instrument enabled us to assess how choral singing contributed to well-being, with adequate reliability (Cronbach’s α = .917) and validity. The system of relationships proposed by the model represents a plausible explanation regarding the benefits of choral practice and singing for well-being.