Journey to work:exploring difficulties, solutions and the impact of aging

A study was conducted in the UK, as part of the New Dynamics of Ageing Working Late project, of the journey to work among 1215 older workers (age groups 45-49, 50-55, 56-60 and 60 + ). The aim was to identify problems or concerns that they might have with their commute, strategies that have been adopted to address them, and the role that employers can play to assist them. Follow-up interviews with 36 employees identified many strategies for assisting with the problems of journeys to work, ranging from car share and using public transport to flexible working and working some days from home. Further interviews with a sample of 12 mainly larger companies showed that employers feel a responsibility for their workers’ commute, with some offering schemes to assist them, such as adjusting work shift timings to facilitate easier parking. The research suggests that the journey to work presents difficulties for a significant minority of those aged over 45, including issues with cost, stress, health, fatigue and journey time. It may be possible to reduce the impact of these difficulties on employee decisions to change jobs or retire by assisting them to adopt mitigating strategies. It does not appear that the likelihood of experiencing a problem with the journey to work increases as the employee approaches retirement; therefore, any mitigating strategy is likely to help employees of all ages. These strategies have been disseminated to a wider audience through an online resource at www.workinglate.org.

Effects of syllabic complexity in predicting accuracy of repetition and direction of errors in patients with articulatory and phonological difficulties

The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate the existence of a strong and significant effect of complexity in aphasia independent from other variables including length. Complexity was found to be a strong and significant predictor of accurate repetition in a group of 13 Italian aphasic patients when it was entered in a regression equation either simultaneously or after a large number of other variables. Significant effects were found both when complexity was measured in terms of number of complex onsets (as in a recent paper by Nickels & Howard, 2004) and when it was measured in a more comprehensive way. Significant complexity effects were also found with matched lists contrasting simple and complex words and in analyses of errors. Effects of complexity, however, were restricted to patients with articulatory difficulties. Reasons for this association and for the lack of significant results in Nickels and Howard (2004) are discussed. © 2005 Psychology Press Ltd.

Dyslexia - towards diagnosis : the implications of corical laterality for children's reading difficulties

Dyslexia as a concept is defined and reviewed in a context of psychological, neurological and educational processes. In the present investigation these processes are recognised but emphasis is placed on dyslexia as a phenomenon of a written language system. The type of script system involved in the phenomenon is that of an alphabetic code representing phonological elements of language In script form related to meaning. The nature of this system is viewed In the light of current linguistic and psycholinguistic studies. These studies based as they are on an analysis of underlying written language structures provide a framework for examining the arbitrary and rule-governed system which a young child is expected to acquire. There appear to be fundamental implications for reading, spelling and writing processes; for example an alphabetic system requires recognition of consistent script-phonetic relationships, 'mediated word identification' and in particular uni-directional sensory and motor modes of perceiving. These are critical maturational factors in the young learner. The skills needed by the child for decoding and encoding such a phonemic script are described in a psychological and neuropsychological framework. Evidence for individual differences in these skills is noted and the category of the dyslexic-type learner emerges. Incidence is related to the probabilities of individual differences in lateralisation of brain function not favouring the acquisition of our script system In some cases. Dyslexia is therefore regarded as a primary difficulty consequent upon the incompatibility between:the written language system itself and the intrinsic, developmental skills of an individual's perceptual/motor system. It is recognised that secondary stresses e.g. socio-cultural deprivation, low intellectual potential or emotional trauma can further inhibit the learning process. Symptomology of a dyslexic syndrome is described.. The symptomology is seen by the writer to constitute a clinical entity. a specific category of learning difficulty for which predictive and diagnostic procedure could be devised for classroom use. Consequently an index of relevant test items has been compiled, based upon key clinical experiences and theoretical writings. This instrument knovn as the Aston Index is presented and discussed. The early stages of validation are reported and the proposed longtitudinal studies are described. The aim is to give teachers in the classroom the power and understanding to plan more effectively the earliest stages of teaching and learning; in particular to provide the means of matching the nature of the skill to be acquired with the underlying developmental patterns of each individual learner.

A psychological investigation into the relationship between hemispheric functioning and specific written language difficulties (dyslexia), using pharmaceutical intervention techniques

This thesis attempts a psychological investigation of hemispheric functioning in developmental dyslexia. Previous work using neuropsychological methods with developmental dyslexics is reviewed ,and original work is presented both of a conventional psychometric nature and also utilising a new means of intervention. At the inception of inquiry into dyslexia, comparisons were drawn between developmental dyslexia and acquired alexia, promoting a model of brain damage as the common cause. Subsequent investigators found developmental dyslexics to be neurologically intact, and so an alternative hypothesis was offered, namely that language is abnormally localized (not in the left hemisphere). Research in the last decade, using the advanced techniques of modern neuropsychology, has indicated that developmental dyslexics are probably left hemisphere dominant for language. The development of a new type of pharmaceutical prep~ration (that appears to have a left hemisphere effect) offers an oppertunity to test the experimental hypothesis. This hypothesis propounds that most dyslexics are left hemisphere language dominant, but some of these language related operations are dysfunctioning. The methods utilised are those of psychological assessment of cognitive function, both in a traditional psychometric situation, and with a new form of intervention (Piracetam). The information resulting from intervention will be judged on its therapeutic validity and contribution to the understanding of hemispheric functioning in dyslexics. The experimental studies using conventional psychometric evaluation revealed a dyslexic profile of poor sequencing and name coding ability, with adequate spatial and verbal reasoning skills. Neuropsychological information would tend to suggest that this profile was indicative of adequate right hemsiphere abilities and deficits in some left hemsiphere abilities. When an intervention agent (Piracetam) was used with young adult dyslexics there were improvements in both the rate of acquisition and conservation of verbal learning. An experimental study with dyslexic children revealed that Piracetam appeared to improve reading, writing and sequencing, but did not influence spatial abilities. This would seem to concord with other recent findings, that deve~mental dyslexics may have left hemisphere language localisation, although some of these language related abilities are dysfunctioning.

Engineering the future:CDIO as a tool for combating retention difficulties

With the demand for engineering graduates at what may be defined as an unprecedented high, many universities find themselves facing significant levels of student attrition-with high "drop-out levels" being a major issue in engineering education. In order to address this, Aston University in the UK has radically changed its undergraduate engineering education curriculum, introducing capstone CDIO (Conceive, Design, Implement, Operate) modules for all first year students studying Mechanical Engineering and Design. The introduction of CDIO is aimed at making project / problem based learning the norm. Utilising this approach, the learning and teaching in engineering purposefully aims to promote innovative thinking, thus equipping students with high-level problem-solving skills in a way that builds on theory whilst enhancing practical competencies and abilities. This chapter provides an overview of an Action Research study undertaken contemporaneously with the development, introduction, and administration of the first two semesters of CDIO. It identifies the challenges and benefits of the approach and concludes by arguing that whilst CDIO is hard work for staff, it can make a real difference to students' learning experiences, thereby positively impacting retention. © 2012, IGI Global.

Using cognitive load theory to interpret student difficulties with a problem-based learning approach to engineering education:a case study

This article reports on an investigationwith first year undergraduate ProductDesign and Management students within a School of Engineering and Applied Science. The students at the time of this investigation had studied fundamental engineering science and mathematics for one semester. The students were given an open ended, ill-formed problem which involved designing a simple bridge to cross a river.They were given a talk on problemsolving and given a rubric to follow, if they chose to do so.They were not given any formulae or procedures needed in order to resolve the problem. In theory, they possessed the knowledge to ask the right questions in order tomake assumptions but, in practice, it turned out they were unable to link their a priori knowledge to resolve this problem. They were able to solve simple beam problems when given closed questions. The results show they were unable to visualize a simple bridge as an augmented beam problem and ask pertinent questions and hence formulate appropriate assumptions in order to offer resolutions.

Illness perceptions and hearing difficulties in King-Kopetzky syndrome:what determines help seeking?

The present study explored illness perceptions of hearing difficulties amongst one hundred participants who reported experiencing hearing difficulties despite normal audiometric thresholds. This experience is referred to as King-Kopetzky syndrome (KKS), obscure auditory dysfunction (OAD), or auditory processing disorder (APD). Logistic regression was used to consider the associations between help-seeking and a range of audiological and illness perception measures. Results indicate that help-seekers present with poorer speech in noise thresholds than non help-seekers, and that coherent illness perceptions and a negative belief in the consequences of hearing difficulties are associated with help-seeking status, regardless of hearing sensitivity.

Help-seeking for medically unexplained hearing difficulties:a qualitative study

Aims - Up to 10% of audiology patients report diffi culties hearing speech in noise even though clinical investigation reveals normal hearing thresholds, in other words, no evidence of physical pathology. The diagnostic category applied to these patients is known as King-Kopetzky Syndrome (KKS). This study aimed to gather descriptions of patients' experiences of the clinical encounter involving their KKS diagnosis and analyse the themes of help-seeking, as part of a larger study into the process of coping with medically unexplained hearing diffi culties. Method - A qualitative approach was employed, comprising unstructured interviews in the homes of 25 patients who had attended audiology services (and received a diagnosis of KKS) in Bath and Cardiff. Thematic analysis of transcripts was undertaken, infl uenced by grounded theory techniques. Findings - Informants characterized the clinical encounter as either negative or positive. Negative consultations were those in which patients' illness claims were dismissed and as such not validated. Positive encounters were typifi ed by the provision of meaningful information that reconciled clinical information with the patients' experiences of hearing loss. Conclusion - Successful management of medically unexplained illnesses requires the adoption of a patient-centred approach, rather than focusing on the absence of observable pathology