Do teacher stereotypes about school tracks function as expectations at the collective level and do they relate to the perception of obstacles in the classroom and to teachers’ self-efficacy beliefs?

The effects of individual teacher expectations have been the subject of intensive research. Results indicate that teachers use their expectations to adapt their interactions with their students to some degree (as summarized in a review by Jussim & Harber, 2005). This can in turn lead to expectancy-confirming student developments. While there are studies on the Pygmalion effect on individual students, there is only little research on teacher judgements of whole classes and schools. Our study aims to extend the perspective of teacher judgements at the collective level to stereotypes within the context of school tracking. The content and structure of teachers’ school track stereotypes are investigated as well as the question of whether these stereotypical judgements are related to teachers’ perception of obstacles to their teaching and their teaching self-efficacy beliefs. Cross-sectional data on 341 teachers at two different school types from the Panel Study at the Research School „Education and Capabilities“ in North Rhine-Westphalia (PARS) (see Bos et al., 2016) were used for two purposes: First, the structure of teachers’ stereotypes was identified via an exploratory factor analysis. Second, in follow-up regression analyses, the stereotype dimensions extracted were used to predict teachers’ perceptions of obstacles to their classroom work and their individual and collective teacher self-efficacy beliefs. Results showed that – after controlling for the average cognitive abilities and the average cultural capital of the students – teacher stereotypes were indeed related to perceived obstacles concerning their classroom work and their self-efficacy beliefs. After a discussion of the strengths and limitations of the present research, the article closes with a short proposal of a future research framework for collective Pygmalion effects. (DIPF/Orig.)

Responsabilidad civil de la persona mayor incapaz y de sus guardadores por los daños causados a terceros: especial referencia a la responsabilidad del incapaz en el sistema del Common Law

Un número considerable de personas mayores padece alguna enfermedad neurodegenerativa que limita sus facultades intelectivas y volitivas, lo que en la práctica suele traducirse en alteraciones de la personalidad con conservación de consciencia, pérdidas de memoria, desorientación, inquietud, confusión o agresividad. Este deterioro progresivo de capacidad que puede afectar a nuestros mayores no sólo los convierte en fácil objetivo de agresiones sino también en potenciales creadores de riesgos y daños a terceros. Es precisamente la responsabilidad que puede derivarse de tales daños la que será analizada en primer lugar en esta sede, exponiendo el estado de la cuestión tanto en el civil como en el common law. Por otro lado, cuando una persona que tiene sus funciones cognitivas mermadas causa un daño a otro, no sólo se debe analizar la responsabilidad civil del propio agente del daño frente al perjudicado, sino también aquélla en que podría incurrir la persona encargada de su cuidado en caso de haberla. Dicha cuestión ocupará la segunda parte del presente trabajo.

Promotion of literacy skills in early childhood: a follow-up study from kindergarten to grade 1

Several researchers have shown that invented spelling activities in kindergarten foster preschool children’s early literacy skills. However, few studies have assessed its impact on learning to read and write in the first year of primary school. Our goal was to analyse the impact of an invented spelling programme with kindergarteners on their literacy skills until the end of Grade 1. A follow-up study was conducted with 45 five-year-old Portuguese children attending two classes of two schools in Lisbon. The teaching effect was controlled as children from each class were randomly assigned into two groups (experimental/control) — equivalent on letter knowledge, cognitive abilities and phonological awareness. The participants were assessed in kindergarten with a pre-test, immediate post-test and delayed post-test (spelling; reading; phonemic awareness) and at the end of Grade 1 (spelling; reading). The experimental group participated in invented spelling sessions, while control children participated in storytelling activities. Data analysis revealed statistically significant differences between the two groups. The experimental group scored higher, not only in kindergarten but also in the follow-up year for all literacy measures.

L’influence des capacités cognitives mâles et femelles sur le choix de partenaire chez le diamant mandarin (Taeniopygia guttata)

S’approvisionner en nourriture est essentiel à la survie et au succès reproducteur. Lorsque les animaux font face à des changements environnementaux brutaux, ils doivent s’ajuster rapidement à leur nouvel environnement et parfois même innover dans leur façon de s’approvisionner. Des processus comportementaux et cognitifs, tels que l’innovation et l’apprentissage, permettent aux animaux d'intégrer de nouveaux comportements à leur répertoire comportemental afin de s'adapter de façon optimale. Les performances cognitives varient entre les individus d’une même population et bien que des études récentes se soient intéressées aux causes de ce phénomène, de convaincantes évidences sont manquantes afin d’expliquer pourquoi ces variations sont maintenues. Au cours de ce mémoire, les questions des pressions de sélection s'exerçant sur les performances d’alimentation par une tâche motrice nouvelle sont abordées afin de mieux comprendre l'évolution des capacités cognitives au sein d'une population captive de diamants mandarins (Taeniopygia guttata). Nous avons tout d'abord testé si les femelles diamants mandarins modifient leurs préférences d'accouplement après avoir observé la performance d'alimentation par une tâche motrice nouvelle des mâles. Afin de déterminer si les femelles sont capables de discriminer entre les mâles sur la base de leur capacité cognitive, nous avons également évalué les performances d’apprentissage de chacune d’elles. En effet, des études ont suggéré qu’il peut être coûteux, spécialement en terme de temps, de discriminer entre des partenaires potentiels sur cette base. La généralisation d’une préférence pour un mâle performant à d’autres mâles possédant le même phénotype permettrait la réduction de ces coûts. Nous avons donc finalement testé si les femelles diamants mandarins peuvent généraliser leur préférence après avoir observé les performances d’alimentation pour une tâche motrice nouvelle d’un mâle. Nos résultats suggèrent que les femelles diamants mandarins ne peuvent évaluer les capacités cognitives d’un mâle par l’intermédiaire de traits indicateurs. Toutefois, nous avons démontré qu’une observation directe des performances d’alimentation d’un mâle guide le choix d’appariement des femelles. Également, nous avons montré que les femelles peuvent généraliser l’apparence du mâle le plus performant et utiliser cette information lors de l’évaluation de nouveaux mâles. La relation entre les performances cognitives et le choix de partenaire pourraient s’expliquer par exemple par une meilleure exploitation de l’habitat, mais nécessite des études plus approfondies.

A NATURALISTIC COMPUTATIONAL MODEL OF HUMAN BEHAVIOR IN NAVIGATION AND SEARCH TASKS

Planning, navigation, and search are fundamental human cognitive abilities central to spatial problem solving in search and rescue, law enforcement, and military operations. Despite a wealth of literature concerning naturalistic spatial problem solving in animals, literature on naturalistic spatial problem solving in humans is comparatively lacking and generally conducted by separate camps among which there is little crosstalk. Addressing this deficiency will allow us to predict spatial decision making in operational environments, and understand the factors leading to those decisions. The present dissertation is comprised of two related efforts, (1) a set of empirical research studies intended to identify characteristics of planning, execution, and memory in naturalistic spatial problem solving tasks, and (2) a computational modeling effort to develop a model of naturalistic spatial problem solving. The results of the behavioral studies indicate that problem space hierarchical representations are linear in shape, and that human solutions are produced according to multiple optimization criteria. The Mixed Criteria Model presented in this dissertation accounts for global and local human performance in a traditional and naturalistic Traveling Salesman Problem. The results of the empirical and modeling efforts hold implications for basic and applied science in domains such as problem solving, operations research, human-computer interaction, and artificial intelligence.

DEVELOPMENT AND VALIDATION OF THE ANTERIOR CRUCIATE LIGAMENT INJURY-RISK-ESTIMATION QUIZ (ACL-IQ)

Over 2 million Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) injuries occur annually worldwide resulting in considerable economic and health burdens (e.g., suffering, surgery, loss of function, risk for re-injury, and osteoarthritis). Current screening methods are effective but they generally rely on expensive and time-consuming biomechanical movement analysis, and thus are impractical solutions. In this dissertation, I report on a series of studies that begins to investigate one potentially efficient alternative to biomechanical screening, namely skilled observational risk assessment (e.g., having experts estimate risk based on observations of athletes movements). Specifically, in Study 1 I discovered that ACL injury risk can be accurately and reliably estimated with nearly instantaneous visual inspection when observed by skilled and knowledgeable professionals. Modern psychometric optimization techniques were then used to develop a robust and efficient 5-item test of ACL injury risk prediction skill—i.e., the ACL Injury-Risk-Estimation Quiz or ACL-IQ. Study 2 cross-validated the results from Study 1 in a larger representative sample of both skilled (Exercise Science/Sports Medicine) and un-skilled (General Population) groups. In accord with research on human expertise, quantitative structural and process modeling of risk estimation indicated that superior performance was largely mediated by specific strategies and skills (e.g., ignoring irrelevant information), independent of domain general cognitive abilities (e.g., metal rotation, general decision skill). These cognitive models suggest that ACL-IQ is a trainable skill, providing a foundation for future research and applications in training, decision support, and ultimately clinical screening investigations. Overall, I present the first evidence that observational ACL injury risk prediction is possible including a robust technology for fast, accurate and reliable measurement—i.e., the ACL-IQ. Discussion focuses on applications and outreach including a web platform that was developed to house the test, provide a repository for further data collection, and increase public and professional awareness and outreach (www.ACL-IQ.org). Future directions and general applications of the skilled movement analysis approach are also discussed.

L’influence des capacités cognitives mâles et femelles sur le choix de partenaire chez le diamant mandarin (Taeniopygia guttata)

S’approvisionner en nourriture est essentiel à la survie et au succès reproducteur. Lorsque les animaux font face à des changements environnementaux brutaux, ils doivent s’ajuster rapidement à leur nouvel environnement et parfois même innover dans leur façon de s’approvisionner. Des processus comportementaux et cognitifs, tels que l’innovation et l’apprentissage, permettent aux animaux d'intégrer de nouveaux comportements à leur répertoire comportemental afin de s'adapter de façon optimale. Les performances cognitives varient entre les individus d’une même population et bien que des études récentes se soient intéressées aux causes de ce phénomène, de convaincantes évidences sont manquantes afin d’expliquer pourquoi ces variations sont maintenues. Au cours de ce mémoire, les questions des pressions de sélection s'exerçant sur les performances d’alimentation par une tâche motrice nouvelle sont abordées afin de mieux comprendre l'évolution des capacités cognitives au sein d'une population captive de diamants mandarins (Taeniopygia guttata). Nous avons tout d'abord testé si les femelles diamants mandarins modifient leurs préférences d'accouplement après avoir observé la performance d'alimentation par une tâche motrice nouvelle des mâles. Afin de déterminer si les femelles sont capables de discriminer entre les mâles sur la base de leur capacité cognitive, nous avons également évalué les performances d’apprentissage de chacune d’elles. En effet, des études ont suggéré qu’il peut être coûteux, spécialement en terme de temps, de discriminer entre des partenaires potentiels sur cette base. La généralisation d’une préférence pour un mâle performant à d’autres mâles possédant le même phénotype permettrait la réduction de ces coûts. Nous avons donc finalement testé si les femelles diamants mandarins peuvent généraliser leur préférence après avoir observé les performances d’alimentation pour une tâche motrice nouvelle d’un mâle. Nos résultats suggèrent que les femelles diamants mandarins ne peuvent évaluer les capacités cognitives d’un mâle par l’intermédiaire de traits indicateurs. Toutefois, nous avons démontré qu’une observation directe des performances d’alimentation d’un mâle guide le choix d’appariement des femelles. Également, nous avons montré que les femelles peuvent généraliser l’apparence du mâle le plus performant et utiliser cette information lors de l’évaluation de nouveaux mâles. La relation entre les performances cognitives et le choix de partenaire pourraient s’expliquer par exemple par une meilleure exploitation de l’habitat, mais nécessite des études plus approfondies.

An exploration of treatment burden and patient capacity in people with stroke

Background and aims: Advances in modern medicine have led to improved outcomes after stroke, yet an increased treatment burden has been placed on patients. Treatment burden is the workload of health care for people with chronic illness and the impact that this has on functioning and well-being. Those with comorbidities are likely to be particularly burdened. Excessive treatment burden can negatively affect outcomes. Individuals are likely to differ in their ability to manage health problems and follow treatments, defined as patient capacity. The aim of this thesis was to explore the experience of treatment burden for people who have had a stroke and the factors that influence patient capacity. Methods: There were four phases of research. 1) A systematic review of the qualitative literature that explored the experience of treatment burden for those with stroke. Data were analysed using framework synthesis, underpinned by Normalisation Process Theory (NPT). 2) A cross-sectional study of 1,424,378 participants >18 years, demographically representative of the Scottish population. Binary logistic regression was used to analyse the relationship between stroke and the presence of comorbidities and prescribed medications. 3) Interviews with twenty-nine individuals with stroke, fifteen analysed by framework analysis underpinned by NPT and fourteen by thematic analysis. The experience of treatment burden was explored in depth along with factors that influence patient capacity. 4) Integration of findings in order to create a conceptual model of treatment burden and patient capacity in stroke. Results: Phase 1) A taxonomy of treatment burden in stroke was created. The following broad areas of treatment burden were identified: making sense of stroke management and planning care; interacting with others including health professionals, family and other stroke patients; enacting management strategies; and reflecting on management. Phase 2) 35,690 people (2.5%) had a diagnosis of stroke and of the 39 co-morbidities examined, 35 were significantly more common in those with stroke. The proportion of those with stroke that had >1 additional morbidities present (94.2%) was almost twice that of controls (48%) (odds ratio (OR) adjusted for age, gender and socioeconomic deprivation; 95% confidence interval: 5.18; 4.95-5.43) and 34.5% had 4-6 comorbidities compared to 7.2% of controls (8.59; 8.17-9.04). In the stroke group, 12.6% of people had a record of >11 repeat prescriptions compared to only 1.5% of the control group (OR adjusted for age, gender, deprivation and morbidity count: 15.84; 14.86-16.88). Phase 3) The taxonomy of treatment burden from Phase 1 was verified and expanded. Additionally, treatment burdens were identified as arising from either: the workload of healthcare; or the endurance of care deficiencies. A taxonomy of patient capacity was created. Six factors were identified that influence patient capacity: personal attributes and skills; physical and cognitive abilities; support network; financial status; life workload, and environment. A conceptual model of treatment burden was created. Healthcare workload and the presence of care deficiencies can influence and be influenced by patient capacity. The quality and configuration of health and social care services influences healthcare workload, care deficiencies and patient capacity. Conclusions: This thesis provides important insights into the considerable treatment burden experienced by people who have had a stroke and the factors that affect their capacity to manage health. Multimorbidity and polypharmacy are common in those with stroke and levels of these are high. Findings have important implications for the design of clinical guidelines and healthcare delivery, for example co-ordination of care should be improved, shared decision-making enhanced, and patients better supported following discharge from hospital.

Avaliação do potencial de desenvolvimento em meninos e meninas dos 4 aos 6 anos

Todos nós, educadores, devemos prestar uma atenção aprofundada às potencialidades e inclinações das crianças que constituem os nossos grupos, para que possamos estimular e desenvolver as suas competências. É nesse sentido que desenvolvemos este Estudo Exploratório, com o qual se pretende analisar a adaptação da avaliação de potencial derivada da Teoria das Inteligência Múltiplas ao contexto da Educação Pré-Escolar, com o objectivo de contribuir para a qualidade da intervenção educativa, articulando conceitos como Inteligência, Competência, Potencial, Currículo, Avaliação Dinâmica. Participam no estudo 42 crianças que frequentam Jardim de Infância e integram dois grupos heterogéneos e as respectivas educadoras. A metodologia é de natureza qualitativa e quantitativa, apoiando-se na aplicação dos seguintes instrumentos: modelo de avaliação de potencial baseado no Spectrum; Inventário de Quociente Emocional, versão para crianças e jovens (Bar-On Emocional Quotient Inventory: Youth Version), adaptado a educadores por Candeias e Monteiro (2010); questionário de Caracterização do ambiente educativo - Sala de Actividades, adaptado por Candeias e lglésias (2010); Teste de Avaliação de Habilidades Cognitivas de Solução de Problemas lnterpessoais (EVHACOSPI). Os resultados obtidos sugerem a importância de uma avaliação do potencial, baseada na Teoria das Inteligências Múltiplas, que utiliza instrumentos adequados a cada um dos domínios do potencial e da competência humana propostos por H. Gardner: verbal, Lógico-Matemática, Musical, Corporal-Cinestésica, Visuo-espacial, lnterpessoal, Intrapessoal e Naturalista. Apontam também para o papel que este tipo de avaliação pode desempenhar na intervenção educativa que se objectiva intencional e fundamentada. ABSTRACT: Ali of us, educators, must pay a special attention to the potentialities and inclinations of children who make up our groups, so enabling the stimulation and development of their competences. ln this sense we developed this Exploratory Study, through which is intended to analyse the adaptation of potential evaluation derived from the Theory of Multiple intelligences in the range of Pre-School Education, aiming at the contribution for the educative intervention: articulating concepts such as Intelligence, Competence Potential, Curriculum, and Dynamic Evaluation. The study involves 42 children attending Infant School, belonging to two heterogeneous groups and respective educators. Methodology is of qualitative and quantitative nature, supported by the following instruments: evaluation model based on Spectrum; Inventory of Emotional Quotient, version for children and youths, adapted to educators by Candeias e Monteiro (2010), Query of Characterization of Educative Environment - Activities Room, adapted by Candeias e lglésias (2010); Test for Evaluation of Cognitive Abilities of Interpersonal Problems Solution. (EVHACOSPI). The results suggest the importance of an assessment, based on the Theory of Multiple Intelligence, which uses instruments fitted to each of the domains of human potential and competence proposed by H. Gardiner: Verbal, Logical-Maths, Musical, Corporal¬ Kinaesthetic, Visuo-Spatial, Interpersonal, Intrapersonal and Naturalist. They also refer to the role that this type of assessment can play in the educational intervention aiming to be intentional and grounded.

Accurate performance of a rat model of schizophrenia in the water maze depends on visual cue availability and stability: a distortion in cognitive mapping abilities?

Rats were treated postnatally (PND 5-16) with BSO (l-buthionine-(S,R)-sulfoximine) in an animal model of schizophrenia based on transient glutathione deficit. The BSO treated rats were impaired in patrolling a maze or a homing table when adult, yet demonstrated preserved escape learning, place discrimination and reversal in a water maze task [37]. In the present work, BSO rats' performance in the water maze was assessed in conditions controlling for the available visual cues. First, in a completely curtained environment with two salient controlled cues, BSO rats showed little accuracy compared to control rats. Secondly, pre-trained BSO rats were impaired in reaching the familiar spatial position when curtains partially occluded different portions of the room environment in successive sessions. The apparently preserved place learning in a classical water maze task thus appears to require the stability and the richness of visual landmarks from the surrounding environment. In other words, the accuracy of BSO rats in place and reversal learning is impaired in a minimal cue condition or when the visual panorama changes between trials. However, if the panorama remains rich and stable between trials, BSO rats are equally efficient in reaching a familiar position or in learning a new one. This suggests that the BSO accurate performance in the water maze does not satisfy all the criteria for a cognitive map based navigation on the integration of polymodal cues. It supports the general hypothesis of a binding deficit in BSO rats.

Do children with Williams syndrome really have good vocabulary knowledge? Methods for comparing cognitive and linguistic abilities in developmental disorders

The comparison of cognitive and linguistic skills in individuals with developmental disorders is fraught with methodological and psychometric difficulties. In this paper, we illustrate some of these issues by comparing the receptive vocabulary knowledge and non-verbal reasoning abilities of 41 children with Williams syndrome, a genetic disorder in which language abilities are often claimed to be relatively strong. Data from this group were compared with data from typically developing children, children with Down syndrome, and children with non-specific learning difficulties using a number of approaches including comparison of age-equivalent scores, matching, analysis of covariance, and regression-based standardization. Across these analyses children with Williams syndrome consistently demonstrated relatively good receptive vocabulary knowledge, although this effect appeared strongest in the oldest children.

Cognitive Therapy Abilities in People with Learning Disabilities

Background  There is a need to develop and adapt therapies for use with people with learning disabilities who have mental health problems. Aims  To examine the performance of people with learning disabilities on two cognitive therapy tasks (emotion recognition and discrimination among thoughts, feelings and behaviours). We hypothesized that cognitive therapy task performance would be significantly correlated with IQ and receptive vocabulary, and that providing a visual cue would improve performance. Method  Fifty-nine people with learning disabilities were assessed on the Wechsler Abbreviated Scale of Intelligence (WASI), the British Picture Vocabulary Scale-II (BPVS-II), a test of emotion recognition and a task requiring participants to discriminate among thoughts, feelings and behaviours. In the discrimination task, participants were randomly assigned to a visual cue condition or a no-cue condition. Results  There was considerable variability in performance. Emotion recognition was significantly associated with receptive vocabulary, and discriminating among thoughts, feelings and behaviours was significantly associated with vocabulary and IQ. There was no effect of the cue on the discrimination task. Conclusion  People with learning disabilities with higher IQs and good receptive vocabulary were more likely to be able to identify different emotions and to discriminate among thoughts, feelings and behaviours. This implies that they may more easily understand the cognitive model. Structured ways of simplifying the concepts used in cognitive therapy and methods of socialization and education in the cognitive model are required to aid participation of people with learning disabilities.

Movement and motor development in ELBW infants at 1 year is related to cognitive and motor abilities at 4 years

A relationship between motor ability and cognitive performance has been previously reported. This study aimed to investigate the association between movement and cognitive performance at 1 and 4 years corrected age of children born less than 1000 g, and whether developmental testing of movement at 1 year is predictive of cognitive performance at 4 years. Motor development was assessed at both ages using the neurosensory motor developmental assessment (NSMDA) and motor development was classified as normal, or minimal, mild, moderate-severe dysfunction. Cognitive performance was assessed on the Griffith Mental Developmental Scale at 1 year and McCarthy Scales of Children's Abilities at 4 years. Subjects included 198 children of birthweight less than 1000 g. Of these 132 children returned for follow-up at the corrected ages of both 1 and 4 years. The 66 children not included had a slight increase in gestational age, while the mothers were younger and had a lower level of education. A significant association was found between NSMDA group classification at 1 year and cognitive performance at both 1 and 4 years (p