The Role of Choice in Children's Learning: A Distinctive Cultural and Gender Difference in Efficacy, Interest, and Effort.

A cross-cultural experiment testing the effect of personal choice on learning was conducted with fifth- and sixth-graders from Canada (n = 130) and Taiwan (n = 153) using a computerized foreign language learning task. The results showed that choice had no significant impact on children's interest, effort, or learning outcome. Although comparable to their Chinese counterparts in efficacy beliefs, the Canadian children reported to be more interested but showed less effort and performed less well on the task. The Canadian boys had a lower efficacy belief and consistently showed less interest and effort than the girls; this gender gap, however, was not evident in the Chinese. Unlike the Canadians, Chinese children's effort was unrelated to efficacy beliefs or interest. When told explicitly there would be no test, Chinese children became more interested in the task but the Canadians were unaffected. Implications of these findings are discussed and further studies are suggested. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

车联网迎来新机遇

近来面对国内大中城市频繁出现的暴堵,十二五交通规划或将在年初推出.改革开放20多年来,我国经济持续快地速发展,城市化、现代化的进程不断加快,很多城市的机动车保有量以年平均20%的速度飙长,导致了目前国内交通供求关系的严重失衡,交通拥挤、交通事故增多、环境日益恶化已经成为我国城市面临的严重问题.     

Children's justifications for their adult and peer-directed compliant (prosocial and nonprosocial) behaviors.

Examined differences in the quality of child–child and adult–child interactions and children's reasoning about their own compliant behaviors. 61 45–65 mo olds were observed in their classrooms and were interviewed briefly concerning their behavior whenever they were seen complying with either an adult's or a peer's request or demand. Only 32% of compliant behaviors requested by adults were prosocial (directly benefited another), whereas 76% of compliant behaviors requested by peers were prosocial. Ss frequently justified behaviors requested by adults with references to authorities' dictates and punishment. Ss attributed behaviors requested by peers to other-oriented or relational (friendship, liking) concerns more frequently than they did behaviors requested by adults. The difference in the use of authority/punishment and other-oriented justifications for peer- and adult-requested behaviors was found with regard to both prosocial and nonprosocial requests; Ss used more justifications regarding liking of others and friendship only when the request was prosocial in content. Data are discussed in terms of their support for theorists' assertions regarding the difference in peer and adult interaction and in relation to the literature on children's reasoning and attributions about prosocial behaviors. (16 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Benchmarking Productivity Indicators for Electrical/Mechanical Projects

Labor-intensive industries such as the electrical and mechanical trades are considered high risk due to the high percentage of labor costs. Because of this high risk, it is important for contractors in these industries to closely track labor costs on projects and compare these costs to industry benchmarks. In this paper, benchmark indicators for these industries are established on the basis of actual project data. These benchmarks include the relationship between the percent complete or percent time and cumulative work hours or cost, project size and duration, project size and average man power, project size and peak man power, and average versus peak man power. These relationships were developed using regression analysis. Man power loading charts and the related S-curves were developed from actual project data. The man power loading charts and the related S-curves are useful for resource planning and for tracking progress on a construction project. They can be used to show the cause-and-effect relationship between projects impacted by outside factors and normal labor productivity.     

Visual word recognition: Effort after meaning but not (necessarily) meaning after effort.

A robust semantic priming effect typically occurs in visual word recognition if the prime is read prior to a response to the target. M. C. Smith, D. Besner, and H. Miyoshi (1994) reported that this semantic priming effect is markedly reduced for short-duration primes randomly intermixed with longer duration primes, and they offered a signal-detection account of their results. This general finding is replicated and extended in 3 experiments, which demonstrate the importance of list context for this prime duration effect and suggest that a center-surround attentional mechanism provides a better account of the results to date. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Networking for action on sustainability and health

We report a case of recurrent transudative pleural effusion. The initial cardiovascular investigations failed to determine its cause. The catheterization showed a "dip-plateau" suggesting a restrictive cardiomyopathy. Endomyocardial biopsy finally proved a cardiac amyloidosis.     

Networking for nurses in today''s turbulent times

Craniocerebral injuries involve changes in the vascular plexuses and ependyma of the ventricles, and the severity of these changes varies, depending on the duration of the posttraumatic period and severity of the injury. Analysis of the time course of pathomorphological changes in the cerebral ventricular structures extend our notions on the role and impact of liquor circulation in the pathogenesis of craniocerebral injury. Structural changes in the vascular plexuses may disorder the function of the blood-liquor barrier and promote the development of hydrocephalus. Changes in the structure of the ependymal membrane may involve dysfunction of the liquor-encephalic barrier of the inner surface of the brain and promote the development of brain edema.     

Evaluation of the Children's Activity Rating Scale (CARS) in young children

We describe the daily activity patterns and the between-day and -year reliabilities of the Children's Activity Rating Scale (CARS) measured in 180 Anglo-, African-, and Mexican-American children aged 3 or 4 yr. Reliabilities were assessed at up to 11 measurement periods over 3 yr. CARS scores were measured by two trained observers (alternating 2-h shifts) up to 12 working hours. There were no significant ethnic or day of week differences in the activity levels. Males had higher mean activity levels than females and higher activity was performed in the summer and fall than the spring or winter. The all-measurements reliability for a mean of 5.34 d of observation over the 3 yr of measurement was 0.57. The reliability across all days and years of measurement was 0.73. The highest level of reliability (0.75) was found for the percent of minutes spent at CARS levels 3, 4, or 5 followed by an intraclass correlation of 0.74 for percent of minutes spent at CARS levels 4 or 5. These data support the utility of using the CARS as a measure of physical activity in younger children from different ethnic groups.     

Effort: The double-edged sword in school achievement.

360 undergraduates rated their affective reactions to hypothetical test failures under conditions of high or low effort and in the presence or absence of self-serving excuses. Then, in the role of teachers, they administered punishment to hypothetical students under the same failure conditions. Inability attributions and negative affect were greatest when failure followed much effort. Conversely, failure reflected less on ability, and shame was correspondingly reduced when students studied little—the same failure condition that Ss, in the role of teachers, punished most severely. (64 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

浅谈点到点链路的OSPF区域组网

OSPF路由协议作为被广泛应用的内部网关协议之一,用于在单一自治系统内决策路由.本文通过Packet Tracer V5.3模拟软件对常见的点到点链路的OSPF区域组网进行讨论,以了解各种区域组网的模型和配置.     

Networking rural health resources. The woman who cried wolf

OBJECTIVE: To study the genetic stability and to establish a method for detection of micrometastasis using microsatellite DNA in human breast cancer xenograft in nude mice. METHODS: Fresh tissue of human breast cancer was xenotransplanted in nude mice or thotopically. Genomic DNA extracted from tissues of human breast cancer, xenotransplanted tumors and metastatic foci in nude mice were PCR amplified at three microsatellite loci (D14S68, D18S69, D20S199) and were analysed by electrophoresis and silver stain on PAGE. RESULTS Microsatellite DNA in genome of the xenotransplanted tumors and metastatic foci in nude mice were identical with that of the human breast cancer. CONCLUSION: This study has demonstrated in nude mice the xenotransplanted tumors and metastatic foci that originated from human breast cancer. The genetic stability in human breast cancer is evident in the processes of xenotransplantation, serial passages in nude mice, metastasis and in vitro culture. This method is sensitive and specific for the discrimination of metastatic tumor cells.     

National Leadership for Children's Television.

The national leadership must continue to prod the television industry to produce a wider and richer fare for our children; this can be accomplished by turning loose the creative forces within the industry. Generally speaking, two kinds of overt incentives operate in the industry: financial inducements such as tax breaks and grants, and nonfinancial motivations such as awards and prestige. The time is right for promoting private action for three major reasons: (1) the promotion of public-private partnerships, (2) the emergence of cable television, and (3) the approach of the golden anniversary of modern television. Significant improvement in the quality of children's television is economically and politically possible. Given the levels of television consumption by our children, a more consistently nutritious menu is imperative. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

儿童青少年发展中的父母教育卷入

父母卷入子女教育,无论对子女的成长,还是对整个社会的发展都具有重要的意义,一直备受重视.20世纪60年代以来,研究者开始对父母卷入孩子教育进行实证研究,父母卷入教育逐渐成为心理学、教育学、社会学等多学科交叉研究中的一个重要领域.40多年来,研究者从学业、认知能力和社会性发展等角度揭示了儿童发展与父母卷入教育之间的关系,并从教师、强调父母监控、儿童主动性等多个角度提出了不同的父母教育卷入的结构.为描述父母教育卷入的产生和作用机制,Hoover-Dempsey和Seginer分别提出了突出微观过程的父母教育卷入多水平模型和从宏观、静态层面认识各种影响因素的生态系统模型.此外,研究者还从学校和家庭两个角度提出了促进父母教育卷入的有效途径.本文对这些研究进展进行综述,并从加强纵向追踪研究、重视比较研究和更多开展中国化研究三个方面,指出了父母教育卷入研究未来应该努力的方向.     

Benchmarking Framework to Measure Extent of ICT Adoption for Building Project Management

This paper discusses a component of the research study conducted to provide construction organizations with a generic benchmarking framework to assess their extent of information communication technology (ICT) adoption for building project management processes. It defines benchmarking and discusses objectives of the required benchmarking framework and development of the framework. The study focused on ICT adoption by small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the construction industry and with respect to SMEs it is important to understand processes, their indicators, and measures in the local context. Structure of the suggested benchmarking framework has been derived after extensive literature survey and a questionnaire survey conducted in the Indian construction industry. The suggested benchmarking process is an iterative process divided into four stages. It can be implemented at organization and industry levels for rating the construction organizations for ICT adoption and performance measurement. The framework has a generic structure and can be generalized and applied for other countries with due considerations.     

Children's preference for challenge: The role of perceived competence and control.

This research tested the hypothesis that children's perceptions of academic competence and their personal control over school-related performance affect subsequent intrinsic interest and preference for challenge in an evaluative setting. In a correlational study, children's self-reported perceptions of academic competence and personal control were found to relate positively to their intrinsic interest in schoolwork and preference for challenging school activities. A subset of this sample was exposed to varying levels of a controlling directive, and preference for challenge was assessed behaviorally during a free-choice period in which subjects were unaware that they were being observed. As predicted, the data indicated that when given the evaluative, controlling directive, children who had high perceptions of academic competence and control preferred a greater challenge than did children whose perceptions were low on these measures. No difference between groups in terms of preference for challenge was evident when no controlling directive was presented. These findings are discussed in terms of theories of intrinsic motivation and potential processes that underly these effects. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The Children's Depression Inventory: Error in cutoff scores for screening purposes.

The Children's Depression Inventory (CDI) is used to screen for depression in school-age children. Such screening uses the manual's reported information on suggested cutoff scores. These cutoff scores are based on an erroneous base-rate calculation and an inadequate methodology. Data are provided showing that for the suggested cutoff scores of 13 or 20, the CDI has poor receiver-operating characteristics. Indeed, for the cutoff score of 20, suggested as being suitable for screening in the general population (e.g., schools), clinicians will miss 86% of depressed children. In conclusion, it is recommended that the CDI is better suited as a continuous measure of mood and that cutoff scores should not be used to screen for the likely presence or absence of depression. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Children's Depression Inventory: Construct and discriminant validity across clinical and nonreferred (control) populations.

[Correction Notice: An erratum for this article was reported in Vol 55(6) of Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology (see record 2008-10746-001). An error occurred in Table 3. Specifically, for the three-factor solutions, the coefficient of congruence between the first factor of the combined sample and the first (rather than the second) factor of the nonreferred sample should read "93."] The construct and discriminant validity of the Children's Depression Inventory (CDI) was evaluated for a large child and adolescent sample of clinical inpatients (n&=&153) and demographically comparable nonreferred subjects (n&=&153). Principal component analyses of the overall sample, using separate groups of clinical and nonreferred samples, found two- and three-factor models with optimal simple structure and clinical meaningfulness. These factors characterized Depressive Affect, Oppositional Behavior, and Personal Adjustment. The first two factors exhibited adequate internal consistency and correspondence across samples, whereas the third factor was strongest for nonreferred subjects. All three factor scores entered a significant discriminant function and correctly classified most nonreferred and clinical subjects. However, only Depressive Affect and Oppositional Behavior entered into the discriminant function that distinguished depressive and conduct-disorder subjects from nonreferred subjects. The percentage of nonreferred subjects who were correctly categorized ranged from 70.4 to 71.6, whereas the percentage of correctly classified clinical subjects ranged from 25 to 60. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)