Language and crossed finger localization in patients with schizophrenia

Language deficits are frequently reported in studies of patients with schizophrenia. The present study sought to test the hypothesis that such deficits are related to callosal function in this group. The FAS test of verbal fluency and Perin's Spoonerisms test of phonological processing were the tests of language. Callosal function was assessed using a Crossed Finger Localisation Test (CFLT), which is a measure of the interhemispheric transfer of somatosensory information. Patients with schizophrenia performed less well than controls on measures of language function. as well as on the CFLT. Significant positive correlations between CFLT performance and language function were present in the patient group, but not the control group. These findings extend on previous studies that report functional abnormalities of the corpus callosum in schizophrenia and are consistent with the hypothesis that language deficits in schizophrenia are related to impaired callosal functioning in this group. However, other explanations cannot be ruled Out.

Neurological, psychological and educational sequelae of low birth weight

In a prospective study of 501 infants of low birth weight (LBW) who mostly weighed 2,041 g (4 1/2 lb) or less, and of 203 control infants of full birth weight (FBW > 2,500 g), 335 LBW and 139 FBW children were followed beyond the age of 6 years and 6 months. The incidence of neurological defects was negatively correlated with birth weight, and the mean "global" IQ of different birth weight groups retained a direct relationship. While the relationship of birth weight to IQ gradually became less marked, the effect of social class was increasingly evident from the age of 2 years and 6 months. The preterm children whose birth weight was appropriate for gestational age (AGA) attained a slightly higher mean IQ and significantly better grade placement in the third school year than the children who were unduly light for their gestational age. Details of the neurological and ophthalmological defects are given, and the predictive significance of neonatal variables is analyzed.

How secure is a Newtonian paradigm for psychological and educational measurement?

From the early 1900s, some psychologists have attempted to establish their discipline as a quantitative science. In using quantitative methods to investigate their theories, they adopted their own special definition of measurement of attributes such as cognitive abilities, as though they were quantities of the type encountered in Newtonian science. Joel Michell has presented a carefully reasoned argument that psychological attributes lack additivity, and therefore cannot be quantities in the same way as the attributes of classical Newtonian physics. In the early decades of the 20th century, quantum theory superseded Newtonian mechanics as the best model of physical reality. This paper gives a brief, critical overview of the evolution of current measurement practices in psychology, and suggests the need for a transition from a Newtonian to a quantum theoretical paradigm for psychological measurement. Finally, a case study is presented that considers the implications of a quantum theoretical model for educational measurement. In particular, it is argued that, since the OECD’s Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) is predicated on a Newtonian conception of measurement, this may constrain the extent to which it can make accurate comparisons of the achievements of different education systems.

Children’s essentialist reasoning about language and race

Across four studies, we directly compared children’s essentialist reasoning about the stability of race and language throughout an individual’s lifespan. Monolingual English-speaking children were presented with a series of images of children who were either White or Black; each face was paired with a voice clip in either English or French. Participants were asked which of two adults each target child would grow up to be – one who was a ‘match’ to the target child in race but not language, and the other a ‘match’ in language but not race. Nine- to 10-year-old European American children chose the race-match, rather than the language-match. In contrast, 5–6-year-old European American children in both urban, racially diverse, and rural, racially homogeneous environments chose the language-match, even though this necessarily meant that the target child would transform racial categories. Although surprising in light of adult reasoning, these young children demonstrated an intuition about the relative stability of an individual’s language compared to her racial group membership. Yet, 5–6-year-old African American children, similar to the older European American children, chose the race-match, suggesting that membership in a racial minority group may highlight children’s reasoning about race as a stable category. Theoretical implications for our understanding of children’s categorization of human kinds are discussed.

Poverty Trap and Educational Shock: Evidence from Missionary Fields

Low growth equilibria with low investment in human capital generally tend to
persist till an external shock affects the economy. In this paper we use data on
Christian missions to proxy a long-lasting educational shock in Africa. We estimate
the effect of this shock on the quality of children which we proxy using the rate of
underweight children. Consistent with the economic theory we find that the quality
of children significantly rises with the exposure to this shock and this indirect effect
accounts to almost 4 percent in terms of GDP for districts with the maximal exposure

Doing Focus Groups and Interviews with Recent Migrants to Northern Ireland: A Dynamic Interplay of Ethics, Language and Access

This case describes a qualitative social science research project that was conducted in 2009 and that examined the experiences of recent migrants to Northern Ireland. While background to the research and key findings are presented, the topic forms a backdrop to the case. The following aspects of the study are presented: the theoretical context; formulating the research question, design and methodology; key methodological issues; data collection and analysis; project dissemination; and research funding and reporting. The case pays particular attention to the needs and impact of different groups including the researcher, the funding body, the researcher’s employer and the researched. The significance of access, language and ethics to this study are examined. Finally, the way in which the research unfolded in an often-unpredictable way throughout the implementation process is highlighted in the narrative.

Personalising Crime and Crime-fighting in Factual Television:an Analysis of Social Actors and Transitivity in Language and Images

This article addresses the lack of work on media and crime in Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA), using an example of a factual television crime report. The existing research in media studies and criminology points to the way that the media misrepresents crime by distorting public understandings and backgrounding structural issues, such as poverty, which are related to crime thereby legitimising a criminal justice system that serves the interests of the powerful in society. Using social actor and transitivity analysis, this article shows how multimodal CDA can make an important contribution as it reveals the more subtle linguistic strategies and visual representations by which this process is accomplished, showing how each plays a part in the recontextualisation of social practice. This programme backgrounds which crimes are committed but foregrounds mental states and the neutrality of policing.

‘High’-School: The Relationship between Early Marijuana Use and Educational Outcomes

We use unique survey data linked to nearly a decade of administrative income support data to examine the relationship between early marijuana use (at age 14 or younger) and young people's educational outcomes. We find evidence that early marijuana use is related to educational penalties that are compounded by high-intensity use and are larger for young people living in families with a history of income support receipt. The relationships between marijuana use and both high school completion and achieving a university entrance score appear to stem from selectivity into the use of marijuana. In contrast, early marijuana use is associated with significantly lower university entrance scores for those who obtain one, and we provide evidence that this effect is unlikely to be driven by selection. Collectively, these findings point to a more nuanced view of the relationship between adolescent marijuana use and educational outcomes than is suggested by the existing literature.

Day 1. Free Communications – Psychology (Session 2): The influence of body language and expected competency on gaze behaviour while forming an initial impression of a tennis player.

D1.S3.4(4). BASES Conference 2015 (Burton-on-Trent), 1-2 December. British Association of Sport and Exercise Sciences

Expectancy effects in tennis: The impact of body language and playing record on impressions of a tennis player and ratings of performance

This study examined the impact that pre-event body language and knowledge of a performer’s playing record had on ratings of tennis performance. Participants (N = 123) were allocated to one of four experimental groups (good body language/bad body language vs. positive playing record/negative playing record) and viewed a live player warming up and completing a series of tennis shots. Information outlining the player’s recent win/loss record was coupled with body language condition during a period of warm-up footage. Likert-type scales were employed to record impressions of the player and judgements as to the quality of the play. ANCOVA revealed that the player was viewed more favourably having displayed positive as opposed to negative body language (p<.001). Participants presented with a positive playing record (p = .001) formed a more favourable impression and rated the players performance more positively (p = 0.001). The study corroborates and extends the findings of recent work incorporating live models in expectancy effects investigations.